Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy signs up to appear at Wirral’s Bookfest

Sep 23 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

POET Laureate Carol-Ann Duffy has signed up to appear at this year’s Wirral Bookfest.

Carol-Ann, who succeeded Andrew Motion as the holder of Britain’s most prestigious literary title earlier this year, will present an evening of “verse and wisdom” at Bromborough Civic Centre on Monday, October 12.

The week-long literary festival, organised by Wirral Libraries, attracted 1,400 visitors for its inaugural year in 2008.

Highlights this year include crime writers Matthew Booth and David Stuart Davies giving their take on the life and times of Agatha Christie and an illustrated talk by Fran Sandham, who walked solo across Africa.

There will also be workshops on tracing your family history, soap scriptwriting and creative writing.

Councillor Bob Moon, cabinet member for culture, tourism and leisure, said: “Last year’s first Bookfest was massively successful for Wirral.

“We hope that this year will be even better and we are delighted to have the endorsement of someone as successful and popular as Carol-Ann Duffy.”

The festival runs from Monday, October 12 to Sunday, October 18.

It will open with Soap Story 2, which will see television scriptwriter Kate McDonnell demonstrating how to write for soaps, and how stories go from page to screen.

Family history will come under the spotlight at Birkenhead Central Library on October 14. Research experts will be giving advice on tracing your roots from 10am to 12noon.

There’s also a place for war poet Wilfred Owen, who lived in Wirral for several years and attended Birkenhead Institute. John Baxter will be giving a free illustrated talk about his early life in Birkenhead, followed by a guided walk, at Birkenhead Central Library on October 13.

Find a full programme of events on our website, www.wirralnews.co.uk

Tickets for An Evening with Carol-Ann Duffy are £5 and include wine. For more information call Bromborough Civic Centre on 334 1650.