November 12, 2014
Hot on the heals of the hugely successful Folkestone Triennial, Folkestone Book Festival commences this week with a range of events, workshops and talks from some well known and well loved authors. There has been a Literary Festival in Folkestone in some guise since 1980. The festival has grown in size and popularity over the years with past writers such as Alan Bennett, P.D. James and Jacqueline Wilson putting the event well and truly on the map.
There is something for everyone, with subjects ranging from science, war memorials, crafting and infidelity through to poetry, sex and the secrets of the creative process. As well as serious literary activities such as a creative writing workshop with award-winning author Jane Bow, there are also more light-hearted moments such as ‘Jonathon Green In Conversation With Andy Miller’, looking at our use slang – the opening lines of the promo for this talk state ‘Did you know the penis has taken on 1200 aliases in 500 years? That there are 310 terms for male homosexuals?’ – so be prepared!
Something of special interest to us here at Noted in Style is the paper-making workshop with Jonathan Korejko. It is a one-day workshop with guidance on how to make handmade paper from a variety of ingredients. The workshop will be hands on and you will get to take home your piece of beautifully crafted paper at the end of the day.
The art of paper-making can be traced back to China to about 105 CE, and the process has changed very little over time. It involves a dilute solution of fibres – or wood pulp – in water that is drained through a screen so that a mat of interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is pressed from the fibres, leaving a sheet of paper. In a paper mill, this process is performed in a larger scale with machinery that can create a continuous paper web for mass production. While most paper is made from wood pulp, many high quality papers are made from cotton or textiles. So it’s interesting to note, next time you open up a premium notebook, that the smooth, crisp pages inside were made using methods unchanged for many centuries!
Folkestone Quarterhouse at night Credit – centralphotography.com
Other highlights of the festival include a talk from former children’s laureate and national treasure, Michael Rosen on how learning can be much more fun (14th November), a talk by top British adventurer Brian Milton on his adventures and not giving up (15th November) and a reading from the poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy (19th November).
Folkestone Book Festival runs from 14th to 23rd November 2014 at Folkestone Quarterhouse. For details on all the events taking place, prices, opening times and how to book your place, please see the Folkestone Book Festival website.
