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Thursday, August 3rd 2006 : "Harrogate"
We had another fantastic festival this year. More people, great panels and an extra day - Creative Thursday when 70 aspiring writers came together for workshops and advice from publishers, authors and agents. Having tutors like Val McDermid and Mark Billingham to start you off must have been pretty inspirational. Certainly my group turned in some impressive pieces of writing.
Maybe the thing most people will remember about Harrogate 2006 was the heat. It meant that we could spill out from the bar into the garden, but some of the sessions were sweltering.
As reader in residence I'd been focusing this year on the small independent presses. We supported Comma's launch of the CWA anthology of short stories and the Saturday lunchtime session gave readers from all over Yorkshire the chance to meet editors, publishers and authors who work with the indies. A group of visually impaired readers from Dewsbury were delighted when, after the readers' session, they were drinking tea in the bar and George Pelecanos joined them for a chat.
Next year's panels are already planned. If you want to join us in 2007 make sure you book early.
Posted by Ann at 08:04 PM GMT
