Literary festival coming to Wolverhampton - starring Doreen Tipton and Sathnam Sanghera
Wolverhampton is hosting its first literary festival with a host of home-grown talent including acts as diverse as award-winning author Sathnam Sanghera and YouTube hit Doreen Tipton.
The weekend-long celebration in January, called the Wolverhampton Original Literature Festival (WOLF), will also feature musicians, workshops, art and children's events.
Sathnam Sanghera, a former Wolverhampton Grammar School student, will be in conversation at the city's art gallery on the opening night.
His first book, The Boy With The Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton, is currently being adapted for TV to air on the BBC next autumn.
It was shortlisted for the 2008 Costa Biography Award, the 2009 PEN/Ackerley Prize and named 2009 Mind Book of the Year.
The Slade Rooms is hosting chart-topping Ned's Atomic Dustbin singer Jonn Penney talking about the common thread between music, books and independence, with best-selling author Martin Roach.
They are followed by Miles Hunt, from The Wonder Stuff, reading exclusive extracts ahead of the release of his follow-up diaries.
Young readers can meet successful children's author Narinder Dhami, who grew up in the city, on Saturday at the art gallery.
Also appearing will be YouTube comedy favourite Doreen Tipton, whose latest video poked fun at President elect Donald Trump, and former Birmingham Poet Laureate Roy McFarlane.
Budding writers can discover the joys of Japanese Haiku poetry, hone their skills at character writing or combine crafts and the written word in a fun session.
Councillor John Reynolds, lead for the city economy, said: "We've got a diverse literary tradition in Wolverhampton and across the Black Country and what better way of celebrating it than by hosting our first festival.
"This is a pilot event, which is only being made possible by the generosity of the performers, local businesses and venues who are helping make the weekend happen. "Already there is a great variety of entertainment during the weekend with even more authors and events to be announced."
More events will be revealed over the coming weeks. The festival is a mix of free and ticketed events. For the latest programme and booking details go to www.wolvesliteraturefestival.co.uk. The festival will take place between January 27 - 29.
