THE 2020 Crediton Literary Festival was due to be held in Crediton Library on Saturday, June 6.

When the Exeter Authors Association took the decision to cancel in light of the lockdown, the library decided to move the festival online and widen its reach.

Library Assistant Mark Norman took on the task of gathering together a new programme for a day of online talks and question and answer sessions, with authors being drawn from Exeter Authors Association, other local writers and some from further afield.

Headlining the event at 2.30pm was bestselling author Veronica Henry, who lives in North Devon. Previously a script writer for popular programmes such as "The Archers" and "Holby City", Veronica has moved on to publish many novels.

She discussed her latest title, "A Wedding at the Beach Hut" as well as writing more generally, before taking questions from the audience.

In the morning audiences enjoyed a presentation from Su Bristow about her book "Sealskin" and an instructive talk from respected Devon genealogist, Janet Few, about techniques for recording your, or other people’s memories, as well as a panel of three crime authors from the Bristol area.

A.A. Abbott, Debbie Young and Jo Ullah discussed the differences between writing urban crime and more rural "cosy crime" novels.

Afternoon sessions continued with Elizabeth Ducie discussing the changes that she has seen in her 40 years of self-publishing books, and Liz Shakespeare talking about her latest book "The Postman Poet", which examines the life of the Bideford postman Edward Capern, who found national success for his poetry. Liz spoke about the kinds of research that she undertakes when writing.

Rounding off the event in the evening was historian, playwright and author Tracey Norman. Tracey writes in a number of genres and is particularly known and respected for her work on historical witchcraft allegation cases.

For the Literary Festival she spoke about a very unusual case from the Crediton court concerning a local family of grocers and a mug of cocoa!

The Literary Festival was a remarkable success with more than 160 people attending from around the local area, as well as across the UK and from countries such as the USA and the Netherlands.

Feedback has indicated that people have really enjoyed being able to access events such as this from home as well as in person, and the library will be looking to see how it can broaden access to other events in the future.

Some of the talks from the day were recorded and can be viewed online on the Crediton Library YouTube channel, so if you were not able to join in on the day you can still watch some of the presentations.

For full details of events and activities available at Crediton Library please visit: https://www.devonlibraries.org.uk/web/arena/creditonlibrary .

Libraries Unlimited is the charity responsible for running Devon and Torbay Libraries. Libraries Unlimited believes in the unlimited potential of library services to make a positive difference to people’s lives and communities through a shared love of reading and access to high quality information, facilities and events.

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