23-26 September… St Endellion… author talks… newbie workshops… stalls… shops… chow… art… craft. Oh yeah, it’s the North Cornwall Book Festival.

There are a couple of truly BIG book fairs and festivals. Those are important, and/or, fun. Sometimes. But for a sense of sheer community, and a slower pace that enables you to actually digest some of what is being talked about, not to mention a conspicuous absence of high budget consumer processing – the smaller, regional lit fests are the best.

I live in the South West – so for me, any festivals and fairs around Devon, Cornwall or Somerset is on my list. North Cornwall is about as beautiful a place as you can find on planet earth. There’s also a workshop on pop-up books (where else can you learn about those) and one on graphology.

There are only about five or six festivals left this year, so if you’re in the area, take advantage.