It's Time for the Crouch End Festival!

It’s here again! The Crouch End Festival, UK’s largest community arts event, is now in its fifth year, and this, the 2016 festival will be bigger than ever.

There’s everything from open air cinema, live music, art, poetry, food and even a Latino Day when Crouch End goes all Latin. Check out the programme of events between 10 – 19th June on the festival website here. Most of the events are FREE, so it’s worthwhile making a trip to North London next week!

You may not be surprised that I’m organising a few literary events for the festival. Here are my highlights:

Desert Island Books 14th & 17th June

Each evening of 14th and 17th June, four authors share their Desert Island Book choices at Harris + Hoole coffee house. Both evenings start at 6.30pm.

Imagine that due to unseasonal flooding, all of London is under water, apart from a small area around the Crouch End Clock Tower. You may have to suspend your disbelief a little …

On the 14th June, I’m joined by queen of domestic thrillers, Louise Millar, author of gritty and fast-paced London Detective Belsey series, Oliver Harris, and TV Doctor and author of contemporary fiction Carol Cooper. The authors will talk about which books they’d like to have on a Crouch End desert island, and read from their latest work. The authors will be kept in check by historian and writer Chris West.

On the 17th June, ‘Great comedy talent’, Dominic Frisby, hosts the second instalment of Desert Island Books with Ann Richardson, non-fiction author of true stories, Yana Stajno, artist and author of comic romance, Lucy Branch, author of magical realism thrillers, and Clare Lydon, writer of contemporary lesbian romance.

Joan Ellis One Woman Show 16th June

On 16th June, Crouch End Festival sees the return of the fabulous Crouch End local, Joan Ellis. Award-winning advertising copywriter, comedy writer, performer, lecturer – Joan Ellis has been them all. Now an acclaimed author, Joan is performing her new show, written for any woman: ‘A Woman’s Wit, Wisdom and Pratfalls’ showcasing our funny bones and our flaws.

Meet the flip, fearful, fantastic women from her four, 5* books: chick lit, memoir and psychological thrillers including the acclaimed chiller, ‘The Killing of Mummy’s Boy’, inspired by Joan’s real life encounter with a murderer on a train. Having survived, his twisted insights into a criminal mind were too good to waste.

Joan also takes a wry view of a woman’s lot, including the perils of working with animals, children and celebrities in 80s Adland, (think Mad Men meet Bridget Jones) and bringing up baby, alone, juggling a fulltime job, running a comedy club and larging it, in a very small way, in Crouch End. Join Joan Ellis at 7.30 pm in Harris+Hoole.

So You Want to Be a Writer?

On Wednesday 15th June at 6 pm, author and publisher Roelof Bakker of Negative Press, founder and Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors Orna Ross, author Oliver Harris, adwoman & performer Joan Ellis and literary agent Chris Wellbelove discuss what it takes to write a book, and how to get published.