Top authors' weekend in Budleigh is big hit

Radio Exe is festival's media sponsor

A weekend literary festival in Budleigh Salterton, sponsored by Radio Exe, has been declared a big hit after hundreds of people flocked to the town to hear from thought-provoking authors.
 
Audiences at St Peter’s Church heard from BBC journalist and quiz-show host Clive Myrie, poet laureate Simon Armitage, mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, former head of the international affairs think tank Chatham House, Sir Robin Niblett and investigative journalists Hannah Barnes and Sam Peters.
 
And as part of its educational outreach work the festival also staged a special free event with Simon Armitage which was attended by around 250 A Level students from nine schools and colleges in the area.
 
Mr Armitage broke the alarming news that he’d prefer to walk the Pennine Way than the South West Coast Path, and that he finds it hard to finds words to describe the sea when writing poems about it.
 
The expert viewpoints of both Clive Myrie and Robin Niblett were fascinating about Ukraine, Gaza, and what a Trump win will mean for both these conflicts. Sam and Hannah talked about how most publishers were too frightened to publish their books that covered controversial topics but how important it was to talk about the topics they covered and mathematician Marcus Du Sautoy made it look very easy to win at games.

Sir Robin Niblett (left) was interviewed by Radio Exe's Paul Nero about his book 'The New Cold War'
 
Sue Briggs, chair of Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival, said: “It was wonderful to welcome such a diverse range of authors to Budleigh. All the talks were fascinating and insightful. We’re very grateful to the members of our committee and the many volunteers who ensure the Festival runs so smoothly and enables us to continue to bring such quality speakers to our town.”
 
Planning now begins for the main Festival which features as many as 70 authors and takes place between 18 and 22 September. Tickets for this go on sale to Festival Friends on July 15 and general sale a week later.
 
Sue added: “We appreciate everyone who supports the Festival by becoming a Festival Friend. Not only does it support our charitable work, but it also gives seven day priority booking, which can be very useful – Clive Myrie sold out within two hours of going on general sale!”
 
To become a Festival Friend and receive priority booking, visit www.budlitfest.org.uk