The annual Portsmouth BookFest starts on 15th February and this year celebrates ten years of the festival with an exciting programme of events. This year almost all events will be delivered online via Zoom so that you can take part from the safety and comfort of your home.
The festival is run by Portsmouth City Library Service in partnership with independent booksellers The Hayling Island Bookshop. You can help support The Hayling Island Bookshop, one of the few remaining independent Bookshops on the south coast, by ordering many of the books from authors featured in BookFest. Just telephone (02392 466 620) or email your order (enquiries@haylingislandbookshop.co.uk) to us or use the Order tab on this website and we will arrange free local doorstep delivery or send books by post to you if you live further away.
This year, we are excited to welcome bestselling crime authors Mark Billingham and Leigh Russell to the festival. Leigh will appear as part of the all -day MysteryFest event on Saturday 6th March which has a theme of ‘all kinds of crime’ and will feature an expert talk on wildlife crime delivered by Dr Nick Pamment.
We are delighted that poet Lemn Sissay MBE will be appearing at BookFest for the first time. Lemn’s critically acclaimed, moving memoir My Name Is Why was published in 2019 and Lemn was featured on the BBC’s Imagine series.
Professor Jim Al-Khalili will be returning with a talk on the ‘The world according to physics’ and there will be talks on the history of Number 10 Downing Street by Jack Brown, Ireland by Ivan Gibbons and Harrier 809 with military historian Rowland White.
Local music historians Dave Allen and Mick Cooper will give a lively talk on the next instalment of Pompey Pop Pix – the illustrated history covers the music scene in Portsmouth from the 1970s to the 1990s.
As always there will be a range of writing classes delivered by local authors and writers including poetry for wellbeing, writing crime fiction and lots more.
Find the full programme at http://www.portsmouthbookfest.co.uk/2021-programme/ Tickets go on sale on Monday 11th January. Please book your tickets in advance as links to the Zoom events will be emailed to ticket holders two days before the events.