Welcome to Poole Literary Festival

The Past, Present & Future of the Written Word

An amazing array of authors came to Poole over the Half Term Weekend to inspire and entertain us.  We hosted 50 events and 43 writers from across the UK. The current Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy enriched us, Michael Morpurgo moved us deeply, Gervase Phinn made us hoot with laugher, Minette Walters thrilled us with her anecdotes and Lighthouse Cafe was alive with music and poetry readings.  Our workshops were full of people keen to develop their writing skills, children made text t-shirts,  joined the sculpture trail, listened to stories, created art and had fun.  Young People did more and dived into a full day of activities, treasured books were signed, delicious Apple cake was relished, 10 artists created fascinating work from discarded books, and most importantly we shared an experience that was uplifting and made us laugh, cry and think.  

The New Media Writing Prize is now closed.

The short listed entries

Professional Prize
Naomi Alderman: The Winter House
Katharine Norman: Yes Really
Christine Wilks: Underbelly
Alan Bigelow: My Summer Vacation
Jim Andrews: On Lionel Kearns
Anna Pitt: The 02 tales

Student Prize
Lorenza Samuels: Evidence
Emily Hollingsworth: Anonymous

 At the NMWP awards ceremony the prizes of an Apple ipad and £250 went to Lorenza Samuels for Evidence and Christine Wilks for Underbelly.  Two very worthy winners, congratulations to them both.  It appears that the girls have the upper hand in New Media Writing, it will be interesting to see if this continues in 2011.

This is a fantastic opportunity to embrace the potential of digital media to engage a generation of storytellers. If you would like more information about sponsoring our prestigious New Media Writing Prize for 2011 then get in touch. It's your chance to be associated with a major new prize that looks into the future of the written word.