Words by the Water, now in its 9th year, has a reputation for bringing some of the best writers and broadcasters in the world to Cumbria – and it’s much more than a literature festival, it is a festival of ideas with speakers on a huge range of topics from poetry to philosophy, fiction to faith, history, psychology, architecture, and of course the Lake District.

As well as the national literary figures, watch out for these locally-based events in the festival next week:

Monday 8 March
11am-5.30pm – Northwest Voices
Studio – Day Ticket £20
Readings and discussions from Northwest writers, celebrating the strength and diversity of the region’s wide-ranging literary output, covering poetry, short fiction and novel writing.
Events during the day:
• John Murray talks to Sue Allan – Comedy, Cumbria and Dialect
• POETRY SHOWCASE – Flapjack Press presents Jackie Hagan, Gerry Potter and Helen Thomas
• SHORT STORY SHOWCASE – Comma Press presents Zoe Lambert and Annie Clarkson
• NOVEL SHOWCASE – Literature Northwest presents Jenn Ashworth and Brigid Rose
• SURVIVING AS A WRITER – To round off the day, publishers Ra Page and Paul Neads lead a discussion on the pitfalls and practicalities of surviving as a writer, finding an audience for your work, and most important of all developing a voice. The days events are run in association with Slate.

7pm-9pm – The Need for Narrative: Amy Bloom and Jacob Polley and, after the interval, Matt Hilton
Main House – £8
Three consummate storytellers – two of them Cumbrian authors – introduce their books and discuss what stories offer to readers. From love to violence, a paper page can terrify, move and intrigue us. Why? (includes 20 minute interval)

Tuesday 9 March
9pm-10.30pm – Open Mic Cabaret with students from the University of Cumbria
Circle Gallery
Come to have a drink and hear new poems from new voices.

Thursday 11 March
10am-1.30am – Poetry Breakfast – Coffee, Croissants And Poetry
Circle Gallery £6
Bring a poem to read, one of your own or one you admire. (Advance booking essential)

Friday 12th March
12 noon – Sarah Hall, Chris Wadsworth and James Long – Can Creative Writing Be Taught?
Main House – £8
Whilst running an art gallery Chris Wadsworth has published two volumes of memoirs/short stories about her experiences. She was encouraged by James Long who was her writing tutor on a Ways With Words course in Italy. Sarah Hall, a successful, prize-winning novelist, who has been short-listed for the Booker prize, has both been taught and taught on university courses. So did the teaching make a difference?

7pm-8.30pm – A Poetry Reading
Bob Fowler, Jeremy Over, Chris Pilling and Mary Robinson will read from their latest collections, while the late Tom Rawling’s poems will be read by Michael Baron
Studio – £7
• Bob Fowler introduces his diary of ‘Private Verses’.
• Jeremy Over’s work has been described as ‘a menthol lozenge on the confectionery stall of modern poetry’ Vic Allen, The North.
• Chris Pilling has published nine collections of poetry and is highly acclaimed as a translator of poetry from French.
• Mary Robinson’s first collection, The Art of Gardening,
• Tom Rawling (1916-1996) was born in Cumbria and wrote of farming and family life in Ennerdale.

Saturday 13th March
11.30am – Free, but ticketed
Words by the Water/Mirehouse Poetry Competition Event
“The bliss of solitude” – John Burnside, the competition judge, will introduce the winning poets and discuss the process of judging the competition. The winning poems will be read and John Burnside will give a short reading of his own poems.

SPECIAL 2 for 1 OFFER! G.P. Taylor & Claire Connor A Collaboration Friday 12th March, 5.30pm. Buy two tickets to this event for the price of one – just £9.
To take advantage of the offer please quote code COL241 when booking your tickets – either in person at Theatre by the Lake’s Box Office or by phone on 017687 71141.

Find the festival’s full programme details and download a copy of the brochure here