Literary festival has stories by the sea for all

By Paul Bromley, volunteer arts reviewer 

The first literature festival in Eastbourne is taking place next month, with the aim of celebrating stories by the sea. 

More than 40 talks, discussions and events have been arranged at venues around the town for the weekend of 25-27 September. 

Whose idea was it for a literature festival for Eastbourne?  

The man behind Eastbourne LitFest is Russ Miles who comes from Eastbourne. He is a technologist with a Masters degree in software engineering and is also a writer. 

Russ wrote in a blog post on the festival website: “I wanted to create a warm and welcoming community of writers and lovers of literature in my home town of Eastbourne. 

“Through a celebration of books, through approachable and welcoming contact with local and globally-renowned authors, through panel discussions, activities, competitions, we want every single person who takes part in this festival to feel that they are a writer.” 

One of Russ’s early social media posts about the festival was spotted by a friend of education consultant and former teacher Jane Branson, who is now one of the main festival organisers alongside Jane Midwinter, a poet who is a former primary school headteacher. 

Russ now has a strategic role because of work commitments but remains as festival chair of trustees. 

Who is Eastbourne LitFest organiser Jane Branson? 

Jane has lived and worked in the Eastbourne area since 1994. 

She studied English at Sussex University then trained as a teacher at Reading before moving back to Sussex and has worked in schools in Sussex ever since. Her first job was at Heathfield Community College teaching English and “dabbling” in drama and media. 

Jane then went to Peacehaven Community School when it first opened 25 years ago in 2001 as head of English.  

She proudly tells me that one of the children she taught at Peacehaven will be at the festival with his debut book (Mike Enever with Ghosts of Morrow). 

Jane was an English adviser and consultant to East Sussex County Council before setting up her own consultancy business in 2015. She now works in primary and secondary schools supporting the teaching of English through reading, writing and poetry. 

“I have a library of eight suitcases of children’s books that I take into schools,” she said. 

Jane is a member of six (yes, six) book groups although that includes two groups for work, such as a network with other teachers across the country. 

She estimates she reads about 100 books a year. Some are the children’s fiction she has to read for work and the tally includes audiobooks.  

Jane doesn’t read books on electronic devices. “I like the smell of a page too much,” she says. 

Her love of reading comes from childhood. 

“One of my earliest memories is going to bed, having been read a story, but feeling the weight of the books that had been read to me still on my feet. I must have been about three.  

“Then I had chickenpox when I was five and my mum gave me her old copies of The Famous Five in their funny old 1940s’ red binding. And I was hooked.” 

Her first paid job was as a Saturday assistant in the library at Fareham, near Portsmouth. “The smell of books had me very quickly,” she says. 

What are the aims of Eastbourne LitFest? 

Jane explains that the LitFest is a registered charity. Patrons include former Children’s Laureate Dame Jacqueline Wilson, journalist and author Lucy Mangan and Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde. 

“Our charitable aims are basically to break down barriers between reading and people. That's essentially what we're trying to do and we're doing it in lots of different ways,” she says. 

“What we really want to do is get more people locally engaged in books because the benefits are so well documented. I don't want to sound like too much of an evangelical person about reading, but I am pretty evangelical about it. The benefits of reading to children and being a reader are written into so many pieces of research now.” 

"We are trying to reach the hardest parts of society … we have some pockets of extreme deprivation in Eastbourne. We have children who don't own a book” 

Jane regularly attends literature festivals including those at Charleston, near Lewes, and Cuckfield in West Sussex, where she has met authors and writers. 

“That's another big part of what we're doing this for, to try to create something culturally valuable for Eastbourne. There's clearly a gap in the market because we haven't got our own festival and a lot of towns of the size of Eastbourne have,” she says. 

Jane explained that she was clear from the start that she wanted Eastbourne LitFest to be different from other festivals. 

She added: “I don't want to project any kind of rules or elitism about reading. I really want our festival to be for everyone. So we were very clear with our charitable aim about working with schools, trying to reach the hardest parts of society … we have some pockets of extreme deprivation in Eastbourne. We have children who don't own a book.” 

There are 44 events planned from a poetry walk and plays at Eastbourne Bandstand to conversations with authors and drama workshops. Some are free to attend and others are ticketed. 

How did the organisers choose LitFest speakers and panellists?  

Jane is a writer herself, having been on a creative writing course since 2013. “It started by me just contacting every single person in the book world I could think of,” she says. 

Jane then met local author Dame Jacqueline Wilson at Charleston Festival last year. She agreed to appear and become a patron. 

“She's been absolutely brilliant. She's such a fantastic supporter. And she's going to be appearing at the festival. We've got this line-up where we've got fans across the generations who are going to interview her,” said Jane. One of those fans is Jane’s 22-year-old daughter. 

Jane explained how other attendees were confirmed. “It started to build a bit of momentum because once I'd reached out to all the people I knew, then I started to be more confident and I started to just reach out to anyone I could think of. And people started to say ‘yes’.  

“And then I started to get emails saying, ‘I hear you're running a festival, can I come?’ And that was really nice. I felt like we might be on to something here.” 

Is there anyone Jane Branson is particularly looking forward to attending? 

Jane doesn’t hesitate as she replies enthusiastically: “Oh, well, Lucy Mangan. I’ve read both her books: Bookworm and Bookish.  

“If you love books, it's like going out for a couple of tea or coffee with someone else who loves books and just chatting. I'm a big fan of audiobooks and she reads them and I just love listening to her talking about books.” 

She is also proud of organising events with Sussex-based writers such as the evening of poetry and stories with Henry Normal and Tim Barlow which ends the festival as well as having Sussex writer C.J. Tudor discussing her new book Serenity Falls. 

One of the other headline performers is former Labour leader Lord (Neil) Kinnock talking about his life in politics, although he doesn’t have a book to promote. 

Jane says: “Our tagline is ‘Celebrating Stories by the Sea’. We’re not focused just on books, we are looking at plays, poetry, oral stories and we have a couple of live podcasts coming because that’s a modern way people tell stories to each other. The written word is only part of it.” 

What support is there for Eastbourne LitFest from the community? 

Jane rattles off a whole list of places and organisations which are supporting the festival from venues such as Eastbourne College and Towner gallery to the central library and bookshop Waterstones. 

She also has support from Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce. 

“I knew the world of education, I knew how it works. I'm known in all the schools … but going to the Chamber of Commerce breakfast for the first time and having to stand up in front of all the business owners and say, ‘I'm a new festival, it's a new charity and please really support us’ was really scary.  

“But of course they've all been really helpful and kind and they've given us so much support, practically and financially.” 

Will Eastbourne LitFest be a one-off event? 

Jane says the charity has a ten-year business plan and already has a list of people for next year’s event, also scheduled for the last weekend of September. 

“Our intention is to be here for a long time. My ambition is that in ten years’ time I want to be a destination festival where people know Eastbourne LitFest happens on the last weekend in September,” she adds.

:: For information on how to support the Eastbourne LitFest Charity, visit the website.

:: To support genuine journalism like this, which involves many hours of research and interviewing, pop on here and help for the price of a coffee.

:: Paul Bromley, who has an English degree from Leeds University, is a qualified journalist and broadcaster who worked for 40 years for regional newspapers, the Press Association and Sky News. He now works in community rail. He is a volunteer writer with Eastbourne Reporter