BroadstairsLit, the year-round literary festival, has announced it is postponing all live events for the rest of 2020.
Describing the decision as “sad but necessary,” Festival Director Denise Martin-Harker said: “Our priority has to be the safety of our audiences and the visiting authors. We felt that uncertainty over future reinfection rates of Covid-19 and the need for strict social-distancing measures, made this our only sensible option.”
Ex Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who was due to visit Broadstairs in October, has already confirmed a new date of June 27,2021. All existing tickets will be carried forward, and new ones will go on sale from January. Crime writer Martina Cole will also be re-scheduled.
“We are delighted that all the authors who were booked for 2020 are keen to come to next year,” said Denise. “So 2021 will see a bumper programme.”
Other events already confirmed include an exclusive Lara Maiklem Mudlarking event to be held on March 21, 2021, and Erin Kelly, novelist and scriptwriter on Broadchurch, on April 11. Others will be announced in due course.
In the meantime, BroadstairsLit are offering a series of online author interviews . These short films with best-selling authors, include Clare Mackintosh talking about her latest novel After the End, Bake-off star Chetna Makan discussing her Healthy Indian Vegetarian, Jane Wenham-Jones chatting about the Broadstairs-based One Glass is Never Enough and most recently, Lara Maiklem demonstrating the finds detailed in her hugely successful book Mudlarking.
More interviews are planned. Those interested are urged to visit the BroadstairsLIt website, and sign up for their newsletter.
The team at BroadstairsLit advise that ticket refunds, where appropriate, will happen automatically for those purchased through their website via We Got Tickets. Anyone with queries should email [email protected]