Derbyshire Literature Festival

Derbyshire Literature Festival will take place during 11 - 20 May 2012, and will feature various exhibitions and personal appearances by writers.

Commendably, most events will take place in leisure centres and libraries throughout Derbyshire, rather than being concentrated in Derby itself or at the University, thus bringing the festival much closer to home for many people than is usually the case with these things.

I`m told that more than 65 events are planned, and a quick skim through the promotional booklet showed that around 40 locations are involved, including Haddon Hall, and the aforementioned libraries and leisure centres, including those at Alfreton, Bakewell, Calke, Dronfield, Eckington, Fairfield, Glossop, Holymoorside, Ilkeston, both of the Matlocks, Newbold, Whitwell and Wingerworth.

Writers will include Deirdre O`Brien, Morag Joss, Sinclair McKay, Debjani Chatterjee, Paul Kane, Marie O`Regan and Steven Dunne.

I`m sure many of the writers will have their own stories to tell, but perhaps none more notable than that of Jasvinder Sanghera (Ilkeston Library, 16 May) who survived a forced marriage and went on to become not only a writer but a co-founder of Karma Nirvana (www.karmanirvana.org.uk) , a project that supports those affected by so-called `honour` crimes and forced marriage.

That`s enough from me. To find out more about the festival, visit www.derbyshire.gov.uk/festival .