In Somerset both Yeovil and Taunton have Literary Festivals coming shortly. Yeovil’s is at the end of October – the 28^th through to 1^st November – and Taunton’s for three weeks in November, the 7^th to 28^th of the month. Both have much to entertain book lovers.

The Yeovil Literary Festival is a partnership between Watersons, Yeovil Community Arts Association, Yeovil Library and The Octagon Theatre. Many well known names will be there – Michael Morpurgo, Veronica Henry, Paddy Ashdown, Margaret Graham, Judith Kerr, Robert Winston, Jacqueline Wilson and Max Hastings to name a few, and to whet the appetite.

I have booked my tickets (The Octagon box office) and I have a modest slot on the Friday as winner of the 2015 Yeovil Prize Short Story Competition. See you there.

The Fifth Taunton Literary Festival is presented by Brendon Books, Taunton’s independent bookshop, also the venue for many of the talks. Gervase Phinn, Rachel Billington, Vince Cable, Martin Bell, Gulwali Passarly, Hilary Bradt, Kate Lord Brown and others will all be taking part during the three weeks.

And local writer Chella Ramanan’s Radio play, The Garden, is one to catch, Sunday 22^nd , 7pm at Brendon Books. During past months this has moved on from the first words on the page to a full script, to casting and recording.

I’ve not booked tickets yet, but will be doing so soon – the place to go is Brendon Books or on the website.

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