The Bath Children’s Literature Festival returns to the city, running from 27th September – 6th October, and alongside appearances by a host of authors and celebrities, they’ve lined up a special Doctor Who Night, and comic workshops, too.
The full Festival programme is online here. Events are ticketed separately, but there are discounts available when booking more than one event, for the Doctor Who Night, for example.
BEANO’s Mike Stirling and Craig Graham lead an event on Sunday 29th September, encouraging participants to create a Supersonic Beano in as fast a time as possible!
The brilliantly creative duo of Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve will be on hand during the Festival for all sorts of events, including workshops.
Drawing on his experiences as a cartoonist, storyteller and coming to the UK as a refugee, author-illustrator and comic book creator Ramzee, writer of The Cheat Book, will explain the creative process behind his story, on Saturday 5th October, what a cheat book actually is and how he developed the distinctive voice of his main character Kamal, who is on a journey from invisible to invincible at school.
For time travel fans, on Friday 4th October, there’s a special Doctor Who Night, encompassing three separate ticketed events (but you can book all three at a 20% discount).
The Adventures Before: What did Osgood do the morning of the Day of the Doctor? What happened to Tegan before Arc of Infinity, and why does it involve strange sentient lights in the Australian outback? Join Doctor Who stars Janet Fielding (who played companion Tegan) and Ingrid Oliver (who played Osgood) as they talk to John McLay about their time in the programme and the stories they have written for an incredible new collection of prequel-themed Doctor Who short stories.
Writing Doctor Who with Gary Russell and Steve Cole: There’s not much Gary Russell and Steve Cole don’t know about writing Doctor Who. Lifelong fans and prolific authors of both original fiction and multiple reference books, this entertaining duo will share their stories about writing for the various Doctors they have known and the many different planets and dimensions that their imaginations have travelled to as a result.
Legendary Companions with Sophie Aldred: Companion royalty Sophie Aldred chats to John McLay about her time as an on-screen assistant to the Doctor in the new and classic eras along with her recent writing adventures. Sophie talks about her stories in the Origins anthology and her debut novel, released in 2021, At Childhood’s End, which both featured her character, Ace.
The full Festival programme is online here.
Bath Children’s Literature Festival was established in 2007 and is the largest dedicated children’s literature festival in Europe, always offering a vibrant array of talks and activities for children. The Festival regularly attracts some of the biggest children’s authors and illustrators from the UK and internationally.
The ethos of the festival is simple: to entertain children, and to enthuse them about reading. The festival aims to create a friendly, family atmosphere in which young book fans can come along to Festival events and meet their favourite authors and book characters. Events regularly feature humour and book readings, as well as craft activities, quizzes and games. Signing queues after some events are legendary – be aware they can last up to three hours for the biggest names!
• Bath Children’s Literature Festival returns to the city, running from 27th September – 6th October 2024 | Web: bathfestivals.org.uk/childrens-literature | View this year’s Bath Children’s Literature Festival brochure here | Click here to sign up to email updates and to be the first to find out our latest news.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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