An annual literary festival has long been missing round these parts, and so we’re pleased ArchWay With Words is back this year for a second stab.
This time, the festival takes place over two weeks from October 11th with most events a fiver, and many in fact free of charge, including all kiddie activities. And it’s all ever so easy to navigate: the main venue is the Archway Methodist Church on Archway ‘Island’ (you know where we mean), and the library, drama school, market and pubs are all hosting sessions too.
And organiser Steph Smith has been pretty good at roping in some big names to sign up for this year’s forty-odd events. Crowd-pullers like Will Self, Stella Duffy and Charlie Higson top the bill, with lots of our former Ich Bin interviewees and contributors popping up, including Michele Hanson, Salena Godden and Harriet Lane, whose recent novel Her was pretty much our our read of the summer.
But how did it all start? “I was at Archway Market one day and the actor Bill Paterson came and bought a cauliflower,” says Steph. “Later on Paul Morley came by, as did Michele Hanson, and it struck me that if you throw a stick in Archway, you’re likely to hit someone creative, and that we have more than our fair share of illustrious locals to start a festival. And then it just grew. AWWW 2013 really stirred things up. The quality of the events took people by surprise at first, as if we don’t deserve to have such things round our way – but once it got going it was a huge success.”
And the good news is that this new-found confidence means “a new breadth of interest this year, with eminent scientists, historians and non-fiction writers illuminating fascinating subjects alongside a stellar line-up of comics, poets and children’s writers.”
So you can hear all about 18th century bohemians, storytelling in video games or cross-dressing in Victorian London. Oo-er. Fans of poetry will lap up a spoken word spectacular, which stars comedian John Hegley, while Rastamouse creator Michael de Souza will delight the ankle-biters.
And most intriguing of all? A repeat of last year’s Wuthering Heights flashmob, where hundreds of locals bundled together to belt out perhaps the most famous song about a book ever. We might just have to witness that one ourselves this time round.
