New chapter begins for Hexham Book Festival
A subtle turn of the page
With the dust yet to settle on the 20th Hexham Book Festival comes news of a change of stewardship ahead of next year’s 21st.
Festival founders Susie Troup and Gil Pugh are handing over the running of the popular event they built from scratch to Queen’s Hall Arts where most of the action happens anyway.
The story – not likely to appeal to those who revel in a page-turning thriller – is characterised as “a thoughtful and supported transition that builds on the festival’s strong foundations and reputation”.
Indeed, with creative director Liv Chapman staying on to oversee programming, the planning of next year’s festival is already underway.
Susie, the festival’s founding director, said: “I couldn’t be more delighted to be handing over a successful book festival, after 20 fabulous years, to the Queen’s Hall team.
“I am especially delighted that Liv Chapman has agreed to stay on to programme next year’s festival.
“Plus our programme for children and young people will also continue its valuable work thanks to the generous funding of The Gillian Dickinson Trust.
“We look forward to many more book-filled years under the stewardship of Queen’s Hall.”
If it means more work for Katy Taylor, artistic director and chief executive of the Queen’s Hall, she is making light of it.
“It is an absolute treat to be taking this on,” she said.
“I’m a lifelong book lover. As a child I was always being asked, ‘Will you ever get your nose out of that book?’
“I was never without one – even reading on the walk to school, which wasn’t easy for a very uncoordinated child.
“My favourite presents were always the books my grandparents chose. I still have them on my shelves.
“To this day I always carry a book — often a spare, too — and my floorboards groan under the ‘to be read’ pile by my bed.
“I love the places reading takes me, the ideas it sparks and the conversations it opens up. I’ve kept a reading diary for more than a decade. Perhaps there’ll be fewer entries as we take on the festival - but many more conversations with authors, agents and readers.”
The Queen’s Hall, she said, was run by “a team of unabashed bibliophiles, all deeply committed to the festival’s future”.
She promised to stay true to what has always made the festival special, “working closely with the existing team to ensure its spirit, ambition and sense of discovery continue to thrive”.
The team would be expanded to support the festival, she said, with a new administrator to be appointed.
For Susie and Gil, it would appear to be a case of a job very well done. Hexham Book Festival has grown in popularity and standing over two decades, making talk of books and reading going out of fashion – particularly in this part of the world - seem hardly credible.