MOCK THE WEEK STAR AND HORRID HENRY CREATOR AMONG NAMES ANNOUNCED FOR 2024 IW STORY FESTIVAL

Horrid Henry creator Francesca Simon and Mock the Week star Alasdair Beckett-King lead the line-up of authors and speakers announced for the 2024 IW Story Festival, taking place next February half term. Tickets to see an array of authors, illustrators, filmmakers, musicians and all kinds of storytellers between 15th-17th February 2024, are on sale from Newport’s Quay Arts now. The opening day of the festival will see Horsebox Theatre return to the IW Story Festival after a sold-out performance earlier this year. They will be performing a stage adaptation of Vincent and the Mermaids, the new book by Island author Jules Marriner. Stand-up comedian turned writer, Kate Weston, will speak about her number of young adult books including Diary of a Confused Feminist, whilst Mick Smith will run a songwriting workshop, perfect for all budding musicians. Day 2 of the festivities will feature fantasy writer and festival favourite Kieran Larwood, as well as legendary poet John Hegley and illustrator Neal Layton, talking about the children’s book they collaborated on, Stanley’s Stick. The Enchanted Cinema will also be there, inviting the audience to become ‘the orchestra of enchanted sounds’ as they tell the stories of Where the Wild Things Are and Hedgehog in the Fog. Alasdair Beckett-King, best known for his appearances on Mock the Week, Radio 4’s News Quiz and perhaps his long hair, will present his stories about fictional detective Montgomery Bonbon whilst earlier in the day, Gerald Dickens – the great great grandson of Charles Dickens – will perform the winning stories written by primary school children taking part in an Island-wide competition. Inspiring young film-makers, the BAFTA longlisted James Clarke will run a screenwriting workshop – a topic which he has taught at the London Film School. Later in the day, James will compère an event with Julian Doyle, as he talks about his legendary career. In a talk that is promising the inside stories for some of the favourite films of the past decades, Julian will speak about his work on the Monty Python films including Life of Brian and Holy Grail, as well as directing music videos for Kate Bush and Iron Maiden. The final day of the IW Story Festival will be headlined by Francesca Simon, the best-selling creator of the staggeringly popular Horrid Henry series, as she talks about her latest book, Two Terrible Vikings. Visiting from Southampton, Nazneen Ahmed Pathak, the Hampshire Poet Laureate from 2022-2023, will speak about her debut children’s book City of Stolen Magic, which was Waterstones’ book of the month earlier this year. For slightly younger children, Isadora Moon author Harriet Muncaster will speak about her passion for magic sparkles and everything teeny tiny in her magical event that will feature draw-alongs, readings and quizzes. Kes Gray, who is best known for his Oi Frog picture books and Daisy Trouble chapter books can’t wait to speak about his 20 year, award-winning career. Other guests appearing at the 2024 IW Story Festival include Adam Gaterell, Apollo Youth Theatre, Creaturama, Dave Fairlamb, Holly Medland, Jo Cooper, King’s Pants Opera, Lauren Fry, Master of Disguise, Meg Hewison, Peta Rainford, Isabel Norwood, Russell Sheath, Sarah Docker, Simon Whitworth, Sue Bailey, Teresa Grimaldi and Tony Trowbridge. For more details, tickets and the full line-up visit www.iwstoryfestival.com.