As promised, this year’s Chudleigh Literary Festival, due to be held on Wednesday 10th July, is going to be bigger, better and a day you will not want to miss!

Morning Session: Historical Writing Wielding his Devonshire pen to start the day in traditional fashion with a CWC workshop, Dr Todd Gray FRHistS, MBE, Historian of the County of Devon, will be digging among the archives of a writer’s imagination in a fascinating session, full of historical insights, imagery and topical ideas. Anyone who was at last year’s festival will remember how the popularity of the evening session where Todd was interviewed by CWC Vice-Chair, Sharon Cook. Now he returns to take us through the intricacies of writing historical fiction and non-fiction. Doors will open for refreshments at 9.30am and the workshop will run from 10am to 12 noon. It will be free for CWC members. Visiting writers are most welcome; tickets £5.

Lunch Lunch will be in the marquee. Advance booking is essential; tickets £5.

Afternoon Session: Networking and Dragons Once again, we are throwing open the Marquee and inviting writers from across the South West to come to a free networking afternoon. This will be a chance to swap notes and offer or receive support and advice over tea and biscuits, with a wide range of colleagues and industry professionals from across the region. There will also be an opportunity to set up your own book stalls if you wish. And, back by popular demand, we will once again be running Face The Chudleigh Dragons! A superb chance for novelists to pitch their work to three delightful Literary Dragons in a safe and supportive atmosphere; with the chance of winning a manuscript assessment from those lovely folks at Creative Writing Matters, the brains behind the Exeter Novel Prize. Who will be the winner 2019? Our team of fire-breathers is now complete and the competition is OPEN. You can download entry details by clicking here. The networking event will run from 2pm to 5pm and is completely free of charge.

Literary Supper Supper will be in the marquee; advance booking is essential. There will be a licensed pay bar. This part of the day provides a bridge between the daytime events, which are focussed on writers, and the evening session, which is for all lovers of words. The supper is a chance for readers to meet and chat with some of the writers who make up the rich literary scene in the South West. Supper will run from 5pm to 7pm; tickets £9.

Evening Session: Jeopardy and Medieval Murder! Drum roll please! This year we have two amazing speakers joining us for the evening: Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones aka The Black Farmer, and Michael Jecks. Wilfred is the founder of The Black Farmer range of food and drinks; he was responsible for bringing some of the best-known chefs in the country on to TV for the first time, and is full of motivation, passion, determination and inspiration. He will be talking about his new book Jeopardy, The Danger of Playing it Safe on the Path to Success. Michael Jecks is a highly prolific historical novelist, and is best known for his Templar Series of medieval west country murder mysteries featuring Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock. This series is the longest -running crime series by any living author. Michael will be talking about how he researches his books, and talking about his latest novel The Sticklepath Strangler.