Words by the Water literature festival is set to make a splash this March
Kay Dunbar and Stephen Bristow
Words by the Water is an annual ten-day literature festival hosted by Theatre by the Lake at Keswick, Cumbria. This year the festival will run from March 5th to 14th, and speakers will include Melvyn Bragg, Fay Weldon and Ken Bruce.
Festival co-director Kay Dunbar explains what made Keswick the perfect site for Words by the Water.
“We’ve been running a large festival at Dartington Hall in Devon for almost 20 years and when the Theatre by the Lake opened for the millennium we were asked by a literary mover and shaker in the area, Michael Baron, if we would be interested in running a festival in Cumbria. We loved everything about it: the new theatre, its setting on the banks of wonderful Derwentwater and the friendly and helpful staff. Also I am a Northerner so have a particular love of Cumbria!”
This will be the ninth Words by the Water festival, and Kay says: “The festival has grown in all directions since we started. It’s longer with a fuller programme of about 90 events and more people come to it. The festival is designed to appeal to a wide range of people.”
The varied programme of events will cover politics, social issues, science, philosophy and art.
“We are a bit Radio 4 orientated with Libby Purves, Melvyn Bragg, Michael Buerk coming. But we also have Radio 2 stars Stuart Maconie and Ken Bruce. Melvyn Bragg (a Cumbrian) is much loved, his event was one of the first to sell out, but now he is doing a second event on Sunday March 7th at 9.30am about the end of the South Bank Show and the arts in Britain generally. Although this isn’t in the programme I feel sure it will sell out too.”
Highlights will also include an appearance from Diarmaid MacCulloch, who has just finished a television series on The History of Christianity.
With next year being the tenth festival, Kay and her co-director Stephen Bristow are already making plans to celebrate.
For further information and a full programme please visit www.wordsbythewater.org.uk
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