Literature festivals are all the rage these days; tourist honeypots including Hay, Cheltenham and Fowey all host quite different annual events which attract A-list speakers and thousands of visitors. In the meantime, however, a series of literary events has been quietly building momentum right here in the Wye Valley.
It all began during the 2008 Chepstow Festival when Matt Taylor, proprietor of Chepstow Bookshop, spotted an opportunity to add a new dimension to the multi-arts event. He got together with local authors to host a series of talks that would provide festival-goers with a chance to explore literary themes more fully and to discover what inspired authors to write. The response was immediate, leading Matt to consider how the idea could be developed into a regular feature of Chepstow life.
With a background in events management for a national book chain, Matt was well placed to develop a name for Chepstow on the national tour schedule for authors. And since that beginning in 2008, the talks series has grown and grown, attracting ever more illustrious names to the small border town to read their works and discuss what inspired them.
Over eighty events were held in 2009 with an attendance of 16,000, helped in no small part by well-known names including Clarissa Dickson-Wright, Alison Weir, Frank Gardner and Vince Cable. Signing sessions by Sir David Attenborough and Justin Lee Collins drew huge crowds to the bookshop itself with Sir David signing almost 900 books in 3 hours. And many will recall the visit from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as a particular high point due to the Made in Monmouthshire farmers’ market which accompanied the food-warrior’s talk.
The 2010 season has already seen authors Jasper Fforde, Jodi Picoult and William Fiennes dropping in for a chat and in July expect to see more huge crowds outside the bookshop when Michael Palin signs copies of his latest book. Matt hints that he has ambitious plans for the autumn season but refuses to give away any more than that at this stage.
What is public knowledge is that the events series has helped Chepstow Bookshop to the title of ‘Independent Bookshop of the Year’ for Wales and the Midlands, in the Gardners Independent Bookseller of the Year Awards. Judges praised Matt and his team for their ‘vibrant, exciting shop that really brings books to life and is loved by its customers.’
Ultimately, Matt isn’t trying to replicate the great literary festivals; instead the Chepstow Bookshop series of talks and signings provides a reason to visit Chepstow at any time of the year and to be sure that there will always be somebody worth writing home about.
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