Pupils from local schools read at Monmouth Library ahead of the town's literary festival
While the eyes of the literary world are usually focused on Hay around this time of year, it is in a border town 33 miles down the river that another book revolution is quietly stirring.
The Monmouth Literary Festival may not trip off the tongue in quite the same way, but as locals gear up for the second annual instalment, there are hopes it may one day rival its more illustrious neighbour.
It starts on Monday and is organised by local schoolchildren, who believe they are the youngest people to run such an event in the UK.
As well as raising over £10,000 to allow the week-long festival to go ahead, they have attracted big names, including poet laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy and Abergavenny-raised former Welsh Book of the Year winner Owen Sheers.
While Hay was founded by friends around a kitchen table 28 years ago, Monmouth's equivalent can be traced to similarly humble beginnings- one of the town's classrooms, little over a year ago.
The idea of a 'mini Hay' was first suggested by the joint schools' council- set up to foster links between the town's comprehensive school, Monmouth School and Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls (HMSG).
In its first year, an array of poets, journalists and storytellers performed in front of over 1,000 pupils at 10 local primary and secondary schools.
While the 2014 edition was aimed at the area's schoolchildren, this year's offering will be for the whole town and is on an altogether different scale.
Former Welsh Book of the Year winner Owen Sheers will talk about his new book I Saw a Man
A committee was formed of two pupils from each of the secondary schools and they helped raise £10,000 to fund the event.
The Rotary Club of Monmouth and the town council gave a combined £5,500 after listening to presentations by the youngsters, while money was also gained from sponsorship and the 'friends' of both schools.
With the help of teachers and librarians, pupils then began approaching children's authors and well-known local writers.
Lucy Neil, 18, from Monmouth Comprehensive, said that the financial backing and the quality of the people they attracted, illustrates the potential of the festival to expand, adding: "It is important to expose young people to literature and the arts, as young people do not tend to read as in years gone by."
Pupils outside Monmouth's Savoy Theatre, where a Shakespeare Revue will be performed and poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy will put some of her work to music
Former Monmouth School pupil, Welsh rugby international, journalist and BBC Wales sports commentator Eddie Butler said he had mistakenly believed he was part of "a rearguard" trying to keep the pastime of reading alive. But events such as this have helped change his opinion.
He will appear at the Blake Theatre, where he will talk about his novel The Head of Gonzo Davies, a fictional tale about an ex Welsh international rugby player who returns to his struggling village club.
"I am nearly tempted to say that I, not so very young, and the organising pupils, full of the enterprise of youth, are part of the same rearguard - a retreating effort to will people to carry on reading (and buying) books," he said.
"But I have found at various festivals and gatherings for Gonzo over the past nine months that the process may be less portentous (and less mercenary) than that. We have a chat and, with luck, a laugh or two, and... well, that's about it really."
The young organisers hope the festival puts Monmouth 'on the literary map'
It is this kind of simple enthusiasm for literature that rubbed off on school pupils and now they want to share it with the whole town, with many of them busy over the last few weeks distributing flyers and putting up posters.
Alice Reynolds, 17, of HMSG, said she wanted the festival to build on "the buzz" created through last year's event and was looking forward to the authors speaking, performing and working with students again.
"This year there are evening events being held in community locations which will enable the town to share the festival with the schools.
"Due to the range of these and selection of authors speaking, there will be something for everyone and all ages. We also hope that the festival will put Monmouth on the literary map," she added.
The first woman to be named poet laureate, Dame Carol Ann, is there
The programme includes comedy, music and discussions with different writers at the Blake and Savoy theatres as well as a meet the authors event with Julia Gregson, Abbie Ross and Christopher Wakling at Shire Hall.
While Charlie Walker, 14, from Monmouth School said it is "amazing" that so many well-known authors are taking part, a look up the road to what has happened in Hay proves what is possible.
Last year Monmouth put on an event for its school pupils, this year the whole of the town is invited. Who knows how many people will be welcomed to its literary festival in 2016.
- Published22 May 2015
- Published11 July 2014
