A fortnight’s worth of artistic celebration and entertainment has been enjoyed by visitors across the Gainsborough area thanks to the town’s new WordFest event.
Dozens of events have been held throughout September that have included street theatre, children's authors, heritage talks and walks, children’s activities, and storytelling by local authors.
Organised by West Lindsey District Council, the events were staged to allow Gainsborough to ‘find its voice’, with something of interest to everyone.
One of the more recent events saw Gainsborough’s Market Place transformed into a literary village, where visitors had the chance to meet and talk with local authors and illustrators, while bookstalls, mainly run by local writing groups, allowed people to sample for themselves the creativity of the area’s very own authors.
Natalie Mould, from Gainsborough, was among the visitors into town on Saturday to experience the event’s sights and sounds.
She said:
“I often come to events here, with the children, and it’s been great to see so many people here.
“I’ve always encouraged reading with the children. They took part in the six-week reading challenge at the library recently, which they really enjoyed, so all of this has been something they’ve really enjoyed experiencing.”
The event was run to coincide with the monthly Farmers’ and Craft Market, which gave visitors the chance to experience WordFest while browsing fresh, local, homemade and handmade produce from a variety of traders.
Among the authors at WordFest was Jenny Oyston, a mental health educator and advisor, who writes non-fiction.
Speaking at WordFest she said:
“I work in mental health, so I mostly write books around this subject. I’m here today to talk about my first book ‘Who Am I?’, my first publication, and it’s all about how to find your own identity and realise your own potential.
“People have problems in their lives because they don’t really know themselves and you really need to get to know yourself in your own skin before you can get the most out of yourself.”
Jenny is currently working on her second book, which is about relationships, and hopes to continue writing more follow up books.
Elsewhere in Market Place, Sarah Wilson-Clark, and her daughter Erin, were talking about their book “I Don’t Want To Share’. Sarah, who works as a teacher with children with behaviour needs, says the book tells the story of Emily, who struggles to share, but after starting school learns she can share with help and support.
She said:
“The strategy of teaching children to share is massive so I decided to write a story about it and that’s how this all came about.”
Her daughter Erin, who studied Creative Digital Media at college, has created the illustrations for the book.
“Most of my art is pretty much self-taught. Emily herself just came from the top of my head and I generally just generate characters fresh like that.”
Throughout the day a horse-drawn carriage provided rides from Market Place to the library, where visitors were able to browse the shelves for inspiration and also meet BBC journalist Sharon Edwards, who read from her children’s book The Most Dangerous Spy.
Sharon said:
“I was really impressed with the enthusiasm of the children towards their reading and they also got really involved in the Morse Code practical exercises in my presentation. The parents and the children were really engaged and I had lots of lovely chats with them about the book and my research into it and also my writing.
“It’s quite surreal seeing your book for loan in a public library – especially one that you used so much at one time! It’s also very thrilling for me because the book was inspired by Gainsborough’s story and I started my journalism career in Gainsborough and spent many lunch hours in that library. Happy memories.”
Sharon also presented the Summer Reading Challenge certificates.
Work created by local people in workshops held during the summer, including a book of short stories by Gainsborough Voices (with author Gill Blow), was on display on one of the stalls was given out to people on the day, as was a display of art journals (with artist Tracey Jones).
Gill Blow, put together Gainsborough Voices earlier this year, with a view to helping local people develop their creative writing skills. She said the book of short stories was the culmination of a short writing course and contains work by eight local contributors.
She said:
“The course was only six weeks, so they really did a lot of work in that short time. We used photos and images about people and places as a starting point, and people began to write from there.”
Broadbent Theatre and children’s author Jacqueline Evans with Jake the three-legged Dog entertained children with stories in the story-telling tent on the Market Place.
The Literature Village Market on 14 September was just part of a fortnight of events as part of Gainsborough WordFest. The Old Hall had welcomed people to a fascinating history talk about Gainsborough’s women in business – women who were literally ‘at the helm’ of ships and barges as well as shops, pubs and businesses.
Also at the Old Hall, was a very entertaining afternoon focused on the Lincolnshire dialect with a talk and Lincolnshire folk music. The Old Nick Theatre hosted two exciting events – Gill Blow’s Page to Stage demonstration of how a play is produced and a first of its kind electronica music evening. The fortnight was rounded off in style with Helen Hagon (a writer and translator) leading a poetry workshop at Spokes Café. Helen has pulled together the poem from ‘Poem on a Roll’ started at the Literature Village – watch out for the final version on the Council’s social media pages.
Cllr Jeanette McGhee, one of the ward members for Gainsborough, said she was delighted with how the first Gainsborough WordFest had gone.
“I’m thrilled the events has been able to reach out to so many people. WordFest has been a great way for local people to showcase their talents and at the same time has provided a great attraction for visitors.
“A big thank you must go out to all those that helped make this event such a great success.”