Saturday 27 April 2024

10am-11am: Storytelling and Crafts Workshop for Children with Clare Helen Welsh (The Prop Store)

Suitable for children aged between 3yrs and 8yrs. Clare is a former teacher, now award-winning children’s author, from Torbay. She has published over 40 books and has more publishing in the next few years. When Clare isn’t writing stories, she is inspiring children to write their own. Clare loves all opportunities to meet and inspire young readers. Come along for some Saturday morning fun with thrilling storytelling and craft activities. Genre: Storytelling and Crafts for Children. Click here to buy tickets.

10am-11am: Mindfulness in Fiction with Abigail Yardimci (Stage Left)

How mindful stories help us grow. Author of contemporary, uplifting fiction, Abigail Yardimci, will speak about the themes of mindfulness in her stories and how they are central to the growth and development of the characters. The talk will include a mini mindfulness meditation and compelling readings from her books including the latest release, My Little Ramadan. Genre: Women’s Fiction. Click here to buy tickets.

10.30am-11.30am: Meet The Author: Adam L. G Nevill 

Adam L.G Nevill was born in Birmingham, England, in 1969 and grew up in England and New Zealand. He is an author of horror fiction. Of his novels, The Ritual, Last Days, No One Gets Out Alive and The Reddening were all winners of The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel. He has also published three collections of short stories, with Some Will Not Sleep winning the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection, 2017. Imaginarium adapted The Ritual and No One Gets Out Alive into feature films and more of his work is currently in development for the screen. Genre: Horror Fiction. Click here to buy tickets.

12pm-1pm: Wild Swimming Adventures with Matt Newbury and Sophie Pierce (Auditorium)

Join Matt Newbury and Sophie Pierce, the authors of the best-selling Wild Swimming Walks series, as they take you on an aquatic journey through the South West’s most beautiful places. They’ll be talking about their many adventures – from the sublime to the ridiculous – and showing a series of stunning images which celebrate the beauty of immersing in Britain’s incredible watery landscapes. They will also be chatting about their latest publications – Wild Swimming Torbay and Wild Swimming Walks Exmoor and North Devon. Genre: Travel Writing. Click here to buy tickets.

2pm-3pm: Self-publishing with DCR Bond (Auditorium)

Self-publishing my first book: what I learned from that experience. DCR Bond (Debbie) was born in London, but grew up Jamaica, then Zambia, and
dimensions of this international upbringing feature in her writing. In this fascinating talk she will cover many topics including learning the craft of novel writing; from story to manuscript, writing for market not just yourself, submitting to agents and much more. Genre: Women’s Fiction. Click here to buy tickets

3pm-4pm: Love, Loss and Landscape with Sophie Pierce (Auditorium)

How do we survive the death of those we love and find joy after bereavement? In 2017, Sophie Pierce’s son Felix, who was 20, died suddenly and unexpectedly. Sophie’s memoir, The Green Hill: Letters to a Son, explores the huge impact of this loss, but it is also about renewal, hope, and the restorative power of the natural world. Effectively a love letter to Devon, the book celebrates the beauty of wild landscapes including Dartmoor, the Torbay coast, and the River Dart, and explores the solace they can give. Genre: Memoir, Travel Writing. Click here to buy tickets

4pm-5pm: Total 50s with Don Evitts (Auditorium)

Author Don Evitts returns to the Palace to present another one of his time machine talks.  This time he goes back to the 1950s. It’s a light hearted whistle-stop talk of music, humour and memories of those times and based around book 1 ‘From Copper Tops to Mop Tops’ of Don’s 3-part self published autobiographies. Don will also take questions after the talk on how and why he came to write the books in the first place and pass on any advice to budding authors that are thinking of going down this path! His books have gone on to inspire others, which has led to the British Heart Foundation getting in touch to feature his story in their magazine ‘Heart Matters’ under the title –  ‘Life Doesn’t Have to End after a Heart Attack’, and it doesn’t, he’s here to prove it! Genre: Popular Culture. Click here to buy tickets

7.30pm-10pm: Bijou Theatre Productions Gaslight

Bijou Theatre Productions bring a classic Victorian thriller to our stage, a dark tale of a marriage based on deceit and trickery, and a husband committed to driving his wife insane in order to steal from her. The suave and confident Jack Manningham appears to live a comfortable life with his wife Bella. But a quiet malevolence and casual misogyny lurks beneath the surface.  He is slowly, deliberately driving his wife, Bella, insane. He has almost succeeded but as Bella begins to doubt her own sanity, help arrives in the form of a former detective, Rough, who believes Manningham to be a thief and murderer. Click here to buy tickets.

DAY PASS – does not include plays or workshops.