In just a few days, this year’s festival will kick off at 10am on Friday with our first event, our Writing Workshop: Building a Character, at Portobello Library.

On Friday and Saturday, most events will be upstairs in the library, as the library will be open to the public during the day. The exceptions are Meet the Author: Alex Howard on Friday evening which will take place in The Portobello Bookshop (46 Portobello High Street), Doug Johnstone in conversation with Mary Paulson-Ellis on Saturday evening which be in the library downstairs, and the Myths and Fables storytelling session, also on Saturday evening which will take place in PortaLibri (167 Portobello High Street).

On Sunday, there are events both upstairs and downstairs: you will be directed to the right place if you are unsure. As the library is closed to the public on Sundays, you will have to wait outside until just before the event begins so bear this in mind if the weather is bad.

If you have tickets you can no longer use, please return tickets to the library so others can have a chance to attend the event. Some of our events are fully booked but check with the library for returns. It’s always worth turning up on the day just before the event. Obviously ticket holders will be allowed in first but if there is space we will try to accommodate those without tickets. Of course, we cannot guarantee this but we often can find space.

As you know, since our festival is free to all, we are always very grateful for any donations which help cover our costs for printing the programme, hiring our sound crew and sound equipment and of course, paying our authors’ expenses. As well as the traditional buckets for cash, if you wish you can donate using your smart phone via a QR code and we also have a card machine. You will find the codes around the library or just ask one of the committee members on duty.

Throughout the weekend, The Portobello Bookshop will be running a stall in the library with books by all our participating authors (and chairs if applicable) available to buy. After each event, there will be an opportunity to have your books signed.

And finally, all of us on the organising committee hope you enjoy any events you attend over the weekend. We’d love to hear any feedback from you afterwards.