- 31 May -30 June 2024
- A Criminally Good Day
- Crime Fiction
- For Writers
- FREE
- In partnership
- Outside
- Storytelling
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Criminally Good Day
Crime-writer event, writing workshops, children's workshops, free drop-in activities, story-telling, acorn-planting and so much more... Read more
- CANCELLED
- For Writers
- Workshop
Story is King – Writing Workshop
** This workshop has been cancelled - sorry ** With advice on the fundamental principals of story and plot, structure, character and motives, Julie-Ann will provide the new writer with the tool kit to ensure a solid start to their emerging crime story. Read more
- CANCELLED
- For Writers
- Workshop
How to Build a Baddie – Writing Workshop
** This workshop has been cancelled - sorry ** Join Syd Moore for this wicked workshop which explores what makes fictional villains tick. The session will include discussion and creative writing exercises. Read more
- FREE
- ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Heroes and Villains – Children’s Writing Workshop
How do you create a hero who keeps readers on the edge of their seat and a villain everyone will love to hate? Find out in middle grade author Emily Kenny’s jam-packed workshop! Read more
- Discussion
- FREE
- In partnership
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover
Welcome to The Human Library. Just like in a real library, a visitor to the Human Library can borrow a book from a range of titles. The difference is that books are PEOPLE, and reading is a CONVERSATION. Read more
- Fiction
Say Her Name
Dreda Say Mitchell is an award-winning and best-selling author and has been collaborating with Ryan Carter since her fifth book. At its heart of their latest chilling thriller are the cases of missing black women that are all too frequently left without investigation, and are overlooked by the media. ‘Britain’s finest crime fiction writer’ – Lee Child Venue: High House Production Park, Vellacott Close, Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex, RM19 1RJ Date and time: Saturday 11th June, 3.30pm Tickets: £8 / £7… Read more
- CANCELLED
- Discussion
- Live Podcast
The Breakup Monologues live podcast recording – Cancelled
Award-winning comedian Rosie Wilby shares funny, bizarre and poignant tales of heartbreak and recovery with special guests Njambi McGrath and Syd Moore - in a live recording of her acclaimed podcast. Read more
- FREE
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Campaigning for Girls’ Rights!
Take part in an empowering workshop with author and girls’ rights activist Sufiya Ahmed and learn how to make change using the democratic process, using the story of British Indian suffragette Princess Sophia Duleep Singh as inspiration. Read more
- For Writers
- In partnership
- Workshop
Creative Writing – Getting Started
Get your writing mojo moving with an aerobic work out for your imagination. Come to Syd Moore's session empty-handed and leave with a new character, new world and an adventure or story which you can further explore. Read more
- Memoir
The Gift of a Radio: My Childhood and other Train Wrecks
A portrait of personal and national dysfunction, drawing on themes of mental health, masculinity, grief, childhood guilt and what privilege looks like, Justin Webb’s memoir is candid, unsparing and darkly funny. Read more
- For Writers
- Workshop
Growing Your Voice. Writing the Garden – Writing Workshop
In this writing workshop we will explore how to observe and describe gardens on the page, putting the smells, colours and textures of a patch of land into words that are alive with the place. Read more
- Non-fiction
Palace of Palms: Tropical Dreams and the Making of Kew
Daringly innovative when it opened in 1848, the Palm House in Kew Gardens remains one of the most beautiful glass buildings in the world today. Kate Teltscher tells the extraordinary story of its creation and of the Victorians' obsession with the palms that filled it. Read more
- Non-fiction
The Fairy Tellers: A Journey into the Secret History of Fairy Tales
The surprising origins and people behind the world's most influential magical tales: the people who told and re-shaped them, the landscapes that forged them, and the cultures that formed them and were formed by them. Read more
- CANCELLED
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Cancelled – The Honeybee Treasure Hunt – Children’s Workshop
This event has been cancelled - sorry for any inconvenience caused. Delight in this fun interactive session for children to learn more about honeybees and even design your own bug hotel. Read more
- CANCELLED
- Outside
- Storytelling
Cancelled – Salty Tales on the Harwich Harbour Ferry
Take the Harwich Harbour Ferry from event to event and you’ll be treated to some Salty Tales from the marvellous, award-winning storyteller Glenys Newton along the way (included in the ferry ticket price). Read more
- Non-fiction
Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy
Look back at the history and evolution of the monarchy from 1066 to the present day, feeding the renewed interest not just in the modern royals but in the predecessors who helped shape the institution into what it is today Read more
- FREE
Colchester WriteNight
Colchester WriteNight invite you to a celebration of the anthology, Open Book, they produced together during lockdown. It was published by Patrician Press and supported by Colchester Borough Council Cultural and Creative Events Fund. Read more
- Non-fiction
A History of Delusions: The Glass King, a Substitute Husband and a Walking Corpse
Based on the Radio 4 series of the same name, A History of Delusions is a ground-breaking history which uncovers stories of delusions from medieval times to the present day. Read more
- Film
- Partner Event
Colchester Film Festival at Firstsite
Colchester Film Festival is hosting a series of guest speaker events and screening an exciting selection of features films giving audiences new insight into the craft of filmmaking and introducing them to new cinema. Read more
- FREE
- In partnership
- Networking
- Stand Up for Diversity
- Theatre
Stand Up For Diversity at the Mercury
For our tenth Stand Up For Diversity, we are teaming up with the Mercury Theatre, to bring people together and celebrate diversity in theatre and the performing arts. Read more
- Discussion
- FREE
- Manifesto For Essex
- Online
- Young Essex
Hear My Voice – Manifesto For Essex Youth Summit Zoom Brainstorm
Are you passionate about culture and the environment? Get involved in our 2nd Manifesto for Essex Youth Summit (14-25 yr olds) as part of EASUSTAIN Read more
- Discussion
- FREE
- In partnership
- In person
- Manifesto For Essex
- Networking
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Hear My Voice – Manifesto For Essex: Climate Emergency Youth Summit
Are you 14-25 years old, living and/or studying in Essex, passionate about the environment and culture? Come along to our Hear My Voice - Youth Climate Summit at Firstsite, Colchester, part of EA Sustain Festival Read more
- FREE
- In partnership
- Stand Up for Diversity
Hear Me Roar!
You are invited to an evening of short performances, readings and shout-outs to mark International Women’s Day 2023. To collectively and creatively celebrate our achievements as women, shine a light on issues affecting us today, and together drive gender parity and positive change. Read more
- Partner Event
- Performance
Dracula
This critically acclaimed, multi five star awarded hilarious comedy will be presented by Professor Abraham Van Helsing and his three idiotic actors as they stage a life-changing, theatrical production surrounding the true events of Dracula. Read more
- In Conversation
- Partner Event
Sex Matters: Intimacy and Aging
Both Seema Anand (The Art of Seduction) and author Syd Moore (Essex Girls Liberation Front) have challenged stereotypes before. In this conversation they explode the myths around sex in middle age, and empowerment though positive sexuality as we get older. Read more
- Festival Launch
- Memoir
Launch Event – An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals
We are delighted to be launching this year's Essex Book Festival with Guardian columnist and broadcaster Polly Toynbee. One of the most respected, prolific, and razor-sharp voices in social commentary uses the prism of her extraordinary family to examine the true state of class in Britain. Read more