We’ve had some brilliant coverage of BridLit in the local media this year.

And that’s largely down to the fact that the 2019 programme is better than ever, with a real mix of genres for everyone to enjoy.

Our thanks to the Bridport and Lyme Regis News, the Dorset Echo, the Marshwood Vale Magazine, The Bridport Times and Dorset Magazine.

The latter has just given us a three-page feature on Rebel Writers. They carry a fascinating interview with local writer Celia Brayfield.

In 2005 she joined the staff of Brunel University London to set up the creative writing programme and now teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University, including a specialised course in  historical fiction.  So many of her students have become successful writers that she keeps  a whole shelf for their novels.

 

On Wednesday 6 November, Celia will be discussing her latest book, Rebel Writers, The Accidental Feminists (Bloomsbury Caravel, £19.99). It’s a ground-breaking biographical study of the very young women writers of the 1960s – Shelagh Delaney, Edna O’Brien, Lynne Reid Banks, Charlotte Bingham, Nell Dunn, Virginia Ironside and Margaret Forster – many of whom were only teenagers when they made their debuts as writers.  As well as comparing their early lives and work, the book paints a beautiful portrait of 1960s life.

Not since the Brontës have a group of young women been so determined to tell the truth about what it is like to be a girl and proposed new ways to live and love in the future.

Says Celia: ‘These writers were my inspiration and I wrote this book to say thank you, to pay it forward.’

After Celia moved to Dorset in 2016, she was asked to join the advisory team for the Bridport Literary Festival.

She says: ‘It’s one of the longest-running and most impressive literary events in Britain and it is wonderful to be able to contribute to its continuing success.

‘Since I’ve been involved with Bridlit, I’ve realised that it’s really a conspiracy of booklovers. It is created by people who just adore reading and who make up the most enthusiastic and informed audiences and author could hope for. It’s an oasis of delight every year.’