Mini literary festival ‘Week of Words’ returns to Northampton town centre
A relaxed mini literary festival, 2 Weeks of Words will run from Tuesday 4th August until Saturday 16th August from its base at The Creative Place.
Week of Words is back with a bang, expanding to fill 2 whole weeks, celebrating all things wordy, from local authors and poets to songwriters and performers.
A relaxed mini literary festival, 2 Weeks of Words will run from Tuesday 4th August until Saturday 16th August from its base at The Creative Place, the world’s smallest arts centre on Northampton’s Market Square and at venues around Northampton Town Centre. Most of the events are free. The full events details can be found at https://northamptonfilmfestival.eventive.org/schedule
Week 1 is firmly aimed at young people, starting with a children’s new book sale where prices range from 50p to £1 per book by Northamptonshire Children’s Book Group, reading to children on Northampton Market Square, free spoken word poetry workshops with youth mentor and MC Quinton Milisé and a drop-in writing session on the Saturday.
Young people taking part in the poetry events in Week 1 will be encouraged to enter the David Laing CBE Young People Poetry Award competition run by Northamptonshire Community Foundation with the winning poems being performed at the Foundation’s annual awards. The competition is in 3 age categories: Under 10s, 10-14 year olds and 15-17 year olds.
Week 2 includes daytime and evening poetry events for adults, free family storytelling, local author talks and book sales at The Creative Place and partner venues Lawrence’s Coffeehouse, Esquires Northampton and Northamptonshire Natural History Society and Field Club. The events include Northampton author Michael Davies will talk about his Cosy Crime Club series and Milton Keynes author Sue Turbett sharing the remarkable journey behind her debut novel 'Eagle Sister', where she travelled on horseback through Kyrgyzstan, staying with nomads, drinking mare's milk, and meeting the golden eagle hunters.
Week 2 culminates in a wordy themed film challenge where the finished films will be screened at V&B Northampton. The challenge is open to everyone, from first-timers, children and families, to film professionals, where every film is screened and the public are welcome to attend.
As part of the 2 Weeks of Words, there will also be a Creative Quest, with anyone invited to submit a micro written piece on the theme of Outside The Lines. Pieces can be a maximum of 5 sentences and will be displayed in The Creative Place on the afternoon of Saturday 15th August.
The 2 Weeks will give people the opportunity to immerse themselves within the written and spoken word, and connect with likeminded people. The Creative Place has been situated on the Market Square since 2024, with the first Week of Words being held in June 2025. Earlier this month, inspired by The Week of Words, The Creative Place hosted a drop in-poetry session during Northampton Pride.
More details about the events, Creative Quest and film challenges can be found here https://northamptonfilmfestival.eventive.org/schedule
The events has been made possible through support from Northamptonshire Community Foundation, Northampton Town Centre BID and West Northamptonshire Council.