Our headline event for all schools takes place at the Wyvern Theatre and this year we will be welcoming the  author Julian Sedgwick on Tuesday 12th November 2024. The illustrator Chie Kutswada will also be joining Julian and together they will bring the world of Manga alive! 

Also during the week, performance poet Ash Dickinson will return to Swindon to visit each of the twelve secondary schools to perform his
poetry to all Year 7 students. Ash encourages everyone’s “inner poet” by supporting them to create their own rhymes and verse.

 

Our Inter-school Book Quiz finishes the week on Friday 15th November at The Ridgeway School. This is always a highly competitive event
between the schools’ bookworms. Will Ridgeway retain the title in 2024 and who will challenge them to the trophy? It is all to play for!

 

The Festival programme also includes

• Creative Writing Competition – 500 words story inspired by an image. Entries are judged by one of our Festival authors – the amazing Ali Sparkes

• Illustration Competition – Works of art inspired from an extract from Tsunami Girl by Julian Sedgwick and judged by children’s author and illustrator Steve Antony. The winners will have the exciting opportunity to participate in an illustration workshop run by Steve.

• Poetry Competition - A poem based on this year’s National Poetry theme of Counting judged by Ash Dickinson

 

Please see our competitions page for more details.

 

We are also very proud of our Library Ambassadors award which involves each Librarian nominating a student who has contributed to the
running of the LRC and the coordination of the SYFL.