The team behind Port Eliot Festival’s celebrated books line-up for many years have paired up with The Falmouth Bookseller, Falmouth University and Falmouth Business Improvement District (BID), to launch The Falmouth Book Festival running from Thursday October 14 to Sunday October 17.

For their inaugural year, the line-up of speakers includes award-winning writers like Max Porter, Monique Roffey and Nina Stibbe, and poetry from Edinburgh Festival regular Luke Wright. Bestselling author Raynor Winn, and BAFTA winning film-maker Mark Jenkin will join other Cornwall-based writers like Wyl Menmuir and Cathy Rentzenbrink over the festival’s four days.

The event has been made possible through support from various local businesses and institutions including the Falmouth Bookseller, Falmouth BID and Falmouth University. Jennifer Young, the head of Creative Writing at the University, and herself a published author said: “Falmouth University has been a hub for creativity for over a hundred years. We have an active community of writers, centred in the Lighthouse in the Dept of Writing & Journalism and are delighted to partner with the Falmouth Book Festival, an essential new addition to the Falmouth festivals line up.”

The festival will be celebrating strong local themes. Local writers Charlie Carroll and Catrina Davies will be talking with Mark Jenkin about the misrepresentation of Cornwall in popular culture. Philip Marsden will be talking with fellow travel writer Tim Hannigan about his books, most famously his non-fiction history The Levelling Sea that celebrates Falmouth’s rich maritime history. Lamorna Ash and Gavin Knight have both written books on Cornwall’s fishing industry, and will be looking at the way it is changing post Brexit and COVID. And there will even be a Saturday morning workshop in the Cornish language for budding linguists.

Ron Johns, owner of the Falmouth Bookseller, is excited by the project: “We had a festival in town a few years back but now feels like a great time to revisit the idea and create something impactful and with a real legacy. It should give a real boost to the town, especially after such a long time without festivals like this in our lives.” He said.

The public events programme will be using a number of venues throughout the town, including the Poly, the Library and Falmouth Art Gallery, the new Cornish Bank live music and creative venue, and Princess Pavilions. The adult events line-up is online now at: www.falmouthbookfestival.com. The workshops and children’s events line-up will be announced soon.