Turn Up For The Books

Turn Up For The Books is a project designed as part of Durham Book Festival to give young people aged 18-25 an insight into careers within literature, the arts and events programming.

Founded in 1990, Durham Book Festival is one of the country’s oldest literary festivals. Durham Book Festival is a Durham County Council event, produced by New Writing North with support from Durham University and Arts Council England. Each year we bring world-class writers, thinkers and performers to the North East. Events at previous festivals have included appearances from Philip Pullman, Bill Bryson, Jung Chang, Alexander McCall Smith, Grace Dent, and a special performance of Benjamin Myers’ novel Cuddy, performed by Toby Jones. 

Alongside more traditional author events, Durham Book Festival also commissions new writing each year across all forms, and runs community projects such as library workshops and the Little Read. You can find out more about what we do here.

Book festivals create a hive of activity where writers, professionals and readers can come together. They offer a great opportunity to engage with the wider ecosystem of the book industry on your own doorstep, and gain hands-on experience and skills. Turn Up for the Books offers young people an opportunity to become part of the creative process as we build the programme for Durham Book Festival.

This year, the participants took part in industry insider workshops with professionals from the Poetry Book Society, Faber, and Hachette Children’s, as well as climate discussions with Threads in the Ground, and a reviewing workshop with The Telegraph Literary Editor, Cal Revely-Calder.

The Turn up for the Books programme culminated with a sold-out Durham Book Festival event, Writing from Conflict, which featured a timely discussion between Ukrainian diarist Yeva Skalietska, Palestinian novelist Ibtisam Azem, and Women’s Prize longlisted novelist and academic Peace Adzo Medie. The participants developed vital skills to prepare them for their future careers while planning their event from initial discussion to delivery.