Could you be a book backer?

Friday 26 June 2015

Individuals and businesses are being invited to sponsor Jersey’s first literary festival.

A public appeal has been launched seeking support for Connections: Jersey Festival of Words 2015, which will be staged at venues around the Island from 30 September to 4 October.

Those who contribute £500 or more will be known as Festival Founders. They will receive free tickets for most festival events and, in the case of companies, marketing links to their website. Others who donate £100 or more will be recognized as Festival Benefactors.

Major corporate sponsors also have the opportunity to be associated with presentations by leading writers by sponsoring the full individual cost.

Its organisers intend the Jersey Festival of Words to be an annual fixture, enriching the Island’s cultural scene as well as bringing in new visitors as part of the drive towards event-led tourism. Its aims also include showcasing home-grown writing talent and helping to develop creative skills. A full schools programme, encouraging a love of books in children of all ages, will also be included.

Islanders are also being invited to apply to be volunteer helpers at Connections.

Visiting writers in October will include the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, novelists Owen Sheers, Alex Preston and Will Smith, best-selling children’s writers Holly Smale and Jess Bright, naturalist Simon Barnes, veteran Cosmopolitan agony aunt Irma Kurtz and biographer Jane Hawking.

Festival chairman Jennifer Bridge said: "We have enough private donations to ensure that Connections goes ahead, but we need more financial support to ensure that it is properly marketed and that it achieves a standard of quality that will secure the future of the festival.

"We also hope that many people will want to be part of something new and exciting which will have a strong and inclusive community ethos while also bringing cultural and long-term economic benefits to the Island."

Potential sponsors of Connections: Jersey Festival of Words can contact the organisers via jenniferbridge@mac.com

More information about the festival can be found at www.jerseyfestivalofwords.org  where volunteer helpers can also register an interest.