Town to host book festival for the first time

The inaugural Leiston Book Festival will be held at the town's Film Theatre which is Suffolk's oldest continuously working, purpose-built cinema

A town will host its first ever literary celebration later this year.

The Leiston Book Festival will be held at the town's Film Theatre on 7 September.

Organisers say the event will feature non-fiction authors, who have written books that explore the area's changing landscape and environment.

The line-up will include Patrick Galbraith, Julia Blackburn and Tom Parfitt.

The festival will feature authors who have written about the area's changing landscape and environment, including the nearby Covehithe beach

Founder and author Robert Ashton said: "The Leiston Book Festival will bring together inspiring writers and enthusiastic readers, for a day of exploration, debate and discovery.

"Each author on our programme has written from a different perspective about our changing landscape. Together they form a day long programme that will inform, inspire and perhaps encourage people to see the world a little differently."

Mr Ashton said he hoped the programme and themes of the event would make it different from book festivals already held in Aldeburgh, Southwold, Felixstowe and Laxfield, and "encourage people to attend more than one festival each year".

He said the event would also give people an opportunity to meet, hear and quiz the invited authors which also included Jules Pretty and Richard Hawking.