Folkestone Book Festival 2024 – international to local

Creative Folkestone’s Book Festival 2024 is curated by local resident Sophie Haydock.  Award-winning author and journalist, Sophie has landed the best job in town.  It’s safe to say that ‘excited’ is an understatement when Sophie talks about what is on offer at this year’s festival from 14th to 24th November.  Folkelife spoke to her about the task ahead.

“The Book Festival has been on my radar pretty much since day one of moving to Folkestone.  We arrived and I went to Quarterhouse and just thought that this town is incredible.  Straight away I felt at home here.  The next year Jen and James, the curators, invited me to talk as an author about my debut novel, The Flames.  This year, I’m the curator!  It’s one of those things you dream about.  You think, ‘Gosh, if I had a budget, and a great seaside town, and I could invite any authors I like, who would I invite..?’  So I got thinking!

“I do have to remind myself that I’m not making a book festival just for me though!  There are certain areas that go down really well with the core Folkestone Book Festival audience.  Local and military history are topics that are very popular.  World War II and Russia always sell out quickly.  But I did do some research when I got the job.  I asked lots of book groups, the local book shops and people in the community what they liked, and what they’d like to see more of in the Book Festival.  There was a resounding call for more literature, so that’s what I’ve done.”

Discovering folkestone

“My husband is the reason I discovered Folkestone.  He’s a music producer on the side of his normal job and makes music with Johnny Tomlinson who many people know as a yoga teacher.  He’s a really skilled keyboard player and has been playing with Bonobo since 2013.  Anyway, my husband would come down to Folkestone for a week at a time and I didn’t have the same time to commit.  I was living in Hackney, East London, which is supposed to be the epicentre of creativity in the coolest city in the world. Honestly, there’s nothing there compared to the concentration of what we have here in Folkestone.  

“We moved down two years’ ago having found a place to do up during Covid.  And when you start looking at what we have here; the beautiful white cliffs, the fossil beaches, yoga on the beach on a Friday, and then there’s all the incredible things happening too.  I was sold immediately. I went onto Rightmove and started looking.  The thing is, you could spend millions – yes – for a place in Leytonstone, which isn’t going to happen, or move to Folkestone and your work/life balance is sorted.” 

Literary folkestone

“We have David Nicholls coming, which I’m very excited about.  I’m excited about all of them actually. It was important to the audience that we have some big household names come along.  Everyone is very willing to listen to discussions and learn about different areas, but it’s nice to have familiarity too.  Once you’ve got the name like David Nicholls you can fill the rest in the gaps.  He’s had an incredibly busy year too what with the Netflix dramatisation of ‘One Day’ and his new book ‘You Are Here’ out too. 

“David bent over backwards to fit us in, which I think shows you just how the reality of the Folkestone Book Festival has permeated national consciousness.  People have heard of it.  People Google Creative Folkestone and see all these fantastic artworks and want to come and see what it’s all about. 

” Tracy Chevalier is also coming, and is opening the Festival.  I read ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ 25 years’ ago as a teenager and fell in love with her writing.  Her new book is ‘The Glass Maker’ which is set in Venice in the 15th Century so just get ready to be immersed into that!”

ali smith and alan hollinghurst

“There are names that I’m really looking forward to seeing in Folkestone such as Booker Prize winner Alan Hollinghurst and Ali Smith. I’m a big fan of Tessa Hadley and the short story.  I worked on the Sunday Times Short Story Award and for other organisations that champion this form of writing.  Irish writer Donal Ryan is coming, and when I’ve told people they’ve said he’s their favourite author. 

“I’ve paired up Lucia Osborne-Crowley, author of The Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, and Sam McAlister, the producer behind the BBC’s explosive Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, which inspired the recent hit Netflix drama Scoop starring Billie Piper.  Lucia was one of five journalists who got daily access to the trial.  So there’s this rogues and royalty and how to hold the powerful to account conversation to be had.”

Roberto Sendoya Escobar

“We’ve got the first son of Columbian Drug Lord Pablo Escobar.  That’s going to be interesting.  I’ve spoken to his publishers and other people and they’re all up-holding his story.  He was adopted by a British man who was apparently in MI5 and responsible for killing his mother in a shoot out.  He brought Roberto to England where he attended boarding school and became an artist.  Later on he found out that his father was Pablo Escobar!  Roberto is an incredibly charismatic person, and this might bring a different crowd to hear what he has to say.

“There are children’s events on with workshops and schools days.  The programme is so full it’s why people like to get the printed copy and absorb it for a few days to see what’s on.  The Folkestone Book Festival has such a history to it. It’s been going since the early 1980s and was one of the first four book festivals in the country.   The festival speaks for itself in terms of how authors want to be here, and how the audience is so willing to come along for the ride.  There’s a real buzz around this that I can’t wait for November to be here.”