Festilitt
the Parisot literary festival
Book Sale
There will be book sales and signings at the end of each session.
You can also buy a selection of books by participating authors throughout the weekend at our bookshop
I have read at quite a few festivals in my thirty-year career as a writer, many for ‘free’ as part of a publicity tour. Not all of them have been happy experiences: shunted on and off a performance assembly line, or, in one memorable instance, being given my dinner expenses from petty cash – coin by reluctant coin – in front of the punters. Festilitt, however, counts as one of my top five in sheer enjoyment and stimulation. This was why I was so happy to accept the invitation to be one of its patrons.
The formula is simple: people are brought together in this beautiful corner of south-west France over three days, talking in simple village halls about books and life, with literary enthusiasm as the binding agent: what could be better? The invited writers are some of the English-speaking world’s leading voices; given many authors’ reluctance to travel, that they should agree to come to a small, local festival in la France profonde is testament itself to Festilitt’s beguiling charm.
But there is another dimension, unforeseen by its founders. With Brexit squatting like a toad on our thoughts, the festival is defiantly bicultural, with French-language writers being given equal prominence. This is an important notion in divisive times. And then I realised after my first reading that the audience itself was international as well as regional, trailing a multitude of rich life experiences, gathered in this landscape of forested hills, gentle valleys, vineyards and unassuming villages to make a kind of powerhouse of intelligence and appreciation.
All this is managed and run by volunteers who believe (albeit modestly, even secretly) that what they’re doing is vital. And vital it is.
Long may Festilitt thrive, and may its 2018 chapter be the most satisfying yet.
Adam Thorpe
Festival Dinner
Continue the conversations over dinner with the authors on Saturday night and get to know the people behind the books.
More info coming soon
Whats On...
Adam Thorpe
Festilitt literary patron
Festival Opening
Friday 19th Oct 19h00
Join us for a relaxed and convivial apéro dinatôire to kick off our sixthfestival in style.
Priority reservations for Festilitt friends
Copyright Festilitt 2017
19, 20 & 21 October 2018