One of the UK's best loved novelists has been announced as the keynote speaker at the 38th University of Winchester Writers' Festival in June (15-17 June 2018).
Patrick Gale's keynote, titled 'A Life in Writing', will take the form of a conversation with Judith Heneghan, Festival Director and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University.
"As well as being a best-selling contemporary novelist whose fiction is suffused with psychological truth, Patrick has strong links with Winchester: his father was governor of Winchester Prison for a time during his childhood and he attended schools in the city," said Judith.
"The University awarded an honorary doctorate to Patrick in 2013 and we are delighted to welcome him back to Winchester to speak at this year's Festival."
Patrick's first two novels were published by Abacus on the same day in 1986, just three years after he graduated from the University of Oxford. Since then he has published a further 13 novels, several collections of short stories, novellas and a biography of the writer Armistead Maupin.
His most recent works are A Perfectly Good Man, The Whole Day Through - which is set in Winchester - the Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller Notes From an Exhibition and the Costa-nominated A Place Called Winter. His recent TV screenplay, Man in an Orange Shirt, was commissioned as the centrepiece of the BBC's 2017 'Gay Britannia' season.
Patrick is chair of the North Cornwall Book Festival, patron of Penzance LitFest and a director of both Endelienta and the Charles Causley Trust.
The three-day University of Winchester Writers' Festival is renowned for its programme of workshops and talks and for connecting writers on a one-to-one basis with key figures in the publishing industry, including literary agents, commissioning editors, best-selling authors and publishing experts.
Previous keynote speakers at the Festival include Sebastian Faulks, Carol Ann Duffy, Michael Morpurgo, Joanne Harris, Meg Rosoff, Lemn Sissay and Sir Terry Pratchett.
The University of Winchester Writer's Festival takes place from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 June 2017. Attendees may book to attend one, two or all three days.
Tickets will also be available for Patrick Gale's keynote address only, titled 'Patrick Gale - a life in writing', which takes place at 9am on Saturday 16 June in the Stripe Auditorium, King Alfred Campus, University of Winchester, Sparkford Road, Winchester, Hampshire SO22 4NR.
The Writers' Festival 2018 programme is to be announced in February 2018 and will be available to view at: http://writersfestival.co.uk/
Photo of Patrick Gale courtesy of Dan Hall.
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