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Students from the University of Winchester are one of the stories behind this year’s Winchester Books Festival (19-21 April).
In addition to being the main sponsor, the University is supplying a 16-strong team of students from the Film and Media and Music, Sound Production and Event Management programmes to help run events.
Students will be filming the festival’s talks, workshop and panel discussions and recording interviews with authors at venues around the city.
The footage will be edited into a film, by the students, which will be uploaded to the festival website.
Shira Pinczuk Head of the University’s School of Media and Film, said: “The Winchester Books Festival has been a fantastic opportunity for our students to work with clients and develop their links with the community while enjoying contact with academics, high-profile writers and illustrators.”
Among the students helping behind the scenes is Adeliia Niemchunova, from Ukraine, who is studying Media, Communications and Advertising, who has been employed to run the festival’s social media campaign.
It’s a mutually beneficial deal with the festival recruiting an enthusiastic band of young helpers with technical know-how and the students gaining real-world work experience.
Adeliia said: “I have had the pleasure of working as a social media manager for Winchester Books Festival, contributing to event management as well. It's been a wonderful experience, working with a fantastic team.
“I boosted engagement, created content, built community, raised brand awareness, analysed data, collaborated with authors, sponsors, and bloggers, and kept learning.
“I think books festivals are important for celebrating literature, creating a community among readers and writers.”
Students played a key part in the success of last year’s inaugural festival, with event co-founders Sophie Liardet and Sian Searles praising their professionalism.
Sophie said: “Sian and I believe in giving young people opportunities and real-life work experience. The students who work with us bring creativity and enthusiasm, they are a key part of delivering the Winchester Books Festival and we couldn’t do it without them."
On Friday (19 April) the University will be hosting a number of events with a crime theme. These include a Whodunnit - a sequel to the successful murder mystery (pictured above) staged by the University's Faculty of Law, Crime and Justice in October as part of Winchester Cathedral's Justice Week.
Once again Natacha Harding, Head of the Department of Policing, Criminology and Forensics, has penned the tale – this time it centres on the slaying of a podcaster visiting the university to plug her latest series. As before the public can hunt for clues and follow the case from crime scene to courtroom.
For more details about this and other book festival events visit Home - Winchester Books Festival.
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