Sights set on international future for literary festival

Since it began 13 years ago, the Durham Literature Festival has attracted big-name authors and poets from throughout the region and beyond.

The event ran during the first two weeks of this month, and was held at Durham's Gala Theatre.

Among its highlights were an evening with feminist and scholar Germaine Greer and the launch of local author Peter Mortimer's book 100 Days on Holy Island.

It also saw the launch of the nationally-acclaimed anthology of poetry, called Staying Alive.

Another first was the inclusion of Rising Voices, a programme of free taster sessions by some of the region's brightest literary stars, held in the theatre's foyer bar.

Alison Lister, the festival co-ordinator, said it was one of the biggest and most successful staged.

"Our audience figures were up this year, which is really gratifying," she said.

"We had an increase in numbers across the board and more importantly, the atmosphere was more festive with things being concentrated on one area."

"Audiences were very appreciative and there were people from all walks of life."

"We are in the process of analysing the audience, and we had several American families and people from Cheshire, Nottingham, Cumbria and throughout the North-East."

Ms Lister said that having the Gala as a venue had given the festival a huge boost.

"It was good for us to have a box office and the staff were excellent," she said.

"It was also excellent to build things around the Clayport Library, using Millennium Place as the heart of the festival."

Costing about £28,000 the festival is funded mainly by Durham City Arts, Northern Arts, Durham County Council and Durham City Council.

Ms Lister said she was seeking more funding to expand it further.

She said: "We see this as a festival that's worthy of national attention.

"We are looking to expand it and get more sponsorship - it's just resources that are holding us back.

"Our long-term goal is to make it an international festival," she said.