The vibrant community hub that is Filey Library is embracing the Filey Literature Festival with an exciting series of events for all ages and tastes! The fun begins at 6pm on Friday 22 May when Captain Tom Mason brings his Pirate Show to the library. American Pirates singing jolly songs in the non-fiction section will definitely be something to see! Booty, or should we say prizes, will be distributed among the best dressed pirates in the audience. Shiver Me Timbers indeed.

Once the shivered timbers of the library have returned to their normal peaceful self, on Saturday 23 May at 10.30am, the Yorkshire Wolds based ‘RomCom’ author Patricia Comb will be speaking about her writings. Patricia has published the Café Paradise trilogy and a book of humorous short stories called ‘Tales From the Yorkshire Wolds – Einstein Never Had This Problem’. Currently she is working on a new romantic comedy ‘Aunt Mildred’s Millions’, which will come out in 2020.

At 1pm on Saturday Sharon Wright, author of ‘Mother of the Brontes’, will be appearing at the library. The Bradford born author has worked as a writer, editor and columnist for leading national magazines, newspapers and websites including The Guardian, Daily Express, BBC, Disney, Glamour, Red and Take a Break. Her first book ‘Balloonomania Belles’ was serialised in the Mail on Sunday and received widespread coverage, including on BBC Woman’s Hour and in the New York Post.

At 2.30pm the Northern Writers’ Award winner Julie Noble will speak at the library. In 2004, the Fylingthorpe based author published her first novel ‘Talli’s Secret’, a book for older children which tells the story of a girl who survives a car accident that kills her sister and meets the ghost of Charlotte Brontë while visiting Brontë Parsonage. The main character in the book, Cassie, has dyspraxia – a condition which affects physical coordination and in real life also affected Maria Brontë, the eldest sister of Brontë family who died at 11, and Jonathon, Julie’s eldest son.

She says one of her main motivations in writing the story was to raise awareness about what her son was going through after he struggled to get understanding at school. She says one of the most moving things to come out of writing the book, which was a finalist in the first Brit Writers Awards and won the David St John Thomas Self-Publishing Marketing Award in 2005, was the letters and emails she received from children in a similar position to her son. Julie had further success in 2010 when her story ‘Sands in Time’ won the She Magazine Short Story Competition.

Also on Saturday 23 May, at 3pm, the Filey Library based creative writing group ‘Soundings’ will be giving readings of their work at Charlotte’s Restaurant, Belle Vue Street. The event is called ‘Sun, Sand, Sea and Charlotte’, a celebration of poetry and prose. Tickets are priced at £5, all ticket holders will receive a complimentary cream tea. The Soundings creative writing group meets on the third Thursday of the month at Filey Library from 10am to 12 noon. New writers always welcome.

On Sunday 24 May the library will be open and at 11.30am Darren Walker, short-listed for People’s Book Prize Awards, author of ‘Closing Shop’ and ‘The Sword of Uncreation’, will be talking about ‘Banned Books.’  It will be light hearted and there might even be a few prizes for those that get into the spirit of things. Darren has written seven books and completed a stand alone comedy novel set in a fictional South American country. Think of an up-dated Ealing comedy, if you are old enough to know what one of those was. He is currently writing his first Children’s / Young Adult novel – is there no stopping him?

Darren is followed at 1.30pm local author Wendy Rhodes, who will be talking about her book ‘Filey, a history of the town and its people’. It traces the history of Filey from Roman times. The book recounts the history of the town’s churches and the influence that the Methodism had on the community. It also warns of the dangers of the sea and recalls stories of people who have lost their lives to the treacherous waters of the North Sea.

Throughout the weekend there will be a Story Tent in Filey Library garden. Starting with story time for under 5s at 11 am on Friday 22 May with Robert Hartley. The Story Tent is provided by ‘Our Stories’. An initiative that brings people across Whitby, Scarborough and Filey together to champion literacy. The campaign inspires parents to share stories with their children every day, and community literacy champions promote the importance of reading, writing and talking.