NEWS

5 Unmissable Events at Edge-Lit 8

News

06 July 2019

5 Unmissable Events at Edge-Lit 8

EDGE-LIT 8 – 5 UNMISSABLE EVENTS

It’s that time of year again, with Edge-Lit almost upon us! It’s amazing to me to think that we’re on to number eight, and as always there’s plenty to look forward to on the day – in fact there’s more activity at the event than there’s ever been! Personally it was almost impossible for me to pick out five highlights of the day, because there’s so much that I love going on, but if you are attending here’s five things that I think should be well worth checking out…

1) The Edge-Lit Raffle (7:30pm, Cinema One)
Starting at the end, I know, but the raffle has at Edge-Lit has grown to be legendary in its own right, in no small part due to the inimitable presentation skills of Sarah Pinborough. This year she’ll be joined on hosting duties by Tim Lebbon, and I hope he knows what he’s let himself in for. It’s a great fun way to close the day, and what’s more there are some mighty fine prizes to be won!

2) The Brave New Words Awards (7:00pm, Cinema One)
I’ve always loved an awards ceremony, and this year we’ll be welcoming Starburst Magazine for the first time to host their Brave New Words award. It’s also just the sort of award ceremony that I’ve always loved, because it’s all about innovation and rewarding new, bold ideas. It’s certainly an exciting addition to the programme, and Starburst Magazine have always been great supporters of our event, so I’m delighted to have the chance to partner with them in 2019.

3) Tim Lebbon and Christopher Golden in Conversation (6:00pm, Cinema One)
From the organiser’s angle, the masterplan of having Tim and Chris sharing the stage started more than a year ago, so I can’t tell you how pleasing it was to see this come to fruition! It should be a blast to see these regular co-conspirators – sorry, I mean co-authors – talk about their work and their careers. It’s also going to be a rare chance to see Chris, with him being over from the US for the event, so this one looks like a must-see!

4) The Dealers Room (All Day, The Box)
Yeah, there’s a lot of panels and workshops and readings and book launches, and that’s a pretty heady concoction. You could easily roll from one thing to another all day and the event would seem to pass in the blink of an eye. But I’d say to anyone coming that it’s worth making time to stop by the Dealers Room, which is always packed to the brim with some of the best independent presses and authors around. I can’t speak for sales figures, but artistically the indy scene is doing absolutely incredible stuff, and you’re going to find plenty of phenomenal books you are not going to grab down your local Waterstones or WHSmith.

5) Short Cuts
Does a Background in Short Fiction Help You As a Novelist (10am, Cinema One)
A bit of a personal one to finish with – I’m a huge lover of short stories, and in all honesty I probably read more in that milieu than I do novels or novellas. And when you delve back into the history of genre fiction, a huge number of massive names were most renowned for writing in the form – Ray Bradbury leaps out as one of my absolute favourites. But does that progression still exist now – can you build from short stories towards novels, or are the two things distinct and disparate now? I expect this to be a really interesting panel, and a great way to kick off proceedings.

That’s my five – it could easily have been ten, or twenty, or thirty, but I was set the task of picking five and so I have. There’s a huge amount beyond these to check out, and given the profile and talents of the authors on display I think there’ll be plenty of people equally hard pressed to pick their highlights!

Edge-Lit 8 runs on the 13th July – for more info, or to book your tickets, visit https://www.derbyquad.co.uk/whats-on/events/edge-lit-8

QUAD is a registered charity.