Authors keep notebooks and artists keeps sketchbooks. These are where you can see the beginnings of ideas, the working out of ‘plots’ and the origins of changes along the years.

 

We are inviting artists to bring sketchbooks to this session and share them and answer questions about what is in them. If you have a sketchbook do bring it along. If you are taking part in Inktober and drawing daily for this throughout October come and compare your sketches to others. Talk about your approaches to sketching and maybe get some ideas from other artists.

 

This session is also – of course – of interest to those who like art and wish to know more about how it develops from initial ideas.

Warwickshire based author, Anna Byk, will read extracts from her award-winning debut novel, ‘It’s Never Really Over’.  Anna will discuss the research undertaken to support the storylines, along with anecdotes that inspired the characters.  Anna will also discuss the writing and self-publishing process.

 

Anna Byk is an award-winning author, her debut novel, ‘It’s Never Really Over’ won the ‘5 Star Winner’ award in the Open Book Awards in April 2026.  The novel has also received numerous 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.  Anna is also an award-nominated blogger and published writer. www.linktr.ee/annabykwriter

 

A presentation which explores the creative reality of writing a lengthy fantasy novel where time, inspiration and word count can feel like constant obstacles.

 

Firstly, reviewing how small daily writing windows can be incorporated into productive routines. Secondly, exploring how consistency builds momentum over waiting for inspiration to strike. Thirdly, looking at how word count goals can measure progress without draining motivation.

 

The presentation will conclude with common drafting traps, such as mixing revision with first drafts and trying to perfect your chapters while you write. Finally, a simple plan will be discussed to assist those looking to start writing an adult fantasy novel or simply move an existing novel forward.

Join three best-selling authors, Donna Ashcroft, Julie Caplin and Bella Osborne, as we take you through the key stages of plotting a romance novel.
Learn everything from ‘meet cute’ to ‘happily ever after’ and every important ingredient in-between that’s needed to keep a reader turning the pages. This will be a fun interactive session showing how all the key elements come together to build a compelling story. Whether you’re thinking about writing a romance yourself or if you’re interested in the mechanics of story this session will
demystify the jargon, provide industry insight and get you thinking like a romance writer.

Bring along an old favourite book to swap for a new read at Rugby Literary Festival’s Book Swap station. Why not add a post it note inside the book telling the next reader what you enjoyed about
it, to share the joy!

Want a chance to have a poem of your choice read to you by the festival’s very own travelling poet? Head to the book fair or walk around town to see if you can spot him. He will be wearing a Rugby Literary Festival T-shirt, so simply stop him and ask him to read a poem of your choice.

Take a moment away from the buzz of the festival to enjoy a peaceful moment with a book in the Quiet Reading Space.

Take a moment away from the buzz of the festival to enjoy a peaceful moment with a book in the Quiet Reading Space.

Whether you’re building a new website or you just know your existing website isn’t right but you can’t work out why, this is a workshop not to be missed.

Marketing Director and professional copywriter Lindsay Woodward will lead a fun, practical session designed to help you make your website work harder. Whether you’re promoting a business, a creative venture, a community project or simply yourself, you’ll discover how to turn a collection of pages into a website that has real purpose and gets your message across.

From getting the structure right in the first place to crafting the words that make people want to stick around, Lindsay will share the thinking behind websites that look good, read well and, most importantly, actually do what you need them to do.

You don’t need to be a marketing expert, a copywriter or a website whizz. Come with a website, an idea or simply the nagging feeling that yours could be better, and leave with practical tips, fresh ideas and the confidence to make it happen.

The grasruts team invite you to join them in a talk by their founder about building communities through publishing. This will be followed by a zine making workshop focusing on handmade zine making techniques and tricks where you will have the opportunity to make and publish your own zine in the grasruts archive.

grasruts is an artist’s community zine sharing West Midlands creative works across all disciplines. Conceived by two art students attending Coventry University in 2023, Victoria and Evelynn have published 11 issues both online and in print, and hosted two events to date. grasruts also attend zine fairs and have given talks at Birmingham City University Art School. They archive their issues which are free to view at grasruts.com

Talk: 12:30-13:00

Workshop: 13:15-16:00