STORIES shared by refugees and patients from St Mary's Hospice will make up part of a packed schedule of events at a literature festival this weekend.
Starting on Friday, Furness Litfest will play host to a series of literary delights including talks from authors and community storytelling projects.
Tickets are still available for the biennial festival, formerly Dalton Litfest, which has, as the change of name suggests, expanded with events across the Furness Peninsula.
In the weeks leading up to the event, the festival team has been working with community groups on ‘Tales from the Peninsula’.
The project has introduced some of the regions' best story-tellers to Furness schools, families and community groups.
Steve Wharton has been working with Men’s group members and group leaders from the MIND charity in Barrow; Ian Douglas has worked with Year 5 from Sir John Barrow School in Ulverston; Dominic Kelly has introduced patients from St Mary's Hospice to students from Dowdales school; Mark Borthwick presented Tales Around The Table at Barrow Community Kitchen; and Nick and Emily Hennesey have exchanged stories with two young refugee families.
The results of this project will be performed at Dalton Community Centre on Saturday November 2, along with an open mic from A Poem and A Pint and a ceilidh.
Storytellers Ian Douglas, Emily Hennessey and Mark Borthwick will stage ‘Tales from the Coro’ at Ulverston's Coronation Hall on Sunday November.
Festival Director Ron Creer said: "We’ve been incredibly fortunate in enticing some incredible talent to lead workshops on self-publishing, illustration, scriptwriting, researching local history, poetry and short story writing."
Project manager John Hall said: “Our story tellers have devised a broad range of projects with the groups and individuals involved,"
"“Some draw on the experiences from within the group; some share common experiences through story, some are designed to build skills and all are intended to entertain, build bridges and show that whatever we are and whatever our circumstances, we respond to stories and that good things happen when we come together to tell them."
Litfest will launch on Friday with storytelling by Steve Wharton and prizegiving for the schools' writing competition/
It starts at 7pm at Dalton Community Centre in Nelson Street.
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