Lancaster Litfest: Charlotte Kovac, an experience.

This year Lancaster’s very own ‘Litfest’ reached its 35^th year of bringing together a plethora of poets, performers, writers and readers and celebrating literature. The entirety of Litfest is run by a small, yet enthusiastic team made up of Andy Darby (artistic director), Dawn Diaz (finance officer), Maria Major (marketing manager) and Claire Dean (interim deputy director). Alongside these was an army of volunteers, of which this year, I happened to be one.

My volunteer duties were basic, helping with the box office and tickets sales, showing people to their seats and generally being on hand and helpful when needed. Although these tasks seem small, without volunteers performing them, the event wouldn’t run as smoothly or successfully. It’s also a great and easy way of gaining experience if you want to be involved in literature events in the future.

The biggest perk of volunteering at Litfest is being able to attend the event after. I helped out at the ‘Short Stories: Wide Horizons’ event where Alison Moore and Aamer Hussein coincidentally both read out short stories relating to swans. Moore’s short story ‘The Egg’ had a cold and eery tone that captivated the audience with nervous anticipation. The story revolved around a man’s special collection of bird’s eggs, and one egg that has allured him, but has yet to collect. Moore’s descriptions of various birds’ eggs were beautifully detailed and accurate; her writing is meticulous in every sense. The ending was dark, haunting and poignant, something the audience will remember for a long time.

Hussein’s short story entitled ‘The Swan’ showed just how varied two stories relating to the same thing can be. ‘The Swan’ is a love story, based around Hussein’s own real-life experiences. The swan, lovingly named ‘Satin’ is the catalyst of the entire story, the man and woman often go for walks in the park where Satin resides and develop an unspoken relationship. The story tells us of how the two people flit in and out of each other’s lives, and has an interesting and unique ending.

Litfest is a great way of interacting with writers, whether it’s enjoying old favourites or being introduced to something new, as I was with Moore and Hussein. Litfest has been running for a long time, and should keep running and be a part of Lancaster’s culture scene as it is now. I do however feel that Litfest could be improved if it had more involvement from students, such as holding an event for students to recite their own works, or have alumni from both universities come and read at the festival. Overall Litfest is a great experience to be a part of and I would urge everyone to attend next year’s event, whether it’s in the role of a volunteer or as a member of the audience.