BEST-SELLING CHILDREN'S AUTHOR NICHOLAS ALLAN PUTS THE 'KID' INTO KIDWELL-E FESTIVAL

~ Tickets now on sale for the UK's first literary event to celebrate ebooks, digital publishing and popular fiction. Confirmed guests at the two-day event's special children's festival (July 28/9) include best-selling children's authors Nicholas Allan, Mary Hooper, Adèle Geras and Anne Rooney ~

Kidwelly, Wales, June 20, 2012: Bestselling children's author Nicholas Allan is to appear at the UK's first literary event dedicated to ebooks — the Kidwell-e Festival.

Allan, the award-winning author/illustrator of over thirty much-loved children’s books such as The Queen's Knickers, Where Willy Went, and Father Christmas Needs a Wee will be wowing young audience with colourful readings, as well as a workshop filled with magic tricks, illustration and prizes at next month's festival.

The author, whose most famous creation — Hill Hospital — was made into a BAFTA-winning series on ITV children's channel CITV, is just one of seven celebrated children's writers confirmed for Kidwell-e, taking place in the “picture postcard” coastal village of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, West Wales, on the weekend of July 28 – 9.

Other big names on-board for the special Children's Festival include Whitbread Book Award nominee Adèle Geras (Dido, the Tutu Tilly series), Pippa Goodhart (You Choose — winner of Mumsnet’s Book of the Year for 3-4 Year Olds Award 2011), Carnegie Medal nominee Mary Hooper (the Megan series, At The House of the Magician, At The Sign Of The Sugared Plum) and Anne Rooney (Vampire Dawn series).

Geras has written more than 90 books for readers of all ages and has just published the third in the popular Tutu Tilly series, My Ballet Dream. She will be doing a talk for ages 6-11 entitled “Cats and Ballerinas” as well as a workshop for budding authors on short-story writing.

Goodhart has written over eighty books for children, including her sixty-forth story about Winnie the Witch — written under the fake name of “Laura Owen”. She will be running an active hour of story-making, colouring and fun for ages 4 – 10, based around Winnie The Witch and You Choose.

Hooper writes for age 11-plus and has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal four times for her critically-acclaimed historical novels. She will be presenting a fascinating 'how-to' guide to writing rounded off with an informative Q&A session.

Horror writer Anne Rooney, meanwhile, will be providing something for teenage readers to really sink their teeth into, with a talk on those most enduring of literary characters — vampires.

Completing the line-up are Clive Pearce, whose illustrated books for older children including Hairy Hero Smooth Jason are in the process of being animated, and author/poet Simon Rees, who will be dipping into his latest collection of kids' verse — Animals, Beasts and Creatures.

If that's not enough, there will also be fire breathers, magicians, writing and circus skills workshops, stilt walking, Medieval minstrels and face painting. Entry is free for all children under 14.

Speaking about the forthcoming festival, Nicholas Allan said: “I'd never heard of an e-book Festival and it's originality caught my interest and enthusiasm.

“Children are such wizards with technology, that the idea of reading books on screen may inspire where a wad of paper might have put them off. The Festival will be magical event for them — and me! — I'm sure.”

Adèle Geras said: “The rise of the internet and digital publishing has transformed how younger readers find and enjoy new books, and I'm all for joining in the celebration at Kidwell-e.”

Mary Hooper said: “The children's festival will entertain and inspire kids of all ages. I wish I'd had the opportunity to go to events like Kidwell-e when I was little — I would have had so much fun!”

Festival founder and best-selling Welsh author Julian Ruck (The Ragged Cliffs Trilogy) added: “One of the key goals of the Kidwell-e Festival is to encourage literacy and elearning in children, and I believe we have a first-class schedule of authors to achieve just that.

“It's a family festival through and through, but kids in particular will enjoy an unforgettable fun-filled weekend packed with readings, workshops and entertainments by some of Britain's biggest authors.”

• The Kidwell-e Festival takes place on Saturday, July 28, and Sunday, July 29. Tickets are priced £15 for one day or £25 for two days when booked in advance. Entrance on the day is £18. Children under 14 go free. For more information visit www.kidwellyefestival.com.

ENDS

For all media enquiries, including author interviews, hi-res images, press passes, and reader competition opportunities, please contact Anthony Harvison at Palamedes PR on 0207 138 3067 or email anthony.harvison@palamedespr.com

The Kidwell-e Festival – tag line “INclusive, Not EXclusive” – is the UK's very first ebook festival and only the second of its kind in the world. It takes place over the weekend of July 28-29 in the picturesque coastal town of Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire, West Wales, at the nearby Ffos Las Racecourse and Conference Centre. The festival will do what no other literature event has been willing to do before – recognise the ebook as a fertile and dynamic medium for great reads. In doing so it will help make talented new authors into household names, encourage literacy and e-learning in children, and expand the cultural horizons of both Wales and the UK. The festival includes the Kidwell-e Ebook Award: the UK's first literary prize aimed exclusively at digital book with a £10,000 cash prize for the best unpublished or self-published e-book by a British author.

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