I won a Prize! No, not for my writing

Simply for turning up to Hastings very first LitFest.

I only found about the LitFest by chance, even though I now live in St Los, which is to Hastings what Hove is to Brighton, i.e. an attached twin. But I found out in time to attend a couple of the events. Hastings Lit Fest isn't famous, this was its first year, but it will become famous - I'm told that most events were very well attended and all the workshops were sold out. Already it has playwright David Hare as its patron and attracted speakers such as Patrick Gale, Sophie Hannah, Ed Boxall and Mavis Cheek to name just four of the 36 involved.

I only attended two events, but they were very worthwhile. First was in a garage behind a pub where I watched excellent performances of 2 long, Shakespeare derived monologues written and directed by writer/performer/ producer John Knowles. I then attended his scriptwriting workshop the following day. I'd never heard of him, but the workshop was very worthwhile, I'm now engaging with three separate monologues of my own, one of which may even get performed, Mr. Knowles is staging another production and was quite keen on what I did at the workshop. I have submitted a piece, not the one I began at the workshop. We shall see.

So how come I won a prize? My name was just pulled out of a proverbial hat which contained, so I'm told, the name of everyone known to have participated in any of the events. I went to a meeting of Litfest volunteers where I was presented with my prize, a bundle of signed books by some of the festival speakers. Can a writer own too many books? Of course not! I'll review them as I read them. 

In no particular order, here they are:-

Prague Spring by Simon Mawer

Angels of Islington by Sam Davey

More of Me by Kathryn Evans

Me and My Alien Friend by Ed Boxall - book and CD
Of Men and Angels by Michael Arditti
Dogchild by Kevin Brooks