Michel Faber, Robin Ince, Sita Brahmachari and more - Ludlow launches brand new mini-literary festival - Lit Bits!

From children’s writers Tom Percival and Sita Brahmachari to best-selling author Michel Faber, from renowned memoirist Tiffany Murray to comedian and bookworm Robin Ince, there’s something for everyone!

Created by Jess Laurie (Ludlow Assembly Rooms), Rachel Buchanan (Arvon Foundation and previously Free Word, London) and Ludlow writer Liz Hyder (recent winner of the Nero Book Award for Children’s Fiction), Lit Bits brings award-winning, best-selling writers to the Marches on a mission to encourage, inspire, and entertain from 14-15 February.

Liz Hyder said: “We’re really excited to be bringing such a great range of writers - some with local connections and others who haven’t been here before – to our lovely town. We’ve got  family-friendly workshops, masterclasses for grown-up and aspiring writers, and even a comedy show celebrating all things books! Lit Bits is going to be great fun!’

Friday, 14 February sees acclaimed children’s writer Tom Percival (from Bishops Castle) and Sita Brahmachari (educated in Shropshire) running workshops in local Ludlow schools whilst Hebridean poet and creative writing tutor Kevin MacNeil hosts a full day workshop at Ludlow Assembly Rooms on how to harness your creativity through calm.

Saturday sees further workshops for children and families from both Tom and Sita alongside a memoir-writing workshop from the best-selling Tiffany Murray whose own memoir, My Family and Other Rock Stars, was a book of the year in five national papers.

In the afternoon, Tiffany is joined by Michel Faber, best-selling author of The Crimson Petal and the White and Under the Skin which was adapted into an acclaimed film starring Scarlett Johannsson. His latest, Listen, is about why we love and listen to music. Tiffany and Michel will be discussing music and writing alongside books and creativity. Later in the day, Kevin MacNeil will run a workshop for adults using alphabet pasta to make poetry!

On Saturday evening, Radio 4 favourite comedian, writer and bookworm Robin Ince will take to the stage having rummaged for second-hand books in Ludlow earlier in the day. Come and find out what strange, wondrous and downright peculiar books he’s unearthed and don’t forget to bring along your own book gems to celebrate too!

Tickets are on sale now and the full line-up is on the Ludlow Assembly Rooms website, ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk 

The organisers would like to thank our funders: Ludlow Town Council (supporting young people in the town to access creative activities through subsidising the family and school events), Arvon Foundation (supporting Sita’s school event as part of their outreach programme bringing creative writing to young people in Shropshire), and Friends of Ludlow Library (sponsoring one of our main adult events).

Biographies of the writers:

Sita Brahmachari is an internationally award-winning novelist of children’s and young adult novels, plays, poems, animation and short stories. Her work is rooted in bringing communities and generations together and has been celebrated for its ability to grow and spread empathy. Sita is also a ‘Shropshire lass’ as she went to secondary school here. Her debut novel Artichoke Hearts won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and is currently being adapted for a stage production. Where The River Runs Gold was Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month and Tender Earth was honoured by the International Board of Books for Young People. Her other books have been shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Yoto Carnegie Medal for writing. She was Book Trust Writer in Residence and has been Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants since 2012. Sita is currently a Royal Literary Fellow at The British Library. 

Tom has been drawing since he's been able to hold a pencil, and making up stories for as long as he can remember, in fact, probably longer, especially as his memory is not what it once was. Originally from Bishops Castle, he’s a creative powerhouse whose work ranges from writing and illustrating to creating new music, animation and photography. His books include Bea’s Bad Day, Billy’s Bravery (a World Book Day book), By the Light of the Moon, and the acclaimed, Carnegie Medal-nominated The Wrong Shoes. 

Poet, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and lyricist Kevin MacNeil was born and raised in the Outer Hebrides and is a practising Buddhist. His debut poetry collection, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides, won the Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize and his most recent novel, The Brilliant and Forever, was shortlisted for the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year Award. Currently a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Stirling, Kevin writes in both English and Gaelic and regularly tutors at Scotland’s national writing centre, Moniack Mhor. His next book is a short story collection titled Inner Hearts, Outer Hebrides.

Tiffany Murray’s acclaimed memoir My Family and Other Rock Stars was a book of the summer in 2024 for The Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Good Housekeeping, Irish Independent and Irish Times. Her novels Diamond Star Halo, Happy Accidents and Sugar Hall have variously been shortlisted for the Wodehouse Bollinger Prize and she received the Roger Deakin Award for nature writing. An experienced workshop leader, Tiffany has been a Hay Festival Fiction Fellow, a Fulbright scholar, and a Senior Lecturer. Her BBC Radio 4 series Hulda’s Café is available on BBC Sounds.

Best-selling author Michel Faber was born in the Netherlands and has since lived in Australia, Scotland and England. His books include Under The Skin (adapted for the big screen by Jonathan Glazer), The Crimson Petal And The White, The Book Of Strange New Things, Undying, D (A Tale Of Two Worlds) and Listen (On Music, Sound And Us).

Robin Ince is a comedian, author, broadcaster and a populariser of scientific ideas. The Guardian once declared him a ‘becardiganed polymath,’ which seems about right. He is probably best known as the co-host of the Sony Gold Award-winning BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. He also co-hosts the podcast Book Shambles with Josie Long, An Uncanny Hour and Science Shambles with Dr Helen Czerski, all three of which are a part of The Cosmic Shambles Network, which he also co-created.

His books include I’m a Joke and So Are You, Bibliomaniac, The Importance of Being Interested and The Bad Book Club. As a stand-up comedian he has toured the world and won three Chortle Awards and the Time Out Outstanding Achievement Award. He has received an Honorary Fellowship of UCL, an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway College, and is a fellow of the British Science Association.