A WEEKEND festival that allows an opportunity to indulge in all aspects of books and the arts is being held in Grasmere.

The Weekends Arts and Book Festival takes place over the weekend of January 24-26, 2003 and is organised by the Wordsworth Trust. It will include talks by leading figures in the art world and surgeries by conservators giving advice on looking after works of art and old books.

Dr Robert Woof, director of the Wordsworth Trust said: "The weekend is open to everybody with an inquisitive mind. It is a unique opportunity to explore the world of art and literature in the heart of the Lake District."

Speakers over the weekend include Fiona MacCarthy, curator of the exhibition Mad Bad and Dangerous: The Cult of Lord Byron which will be at the Wordsworth Museum from June 28, 2003. Fiona, whose new book on Byron has just been published, will be talking about Byronism. Other speakers include Paul Johnson, historian, biographer and man of letters who has published over 30 books and regularly contributes to The Spectator.

Anne Bacon, head of Conservation and Fine Art at the University of Northumbria, will give a surgery on restoring works of art while artists Christopher Bacon and David Esslemont will demonstrate 18th and 19th century painting. Derek Bradford, a conservator and Owen Bradford, manager of the Bindery of the Robinson Library, University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, will give a surgery and workshop on books.

The weekend will also include special poetry readings from the Wordsworth Trust's poets in residence Malawian poet Jack Mapanje and Henry Shukman, whose debut collection appeared this year.

January 8, 2003 09:00