Margate Bookie returns for 5th year

History, seaside, postcards and crime combine in a brilliant line up for Margate Bookie’s fifth year

The friendly literature festival by the sea, Margate Bookie, is back for its fifth year, with a line up that’s bigger and better than ever.

Headliners are Mark Billingham, creator of the Tom Thorne crime series, and Lisa Jewell, who’s sold over 4.5 million copies of her psychological thrillers. They’re joined by Louis de Bernières (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin), Alison Weir (the top-selling female historian in the United Kingdom) and Richard Skinner (head of the Faber & Faber academy).

Top names include Tom Jackson, the man behind the cult Twitter and books Postcards From The Past. Travis Elborough, author of Wish You Were Here and described by The Guardian as ‘one of the country’s finest pop culture historians’ discusses working class culture alongside Melanie McGrath, writer of Pie and Mash down the Roman Road. And in an intoxicating hour of burlesque, ballet and banana dancing, SelfMadeHero and Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School team up for a unique life drawing experience. 

You’ll get a chance to meet superstar psychological novelists like Nicci Cloke (Toxic), Sunday Times No 1 Bestsellers Renee Knight (Disclaimer) and Lesley Kara (The Rumour), as well as SJ Watson who wrote Before I Go To Sleep which was turned into a movie starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth. PJ Whiteley and his band play the music that inspired his third novel, A Love of Two Halves. 

Writers are always well looked after at the Bookie. Sebastian Baczkiewicz, author of Radio 4’s Pilgrim, shares trade secrets on how to write drama. In How to Perfect Your Submission, Scott Pack of Guardian Masterclasses offers practical advice on how to pitch your book to agents and publishers. In their latest workshop applying the science of happiness to creative writing, Elise Valmorbida and Vanessa King explore how to engage your senses to write freely. Graphic novelist and team builder Meirion Jones presents his unique course The Graphic Experience. 

The festival supports local writers as well as big name authors. There will be a mask workshop with Annie Sutton, group storytelling and rope making from the Listening Post and Waste Land Walking Group, and special movie shows at the Margate School. And local writers will read from their latest works, covering everything from comedy to yoga, love stories to local history, and everything in between. We’ll welcome comedy writer Dale Shaw (Russell Howard’s Good News, That Mitchell and Webb Sound), musician and author Marianne Dissard (Not Me), Maggie Harris (In Margate By Lunchtime) and many, many more. 

The festival takes place from Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th November, and coincides with the Turner Prize being resident at the Turner Contemporary, offering an amazing opportunity for visitors to each event to explore new and interesting art forms.

To find out more go to MargateBookie.com. Or buy tickets direct from Eventbrite.