The organisers have put together a wide range of events, from hip hop poetry to literary quizzes, an open mic event at the Quay appropriately enough on the theme of water to a Lewis Carroll conference (deadly serious, apparently) at Dimbola, story telling slams to song writing workshops.

It all just emphasizes how varied the act of writing is, and what a deep and rich tradition there is of it on the Isle of Wight, with Tennyson, Dickens, Swinburne, Keats, WH Auden, Virginia Woolf, David Gascoyne and so many others all having come here for adventure, retreat or recreation.

And as Wight Words will celebrate, it is a living stream whose current exponents include Lynne Truss, Anthony Minghella, and the author of ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em’. A whole host of tragic versifiers, comic turns, composers of family sagas, folk troubadours, crime writers, childrens’ authors, Viv Stanshall penning his surrealistic comedy in a boat moored by Shanklin Pier, hippie bards reciting at the original Isle of Wight Festivals, the Shore Women recreating the wreck of the Irex: all are part of the flow of words.

The Wight Words festival should provide something for all tastes and audiences, young and old, from future potential poet laureates to those who just want to write a limerick. ”

Brian Hinton MBE

An updated edition of Brian’s book Discovering Island Writers will be launched as part of the Wight Words Festival.