The organisers of the fringe events are volunteers; we are an informal, non-profitmaking group of individuals and we receive no funding. We enjoy, attend and take part in the main Hastings Book Festival, and our aim is to stimulate, interest and entertain the public by adding further, free literary events which do not clash with the main festival events.

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Gwendoline Coates

writes fiction, memoir and poetry about self-sufficiency, drawn from her experience of living off-grid and off-beat on a remote Shetland island and an isolated smallholding on the crumbling slopes of the Apennine mountains. She has an MA (with distinction) in Creative Writing from Canterbury Christ Church, earned in 2023. She now lives in Hastings without so much as a window box, transferring the power of her elbow from a spade to a pen. 

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Della Reynolds

is a well-known local poet and writer. She performs and publishes books as The Poet in Pyjamas, and runs Hastings’ Poetry for the People monthly workshop and discussion group. She is also the founder of PHSOtheFACTS, a campaign group dedicated to reform of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.  She wrote and edited a collection of blog posts telling the story of this grassroots campaign for justice; What’s the Point of the Ombudsman? is available in paperback and e-book at Amazon.  Della is giving a talk on this topic at 6pm on Sunday 22nd September. More information available at: www.phsothetruestory.com 

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Tim Barlow

is an amateur writer and poet who has a day job as a law librarian. He usually writes realist stories and poems set in the modern day. He has a Masters degree (with distinction) in Creative Writing from Hull University. He is Derbyshire born and bred, and now lives in Hastings. He is a committee member of Hastings Writers Group and regularly performs at local poetry events, including a recent tour of eight East Sussex libraries as support to Henry Normal. See more Tim’s website at https://timbarlow.co.uk

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Barnaby Davies

Owner-manager of our venue, Barnaby’s Lounge on Robertson Street. Where to start? –

~ Owner & Co-founder of EastguidesWest
~ Property Investor
~ Tour Director
~ Guinness World Record Holder in Travel
~ Graduate of the Bill Gove Speech Workshop
~ Travel Writer for various magazines
~ Musician (trombone player)
~ Road crew for artists such as Madonna and Prince
~ Active member of Toastmasters International. Winner of Club Humorous Speech Competition 2013 and International Speech Contest in 2015
~ Voice-over Artist

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