Promoting the enjoyment of literature on the Channel Island of Alderney
Image copyright Neil Howard
About the Trust
The Alderney Literary Trust is a charitable trust founded in 2013 on the Channel Island of Alderney to encourage the appreciation of literature and promote critical literacy.
The Trust aims to:
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encourage the enjoyment of reading and writing for pleasure through a variety of literary events such as creative writing courses and guest author appearances;
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promote an appreciation of different literary genres and writing styles, and how language shapes and transforms our understanding of what we read;
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inspire readers to develop a deeper awareness of history and its relevance through an annual festival of historical literature.
The Alderney Literary Trust is sponsored by
Image copyright Neil Howard
Alderney: a relaxing oasis in the English Channel
Image copyright Neil Howard
Whether it is reading a good book or writing one of your own, Alderney's relaxing atmosphere takes you into another world. Its unspoiled open landscapes and dramatic seascapes, its geography, fascinating history, amazing wildlife, and colourful community provide the perfect environment to stimulate and inspire creative minds.
On Alderney, the past is part of everyday life. A fortress island, Alderney is ringed by Roman, Tudor, Napoleonic, Victorian, and German fortifications, testaments to the Island’s perceived strategic military position in the English Channel through the ages. In keeping with the historical character of the Island, the Alderney Literary Trust holds The Alderney Literary Festival, an annual festival of history-related literature (fiction and non-fiction), attracting bestselling and award winning biographers, historians, novelists and poets to the Island.
The Alderney Literary Festival
Each year, the Trust holds the Alderney Literary Festival of Historical Literature, having as its consistent theme the convergence of historical fact and literary fiction. This is a boutique literary festival, kept deliberately small to create a 'salon' feel and encourage interaction between authors and audience.
The Festival takes place over a long weekend every March in the historic Island Hall, Alderney's seat of government, built in 1763. We keep audiences small to create an intimate and friendly feel to this 'salon' style gathering of historians, biographers, novelists, and fans of historical fiction and non-fiction. In 2017, we inaugurated a special speaker slot - the Festival's Debut Novelist - inviting a new author who we believe is one to watch for the future.
In this Festival, history is explored through biographies, thrillers and crime stories, the fantastical and the supernatural, romance, adventure, warfare and political analysis. Our guest authors bring fresh insights into old events, reinterpret them in the light of new evidence, and make history relevant to the present time.