> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # More than words: Inside the Ipswich Book Festival - URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/more-than-words-inside-the-ipswich-book-festival/ - Published: 2026-09-22T07:52:30.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T13:15:55.000Z - Description: Arts columnist Zelly Lisanework has a coffee and conversation with Ipswich Book Festival organisers Andrew Marsh and Emma Lightfoot about how a four-person team is growing a festival that reaches far beyond the page. - Author: Zelly Lisanework - Tags: Opinion Ahead of this year's Ipswich Book Festival, running from 2 to 4 October 2026, I met Andrew Marsh of Dial Lane Books and Emma Lightfoot, owner of The Orwell Lady, for a coffee and a chat about how the festival has grown, what makes it distinctive, and the thinking behind this year's *More Than Words* theme. Alongside Cathy Frost and Tony Felgate, Andrew and Emma form the four-person team who organise and run the festival each year, bringing together authors, readers, venues, schools and local organisations from across Ipswich. ## Q&A ### **This year you have more events but fewer venues. How has the festival grown?** **Emma:** We've got 55 events across 11 venues. Last year we had around 47 events across 14 venues. This year we've tried to make the venues work harder rather than having one venue for one event. From a logistical point of view, particularly when managing volunteers, condensing things makes it easier. ### **And how big is the volunteer team?** **Emma:** We've got about 62 volunteers this year. Last year we had around 42, with about 37 working across the weekend. A lot of this year's volunteers are returning, which is lovely, and we've also got businesses bringing teams along to volunteer. There's a real sense of people wanting to get involved. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/09/1000053308-1.jpg) Andrew Marsh (Photo: WHAT Associates) ### **Where did the idea for Ipswich Book Festival come from?** **Andrew:** I've had the shop for coming up to seven years. When I moved here, I realised there wasn't an independent bookshop, so I decided to do that. Then I started thinking about all the literary activity happening in Ipswich, and the idea of a book festival had been going around in my head for a couple of years. > *"We wanted to do it differently. We wanted to do it our way."* **ANDREW MARSH** **Andrew:** Eventually I decided to go for it. We got together over a bottle of wine, and there were really two questions: did we think we could do it, and, more importantly, did we actually want to do it? By the end of that first meeting, we were all incredibly excited. **Andrew:** There had been a previous festival, BookEast, which by all accounts was very successful, but it hadn't continued. It just felt like the right time to try again. We decided straight away that we would always stick to the first weekend of October. That means we can plan well ahead — we've already got authors and venues lined up for next year. ### **Were you surprised by how successful the first festival was?** **Andrew:** Completely. The success of last year genuinely blew us all away. Obviously we'd spent a year planning it and thought it was going to be good, but when the weekend arrived it just exploded. People would come into town for one, two or three events they had booked, get caught up in the buzz and the sea of red T-shirts, and start booking more events on their phones while they were there. **Andrew:** When I originally set the group up, I genuinely thought we'd do one book festival, finish it and go back to our normal lives. It hadn't occurred to me that it would become an annual thing. Now I realise you don't really do a book festival once — ideally, you're in it for the long haul. ### **Has the City of Culture activity changed the way you think about the festival longer term?** **Emma:** It has given us a focus. People are planning towards 2029 regardless of the eventual outcome, so there's a sense that something significant is being built. We were mentioned by Jack Abbott when the plans were launched, which was quite humbling. We were essentially four friends who came together with an idea, and suddenly the festival was being spoken about as part of what is happening culturally in Ipswich. By 2029 it would be around our fifth year, so it really does reinforce that sense of being in this for the long haul. ### **How does the four-person organising team work?** **Emma:** We each have our own areas of responsibility: Andrew handles books, Tony deals with finance and funding, Cathy focuses on community, and I do marketing and communications, but they overlap. Learning to work as a team has been a process, because we hadn't all worked together before. **Andrew:** I was used to running my business and making decisions myself, so initially I found adjusting to being part of a team difficult. But you quickly realise the benefit. If one of us is having a difficult day, there's always somebody there to lift you back up, and if something needs doing, somebody will get it done. **Emma:** We also bring very different backgrounds and experiences. That diversity of thinking is important, and I think you can see it reflected in the programming. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/09/1000053310-1.jpg) **Emma Lightfoot, The Orwell Lady owner and Ipswich Book Festival organiser (Photo:* WHAT Associates**)* ### **Where did this year's *More Than Words* theme come from?** **Emma:** We work with WHAT Associates as our creative partners. The original logo contains symbols based on buildings and landmarks around Ipswich town centre. From there, we developed this idea of a kaleidoscope, something constantly changing, because everybody sees a book slightly differently, and reading can change your perspective. > *"There's so much more to reading than just the book you pick up."* **EMMA LIGHTFOOT** **Emma:** Last year the concept was *Chapter 1*. This year they came up with *More Than Words*. It ties into the National Year of Reading, but also the idea that there is so much more to reading than simply the book you pick up. That's why the programme can encompass dementia, dyslexia, illustration and workshops. It might be a graphic novel or a classic — it doesn't really matter. Everything is bigger than the book itself. ### **What makes Ipswich Book Festival different from other literary festivals?** **Andrew:** None of us had organised a book festival before, and we wanted to do it differently. We wanted to do it our way. For example, rather than having a children's author interviewed by an adult, we had a group of children interview them. We also put Ashley Hickson-Lovence's event on a double-decker Routemaster bus, because of the connection between his books and his family's history with London buses. **Andrew:** We aren't afraid of a wacky idea. Some of mine get reined in a little bit! But it's about coming up with things that are different. We want to do a book festival that's different from every other book festival. We don't go around other festivals taking notes on how they do everything. We do it our way, and so far it seems to be working. ### **Does the success of year one create more pressure this time?** **Emma:** Every event has tickets sold, and we already have four sold-out events. The second year can be a little like the difficult second album — you're waiting to see whether people respond again. It's been lovely to see that the second chapter is landing well. **Andrew:** The difference is that now there's expectation. We delivered last year, so people expect us to do it again. That's a great position to be in, but it adds another level. We're so proud of what we created from nothing, to where we are now. ### **The festival seems very rooted in Ipswich itself.** **Emma:** That's really important to us. Last year Ipswich were playing at home during the festival; there were football supporters coming through town, and we had terrible weather at one point, but rather than detracting from the festival, it added to the atmosphere. Ipswich is an amazing place. There's so much going on, and one of our missions is to help show that. ### **Tell me about Schools Week.** **Andrew:** Last year we sent authors into a couple of schools, and it worked really well. Then I thought, why don't we try to get an author into every school in Ipswich? We started with a list of around 54 schools and now have more than 40 schools involved. Authors will go in and talk about their books, their publishing and writing journeys and, most importantly, the joy and importance of reading for pleasure. **Andrew:** Sending authors into schools means we can reach children who might never otherwise come to a festival event. Maybe somebody goes home saying, "We had this author in today, and I want to be a writer." My fundamental ethos has always been about getting children interested in books and reading at a young age, because then you've got readers for life. We didn't want to put on one children's event and then call ourselves a family festival. There are around 14 children's events plus workshops. It's as much for children as it is for adults. ### **You also have events dealing with subjects such as dementia and dyslexia. Why was that important?** **Andrew:** Books aren't just classics, graphic novels, children's books or adult books. There are also books that help people. With an event like this, it isn't simply about buying the book. Somebody might come because they want to hear from someone living with dementia and take something useful away from that experience. We also ran dyslexia workshops last year and have two more this year. **Emma:** The dyslexia sessions take a creative approach, exploring art and performance and encouraging children to embrace dyslexia and see the creativity that can come with it. And with projects like the dementia event, we don't want to simply deliver something and leave it there. We want to introduce something that other people can pick up, continue and benefit from. ### **Accessibility seems to have been considered in the choice of venues too.** **Emma:** Yes. We've tried to make sure every venue this year is accessible for everybody. Last year there were a couple of occasions where a venue relied on a lift and then the lift wasn't working, which wasn't fair. This year we've tried to make sure the venues are accessible, have toilets and are close enough to cafes and other places where people can comfortably spend time between events. ### **How do you decide which events go into which venues?** **Andrew:** We've tried to group things more logically this year. Most of the children's programmes are at DanceEast, so families can stay in one place with a cafe, toilets and an accessible space. Much of the adult fiction programme is at the library. Logistically, the easiest thing would have been to hire one large building and run the entire festival there. But it's about Ipswich and getting people moving around Ipswich. Part of the experience is discovering these buildings and different parts of town. ### **And you're creating opportunities for local writers as well?** **Emma:** Yes. We have local-author showcases where writers can have a table, meet people and sell their books without being charged for the space. It's important, because this is where everybody starts. Somebody beginning on one of those local-author tables could eventually become one of our festival speakers. I have absolutely no doubt about that. ### **It sounds as though you also want activity between the headline talks.** **Andrew:** Absolutely. We wanted other things people could do between events. If you've got half an hour, you might make bookmarks at the library; there are workshops, lettering, printmaking and different activities for different ages and abilities. **Andrew:** At Ancient House we're also creating a hub. I get sent huge amounts of proof copies, bookmarks, badges, stickers and promotional material by publishers, particularly for children's books. Rather than leaving that sitting in boxes, we're putting it out so children can come in and take things away. Again, it's about getting children excited about reading and children's literature. ### **And Ancient House itself is an important part of that?** **Andrew:** Definitely. If you're from Ipswich, it's a building people love. If you're visiting for the festival and see it open, you're going to want to go inside and see what it's about, and once you're in there, you discover everything else happening around the festival. Being able to use it is massively important. What began as an idea shared between four friends has quickly developed into an ambitious annual celebration of books, creativity and the town itself. From author talks and workshops to Schools Week, local writer showcases, and events exploring dyslexia and dementia, *More Than Words* feels an apt description of a festival determined to show that reading can reach far beyond the page. Find the full programme, event information and tickets at [Ipswich Book Festival](https://www.ipswichbookfestival.co.uk/?ref=ipswich.co.uk).