Love & Loss

Drawing on his new collection, Father Myself, James McDermott will lead a special writing workshop to help you to re-see bereavement, grief and emotional loss. This inclusive and interactive workshop is designed for writers of all abilities – all welcome.

Join us as we celebrate the Essex life of ‘BBC legend’ and festival patron, Dave Monk, who sadly died last year. We will be sharing fond and funny memories, talking about his memoir, Whatever Happened to Dave Monk? and the contribution he made to Essex and Essex Book Festival.

Festival Patron Sarah Perry’s Death of an Ordinary Man is a deeply moving, unstinting account of death by cancer, a reportage into the daily experience of caring, and most importantly a testament to her father-in-law David’s life, that of an ordinary man.

Booker Prize longlisted author Siân Hughes joins us to discuss her latest novel, No Such Thing As Monday. Raw, exhilarating, and full of heart it confirms Hughes as a masterful chronicler of life lived on the edge, and people at their most vulnerable.