First Monty Lit Fest heading to Llanfyllin

The inaugural Monty Lit Fest is being held at Bodfach Hall in Llanfyllin and will see several authors showcasing their work throughout the day.

The festival has been founded by councillor and former parliamentary candidate Simon Baynes and wife Maggie, along with councillor and author Myfanwy Alexander and Councillor Amanda Jenner.

Councillor Baynes insisted there is a gap in the market in the area for a literary festival to showcase talented writers from across the region. The event will be held on June 9.

He said: “There are some successful festivals in Oswestry and Shrewsbury, and we have one in Powys in the form of the popular Hay festival, so we believed there was definitely a gap in the market.

“We have some extremely talented writers, and all but one of the authors who will be speaking at the festival are from the local area which is fantastic.

“We got advice from people who have worked on other events, who advised us it would be best to have it in one place on one day, and we’re making it family-friendly and are hoping for a lot of families and children to come along.”

The two main festival themes are history and love of the countryside, while Councillor Alexander, who is the cabinet member for education on Powys County Council, is a published author and will be speaking, along with well-known local broadcaster and naturalist Iolo Williams.

Other authors on show will be historian Matthew Dennison, leading literary agent and historian Andrew Lownie, poet and politician Lord Gowrie, and author Adele Nozedar of Brecon Beacons Foraging.

The day will finished with live music from Ruth and Ken Powell from 6.30pm to 8pm.

Talks will begin at 10am and will last for 50 minutes each, with a Q&A session taking place on a central marquee at Bodfach Hall, which hosts the town's annual show.

Festival tickets are available via the website montylitfest.wordpress.com or by emailing baynes@bodfach.com to receive a hard copy order form for a postal application.