© Michel Barraud
The annual literary festival, Le livre sur les quais, will take place this year during the weekend of 5th-7th September. During the festival, over 300 writers (including 25 British, Irish and American writers) will visit the picturesque town of Morges on the shore of lake Geneva. Now in its fifth year, the festival has become a mature international literary gathering, with a great program of English-language events running throughout the 3 days. The full program can be viewed online: http://lelivresurlesquais.ch/programme-2014
This year’s English program is particularly strong. It covers literary fiction, non-fiction, crime and thrillers, appealing to all tastes. The main program will run from 11:00 until 18:00 on both Saturday and Sunday and there will be simultaneous events in English to choose from. There is also an opening event in English on Friday afternoon at 17:30 with Nathan Filer, Sadie Jones and Jami Attenberg.
© Michel Barraud
The program will include round table discussions, short and candid interviews in a new series of Confessionals, and cruises on the lake. Nathan Filer, 2013 winner of the Costa Award, will talk about families and mental illness; Philipp Meyer, 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist, will discuss The New Great American Novel; and Martin Sixsmith his book and the film, Philomena, after the screening. Louise Doughty, the current Richard and Judy Book Club finalist, will give tips on novel writing and talk about her new thriller; Val McDermid, the queen of Scottish crime writing and multiple winner of Gold Dagger Award, will discuss her own crime writing and Jane Austen; and Andy McNab, the former Bravo Two Zero commander, will talk about his life as an SAS soldier and a writer.
Caroline Lawrence will introduce children (7-13 years old) to her award winning series of Roman Mysteries on Saturday at 11:00 in the château. And the well-known Geneva Writers’ Group will run a series of creative writing workshops on both days starting at 11:00. In detail, the workshop program is as follows:
Saturday
11:00 Tell a Story from Your Life (Daniela Norris and Susan Tiberghien)
13:30 Create a Character (Jason Donald and Wallis Wilde Menozzi)
Sunday
11:00, Word Play for Teenagers (Katie Hayoz, D-L Nelson)
13:30 Travel Writing (Susan Tiberghien and Wallis Wilde Menozzi).
You can find more information about the program on our Events Calendar.
© Michel Barraud
Writers will sign books after their events so there will be an opportunity to chat to them further. The festival has also announced cooperation with local international schools to complement its French-speaking school programme. GEMS World Academy is a festival sponsor and its new library and World Language Centre will be inaugurated on Thursday, 4th September with a series of events, including Douglas Kennedy giving the opening speech and Caroline Lawrence talking about antiquity.
All events are free and entrance is on a first come first served basis.
Le livre sur les quais
Morges lakeside
http://lelivresurlesquais.ch
