During the three months I spent working at the Liverpool Daily Post, my main responsibility was to organise and execute the UK’s first ever online literary festival on behalf of the newspaper. I decided to produce a short film in which I asked Daily Post Editor Mark Thomas to introduce the array of activities that readers could look forward to during the festival.
And here’s a press release I wrote at the time about the week-long event we dubbed ‘LiveRead’:
STARS LINE UP FOR UK’S FIRST ONLINE LITERARY FESTIVAL
Monday 15th- Friday 19th March 2010
A host of celebrity authors and playwrights will be taking part in the UK’s first ever online literary festival next week.
LiveRead, an exclusively web-based five-day event, will be hosted by the Liverpool Daily Post newspaper and feature contributions from the likes of Frank Cottrell Boyce, Linda Grant and Ramsey Campbell.
Frank Cottrell Boyce joins the line-up only months after his 2009 novel Cosmic was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. The Millions and 24 Hour Party People writer will be participating in a live web chat on the Daily Post website and reading an extract from his shortlisted book.
Award-winning novelist, playwright and journalist Linda Grant will also be taking part in a web interview, giving readers the chance to ask her questions about her main influences – her Jewish background, family history, and Liverpudlian heritage.
A third live chat will feature Ramsey Campbell, the acclaimed horror writer who served as inspiration for his American counterpart, Stephen King. The author of Demons by Daylight said he is delighted to be involved with LiveRead as he is a big fan of the Liverpool Daily Post.
Other well-known literary talents lending their names to the billing include former Brookside actor and star of Funny Money Neil Caple, legendary crimewriter Martin Edwards, rom com author Jane Costello, Eastenders scriptwriter Fred Lawless and Wirral-based author Caroline Smailes.
As well as web chats and author readings, activities include live video debates, a daily literary quiz, an interactive Choose-your-own-adventure story, a writer’s clinic with literacy consultancy BubbleCow, e-books, a poll to discover Liverpool’s favourite novel and much more.
Event organiser Susannah Birkwood commented: “LiveRead is an incredibly exciting project for the newspaper to stage because it allows us to extend our influence beyond the city and engage with a truly international audience. Thanks to video footage, live streaming, web chats and podcasts, we’re able to facilitate more interaction between readers, authors and journalists than ever before.”
All LiveRead content will be available online at www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liveread and updated daily between 15th-19th March 2010.
ENDS
