Bewdley Book Week (BBW) was the brainchild of then Bewdley resident Neville Farmer whose background was in arts production and journalism. Neville was alarmed by rumours about the possible closure of Bewdley Library and conceived the idea of a book festival based on its premises as a way of increasing its importance to the town.
In the six years that it operated, BBW became a fixed point in the town’s calendar. After its amalgamation with Bewdley Festival in 2014, it was able to attract internationally recognised writers to take part. Its growth can be followed by clicking on each year’s link on this page.
While most of the events have been hugely successful, BBW’s organisers found it increasingly difficult to book well-known writers at viable prices and sell tickets for those with lower profiles. After 2017 the organising team felt that it wasn’t sustainable in the then format.
As a result, from 2018, the focus switched to putting on individual high-profile literary events throughout the year under the Bewdley Festival brand.
Festival Committee members Neil Shaw and Rob Bold have stepped forward to take this on.
The main BBW organisers are name-checked in the yearly breakdowns but none of the Book Week events would have been possible were it not for other volunteers who prepared and cleared rooms, stewarded events, hosted speakers and, especially for the tea and cake afternoons, prepared and served refreshments. Thanks to everyone.
