STAR turns by Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy and Charles Dickens’ great great grandson are expected to pull in the crowds at a new literature festival to be launched in Frodsham this summer.

Scottish poet, playwright and professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, Miss Duffy is Britain’s first female Poet Laureate.

And her planned performance alongside actor, director and producer Gerald Dickens – himself a gifted storyteller - promises an auspicious start to the market town’s first 12-day celebration of the written and spoken word.

Frodsham’s award-winning stage and screenwriter Tim Firth – author of Calendar Girls – has also offered his support as patron of the Weaver Words festival, and he will be sponsoring a children’s writing competition.

He said: “I’m really pleased that my Great Cheshire Story Prize will form part of the new festival and, hopefully, it will offer children the three things any professional writer craves most – a first line, a deadline and a cash incentive.”

The festival is the brainchild of Frodsham Community Association and is being organised by a committee, chaired by Sue Thomson, and project manager, Lynn Pegler, who have secured an Arts Council start-up grant of £10,000 funding to shape an exciting programme of talks, workshops and other special events for all ages.

Sue said: “It’s a fantastic new event for Frodsham which should be great for residents and attract hundreds of people to the town.

“We hope lots of local schools, book groups and community organisations will join in, and we’re delighted that Frodsham CE Primary School is already planning to host an author-in-residence and publish its own book of stories.”

The festival will run from August 29 –September 9 and will feature a science fiction weekend; poetry events with local poets Andrew Rudd and Gladys Mary Coles; a Daphne du Maurier afternoon tea, hosted by English academic Professor Sue Zlosnik; and a variety of workshops, from cartoons and creative writing to drama and book-making.

There will also be a special story-telling day for pre-school children, and a lively open mic night for budding writers to present their work.

The festival will end with the premier of a new drama, Daring to Be, presented by local churches.

Full programme details will be launched in the spring – but Lynn Pegler is keen to hear from any group or individual who would like to get involved.

For more information, contact her on 07783 686246, or email: email@weaverwords. org.uk