Book Festivals and Literary Communities with Rebecca Wilkie

In this episode, Megan speaks with Rebecca Wilkie, Senior Programme Manager (Festivals & Events) at New Writing North and Director of Durham Book Festival.

Rebecca shares her journey from growing up in Liverpool to studying and working in London, moving from literary agency The Agency (London) Ltd and BookTrust into the subsidised arts, and eventually leading literary events across the North East. She reflects on class and regional inequality, highlighting the importance of creating opportunities for writers and readers across the region.

They go on to explore the realities of producing a major literary festival: the challenges of persuading authors to travel beyond London and Manchester, balancing established names with emerging voices, and New Writing North’s commitment to creating accessible events through live-streaming and captioning.

Rebecca also shares her thoughts on the changing literary landscape, the skills needed to build a career in festival programming and what literary festivals can offer in an age of algorithms.

Rebecca Wilkie

New Writing North: https://newwritingnorth.com/team/rebecca-wilkie/

Links & resources

New Writing North: https://newwritingnorth.com

Durham Book Festival:  https://newwritingnorth.com/festivals/durham-book-festival/

Louise Powell's Underdogs: https://www.culturednortheast.co.uk/p/louises-debut-novel-races-out-of

New centre for writing and publishing: https://newwritingnorth.com/capital-works/

Northern Writers’ Awards: https://newwritingnorth.com/northern-writers-awards/

BookTrust: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/

The Agency: https://theagency.co.uk/

Women’s Prize for Fiction: https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/

Host Credits & SYP Links:

Hosted and edited by Megan Dawson (SYP North Podcast Officer)

Instagram: @SYP_UK
Twitter: @SYP_UK
Website: https://thesyp.org.uk

If you have any questions about this episode or wish to partake in the show, drop us a line at podcast.syp@gmail.com.