This year's City of Wolverhampton Literature Festival saw record attendance levels.

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A total of 98 events took place across 26 city venues during the 3 day festival, from Friday 26 January to Sunday 28 January.

Events included children's story telling, educational workshops, theatre and performance, literature, poetry reading, music and art talks.

Attendance figures hit more than 6,200 - a major increase on the 2,000 for last year's inaugural festival.

Councillor John Reynolds, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: "I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who made this year's City of Wolverhampton Literature Festival such a huge success.

"There was a tremendous variety of events, with people of all ages participating.

"The feedback has been very positive, and thanks to Arts Council England funding we can now look to build on this success in 2019 and for years to come."

The WoLF Poetry Competition received 695 entries and awarded prizes to the top 3 poems, and a children's creative writing competition within schools saw 180 entries with the 4 finalists' poems published in a special festival anthology.

The festival was planned and programmed in collaboration with key partners such as the University, Express & Star, artists and local communities. 

It was funded by Arts Council England through a 'Grants for the Arts' grant to Wolverhampton Libraries.  

The festival will return next year - and has secured funding for the next 4 years from Arts Council England.

  • released: Friday 2 February, 2018