Book shop pops up ahead of Wigan Writing Festival
A publisher is going to whet people’s appetites for Wigan Writing Festival with a pop-up book shop
In the run-up to Wigan Writing Festival on September 27, Maddison House Press will be running a pop-up bookshop in the Civic, Millgate.
The Wigan-based publisher has created the festival to celebrate writing in all its forms and will be operating the pop up shop from September 21 offering books for sale, a magnetic poetry board, a book swap and a paper quiz to win festival tickets.
"Anyone with a book idea or who is interested in learning more about writing and publishing is welcome to call in speak to us.
“We want to promote reading, writing and spoken word within the local community and so the bookshop and festival aim to do just that," says Maddison House Press founder and CEO Gemma Holgate.
Maddison House Press has been running since January 2024 and in that time has published 10 non-fiction and poetry books from authors across the country covering everything from transitioning from the armed forces to overcoming imposter syndrome.
"We have two more books due to be released in 2026: 'Saving You, Saving Me' by Janetta Harvey which her story of adopting Miniature Schnauzers and going on to set up a charity, and 'Doing Disability Differently' by local author Alex Winstanley," says Gemma.
"We pride ourselves in sharing stories that share lived experience, teach valuable lessons and offering some kind of ongoing support to readers or the wider community. We're very lucky to be working with such incredible authors."
Two Maddison House Press authors will be running workshops as part of Wigan Writing Festival. Poet Tom Stocks will be leading on poetry, and author and consultant Louise Brown will be running a session on journaling. On top of this there will be a workshop on submitting work to a publisher.
"On top of our workshops we have two special events at the end of the day," says Gemma. "There will be an open mic session where attendees can share something they have written and there will be a Dragon's Den style pitch to the publisher opportunity too."
Tickets for Wigan Writing Festival are available via Eventbrite here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1983639228330
The pop up bookshop will be open from 9.30am to 4pm Monday to Friday September 21 to 25.