Express & Star

Wolverhampton Literature Festival 2019: Tickets sell out for Stewart Lee and John Cooper Clarke

TICKETS for two of the most anticipated events of this year's Wolverhampton Literature Festival have already sold out.

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John Cooper Clark

Comedian Stewart Lee and performance poet John Cooper Clarke will take to the stage at sell-out shows during the annual festivities.

It comes as organisers behind the celebrations revealed tickets have been flying off the shelves for the festival's headline acts.

Councillor John Reynolds, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for city economy, said: "There is so much to get involved with as part of Wolverhampton Literature Festival that visitors are spoilt for choice.

“I want to thank all the performers that have agreed to take part in the 2019 programme and hope that everyone has a fantastic time.”

More than 100 events will feature as part of the festival's jam-packed line-up when the main three-day events returns this week.

Tickets to see former Everything But The Girl singer Tracey Thorn at Wolverhampton Art Gallery are also in high demand, with her show expected to sell-out in the coming days.

She will be at the Lichfield Street gallery to talk about her memoir 'Another Planet' on Sunday from 5.45pm to 6.45pm, with tickets priced at £12.

There are also just a few tickets remaining for Richard Herring's podcast event at Bilston Town after it was announced Wolverhampton-born Sathnam Sanghera would join as special guest.

The festival launched with a special Poetry Slam at the Arena Theatre on Saturday, with the next event set to be Central Youth Theatre's play The Rebel Against Injustice on Thursday.

Poet Emma Purshouse, who helped to host the Poetry Slam, said: "We have got amazing people coming from all over the country to put on entertainment for us in Wolverhampton. There's something for everybody."

Literary-inspired workshops, readings, presentations and performances are set to take over Wolverhampton, with the main bulk of events taking place from Friday.

Well-known figures set to visit the city include former politicians Alan Johnson and Ann Widdecombe, television star Kim Woodburn and Express & Star veteran Peter Rhodes.

Other headline acts include DJ and journalist Steve Lamacq and Wolverhampton-born author Miranda Dickinson.

Award-winning author Liz Berry, who penned 'Black Country', will lead a number of poetry workshops at Central Library on Saturday.

She will also be on hand to answer questions about her latest collection ‘The Republic of Motherhood'.

Birmingham-born Roy McFarlane, who is a former Birmingham Poet Laureate will join Berry from 11am.