CULTURE CLUB
CAMBRIDGE LITERARY FESTIVAL 20 years of
WORDS AND WONDER Ahead of November’s Winter Festival, we reflect on a major milestone for the Cambridge Literary Festival with founder and artistic director Cathy Moore
WORDS BY PHOEBE HARPER
T hey say it takes a village to raise a child, and I believe that it takes a community to build a festival.” Over the past 20 years, the Cambridge Literary Festival (CLF) has evolved as a respected fixture of the national cultural calendar and a must-visit event for bibliophiles everywhere. From its grassroots beginnings as a one-woman passion project, CLF has drawn in excess of 250,000 audience members over the years and routinely features an esteemed roster of authors and literary speakers – from Nobel Prize winners to media personalities and Poet Laureates – across its two annual festivals. For Cathy Moore, CLF’s founder and artistic director, the event’s origins are firmly rooted in her own contagious love of literature. Indeed, the idea was sparked while working at Waterstones after moving to Cambridge with her young family. “I’ve always been passionate about books and sharing them with people who
might be interested,” she continues. “While at Waterstones, I fell into an event manager role by default, since I was always inviting people along for events or book signings!” One such person was revered Scottish author and CLF honorary patron Ali Smith, who had been invited for a signing of her newly released novel Hotel World . Both women soon got talking about the success of the recent Hay Festival and its importance as a literary event. For Cathy, the seeds had been sown. “Cycling home that night, I spent the whole journey thinking Cambridge needed something like that. By the time I arrived, I was just questioning: ‘How hard could it really be?’” FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS Feeling inspired, Cathy set to work approaching booksellers, venues and the University of East Anglia, getting in touch with several key authors before launching the inaugural Cambridge Wordfest, as it was then known, in March 2003. A resounding success, the initial instalment was very much a collective effort, with various players offering their services to contribute to its success. Heffers agreed to act as bookseller, the Arts Theatre ran the box office, while the three original venues lent their spaces for free – including the Arts Picturehouse, CB2 Cafe on Norfolk Street (now Thrive), and Borders bookshop (now TK Maxx). With the core components in place, all Cathy needed was an enthusiastic band of local friends to help as volunteers. “It felt like a real community project,” she recalls. Following the success of the Spring Festival, the Winter Festival was added to the calendar in 2008 as CLF organically grew – incrementally furthering its footprint throughout Cambridge.
16 - 19 Nov
FOUNDING THINKER Cathy Moore, founder and artistic director of Cambridge Literary Festival
18 OCTOBER 2023 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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