GLOSSOP BOOKFEST 2025
Meet local authors and illustrators
Come and join us
Saturday, 22nd November
Victoria Hall, Glossop
1 – 4pm
Tony Read
Tony Read is a retired Principal Crown Prosecutor with over 35 years experience working in criminal law.
He has degrees in English and in Law. He qualified as a solicitor in 1974.
His professional life was spent prosecuting offenders in Magistrates’ Courts throughout Derbyshire and South Yorkshire; for over 20 years he conducted cases in Glossop Magistrates’ Court
More information and links
He started writing while still at grammar school. His passion is crime fiction. To date he has written nine full length detective novels, eight of which feature Detective Chief Inspector Mark Hobson ( as he eventually becomes.). He is currently half way through writing his tenth, and probably his final novel provisionally entitled “A Strange kind of Heroism” To a greater or lesser extent all of these novels are set within the stunning scenery of the Peak District National Park.
In addition to writing Crime Fiction he has also published one short book of poetry which has the title “Well Versed (or maybe not)”
He has been married to his wife Shirley for nearly fifty years and they have two grown up sons, John and Paul
Margaret Holbrook
Margaret grew up in Cheshire, where she still lives.
She is an author, poet and playwright; a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.
More information and links
Her poetry and short prose have been published widely, most recently in:
The SHOp anthology, Dreich Magazine, Viva Voce anthology, Peterloo Poems-(Seven Arches Press) and Torrid Literature Journal (U.S.) Bards Across the Pond, (Local Gems press, U.S.)
She has several books to her name, the most recent are the Jack France Mysteries. A sixth book, A Puzzle in Pictures will be published in 2025
An acclaimed playwright, Her play, ‘Any Other Day’, was performed at Buxton Festival Fringe in 2022. It tells the story of the days following the death of Alan Turing and is set at the garden of his Wilmslow home, Hollymeade.
Dave Hawthorn
Author of the popular Ancient & Modern Trilogy, an adventure saga with two interwoven timelines.
More information and links
In the Modern timeline an unlikely band of heroes are thrust into a race-against-time search to save someone, who has been kidnapped. As the story unfolds, they are forced to confront the menacing power of organised crime, to save those they love. In the Ancient Storyline tales of intrigue, betrayal, faith, and hope emerge as heartfelt questions demand answers. It becomes clear that now-distant history still looms large over our unlikely band of heroes.
David lives in Derbyshire.
Kevin Hill
The miraculous story of man who died twice and returned to tell the tale. A story that has featured in newspapers across Europe, America and Australia; including in The Mirror, The Sun, The Daily Mail and The New York Post. Calciphylaxis is an extremely rare terminal condition that causes its sufferers excruciating pain.
More information and links
By the time he was diagnosed, it had already taken hold hospitalising him for over a year. Doctors tried desperately to find a treatment. But it was too late and like other sufferers he died. BUT that was not the end. Kevin returned to tell his story, a testimony to the power of faith and prayer.
Cherie Baker
Would like to believe there could be dragons, time travellers or spaceships around any corner. She blames the hundreds of books she read in her distant youth for filling her head with such curious notions.
More information and links
More recently she’s learned to sculpt glass, climb mountains, run ultra-marathons and swing a long sword. In between all that activity, she carves out time to walk her dog and write caffeine fuelled, sci fi – fantasy mashups.
You can keep up with all her endeavours at
Helen Larder
More information and links
Anarchy was published by Onlywomen press. She was commissioned by Pavilion Press to write a book for health care and education professionals, called, Understanding Autism; Postcards from Aspie World, (written with her daughter, who has autism) and with Manchester and Salford Universities. Mslexia magazine has published three of her pieces of writing. Her script, ’Around Again’, won a competition and three of her short stories have been published in anthologies.
She is part of the LGBTQ+ community and includes diverse, (#own voices) characters in her writing.
Donna Smith
Donna Smith is a published poet from Royton, Oldham. Her own anthology Marlamade Hue was published in May 2024 and hit Amazon no 1 best seller the week it was released.
More information and links
Her poems range from the quirky to nostalgia, love and grief, nature and nurture, focusing on the observation of human behaviour.
Louise Vee
What would you do if the world as we know it just… ended, in a flash of light?
More information and links
If the people you loved tried to rip you to pieces as you went to hug them? If you had no food, no water and not even Instagram to help you? When Ruby Brook steps out of the darkness of a Manchester cinema, she discovers that the world has changed. One hundred and fifty miles north in Newcastle, Benedict Brown leaves a gym changing room and nothing is as it should be. Ruby and Ben’s tense journeys to escape The Blind will teach them that monsters come in many forms, and are round every corner. 28 Days Later meets The Royle Family in this gritty and authentic northern epic.
Alex Ledger
An illustrator and fine artist based in the high peak with experience creating illustrations for the fantasy novel “When all the gods are dead” as well as various other illustration experience, including character illustration and concept art, branding illustration, film poster illustrations and fine art portraits and landscape paintings.
More information and links
Ian Marriot
Ian Marriott has been writing poems for over 20 years; part of his internal process is that personal experience is often refracted through the natural world.
More information and links
Much of his life has been immersed in nature, from working as a woodsman or climber, to spending time in some of the more remote areas of the world. This included three years living in Antarctica – guiding scientists on remote field projects for the British Antarctic Survey. On returning from Antarctica, Ian did an MA in Creative Writing (distinction) at the University of East Anglia, under the careful guidance of Denise Riley and George Szirtes. He has published one full poetry collection (The Hollow Bone, Cinnamon Press 2017 – which won their annual First Collection Competition), and his themed pamphlet (Touched, also Cinnamon Press). In recent years, Ian has re-trained as a homeopath, and divides his time between writing, homeopathy, and the outdoors.
Poetry books
Janet Lees and Bob Warwicker
Janet Lees and Bob Warwicker are both writers and walkers.
They often write about walking.
More information and links
Think, The Salt Path but with less celebratory or controversy.
Bob has published two books of Haikus about his walks along the TPT in Longdendale, which are a bite sided look at the valley.
Paul Marsh
Paul Marsh
Graphic Designer
and writer
Following an extensive career spent in the creative graphic and marketing industry, designing, illustrating, copy writing, editing and developing promotional campaigns. After over two decades of operating his own design and print company he then spent ten
years managing in the charitable sector initially with a hospice followed by a small,local charity.
More information and links
Over the years he has been a prolific writer and had work published as part of public collections, in magazines and newspapers. His first personal collection of poetry – The Silent Voice – was published in September 2024, a collection encompassing many influences of life including a love of the countryside – particularly the Peak District of North Derbyshire and North Yorkshire – nature, history and a rapidly changing world, its social mores and the environment. A reflection on a modern world – one so very different to that of his childhood. Having grown up and spent his informative and educational years on Merseyside and in Cheshire in the North West of England, he is now retired living in Glossop.
A second collection of his poetry – The Echoing Mind – is due for publication in
November 2025
Write from the Heart
Write from the Heart is a constituted group of creative writers, founded in 2003, that meets regularly on Thursday mornings in Bradbury House for writing exercises and fun. Over the years we’ve produced several booklets of our poems and short prose compositions to raise money for local charities.
New members are welcome, though we have to set a cap on numbers!
The Glossop BookFest team are authors in their own right
More information and links
His publications, through five different publishing houses, comprise an anthology of short stories (Rope Trick, 2008), a novel (Perilaus, 2009), a children’s story (Fenella and the Magic Mirror, 2009), a study of the evolution of a local legend (Murders in the Winnats Pass, 2010), a collection of 62 traditional stories (Folktales of the Peak District, 2011), a collection of puns in verse and prose (Cruel and Unusual PunNishments, 2016), a one-act play (Forget it, it’s History, 2017), five more novels (National Cake Day in Ruritania, 2018; The Engklimastat, 2019; Perilaus II, 2021; Con, 2022; Black Harry, 2023), a novelette (The Definitive Biography of St Arborius of Glossopdale and his Thin Dog, 2019), and a novella (The Cat of Doom, 2020). His compilation of folktale films recorded in situ in collaboration with Tim Knebel of “Peak in the Past” and his colleagues (http://www.peakinthepast.co.uk; scroll down to “Folktales”), is available for free download and the set is due for completion in due course. A second collection, Elusive Tales of the Peak District, was published in September 2023, and Mark is currently working on a seventh novel.
For further details see:
www.markphenderson.co.uk
Andy Millican
Open Mic organiser/host,
Author, Poet & Occasional Stand-Up Comic
My 50 year journey on the road to poetry started with my tribute to Bobby Charlton in 1973 which my mother sent to him! He sent me in return a beautiful letter on Preston North End headed paper which I still have today!
More information and links
I have had poems broadcast on the BBC. I have won competitions (most recently 2023) and been placed in many more including international open competitions (most recently 2022).
I have written poems for Ekphrastic collaboration events particularly with Stockport Art Guild and artist Mark Sheeky where their paintings/my poems were featured in exhibitions. My first collection Nebulous, published in 2019 raised over £500 for Liverpool Eye Cancer Unit.
In 2018 I was invited to write perform and record a series of new poems for the Lest We Forget website, a Hollingworth Lottery funded project.
My second collection Something Wicked This Way Grows (2023) is a collection written about events and characters on allotments. The title poem was published by the National Allotment Society in their Coronation edition summer 2023.
Occasionally I write short stories. My latest Of the Time featured in Tales from the Underbanks, an Arts England / Stockport Borough Council joint venture in 2022.
I compare/host Glossop Open Mic at Glossop Labour Club as well as performing regularly at open mic events in and around Manchester and Derbyshire. Occasionally I am apt to perform some stand-up comedy too.
More information and links
Pamela Turton has published several novels: ‘So Sister,’ Selling Short’, ‘The Life Coach Less Travelled’, ‘Blue Is the Object’ and the ‘Stalkbook’series, as well as poetry and non-fiction. Find out more at
Andrew Dutton
Andrew Dutton has been writing since the early 2000s and in 2012 self-published an e-book of short stories, A Mirror.
His work frequently explores life at ‘the bottom of the pile’, reflecting a long career helping people in financial hardship and debt.
More information and links
Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, he now lives in Derbyshire and draws inspiration and comfort from books, music, cats — and long country walks with his partner and their beloved Labrador.
Andrew’s debut novel, ‘Nocturne: Wayman’s Sky’, and second novel,’ The Crossword Solver’ were published by Cinnamon Press in 2020 and 2021.
His third novel, ‘The Beauty of Chell Street’ was published by Cinnamon on 25/9/22.
2023 saw the publication of ‘My Life In Receipts’ and ‘Natasha: Redacted’.
Andrew is working on a new novel and there are two short story collections waiting in the wings.
Links
Johanne Lee
Poet and Author
Johanne Lee, is a proud Mancunian now settled in Glossop over 20 years – mother of 3, poet and author of 8 childrens picture books and three collections of poetry, ‘Womans Journey”, and “Under the lavender moon”, as part of the Open Skies Spotlight series, and one joint collection with Debbie Clewer called “Pieces of Hope “.
More information and links
All her books raise for various charities, and hope to raise awareness of subjects close to her heart and hopefully yours.
Her book ‘ Into the Willow Wood ‘ is a poetry treasury for children of which donates all proceeds to the local hospice Willow Wood . Her latest picture book “Nanny Knits a Moon ‘ donates to Crossroads Derbyshire .
Published in over 30 anthologies including the Sacred feminine 1-3 , Southern Arizona press ,wheelsong 2 , Impspired magazine and DPS Ezine to name a few.
She can be found as Johanne Lee Author on Fb and instagram and is presently enjoying reading her poetry at Open Mic and various events
Links
Danny McLoughlin
Poet and Author
I have always loved writing. Early days I won a prize for writing a short story. Later – on I started writing comedy sketches, particularly for my younger brother who ventured out on the stand – up trail in our hometown of Liverpool. He went on with a revue which travelled widely, which performed at the Edinburgh Festival. I was also touted to write jokes for the comedian Bob Monkhouse.
More information and links
I used to write and recite poetry over 25 years ago. Finished around 1998 (Family commitments etc), after performing at a national festival in Hove. I had performed at The Frog & Bucket and several other venues in the north – west.
I recommenced a few years ago and recited in Glossop, Chorlton, Ashton, Manchester Central etc.
My poetry is eclectic, some funny, and much being of a narrative form and story – related. I am of the Robert Lowell school and want to write about ‘what really happened’. Or as Raymond Carver said, “Put it all in, make use.”
Social, cultural themes.
Someone once said to me; “You couldn’t make up the stuff you write about…. but somehow you do!” Still trying to work – out whether that is a compliment.
For more details, contact: hello@glossopbookfest.co.uk