There’s been some brilliant work coming out of this fair region in recent years. Hear from a selection of fantastic, published, local authors, including:


Mike Gayle:
Mike was born and raised in Birmingham. After graduating from Salford University with a degree in Sociology, he moved to London to pursue a career in journalism and worked as a Features Editor and agony uncle. He has written for a variety of publications including The Sunday Times, the Guardian and Cosmopolitan.

Mike’s new book, The Man I Think I Know, is a powerful and bittersweet story of an unexpected male friendship and an unlikely love story, set in and around Kenilworth and Coventry. It is a thought provoking storyline, told with Mike’s distinctive wit and insight, touching on issues which affect us all. This uplifting tale reminds us of the simple courage at the heart of every human being.

Harriet Cummings:
Harriet is a freelance writer with a background in history of art and gender studies. As a script writer, she has had work performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as independent venues around London. Harriet is a graduate of the prestigious Faber Academy creative writing course and her debut novel, We All Begin as Strangers, was shortlisted for the Books are my Bag Reader Award 2017. Her second novel will be published by Orion later this year.

Patrick Kincaid:
Patrick was born to an English mother in Amarillo, Texas, and moved to the UK when his American father was stationed in Oxfordshire with the USAF in the mid-1970s. He studied for a PhD at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, and for the past 16 years has taught English in a comprehensive school in Coventry.

Patrick’s first novel, The Continuity Girl, was published earlier this year through Unbound. The Continuity Girl is a comic love story in which the discovery of a long-lost version of a cult movie sheds light on a 45-year-old love affair between a Hollywood filmmaker and a real-life Loch Ness monster hunter. The book has garnered praised from Jonathan Coe, who has described it as a ‘wistfully entertaining romantic comedy’.


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Doors 10.45am, start time 11am.

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CONCESSIONS: Concessionary ticket prices are available for people who are registered disabled, unemployed or on a low wage, under 16s and students. Free personal assistant tickets are available for all of our events. Please email info@kenilworthartsfestival.co.uk to confirm a place.