The annual KMF is a fixture on the outdoor events calendar, but this year they’re introducing something new: a celebration of mountain literature
17-20 November 2017, Kendal
For a few days every November, Kendal becomes the centre of the outdoor universe for thousands of outdoor enthusiasts, climbers, hillwalkers, photographers, gear brands and writers. The Lakeland town hosts workshops, exhibitions, a film competition with global outdoor film premieres, and the world’s largest lecture programme covering the outdoors.
This year, KMF is launching a new programme: the Kendal Mountain Literature Festival.
Acclaimed landscape and outdoor writer Robert Macfarlane is the new festival’s patron. He said: “I am so proud to be a patron of the new Kendal Mountain Literature Festival – a celebration and exploration of our stories of place. I love the Lake District, the mountains – and all that this Festival stands. Its great theme is that of imagination’s relationship with landscape – and its great vision is to bring about participation by means of inspiration.”
Robert Macfarlane has recently joined both Twitter and Instagram, and we’ve been enjoying his outdoor-themed photos and words of the day.
Robert Macfarlane, Literature Festival patron
The programme includes a wide variety of literary events, most prominently the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature (which has had a home at Kendal since 2007). There are book launches and talks with writers including Ed Douglas, Matt Dickinson, Sir Chris Bonington, Richard Hamblyn, Fiona Edmonds, Harvey Wilkinson, Emma Henderson, Jim Crumely, and many more.
To find out more about the Literature Festival, see the programme on the KMF website, or follow them on Twitter @kendalmountain.
