Meet the Team

So who are you, then? 

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My name is Lucy Cotter. I'm quite new to Jersey, having moved here with my youngish family from London 3 years ago. I’m currently freelancing in communications, having been a journalist for the last 15 years, most recently for Sky News as their media, arts and entertainment correspondent. 

 

Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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As of this year I became Chair of the Festival of Words, which is hugely exciting!! 

 

Favourite festival memory?

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I have only done 2 so far and I have loved every minute of it. If I had to pick a memory it would be interviewing Lucy Easthope, a disaster expert and one of the most interesting people I have ever met.

 

And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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Missing Michael Morpurgo last year because I was swotting for an event I was hosting!! 

 

Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be? 

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Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks for lots of different reasons.

So who are you, then? 

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I used to work in publishing in London as an editor. My claim to fame (or biggest regret) is throwing the original manuscript of the first ever Harry Potter book into the bin once it had been typeset (and before it became a worldwide phenomenon). I moved to Jersey twenty years ago and worked as a freelance editor. Life really took off for me here when I started working with the wonderful festival team back in 2015 and met lots of like-minded creative people. Books were my first love.

 

Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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I'm the Festival Director.

 

Favourite festival memory?

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It has to be Carol Ann Duffy stepping on to the Opera House stage for our first ever event. She was the Poet Laureate at the time and we were so lucky to get her to come to the inaugural festival. It was a magical evening and I remember sitting in the wings, pinching myself that we'd actually pulled it off!

 

And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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A stomach-clenching twenty minutes spent persuading a certain celeb author that she could manage the steps that led up to the stage and that we didn't need to cancel her (sellout) headline event.

 

Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be? 

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Watership Down

So who are you, then? 

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I’ve always loved reading and studied English and French literature at university before embarking on a career in museums. I am lucky that my work as an exhibitions curator for Jersey Heritage involves lots of opportunities to write - from object labels to exhibitions text

 

Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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My life with the festival began as an audience member and then a volunteer. Around four years ago I was invited to join the committee and I leapt at the chance to work with a fantastic group of like-minded book lovers to help deliver an entertaining, engaging and inclusive festival for everyone.

 

Favourite festival memory?

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There have been so many memorable events over the years but I especially enjoy the excited chatter of children's voices as they arrive for one of the festival’s free school events. Oh, and driving a very sweary Jenny Eclair to the airport was quite fun!

 

And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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The year we held the festival in a giant tent in Howard Davis Park was an exciting development but full of challenges, not least shifting hundreds of chairs and endless boxes of heavy books around the site. Putting on the festival with such a small team is demanding enough without having to build our own venue first!

 

Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be? 

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To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It’s a book I discovered at school and have returned to many times over the years.

So who are you, then? 

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English teacher at Highlands College, musician and occasional writer/novelist.

 

Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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I was lured into a steering group meeting back in 2015 and somehow ended up agreeing to be vice chair. Festival-wise I get up to all sorts but my main bags are marketing, graphic design and digital anything.

 

Favourite festival memory?

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Too, too many. Discussing risotto with Richad Dawkins, taking a leap to interview Ella Mills for her event (and subsequently ditching meat), any of our school programme events. Laughing with the team. Sorry, I've done a plural.

 

And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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Spotting that I'd got the name of John Boyne's book 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' wrong on his background stage slide three hours after his event had ended. I'd put 'incredible'. Oof. Loved that book as well.

 

Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be? 

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I normally instinctively reach for Gulliver's Travels for questions like this but out of sheer literarinessability am going to go with Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham instead. I read it at a low point in life and it landed like a fist bump to the soul. I'd like to read it again; a desert island seems just the place.

So who are you, then? 

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I studied English Literature and Creative Writing at Warwick University. Since I graduated in 2021, I have been searching for a job which allows me to work in a creative environment with people who are just as in love with books as I am … if not more. I think it’s safe to say I have been lucky enough to find that within the Festival of Words team. I write sonnets regularly, I sea swim whatever the weather, and living in a school classroom on a volunteer trip to Costa Rica is one of my favourite memories, snakes and all.  

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Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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I am the Festival Assistant, an exciting role which is new for the team as well as myself.

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Favourite festival memory?

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Simon Armitage at the festival last year was a highlight for me. I have a particular love for poetry, and I was completely awestruck listening to his opening reading of ‘Thank You for Waiting’ whilst wondering if it was purposefully timed given that he did actually start a little late.

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And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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This will be my first year working for the festival, so I don’t have a not-so-favourite anecdote to share. I will just be working hard and crossing my fingers to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible this year! That being said, I will share Pippa’s rendition of how one year the audience started putting up umbrellas as the rain began seeping through the marquee during an event!

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Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be? 

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Everything I Know About Love, Dolly Alderton

So who are you, then? 

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Journalist who was editor of the Jersey Evening Post from 1994 to 2014.

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Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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Just before I retired from the newspaper, the newly appointed chief librarian Ed Jewell and States culture director Rod McLoughlin sweet-talked me into having a go at getting the much-mooted idea of a Jersey book festival off the ground. A great team soon developed and in 2015 we took a leap of faith and staged the first Jersey Festival of Words, of which I am very proud to be a co-founder.

 

Favourite festival memory?

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Stopping for an impromptu lunch at El Tico on the way from the airport with the effervescent, charismatic and perpetually hungry poet and campaigner Lemn Sissay. It was an opportunity to show off St Ouen’s Bay and the beauty of Jersey, which has been an important ingredient in the festival’s special appeal from the start. 

 

And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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I may not be alone in choosing the night the heavens opened and water poured through the roof of the circus tent in Howard Davis Park where actress and writer Celia Imrie was talking, appropriately enough, about her Titanic novel, Orphans of the Storm. Audience safety dictated that the show could not go on but Celia was gracious about it all and stayed up for hours signing books and meeting admirers back at the Pomme d’Or Hotel (a place which has been another big factor in the JFOW success story).

 

Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be? 

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A Dance to the Music of Time, Anthony Powell’s panoramically entertaining evocation of British upper-crust and bohemian life before, during and after the Second World War. It is narrated by a sympathetic hero from his childhood to old age and is full of memorable characters whose lives his own crosses and recrosses over the decades. Also, it comes in 12 volumes, so will last until the rescue boat arrives. This may be cheating.

So who are you, then? 

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Compulsive reader and occasional writer.

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Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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Was one of the founding members, who tend to fill in where needed, so  I've interviewed authors on stage, ferried talent around, and performed at opening events.

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Favourite festival memory?

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Interviewing Peter James for the first time, knowing full well I could just ask one question and rely on him being entirely entertaining for the next 45 minutes while I had a snooze.

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And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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Watching Jeremy Paxman being a characteristically challenging interviewee on the same stage, knowing I had to give him an Island tour the next day. Fortunately that was the stage persona, and he was a mildly grumpy delight.

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Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be? 

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Can I have a large supply of paper and pens?

So who are you, then? 

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A former Royal Navy engineer turned accountant. I was persuaded to join the founding committee by the original Chairperson, an old friend who knew I owed her a favour! I confess that the opportunity wasn’t really my cup of tea but I’m so glad that I accepted – the team is phenomenal and I’ve learnt so much about the literary world and just how much passion there is for the written word within our community.

 

Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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I’m the Festival Treasurer – the numbers guy amongst so many amazing wordsmiths! It’s my job to keep an eye on the purse strings and ensure that we balance all of the fantastic opportunities available every year with the Festival’s long-term financial health.

 

Favourite festival memory?

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I actually have two – a long and emotional backstage chat with Jane Hawking about Stephen Hawking’s motor neurone disease as my mum was suffering with the disease at the time and also taking Masterchef winner Saliha Ahmed on an island tour and brunch at El Tico – a perk of the job as they say, and she loved the food!

 

And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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Presenting a rather bleak financial picture as we came out of the dark Covid era, when we had to decide on whether the Festival could actually survive. Fortunately we did, and we’re in a much better position now with a long and exciting future ahead.

 

Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be? 

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The Cider House Rules by John Irving. I’ve read better, but all of Irving’s novels just struck a chord at a time when I needed to laugh out loud and this one came up trumps - just a beautiful, hilarious treasure.

So who are you, then?

I’m Alanna Rice. In 2022, I was looking for an opportunity to volunteer in an area that aligned to my interests - reading and spoken word, completely unrelated to my job at the time…and found the festival, becoming one of the volunteer team.

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Where do you slot into this festival thing?

I am now a committee member and new this year, part of the operational group which is quite exciting. During the festival I work closely with our fabulous Volunteer team and support opportunities for young people to access the festival programme.

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Favourite festival memory?

Watching Raymond Antrobus perform. His writing is outstanding, but witnessing his words being transformed into sign language at the same time was very special.

And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

Arm ache from holding a mobile phone torchlight aloft to allow authors to sign books in the middle of a power outage…it was achy!

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Desert island, one book, what’s it going to be?

Does it really have to be only one?! Constant Reader - Dorothy Parker.

So, who are you then?​

 

I am a retired public sector senior manager. In 2014, with time to give to new endeavours, I volunteered to act as minuting secretary to a steering group aiming to establish a literary festival in Jersey. I love reading and loved the ambition, and quickly became equally enthusiastic about the project, so decided to stay for the long ride.

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Where do you slot into this festival thing?

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I have been the honorary secretary of the JFOW committee since it was established in 2015, taking care of various admin, planning and organisational processes. I also bake goodies for the authors' green room and do anything needed during the festival run. I especially enjoy being involved in the development of our free community events and our schools’ programme.​

 

Favourite festival memory?​

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The relief and amazement I felt at the end of our very first festival in 2015, knowing that against all the odds we had created something unique and special. If I had to choose one single event it would have to be the absolute magic and beauty of Michael Morpurgo’s reading of War Horse in 2023.​

 

And one not-so-favourite festival memory?

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Not so much a bad memory as an unexpected and slightly bizarre situation. I once had to act as emergency carer to a small, somewhat confused child whose high-profile author father had not made arrangements for her during his busy day of events. She and I embarked on an adventure, prowling around the theatre, peeking in on performances, reading, snacking in the green room, and meeting lots of people who adored her father’s writing. She ended the day fast asleep on my lap in the back row of the theatre whilst her father entranced his audience.

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Desert island book, one book, what’s it going to be?

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Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels. A wise and beautiful novel full of rich lyrical language and striking images and characters.