The Gollancz Festival is back!

gollancz fest logo tinyYou asked and we answered! The Gollancz Festival is back! Filled with more events, more venues, more authors, more of everything you asked for and a few surprises! Save the dates for the 16th and 17th October. This year we will be working in conjunction with Waterstones and Future PLC, the publisher of SFX and Total Film magazines and the website GamesRadar+.

The festival is expanding over two days and will have events in Waterstones Manchester Deansgate on the 16th and Waterstones Piccadilly London on the 17th. We will also have an exciting line up of digital events.

The Gollancz Festival 2014 was the first of its kind – an integrated multi-platform, digital and physical one-day book event featuring live participation from almost 50 writers. Even bigger and better, the Gollancz Festival 2015 will showcase more than 70 brilliant authors across 48 hours of action-packed book shop events and creative digital programming.

The Gollancz Festival 2015 will take place over Friday 16 October and Saturday 17 October. Due to popular demand, festival events will be held at Waterstones Manchester Deansgate, from 6 – 9pm on Friday 16 October, and at Waterstones Piccadilly, from 2 – 5pm on Saturday 17 October. Each store will host two strands of unique back-to-back author events followed by an author signing event featuring all participating authors.

The Gollancz Festival 2015 will also enlarge its reach, with online events scheduled across all 48 hours of the festival to make it truly worldwide – specifically working with Hachette Australia and New Zealand to connect with SF&F readers in Australasia. Entertaining, interactive content will be shared on established as well as developing platforms, allowing readers to interact with #GollanczFest on the platform of their choice.

Tickets for events at Waterstones Piccadilly and Waterstones Deansgate will be affordably priced, and include collectible festival exclusives and incredible value for money. The virtual events will be free to join and easily accessible retrospectively at gollanczfestival.com.

The Gollancz Festival 2015 will host some of the biggest names in the genre, showcase the writers to watch in 2015, and introduce remarkable new talent.

CEO of Orion Publishing Group, David Young, said: “The Gollancz Festival 2014 was described as innovative, accessible, and as a vital element of publishing’s future: bringing authors and readers together in an unforgettable way. We’re thrilled to be broadening both the domestic and international reach of the Gollancz Festival in 2015”

Publishing Director of Gollancz, Gillian Redfearn, said: “For a second year, we’re incredibly proud to be able to offer SF&F readers the opportunity to experience a genre-fiction convention for free (or for a small fraction of the usual cost). This is for every SF&F reader, everywhere.”

Managing Director of Hachette Australia, Justin Ractliffe, said: “We’re delighted to be participating in The Gollancz Festival this year. Australia and New Zealand have very passionate genre fiction communities and joining forces with Gollancz means that we can make it a truly global event.”

SF Buyer at Waterstones, Kate McHale, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Gollancz again this year. Last year’s festival was a huge success, bringing authors and readers together in an innovative way, and helping to make the enjoyment of events more accessible than ever before.”

SFX Editor Richard Edwards said:”Since SFX launched 20 years ago, we’ve enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Gollancz and its authors. SF&F novels continue to be an essential part of the magazine’s DNA, so we’re delighted to be associated with this exciting event.”

To be the first to know when tickets for the bookshop events go on sale, to find out about our online events and to be in with a chance to win some great prizes sign up to our GollanczFest newsletter. But until then, have a look back at the highlights of the festival.