The Berwick Literary Festival is a charity established in 2014
and is organised by a small number of volunteers.
Trustees
Stephen Platten
Chair of Trustees
Stephen has served as the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Foreign Secretary, been Dean of Norwich cathedral and Bishop of Wakefield. He has chaired the Church of England’s Liturgical Commission and was chair of the publisher Hymns Ancient and Modern. He has taught theology throughout as well as publishing a variety of books.
Lucy Baxendale
Trustee
Lucy is a hand papermaker and teaching artist based at Tidekettle Paper in Berwick. She is a papermaking tutor at West Dean College and former tutor at Morley College in London. Lucy has worked as a financial journalist, jewellery designer/maker, translator and teacher of French, German and art in the UK and the USA. Author of Papermaking 2022.
Valerie Bistram
Trustee
Following a short time in the Civil Service, and after having a family, Valerie retrained as a teacher. She worked in a variety of Primary Schools and always felt privileged to be able help children increase their grasp and enjoyment of literacy. Since retiring, she has had much pleasure from participating in book groups and assisting with the Festival.
Lindsay Dalgleish
Trustee
Lindsay is an accountant working in Berwick and has been a trustee of the Festival since the charity was registered in 2016.
Nolan Dalrymple
Trustee
Nolan is Director of Learning and Teaching/English at Longridge Towers School, Berwick. As well as being a Trustee Nolan is involved with interviewing at events.
Scott Sherrard
Trustee
Scott Sherrard is a historian, London advertising escapee, and heritage place maker. He is also Chair of the Maltings (Berwick) Trust.
Helen Wright
Trustee
A Trustee since 2022, Helen has been an enthusiastic Festival follower for 10 years. She enjoys reading, especially ‘new’ writers.
Andrew Deuchar
Director
Andrew has been involved in event development and management for most of his life. He has had involvement with the Hay Festival and the Blas Festival (of Highland Culture) and has a rather too large library in Chirnside where he and Fran live.
Jennifer Heald
Festival Manager
Jennifer has worked with the Festival since 2017. She particularly loves watching the schools' events and supporting debut authors.