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On the 5th – 9th October, the Shoreditch Trust held its first children’s literary festival in Hoxton Square. At the StarLit Festival, which coincided with National Children’s Book Week, pupils aged 5-15 from local schools participated in a week of workshops, book sales and signings. The guest authors included former children’s laureate Michael Rosen and RHCB author Catherine Johnson.

Tamarind authors and illustrators were invited to host workshops. Gillian Swordy, first-time author, joined the festival from Gloucestershire, and was delighted to see her book, Reading between the Lions, fly off the shelves.
Karin Littlewood, illustrator of Siddharth and Rinki and The Dragon Kite, led teachers and children from Burbage Primary in drawing their own dragons on a flowing frieze. Pupils at Randal Cremer Primary each designed their own noisy city scene with Carl Pearce, illustrator of The Silence Seeker and The Night the Lights Went Out.
Specialist children’s bookseller Victoria Park Books facilitated sales, and all the Tamarind titles sold out.