Calibre Audio runs free online festival with Lisa Jewell and Joe Haddow to celebrate 50th anniversary

Calibre Audio is running its inaugural online book festival, Calibre Conversations, throughout the summer to celebrate its 50th anniversary, featuring Lisa Jewell and Joe Haddow among others. 

The audiobook charity, which is working towards an inclusive future where reading is possible for everyone, is marking its half-century with a programme of author interviews and panel events on accessibility. While the summer festival runs until September, all the resources will be available on the website until the end of the year. Still to come are interviews with Lisa Jewell, Joe Haddow, and Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre. 

Emma Scott, director of commissioning and editorial at the charity, said: “Accessibility is at the heart of what we do at Calibre Audio. Our new Calibre Conversations festival aims to reach as many people as possible and create new ways to discuss and interact with a brilliantly exciting array of writing talent and much-loved authors. 

“In a world that assumes everyone can read, Calibre Conversations is there for our members to provide an access point where other literary festivals may prove a challenge to engage with. Alongside our Inclusive Voices short story competition, we look forward to welcoming people to the Calibre Conversations festival as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations.”  

The charity works with a number of partners including Penguin Random House. Meredith Adams, head of social impact at the publisher, said of its involvement with the charity: “We are proud to work with the passionate team at Calibre Audio to make our books accessible, particularly as they mark 50 years as a charity. Since donating our audiobook catalogue in 2022, our titles have been borrowed more than 25,000 times and we have been able to connect our books to a wider range of readers.” 

Calibre Audio has also recently launched Inclusive Voices, a new competition which encourages everyone to share original stories of 550 words or under that feature a character with a print disability. Writers can enter a story or a poem written down or recorded as a video or voice message, and prizes include the winning stories being recorded for an audiobook. Entries close on 31st August and can be submitted on the website. Visit Calibre Conversations here.