Own It! to launch arts festival

Own It! is launching a week-long online arts festival, featuring live readings, conversations and workshops from authors and artists it publishes and represents.

The publisher's festival will be held between 8th–14th of June, will the full line-up to be released online.

Among the authors participating is Derek Owusu, whose novel That Reminds Me (#Merky Books) has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize, and Courttia Newland, whose speculative fiction A River Called Time (Canongate) will be published in January 2021.

Publisher and company founder Crystal Mahey-Morgan said: “We’re very lucky to have an eclectic and inspirational group of storytellers as a part of Own It! and we decided that in a time when hope is more important than ever, we wanted to collectively offer something which could bring people together, share practical tips and advice and help people get lost in creativity while hopefully feeling empowered."

"The one thing that we can always be sure of is that when things are at their worst is when the arts, artists and activism is most important and powerful so we’re very excited to be producing the first Own It! arts festival and grateful to all of our authors and artists for making this happen.”

The festival will also include BBC Africa journalist Yemisi Adegoke launching her new podcast "The Art of Storytelling", and Rose Cartwright, author of Pure (Unbound), who will talk about how to become a writer without a financial safety net.

The festival will be held on the publisher's website, and rolled out across its social media channels.