Discover the next big book

Great British Bakeoff finalist Luis Troyano will be at the Oldham Bookmark Festival.

OLDHAM Council’s Bookmark Festival is back – and this year it has something to suit all tastes.

The festival – a week-long celebration of all things literary – runs from Saturday for a week.

This year you can get tips from a Great British Bake Off finalist and meet dinosaurs with a TV favourite, as well as hearing from well-known poets and some popular authors.

Many of this year’s events, which are all in Oldham Library and Lifelong Learning Centre, are free and where there is a charge a discount is available to library members.

Helping to kick off proceedings in style is Bend it Like Beckham author Narinder Dhami. She has published around 200 books, including many of the multi-million-selling Rainbow Magic books for younger children.

She will be following Prestwich poet Tony Walsh, who has been published on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as performing everywhere from The British Library to Glastonbury.

Neil Baldwin has shared a sherry with Prince Edward, dined at the House of Commons, performed as a circus clown and played football for Stoke City. Join him on Saturday as he shares his life experiences, and then enjoy a screening of the BAFTA-winning film Marvellous, which tells Neil’s life story.

Luis Troyano, a finalist in the 2014 Great British Bake Off, captured the hearts of the public with his extremely inventive bakes. He will be demonstrating some of his well-practised techniques on Wednesday at 3pm in Naked Bean Café.

On the same day actress and former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis will be presenting her debut novel, The Butcher’s Hook, a dark and unexpected tale of a young girl in 18th century London.

Thursday, May 19 is Schools Day and best-selling authors Melvin Burgess and Alan Gibbons will be in attendance.

Award-winning poet, playwright, novelist, lyricist and broadcaster, Simon Armitage CBE will be talking about his new book, Walking Away, on May 20.

Helping to close the event on the last day will be Andy’s Dino Raps at 10am, 11am and at noon.

Travel back in time and join Andy Day, as seen on CBeebies, on a daring dinosaur adventure, use your imagination to fly high with a Pterodactyl, dance with a Diplodocus and get up close to a T-Rex.

Maggie Kufeldt, Oldham Council’s executive director of health and wellbeing, said: “This is our fourth Bookmark Festival and once again a top drawer line up has been assembled.

“I hope residents will join in the festival and also be inspired to visit their own local library to discover the whole range of services, activities and information available under one roof, in addition to the books that can be borrowed.”

For more information and to book ticktets, visit www.oldham.gov.uk/bookmark.

For all the latest news visit www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk.