Alison Gardiner

Dr Alison Gardiner is a full time juggler: writer, doctor, mother, regular radio broadcaster, business owner, although the priority order often gets muddled up. She blames her career as an author on 4 her four children; the noise level became almost tolerable if she kept telling them stories; a Scheherazade effect. It worked; she has intact eardrums and achieved relative calm (calm relatives). The Eridor series is epic fantasy threaded with humour; the first two are out, the third is being wrestled into submission. Alison will deliver an event specifically for children entitled, A Story Building Workshop, which will be a fun interactive session turning a creative spark into brainstorm lightning. She’ll guide you through where inspiration comes from, developing great ideas and how to make them totally terrific. On the opening day of the Festival there will be an extended event called, An Afternoon with Jane Austen. Thiswill be a performance in two halves of 45 minutes each with a 30 minute interval.Wellknown actors Adrian Lukis and Caroline Langrishe will perform dialogues from Austen's novels. They will be accompanied by the soprano Rosie Lomas and Harpist Mary Reid.