Preston’s first ever Northern YA Literature Festival will be hosted by UCLan.

Celebrating the best young adult books and authors, the festival will feature lots of exciting events throughout the day, giving aspiring authors the unique opportunity to delve into the publishing industry, and meet critically acclaimed and international best selling authors.

It will be taking place at the university, in partnership with Waterstones, on 24 March 2018.

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The free event will welcome guest speakers as they enthuse and motivate people about publishing.

There will also be the chance to meet authors and industry professionals in real life, hearing them convey their passion for their work.

Various events will be taking place throughout the day:

Getting into Publishing, 11am-12pm 

‘Getting into Publishing’ will take place from 11am-12pm with a panel discussion featuring renowned authors Danny Weston, Teri Terry and Anna Day.

You will discover how they got published, their inspirations, and themes in current publishing – with a signing afterwards.

Girl Power, Feminism in YA, 1.30pm-3pm

Another exciting event will celebrate the Centenary of the Woman’s Vote by joining ‘Girl Power, Feminism in YA’ for the second panel of the day at 1.30pm-3pm.

The event will welcome Katherine Webber, Annabel Pitcher, Lauren James and Matt Killeen as they discuss their inspirations, and the empowering characters they have created.

Holly Black in conversation with Samantha Shannon, 4pm-6.30pm.

You can join internationally acclaimed bestselling author Holly Black in conversation with Samantha Shannon, as she is interviewed on stage about her highly anticipated new series.

This special ticket-only event will allow super fans to celebrate the launch of Holly Black’s new novel The Cruel Prince, the first book in a brand new series.

This event will only be permitted with valid tickets, and Holly will be staying for a signing afterwards.

Waterstones will have a pop up stall on the day selling stock available for author signings, and there will be freebies up for grabs.

The Festival will especially appeal to students interested in literature, creative writing, media studies and business studies.

You can reserve tickets for any of the events online and you can keep up to date with the Northern YA Literature Festival on Facebook.

Did you study at UCLan? Will you be attending the Northern YA Literature Festival? Let us know in the comments below