After the first Shorelines festival in 2011, 'The World's First Literature Festival of the Sea', curated by Rachel Lichtenstein and Lemn Sissay, the festival returned 2 years later to Leigh-on-Sea. Ken Worpole, whom I had met a few weeks before at an event at the Broadway Bookshop, had mentioned it to me. So I treated our then 1.5 year old to a trip out to the Leigh on Sunday, and he was kind enough to fall soundly asleep, so I got to enjoy talks by Jules Pretty, Julian Hoffman, Ken himself, Rachel Lichtenstein and heard Robert Macfarlane read his text on the 'Broomway' to an audience who had turned out in such numbers it filled the village hall to its last seat on what was a remarkably sunny, warm and beautiful November day.

Shorelines 2013