A fundraiser for the Children's Hospice South West. Local authors gather to promote their work.

1. Bridport Book Fest
Meet the authors

2. Bridport Book Fest
Michael left school at sixteen and drifted
aimlessly for years before finding a job as a stage
hand on the Harry Worth Summer Show. This led
to regular work in theatre and a course at the
London Film School which eventually enabled him
to blag his way into the BBC. There he wrote for
Lenny Henry, Tracey Ullman and Russ Abbott
amongst others as he climbed the slippery slope
to producer.
In 1989 Michael went freelance and worked with
stars including Ricky Gervais, John Cleese, David
Mitchell and Larry David before retiring from
television to write and paint full time.
Michael Forte

3. Bridport Book Fest
Carole spent the years between 1966 to 1987
in show business singing in the U.K. and
around the world in theatres, hotels,
nightclubs, also for British forces including
thirteen tours to Northern Ireland during the
“troubles” and entertaining members of the
Royal Navy and other members of the forces
in the South Atlantic following the Falklands
war of 1982.
Eventually writing a memoir of those years
entitled “Not Quite Famous”
Carole enjoyed writing so she joined a writing
group and now writes short stories, flash
fiction and poetry, recently winning 1st prize
in a Bridport story slam.
Carole Jardine

4. Bridport Book Fest
Maria Donovan is a native of Dorset and has
strong connections with Wales and Holland.
Past career choices include training as a nurse
in the Netherlands, busking with music and
fire around Europe and nine years as a
lecturer in Creative Writing at the University
of Glamorgan.
Her short fiction includes a collection of flash
fiction, Tea for Mr Dead, and a collection of
short stories, Pumping Up Napoleon. Her
debut novel, The Chicken Soup Murder, is
published by Seren and was a finalist for the
Dundee International Book Prize.
Maria Donovan

5. Bridport Book Fest
Helen Matthews is the author of suspense thriller
‘After Leaving the Village’ published in October 2017
by Hashtag Press. The novel won first prize in the
opening pages category at Winchester Writers’
Festival. Described by Peter Snell, owner of Barton’s
Bookshop, Leatherhead as ‘probably the most
important book I’ve been involved with launching in
20 years as a bookseller’ the plot deals with
contemporary themes of human trafficking and
slavery.
The leading anti-slavery charity, Unseen has
appointed Helen as an Ambassador and she donates
a percentage from book proceeds to the cause.
Helen has won prizes for short stories and been
published in the Guardian, lifestyle magazines and
had columns broadcast on BBC radio.
Helen Matthews

6. Bridport Book Fest
Chris lives in Bridport, Dorset. He has had various
occupations, from Retail Manager, Stockbroker,
Painter and Decorator, to Farm Labourer.
He started writing full time in September 2016 and
feels this is what he was born to do.
So far, he has written and published one novel ‘In
Fields of Gold and Red’ and at the time of writing is
on the final draft (he hopes) of ‘In Time of Duty’, his
second novel in what he hopes to be a trilogy.
When not writing he loves to explore new places and
has travelled extensively in Europe, on one trip he
drove all the way to Croatia and back.
His first novel was inspired by his farming heritage
and his childhood in Nettlecombe, Dorset.
Chris Legg

7. Bridport Book Fest
Andy Miller was born in Weymouth in 1946 and lived
there until 1969. He has worked for two British
universities as a professor of educational psychology.
As well as 10 academic works, Andy had also
published 4 books covering topics such as rock
climbing, mountaineering, long-distance walking,
diary writing, memoir, music, families and
relationships. He now lives with his wife in the Peak
District.
Andy has been successful in national poetry
competitions and has also published articles and
essays about climbing and mountaineering, travel,
music and relationships. These pieces have been
collected together in the anthology While Giants
Sleep.
Andy Miller

8. Bridport Book Fest
Children’s Hospice South West provide hospice care
for children with life-limiting conditions and their
whole family across the South West.
The care we offer is wide ranging; respite and short
breaks, emergency care, palliative care and end of
life care. We operate three hospices; Little Bridge
House in North Devon, Charlton Farm in North
Somerset and Little Harbour in mid Cornwall.
It costs over £8million to run CHSW’s three hospices
in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.
Children’s Hospice South West

9. Bridport Book Fest
Erich Hoyt is a whale researcher, conservationist
and author of 22 nonfiction books for adults and
children, mainly on whales, dolphins, and the deep
sea. His recent books are Creatures of the Deep and
Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises,
published by Firefly Books in the US and Canada,
distributed in the UK. As Research Fellow with
Whale and Dolphin Conservation (England), he
studies orcas and other whales in Russia, Iceland and
other countries. He is a Canadian-American dual
citizen, resident in the UK for 25 years and living in
Bridport since 2013 with wife Sarah and their four
children.
ErichHoyt.com • ErichHoytBooks.com • Twitter
@ErichHoyt
Erich Hoyt

10. Bridport Book Fest
Marine photographer and writer, documenting the
waters of the Jurassic Coast exclusively from
offshore. Jurassic Coast Trust Ambassador.
Author of Dorset From The Sea, with new book, The
Jurassic Coast From The Sea, due for publication in
spring 2018.
Recently made redundant, benefactors welcome.
Steve Belasco