Litfest, which runs the Lancaster literature festival at the Dukes, is building on the success of the annual festival by giving the public the opportunity to see live literature all year round.

And the autumn events season, which kicks off on September 27, will see readings held in different venues in the city of Lancaster and beyond.

From the historic setting of the Shire Hall, Lancaster Castle, to the grass of the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere, litfest is having fun trying out new places to hear live literature before settling down in its permanent home in The Storey next year.

The autumn events will be relaxed and informal, and there are some special discounts for ticket-buyers.

Litfest hopes the events will also whet audiences' appetites for the annual festival, litfest2008, which will be held on October 29 – November 1 at Lancaster's Dukes Theatre.

This first range of events includes a picnic, a poetry reading, prose, and a live literature event.

Building on the anticipated success of the autumn series, there will also be seasons in spring and summer.

For more information visit the litfest website at www.litfest.org, where you can also sign up for email updates. You can also ring 01524 62166 to request a brochure by post.

September to October line-up

n A Feast of Writers
Saturday September 27, 1-4pm

FLAX Books, with the Wordsworth Trust, is celebrating the past two years of Flax publications with a grand picnic at Dove Cottage in Grasmere.
Flax is litfest's publishing imprint, which aims to highlight contemporary voices from Lancashire and Cumbria.
Nineteen of the 29 writers Flax have published will be reading their work throughout the afternoon, making this is a lovely, relaxed opportunity to soak up the eclectic voices that have appeared in the various publications.
Poets and fiction writers will be supported by cake for the audiences.
The event is free – just turn up on the day.

n Bernardine Evaristo introduced by Graham Mort
Friday October 10 at 7.30pm at The Long Room, Maritime Museum, Lancaster
Satirical and dazzling, Evaristo's novel Blonde Roots is an imaginative reversal of the slave trade, in which the Africans are the masters and the Europeans are the slaves.
One minute Doris is playing hide-and-seek with her sisters in the fields behind their cottage. The next, someone puts a bag over her head and she ends up in the hold of a slave ship sailing to the New World.
Tickets £7.50 (£6 concessions) with £4 off Blonde Roots if bought on the night; glass of wine included in ticket price.
For tickets contact the Dukes box office on 0845 344 0642.

n Paul Durcan introduced by Jacob Polley
Tuesday October 14 at 7.30pm. The Shire Hall, Lancaster Castle

PAUL Durcan has won numerous prestigious prizes including the Whitbread Poetry Award, the Irish American Cultural Institute Poetry Award and the Cholmondeley Award, and has published 18 books of poetry.
His latest, The Laughter of Mothers, is a poignant tribute to "the first woman I ever knew".
Tickets £8 (£6.50 concessions) - includes £3 off The Laughter of Mothers if bought on the night
Tickets from the Dukes box office 0845 344 0642.

* Speechless hosted by Francesca Beard.
Thursday October 23 at 8pm. The Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster.

APPLES and Snakes and the British Council in association with English PEN present Speechless.
How free is free speech? Are there things that just can't be said? Speechless brings together new poetry from writers from across South East Asia and the UK on the theme of freedom of expression.
Speechless will be a night that stimulates brain-tingling debate, covering issues that define our existence.
Tickets £6.50 (£5 concessions), from from Nuffield Theatre box office 01524 594151.