Ivybridge has thrown its weight behind a huge literary festival that will run in the town for five days next month between September 13 and 17.

Three Sunday Times best-selling authors – Sarah Pearse, Jane Corry and Pip Payne – will be head-lining the South Hams Literary Festival, which is organised by the South Hams Authors Network, led by Ivybridge writer Alison Huntingford. The event builds on the success of last year’s inaugural festival.

Jane Corry, six-times Sunday Times best-seller, will launch the festival on Wednesday, September 13. Her new thriller is set in the Second World War and present-day Devon, and she will describe how “Churchill’s Secret Army in Devon inspired my new novel”.

“The whole town seems to be backing this festival,” Alison said. “Our venues are amazingly diverse – everything from a dentist’s waiting room to the local tennis centre. There are also cafes, pubs, church halls, a leisure centre and of course the Watermark Centre and the library which are at the heart of the town. Everyone has been very generous with their offers of support.

“Sadly the Arts Council turned us down but local businesses and organisations have really helped to make this happen. We have also received funding from South Hams District and Devon County councils.

“I have really tried to make this festival a community event and involve as many local people as possible. We have even got a scarecrow competition running in the town.”

The festival has something to suit everyone, whether they are writers, readers or both. There are workshops for people wanting to start or develop their writing, but there is also plenty on offer for readers as well.

The event is open to all. There will be something for everyone, from advice for wannabe poets to readers searching out the newest talent at a giant book fair. Scores of authors from across the region will share the secrets of their success at events around Ivybridge.

Festival-goers will have a chance of an informal chat and Q&A with Sarah Pearse, who lives in South Devon. Her debut novel The Sanatorium was a No.1 Sunday Times and New York Times Top Ten bestseller in hardback, and a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Her new thriller, The Retreat, is now out.

Full details of the events on offer are online at: www.southhamsauthors.co.uk/festival-2023

For tickets, visit the Watermark site: ivybridgewatermark.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows