THE TOWN'S literature festival is set to be held over a long weekend in July rather than in October this year.

Organisers of the annual Penarth Literature Festival, now in its sixth year, have announced the change to give the event more of a local focus.

The Literature Festival will take place from Friday, July 7 to Monday, July 10 and takes in venues throughout the town with a variety of events is planned to suit all ages and interests.

On the Friday, local schools will be bringing classes to the Paget Rooms for an event featuring leading children’s writer Jonathan Meres, author of the popular World of Norm series.

Saturday’s line-up includes bestselling author of romantic fiction Veronica Henry, children’s events for all the family, and a talk on the Welsh at Passchendaele from local historian and headteacher Dr Jonathan Hicks.

On the Sunday, former Welsh education minister Huw Lewis will be talking about his memoir of growing up in Aberfan and there will be an evening of poetry readings and music.

The festival draws to a close on Monday, July 10 with a talk from comedian and classicist Natalie Haynes on her novel retelling the Oedipus myth from the perspective of its female characters.

Mel Griffin from Griffin Books in Windsor Road, which is sponsoring the weekend's activities, said: "Now that we are holding high profile author events throughout the year, we wanted to give this year’s LitFest more of a local focus, and to tie in with the council’s summer events programme."

The full programme will be published in early June when tickets will also go on sale.

Meanwhile, local residents are encouraged to contact Griffin Books on 02920 706455 for further information.