Author panel will explore novels set in Bognor Regis

The event, dubbed ‘Books by the Beach’ was organised in an attempt to raise awareness of Bognor’s literary heritage. All three authors have written a novel set in our town, and the panel will seem them discussing their creative process and answering questions from the audience.

Tickets, available from Heygates Bookshop and the Regis Centre, are free but attendance is limited to 70, so Bognor’s bookworms are encouraged to act fast.

The panel will take place at 7pm, on September 11 at The Regis Centre and organiser Irene Campbell, of the Bognor Regis Heritage and Arts Partnership said she hopes it leads to bigger things: “There’s so much literature under the surface in Bognor Regis, but it hasn’t been mined very much. People are doing things, but there’s still so much more to do.

"My dream is to run a literary festival, but I want to test the waters. If we get enough people coming to this, we can ask if they’re interested in a literary day and, if enough people come to that, maybe then we can have a literary festival."

‘Books by the Beach’ comes a year after the publication of ‘A Guide to Novels Set in Bognor Regis’, which was so successful Mrs Campbell has just ordered a new print run.

"It really took off, so there’s obviously a market for literature in Bognor, we just have to meet it,” she said.