Meet the Organisers
It started with a question: ‘Why is there no such thing as a Fringe Literature Festival? We have them for film and theatre and music but not books. Why not?’
The question was asked by two Suffolk-based authors, Jackie Carreira and Rachel Churcher. Our answer is The Foreword Festival UK.
We are both passionate about reading, writing, and the power of books to inspire creativity and change lives. We can’t wait to welcome you to our literary fringe events!
Contact the Foreword Festival team.
Our Team
Jackie Carreira
Director, Foreword Festival UK C.I.C.
Jackie Carreira is an award-winning author, playwright, musician, and arts feature writer. First-generation British of Portuguese parents, she grew up in Hackney, East London, but has lived in Suffolk long enough to be able to pronounce Wymondham properly!
After 12 years as a professional bass player with a variety of post-punk, indie, and rock bands, Jackie put down her guitar and picked up a pen, gaining a First-class BA Hons in Creative Writing. Since then, she has published three novels, two collections of short stories and fables, and had numerous plays for theatre performed all over the English-speaking world. She has twice been a winner of the Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama, and runner-up in the Audience Choice Awards at the Brighton Fringe Festival.
Jackie is co-founder of the Foreword Festival and QuirkHouse Theatre Company. She is a fierce champion of public libraries for all and is a proud patron of Halesworth Library in Suffolk. She and husband, AJ Deane, are full-time humble servants to two cats.
Rachel Churcher
Director, Foreword Festival UK C.I.C.
Rachel is an award-winning author of books for Young Adults, a professional editor, event organiser, promoter of East Anglian writers, and renovator of run-down and neglected houses. She worked on national and in-house magazines for various non-profit organisations, before joyfully opting out of her 9-to-5 captivity to write and edit fiction. In an effort to find out what she wanted to do with her life, she collected degrees and other qualifications in Geography, Science Fiction Studies, Architectural Technology, Art, Childminding, and Writing for Radio, all of which have proved surprisingly useful. She is always happy to meet writers and readers, and talk about SF, YA fiction, politics (in the widest sense), dinosaurs, writing, and the merits of various fictional starships.
AJ Deane
Director, Foreword Festival UK C.I.C.
AJ is a Suffolk-based performer and co-founder of QuirkHouse Theatre Company, which focuses on new writing and working with East Anglian talent.
A classically-trained baritone and writer of Sci-Fi/Fantasy poetry and short stories, he is also a member of the Mercury Theatre’s Creative Cohort mentoring scheme. He particularly enjoys projects which explore philosophy and shared commonalities, and pieces which pose more questions than they answer.
James Domestic
Poetry Event Co-ordinator, Graphic Design
James Domestic is a poet, songwriter, vocalist, musician, painter, and punk. He holds a doctorate from the University of Essex, has toured all over Europe with The Domestics, and spends far too much money on records he barely has time to play. An Essex boy residing in Suffolk, his fourth poetry collection for Earth Island Books is due out on March 7th.
Russell Webb
Love Your Local Authors Co-ordinator
Russell moved to Suffolk from Essex in May 2022, when he retired from the London Fire Brigade after 30 years serving working as a firefighter.
He began writing two months after he lost his wife to breast cancer. He found that writing his story really helped with his grieving process. His book Love Beyond Love was published in November 2022. Russell is the founder of a writing group based in Framlingham, known as Fram Writers, that meets once a month at Framlingham Library. Russell is also a public speaker and gives talks about his experiences, from being a firefighter to becoming a published author. All royalties from the sales of his book are donated to a cancer charity and to The Fire Fighters Charity. Russell continues to write and is currently working on another book, which he is hoping to have published this year.
Alan Platt
Director, Foreword Festival UK C.I.C.
Alan is an experienced Company Director and Business Coach. He’s here to keep us on the straight and narrow with his commercial and legal expertise. He’s a Chartered Engineer, tech entrepreneur, and our resident IT consultant. You’ll usually find him providing moral support, tech support, and occasional hard labour to Rachel, Jackie, and the rest of the team.
Our Sponsors
Softwood Books offers bespoke editing, design, marketing, and printing services, putting you in control of your publishing journey.
Thanks to the Councillors of Mid Suffolk District Council for their generous Locality Award grant, supporting the 2025 Foreword Festival.
QuirkHouse Theatre Company was founded in 2014 by a forever-questioning writer-musician and an ever-intrigued actor-poet, to show new writing and talent in creative ways and bring theatre to people and places that might not normally see it.
Taller Books publishes innovative UKYA novels, and provides an editing service tailored to the needs of indie authors. Their YA book review blog features more than 150 Young Adult books, demonstrating their passion for YA literature. Sign up to their newsletter and download a free novella!
Our Supporters
We are thrilled to be working with the Regal cinema in Stowmarket to bring you our Books at the Movies author talks and panels on Sunday 10th August.
We are working with Keep Governance and Safeguarding to produce an effective safeguarding policy for our events.
Sponsors and supporters of past events
The Foreword Festival 2023 was held in The Guildhall, Bury St Edmunds. The stories of 1000 years of Bury St Edmunds heritage are woven into the very fabric of the Guildhall – the oldest continuously used civic building in Britain. Monks, monarchs, merchants and miscreants have all played their part in this fascinating tapestry of time. We are excited to join them!
The organisers of the Foreword Festival 2023 would like to thank the Bury Literature Festival for supporting and promoting our event.
Thank you to Combat 2 Coffee Bury St Edmunds for providing our pop-up café at the Guildhall in 2023, and keeping our authors and guests fed and caffeinated.
Thank you to John Woodward Photography for spending an afternoon taking photos and geeking out with authors from Bury St Edmunds, and for providing fantastic head shots and festival photos for Jackie and Rachel.
Insurance Provider
Insurance for the Foreword Festival UK C.I.C. is provided by PolicyBee.