owen.griffiths@courier.co.uk

BOOK ENTHUSIASTS will be in their element on Sunday as a fair featuring thousands of books as well as storytellers, games, quizzes and advice on publishing takes place in Tonbridge.

The West Kent Book Fair is held at Tonbridge School and will feature sellers from around the south of the country.

Organiser Mark Richardson, who himself owns Bank Street shop Mr Books, said there would be something there for everyone.

"It's a great family day out," he said, "because obviously if you're a book collector it's heaven because there's so many books to choose from but there's more as well."

Mr Richardson promised the fair would feature every type of book from paperbacks costing 50p to some worth in their thousands, as well as a local collector's first display of some of his 10,000 pop-ups.

And as well as the books themselves, there will be displays of an art form even older than writing itself – storytelling.

Mark Bedford, an East Sussex storyteller will be joined by David England, from West London, to read aloud both children's stories and traditional tales.

Mr Richardson said he had been inspired to get them involved after seeing Mr England give a performance with special effects such as fire appearing to come out of his fingers.

"Having seen David in a farm restaurant and barn, whilst on holiday in Cornwall, I was so impressed that I thought it would be a great idea have them perform at the fair and looked him up on the internet on my return," he said.

For those people not tempted by the literary attractions, Mr Richardson said the setting itself – the fair is held in the old big school hall – was worth the 50p admission fee.

He added: "I am sure that if I held it in the Angel Centre I would get more people, which is a shame because it's a great opportunity to go in somewhere different."

The fair takes place between 10am and 4pm, with the storytellers performing from noon.

Children's admission is free.