Just a few miles south of East Budleigh is the coastal town of Budleigh Salterton, where for five days in September and a weekend in March writers come every year to talk about books on a vast range of subjects.
Established in 2009, Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival is one of the leading cultural events in the South West. Author Sir Michael Morpurgo has written almost all of his 150 books while living in Devon, and was one of the speakers at the first Festival. He spoke at three subsequent Festivals, in 2014, 2017 and in 2018, a year which saw the publication of his book In the Mouth of the Wolf.
Anti-war messages come across strongly in his work, but Morpurgo also respects those like his uncles, Francis and Pieter Cammaerts, who fought for peace in WW2 and whose stories inspired the writing of In the Mouth of the Wolf.
A socialist and pacifist, Francis, as Morpurgo explained in 2018, ‘decided he could no longer stand by while others were fighting for his family’s survival, and for the beliefs and freedoms that were so precious to him’.
For the author, the decision of the UK to leave the European Union was wrong. ‘My family fought for peace not for Brexit,’ as he put it. ‘My uncles’ lives taught me that peace must come first, before prosperity. They helped make Europe a place of peace at last, of free peoples.’
If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079
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