Tea making, letter writing and acclaimed author talks – here's what to expect from the first Stoke Book Festival.

This weekend, the inaugural Stoke Book Festival will begin, bringing a week-long programme of talks, workshops and family activities to the city.

The festival - which will take place from 3 to 10 October - aims to showcase a broad mix of genres and interests, while celebrating home-grown talent and promoting a love of reading and literacy.

Festival director, Simon Drakeford said: "The response has constantly, on a daily basis, blown the team away.

"Going from a small idea, to having real engagement from the community and authors is very exciting.

"What is really lovely is the way that that community within Stoke-on-Trent has really welcomed the idea of the book festival - from the different community groups, to people coming for author events, both locally and from a wider area.

"It just shows that people want to engage with books."

A series of talks and events will be taking place at Stoke Minster featuring a range of authors including Sunday Times bestselling author A.J. West, art historian and ceramics advocate Verity Babbs, and author and journalist Helena Attlee.

Local writers will also feature, with events such as Stoke-on-Trent author Mel Sherratt in conversation with Simon Drakeford and an exclusive book launch from local author Dave Proudlove.

Alongside the programme of talks, a wide range of events and workshops will take place for both adults and families.

One of the events is 'Story Tea', during which professional storyteller Pyn Stockman will be sharing tales crafted from British myth, legend and folklore while master herbalist Arlene Burett guides participants as they brew their own 'story tea'.

For those interested in writing, a creative writing workshop will be led by award-winning author Emma Fitzsimmons and Stoke-on-Trent's Poet Laureate, Steven Beattie will be sharing poetry prompts as well as talking about his poerty career.

Stoke-on-Trent's Creativity Laureate, Kate Leake, will also be hosting a 'Letters to my Future Self' workshop, which invites participants to write a letter which will be posted to them a year later.

A range of activities created for families and children will also be hosted across Stoke-on-Trent libraries such as Story and Craft, and free singing dragons events.

Simon added: "We are using the library network across the city so we can engage with as many different parts of our communities as possible.

"The libraries already have a great programme of free events so we hope that the festival will help promote those.

"We want to get people into the libraries to see what they can access. Not just the books, but all of the other helpful services."

Here is the list of in-person author talks taking place at Stoke Minster:

• Helena Attlee – Saturday 3 October
• Jess Kidd – Monday 5 October
• Dave Proudlove – Tuesday 6 October
• Mel Sherratt – Wednesday 7 October
• Verity Babbs – Thursday 8 October
• Ben Aitken – Saturday 10 October
• AJ West – Saturday 10 October

The event is presented by Stoke Minster in partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council Libraries, Visit Stoke-on-Trent, YMCA North Staffordshire and the National Literacy Trust.

To find out more, and to book tickets to events, visit the Stoke Book Festival website here.