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Essex culture is much maligned but we are a county of book lovers - we have the third busiest library in the UK and more reading groups than any other county.

To top it all we have the Essex Book Festival which celebrates its 10th birthday this March.

Not only is it the biggest event of its kind in the region but it now has more than 60 events taking place in venues right around the county.

See Justine Picardie at Epping Library

Amongst this year's big names are Melvyn Bragg and Joan Bakewell but the cast list is long and has internationally acclaimed authors alongside local bestsellers, during the month-long festival.听 Also, appearing are Kate Atkinson, talking about her eighth book 'When Will There Be Good News'; Essex author, Barbara Erskine; Lovejoy creator Jonathan Gash.听

Whatever genre you're interested in there's bound to be something for you - from crime, history, life-style and creative writing events, storytelling events for the whole family, comics workshops and events to celebrate the Jiangsu Festival.

To find out more about the Essex Book Festival you can go to the website, essexbookfestival.org.uk.听 The box office number for tickets is 01206 573948