The Gibraltar Tourist Board has announced a further three events for this year’s edition of the Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival.

Bryony Gordon

Nominated for a British Book Award, Mad Woman asks its readers, what if our notion of what makes us happy is the very thing that's making us so sad?

Ten years on from first writing about her own experiences of mental illness, Bryony Gordon still receives messages about the effect it has on people. Now perimenopausal and well into the next stage of her life, parenting an almost-adolescent, just what has that help - and that connection with other unwell people - taught Bryony about herself, and the society we live in? What has she learned, and why have her views on mental health changed so radically? After coming out the other side of the biggest trauma of our living memory - a global pandemic - existing in a state of perma-crisis has now become our new normal.

From burnout and binge eating, to living with fluctuating hormones and the endless battle to stay sober, Bryony begins to question whether she got mental illness wrong in the first place. Is it simply a chemical imbalance, or rather a normal response from your brain telling you that something isn't right? Mad Woman explores the most difficult of all the lesson she's learned over the last decade - that our notion of what makes a happy life is the very thing that's making us so sad.

Bryony Gordon is unafraid to write with her trademark blend of compassion, honesty and humour about her personal challenges and demons, which means her books and journalism have had profound impact on readers. She founded the mental health charity, Mental Health Mates, which has become a vast online community.

Danny Robins

Danny Robins is an award-winning writer and journalist. He is the creator and host of the smash hit BBC podcasts, Uncanny, The Battersea Poltergeist and The Witch Farm, which collectively have over 40 million listens, the TV adaptation of Uncanny, and the West End phenomenon play 2:22 – A Ghost Story, which has now played to over 1 million people in 17 countries across 5 continents. It was nominated for 3 Olivier Awards and won Best New Play at the WhatsOnStage Awards.

Uncanny, which explores real-life ghost stories, has had nearly 30 million plays across all platforms, making it one of the most listened-to podcasts in the UK. The TV adaptation was one of the most watched factual shows on BBC 2 in 2023.

His book Into the Uncanny was an Audible Top Ten bestseller and is out in paperback in September 2024. His live UK and Ireland tour Uncanny: I Know What I Saw played to over 52,000 people in 2023-24 across an incredible 78 dates.

Danny won Best Presenter at the 2022 Audio Production Awards.

Sarah Burton and Jem Poster

The authors of The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write will deliver a one day course on writing short stories. 

Apart from the obvious matter of the wordcount, what is it that differentiates the short story from the novel? This one-day seminar-style course will consider the subjects and approaches that make for a good short story, and examine the advantages of a form which Erskine Caldwell called ‘the essence of writing’, adding that a writer ‘should always write short stories before he [or she] tries to write a novel.’

By the end of the day participants should certainly have enhanced their understanding of this rewarding form of fiction; they may also have mapped out the ground for a successful short story of their own.

Whether you’re a beginner in creative writing or a more advanced writer looking for new ideas and inspiration, this event may be exactly what you need. Designed by two professional writers with long experience of teaching creative writing at university level, the programme will address the writer’s art and craft in ways both practical and thought-provoking, involving both writing and the discussion of writing.

The Minister for Tourism and Culture, the Hon Christian Santos GMD MP, said: “The year’s edition of the Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival is shaping up to be a celebration of writing in all its forms. Our audiences will be treated to a layered well-rounded programme, with a myriad of styles and genres, which promises to live up to the successes of previous Festival years.”