EVESHAM Festival of Words has run a variety of online competitions during the pandemic and next month will launch its first photo competition.

Festival chair Sue Ablett said that her dog Patch was the inspiration for this competition.

She said: “Patch is a cocker spaniel and always has to carry something in his mouth – usually socks or slippers, or tea towels.

“But he has a favourite book that he carries around for hours on end. It has a few teeth marks but has never been damaged and he has never tried to bury it, unlike the socks!

“The book is a particularly appropriate choice – The Continuing Adventures of Montmorency and Dartington by local children’s author, Marisa Knight, is a story about two cats!”

Thanks to Patch, festival organisers decided to launch a photo competition on the theme of bookworms.

The competition is free to enter, and there are prizes for the first three entries. Sue will be judging along with fellow festival committee member Noelle Chambers.

Sue said: “Noelle has a lovely photo of her young granddaughter, Willow, fully embracing her love of books. Willow’s favourite book is Ten Little Pirates and she loves dressing up in full pirate costume. So we can’t wait to see what entries we might get – book-loving pets, cute children and so forth.”

Entries for the competition, which runs from October 1-31, should be submitted as jpeg files, with a title or brief description, to Jan Dawson – janevedaw@gmail.com.

The full rules can be found on the Evesham Festival of Words website, www.eveshamfestivalofwords.org/Competitions