THE magic of children's literature will be celebrated next week when a new festival launches in Caerphilly county borough.

Velvet Coalmine’s Children’s Literature Festival takes place in Blackwood between September 12 and16 and coincides with the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth.

Working with schools in the Blackwood area, the five-day event will allow children to unleash their creativity and even offer the chance to be published in a Roald Dahl-themed anthology.

The opening night will take place at Blackwood’s Methodist Church and see charity Never Such Innocence launch their learning resource for schools - with an aims of educating young generations on the impact and legacy of the First World War.

This event will be attended by several dignitaries including Gwent PCC Jeff Cuthbert, politicians, military representatives and schools.

Then, on Tuesday September 13, Marty Jopson from BBC’s The One Show will be at Blackwood Primary School all day, with several other schools visiting to see his Roald Dahl themed science show.

A Musical Celebration of 100 years of Roald Dahl’ with guest Peter Karrie will also take place, with several workshops from acclaimed Welsh writers, before a history night will also take place at The Black Sheep venue in Blackwood, on Wednesday September 14, with Rhiannon Phillips from Gwent Archives in attendance.

Earlier this year, music industry directors gained the support of Blackwood head teachers and councillors to propose “the biggest children’s literature festival in the Welsh valleys”.

With financial support from Blackwood Town Council and guidance from festival director Iain Richards and co-director Estelle Wilkinson, the festival hopes to discover new young writers and to situate Blackwood as a literary hub.

Speaking earlier this year, Mr Richards said: “The festival should inspire people to get involved and writers to come [...] it will allow children’s imagination and articulation to dramatically improve”.

The seven schools taking part in the festival include Blackwood Comprehensive, Blackwood Primary, Libanus Primary, Cefn Forest Primary, Pengam Primary, Fleur-de-lis Primary and Markham Primary.

Caerphilly-based publisher ‘Burst’ has also partnered with the festival, allowing children to produce content for 'Putrid Poems and Despicable Brutes', a Dahl-themed collection with cover artwork from artist Quentin Blake – on sale in November.

Burst’s managing director, Simone Greenwood, added: “A big boost for pupils is that Quentin Blake has given permission to use one of his illustrations for the front cover.

“His dragon blowing out candles on a cake will be the inspiration for a feature poem of the book, which will be collaboratively written by all seven schools.

“I'll be asking pupils to create frightsome villains and whizzpopping poems that would make Dahl proud, and I can't wait to see what amazing ideas they come up with.”

For more information on the festival, search ‘Blackwood Children’s Literature Festival’ on Facebook.