Despite the rainy start to summer, June has been anything but grey at Collective Wisdom. This month has been defined by major literary moments, from festival announcements to major book promotions from a content shoot at a Tuscan castle to a 250‑person rave in Glasgow. We’ve also seen significant heritage stories land, alongside important developments across theatre and the wider cultural sector. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to this month…
Appledore Book Festival announced the first wave of its 20th anniversary programme this month, marking a major milestone for one of the South West’s most distinctive literary festivals. The festival will host more than 100 events over 10 days in its glorious coastal setting. The initial line‑up brings together national treasures Pam Ayres and Su Pollard, bestselling novelists Ann Cleeves and Dawn O’Porter, and high‑profile speakers including Baroness Margaret Hodge, Mary Portas, Frank Gardner, Liz Earle and festival patron Jeremy Vine.
We’ve been leading on PR and social media strategy, securing early coverage in the North Devon Gazette, BookBrunch and a full‑page feature in the Western Morning News. With such a strong line‑up and a major anniversary year, momentum is already building ahead of the full programme announcement later this summer.
Wimbledon Book Festival also revealed its initial October line‑up in early June. The festival, described by the London Standard as “one of the UK’s most important literary festivals”, returns from 15–25 October with headline speakers including Maggie O’Farrell, Elif Shafak, Matt Haig, Marcia Hutchinson, Poorna Bell, Marina Hyde, Meera Syal, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Caitlin Moran.
This year’s programme places a renewed emphasis on young readers during the National Year of Reading, including the launch of the Merton Big Read for Schools and the festival’s first Children’s Laureate, Nathanael Lessore, as well as an international flavour reflecting London’s global nature.
We’ve been working with the Wimbledon team on a marketing strategy including a refreshed look and feel and new website drawing inspiration from Korean Dancheong decorative traditions and Pakistani Truck Art, reinterpreted through the lens of Wimbledon-based Pakistani artist Mahin Hussein.
Early coverage has appeared in Shortlist, BookBrunch, London Post and Broadsheet.
This month saw the publication of Simon Woodroffe’s autobiography YO! MAN, charting his extraordinary journey from expulsion and a young offender’s prison to building the YO! brand and becoming one of the original Dragons on Dragons’ Den.
We have been working with Simon across PR, social media strategy and event management. An Audience with Simon Woodroffe, an event with an audience of influential entrepreneurs took place at the Curve Club, where he discussed his new book and his unconventional rise to success with IdeasFest founder Francesca James.
Coverage has been extensive, including interviews in the Financial Times, Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, ThisIsMoney, Times Radio, The Independent Travel Podcast and Monocle Radio, with more to come.
Matt Cain’s new book The Castle of Stories was published in June, and we’ve been leading on the marketing strategy and content creation for both the book and the launch of Pansy, the new LGBTQ+ publisher founded by Matt and Harry Glasstone. Our activity has spanned strategy and execution, from setting up Pansy’s channels and running an ad campaign to producing a joyful content shoot in Tuscany. Pansy is now open for submissions.
Graeme Armstrong’s new novel Raveheart launched this month, and we set out to create a moment that matched the book’s energy. Working closely with Graeme, we developed and delivered an unconventional launch event: a full rave at SWG3 in Glasgow. The night brought 250 people together for a high‑energy celebration featuring Scottish rave pioneers, underground DJs and a live interview with Graeme hosted by Clyde 1’s George Bowie. It was a night of multi‑genre madness, transforming a book launch into an immersive cultural experience.
The Scotsman has already praised the book as “an absolute riot of a read… feels necessary, new and just damned good fun”. PR highlights include BBC Radio Scotland, Glasgow Live, STV Radio, Daily Record and The Herald, with further interviews and reviews to come.
Following the removal of HMS Victory’s foremast as part of the £42m Big Repair project, conservators uncovered six nineteenth‑century coins and tokens beneath the mast. The remarkable discovery sheds new light on a long‑standing maritime tradition stretching back thousands of years in which coins were placed beneath a ship’s mast for good fortune.
The coins, which endured 132 years beneath the fore lower mast, include Victorian pennies, a farthing and an 1835 Prince Edward Island “Ships, Colonies and Commerce” token. Conservators used X‑radiography to reveal the details beneath layers of corrosion.
Our PR campaign generated over 170 pieces of coverage, including BBC Radio Solent, Times Radio, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Daily Express, ITV News, BBC News, Mail Online and GB News. The coins are now on display in the Victory Gallery at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
We’ve been working with The Royal School of Needlework on a communications and marketing strategy to grow audiences as they look forward to new short course launches. This month they reached a major milestone as the new pair of main stage curtains for the Royal Ballet and Opera, a commission they have been working on since late last year, were officially unveiled by His Majesty King Charles III.
The unveiling marked a significant moment in the theatre’s history and shone a spotlight on the extraordinary artistry and craftsmanship behind the project. His Majesty met representatives from curtain production specialists Gerriets and the expert embroiderers of the Royal School of Needlework, all of whom played a central role in bringing the commission to life.
You can read more here.
We’re delighted to be working with The Stage Debut Awards this year, who have confirmed Netflix as their headline sponsor for the second year running. Now approaching its 10th year, The Stage Debut Awards has become a key fixture in the theatre awards calendar, championing the next generation of theatremakers and recognising a string of exceptional breakthrough talent that has gone on to be celebrated at the Olivier and Tony Awards.
Submissions are now open for debut performers, writers, directors, designers, composers, lyricists and book writers who made their professional debuts between 18 July 2025 and 9 July 2026. The shortlist will be revealed on 20 August, with the 2026 winners’ ceremony taking place on 27 September at 8 Northumberland Avenue.
We continued our work with Norwich Theatre this month as they announced their new six‑year strategy, setting out bold plans across three priorities: Bold Theatre, Social Impact and Creative Endeavour. The strategy includes two impact‑led seasons in 2027 focused on mental health and creative ageing, a new fair freelance charter, the recruitment of a Creative Freelance Engagement Manager and the launch of INTREPID, a new commercial company supporting the charity’s mission. Coverage appeared in Arts Professional, The Stage and Broadway World.
We had the joy of joining Norwich Theatre at the Palace of Westminster for the launch of a new national alliance calling for greater recognition of independent regional theatre. The Regional Independent Theatre Alliance (RITA) is formed of five major independent regional theatres – Norwich Theatre, Birmingham Hippodrome, Leeds Heritage Theatres, Newcastle Theatre Royal, and Marlowe Canterbury. The event set out three key asks to government around policy recognition, data‑sharing and co‑investment. Coverage has already landed in The Stage, Arts Professional, WhatsOnStage, Broadway World and Theatre‑News.
It was lovely to see our long-standing client the Jerwood Foundation with a 6-page spread in the most recent edition of Art Quarterly, which was a long time in the making but worth waiting for!
