"We're doing something timeless and universal," says Matt Holland when asked about the success of Swindon Festival of Literature.
"Cavemen and women did what we're doing. Effectively we're sitting around a figurative fire, scratching our heads, looking at one another and saying, 'What's the meaning of life? Where can I find love? What shall we do tomorrow? How are you? Tell me a story about yourself and I'll know you.'
"That's all that we're doing, really.
"'Festival of Literature' sounds fancy but actually it's men and women talking and listening to one another in this day and age of flashing lights, digital communication and so on.
"This is live men and women sitting, talking, communicating and it's timeless, it's universal, and I'm so pleased that the people of Swindon love it as I do."
Matt is originally from Purton.
"I went to Malmesbury Grammar School in the Sixties and I then left this area to earn money in London and be educated in Oxford.
"I used to go home to see my parents and my mother told me, 'There are some interesting things going on at one of the farms you used to work on.' I used to help haymaking here when I was a schoolboy.
"The council bought by compulsory purchase five farms on the West side of Swindon. There was Toothill Farm and Eastbrook Farm and so on.
"Lower Shaw Farm was one of them, and our forebears, our predecessors here, had a project called the Foundation for Alternatives in Urban Development.
"They were using Lower Shaw Farm. One of their members was a member of the borough council who had got a six month lease to use Lower Shaw Farm for alternative activities - organic gardening, Yoga, things that were new then, and I came and joined them in 1980.
"It ticked many of my boxes; I knew farm work, I wanted to have a go at community living, I wanted to make the world a better place, etcetera etcetera, and Lower Shaw Farm looked like an opportunity to do that."
Matt remains at the farm to this day, and it has become one of Swindon's most prominent centres for the arts.
The festival had its genesis some 31 years ago when Matt was approached by book auctioneer Dominic Winter, who died in 2014. He was a member of Swindon Chamber of Commerce, which was looking for suggestions as to how to advertise its centenary.
Rather than have a single celebration it was decided that a series of monthly ones - ranging from hot air ballooning to ballroom dancing - should take place.
Dominic Winter wanted something 'bookish' and approached Matt, who had been writing reviews of other literature festivals and believed there was room for one in Swindon.
Mr Winter donated £3,000 toward that first festival, whose invited authors included former Labour leader Michael Foot and - promoting his book reappraising Sir Winston Churchill - Clive Ponting, a former civil servant sensationally cleared of a security breach after revealing information about the sinking of an Argentine vessel during the Falklands conflict.
"The result was that Swindonians liked it but the Chamber of Commerce was less than happy because, they said, 'It doesn't quite fit the profile of most of our members, these left-wing authors talking about sex and having a go at Churchill.'
"They wouldn't fund it for a second year, but Dominic did and Lower Shaw Farm did and a scrap metal merchants' did - Holland Handling, they happened to be my brothers!"
Three years on, the Arts Council offered support, although the borough council of the day took five years to come on board.
Matt recalls one councillor of the period telling him: "We admire your enthusiasm, young man, but it won't work. I think you'll find that 'literature' is too long a word for Swindon."
Generations of delighted festivalgoers have proved otherwise.
There was widespread concern last year when Matt announced that there would be no 2024 festival - and equally widespread joy when the decision was rescinded.
Matt explained: "One of the reasons why I wasn't going to do a festival this year was that on the back of the Swindon Festival of Literature we've created a project called Artswords, which ministers to the needs of reading groups, writing groups and mentoring for writers.
"As a result we've had Swindon writers win prizes; we've had a Swindon writer get a two-book deal from HarperCollins, and it's really exciting. People are coming out of the woodwork who want to write."
Groups include Mum's the Word, a group of mothers who have produced an excellent anthology of poetry, prose and art.
"Not everybody can be a writer, but a minority can, and they're on my home patch, and I'm not having to chase them from Timbukto or New York, and it's really exciting.
"That was the reason for taking a break and focusing on the work in Swindon - but what I hadn't reckoned with was that the people who come to the writing workshops also love the festival! Nobody told me that!
"You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, and they too came out of the woodwork and said, 'Matt, we want the writing groups and the mentoring, but we also are inspired by the festival because it's a celebration.
"I'm easily persuaded - and the council were also very encouraging."
This year's Swindon Festival of Literature runs from 5-12 May, with festivalgoers promised that its main focus will be on Swindon itself - writers, readers and performers. Full details can be found at www. swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk
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