Next year’s Wolverhampton Original Literature Festival (WOLF) has received a funding boost from Arts Council England.

The city’s inaugural festival in January proved a popular event with audiences.

Following a successful bid from City of Wolverhampton Council’s libraries service, it has now secured £13,250 from the Arts Council’s Grants for Arts programme to help it grow in 2018.

Wolverhampton South East MP, Pat McFadden said “I was thrilled that Sir Nicholas Serota came to the city today, this is an important opportunity for us to highlight how valuable the Arts and Creative industries are to Wolverhampton.”

The additional funding means the literature festival’s future is secured for the next five years, with money from the Arts Council England National Portfolio for organisations already in place for 2019-22.

The 2018 festival, from Friday, January 26 to Sunday 28, will follow a similar format to the first as organisers look to build it over the next five years and make it a permanent fixture in the calendar.