Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival

Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival Spring Weekend - March 13-14, 2026
| Main Festival - September 23-27 2026
budlitfest.org.uk

📚 Our Festival Read for 2026 is here…We’re delighted to announce Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall - a beautifully wri...
22/05/2026

📚 Our Festival Read for 2026 is here…

We’re delighted to announce Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall - a beautifully written, utterly compelling novel set in 1950s Dorset that blends love, loss and long-buried secrets with the tension of a thriller.

Described as “a love story with the pulse of a thriller”, it follows Beth, a farmer’s wife whose life is shaken when her first love returns after 13 years… and everything begins to unravel.

✨ “A story I couldn’t put down” - Reese Witherspoon
✨ “An epic, tortured love story” - Jennie Godfrey

Clare Leslie Hall will be joining us at this year’s festival on Thursday 24 September to talk about the book - and you can be part of the conversation.

Pick up your copy (£5 cash) from our High Street shops - Pebble Gallery, Rowan Tree or The Treasury.

Tickets for this event will be on sale at the same time as our Festival tickets - July 13 for Friends and on general sale from July 20. Make a note in your diary - we expect these to go quickly!

And for the first time ever… a non-fiction Festival Read is coming soon 👀

Here's a wonderful selection of photos from our Spring Weekend. 📸 Thank you our photographer Steven O'GormanWhat was you...
23/03/2026

Here's a wonderful selection of photos from our Spring Weekend.

📸 Thank you our photographer Steven O'Gorman

What was your favourite moment?

✨We’re ending our Spring Weekend with a brilliant burst of energy from retail pioneer and author Mary Portas.In conversa...
14/03/2026

✨We’re ending our Spring Weekend with a brilliant burst of energy from retail pioneer and author Mary Portas.

In conversation at St Peter’s Church, Mary is sharing stories from her bold new memoir I Shop, Therefore I Am, taking us back to the electrifying world of 1990s fashion and retail - including how she helped transform Harvey Nichols into a global style destination.

Entertaining, animated and wonderfully candid, Mary has the audience laughing as she recalls her early days at “Harvey Nicks”, while also reflecting on the challenges she faced as a young woman navigating a fiercely male-dominated industry. From confronting misogyny in fashion to trusting creativity and instinct, her stories are as inspiring as they are revealing.

A fittingly lively finale to a weekend of fascinating ideas and conversation.

What a fascinating and thought-provoking session with Julia Shaw this afternoon.A passionate, logical and deeply engagin...
14/03/2026

What a fascinating and thought-provoking session with Julia Shaw this afternoon.

A passionate, logical and deeply engaging speaker, Julia challenged us to rethink how we view environmental crime - asking why offences against our planet are so rarely treated with the seriousness they deserve, and why the punishment so often fails to match the scale of the damage.

It was a lively and compelling conversation that left the audience with plenty to think about. 🌍

A full church is totally engaged listening to Marina Wheeler KC in conversation with Ian Muir Cochrane. She brings a fas...
14/03/2026

A full church is totally engaged listening to Marina Wheeler KC in conversation with Ian Muir Cochrane.

She brings a fascinating perspective on Europe and Brexit.

It’s a very warm welcome to Dr Jack Mosley in Budleigh Salterton this morning!We’ve heard about the inspiration he drew ...
14/03/2026

It’s a very warm welcome to Dr Jack Mosley in Budleigh Salterton this morning!

We’ve heard about the inspiration he drew from his parents - and in particular his late father, Michael Mosley. Tales of leeches, tapeworms and kombucha set the scene before moving into the heart of his conversation with festival chair Cathy Rentzenbrink about his book Food Noise.

The discussion explored the science behind cravings and appetite, as well as the positives and limitations of weight-loss jabs - and why they’re not the magic fix many people might assume.

And there’s still plenty more to enjoy today. Tickets are available for our remaining talks - visit www.budlitfest.org.uk

Our Box Office in St Peter's Church opens 30 minutes before each speaker.

☀ What a beautiful day for a literary festival! We've got beautiful blue skies and sunshine and we're getting ready to w...
14/03/2026

☀ What a beautiful day for a literary festival! We've got beautiful blue skies and sunshine and we're getting ready to welcome you to St Peter's Church.

Our day kicks off with Dr Jack Mosley who will be discussing the pros and cons of GLP-1s, like Ozempic and Mounjaro.

Join us for fascinating insights into the science behind cravings, hormones, ultra processed foods, stress, sleep and modern obesity treatments, with simple strategies to reshape our relationship with food.

Later on today we'll be hearing from Marina Wheeler KC, criminal psychologist and bestselling author Julia Shaw and high street champion Mary Portas.

Tickets for all of today's talks are available online and at the Box Office at the church, which opens 30 minutes before each event begins.

www.budlitfest.org.uk

🙌It’s day two of our Spring Weekend. Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday. We’ve got some real treats lined up ...
14/03/2026

🙌It’s day two of our Spring Weekend. Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday. We’ve got some real treats lined up for you today.

📚 11am – Dr Jack Mosley will be discussing the pros and cons of GLP-1s, like Ozempic and Mounjaro. Join us for fascinating insights into the science behind cravings, hormones, ultra processed foods, stress, sleep and modern obesity treatments, with simple strategies to reshape our relationship with food.

📚 2pm – Join barrister, mediator and writer Marina Wheeler KC for a very timely conversation exploring ideas from A More Perfect Union alongside current political developments, from sovereignty, Brexit, democracy and the value of cooperation. Whether you’re politically engaged or simply curious about Britain’s future, this conversation promises to be deeply relevant.

📚 5pm – Criminal psychologist and bestselling author Julia Shaw’s riveting new book delves into the real-world crimes threatening our planet, with cases including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Dieselgate emissions scandal and the Shuidong wildlife crime syndicate. From ecosystems destroyed to corporate gangs operating outside the law, she'll explain just who is committing these crimes and what we can do to stop them.

📚 7.30pm –Join Mary Portas as she shares the inspiration behind her bold new memoir, I Shop, Therefore I Am: The ‘90s, Harvey Nicks and Me. With her signature wit and no-holds-barred honesty, Mary charts her transformation of Harvey Nichols from a tired department store into a global brand destination.

There’s still time to book. You can do that in advance via www.budlitfest.org.uk or buy your tickets in person. The ticket desk is open 30 minutes before each event.

📚Now it’s the turn of former chief whip Simon Hart, offering a fascinating insider’s view of some of the most turbulent ...
13/03/2026

📚Now it’s the turn of former chief whip Simon Hart, offering a fascinating insider’s view of some of the most turbulent moments in recent British politics.

From Partygate to Brexit, the Russian invasion of Ukraine to Liz Truss’s extraordinary 49-day premiership, Simon has had a front-row seat to it all. It’s a revealing, often surprising look behind the scenes of Westminster during a period unlike any other in recent history.

📚 The Spring Weekend continues tomorrow with Dr Jack Mosley, Marina Wheeler KC, Julia Shaw and Mary Portas - and tickets are still available.

Book here: www.budlitfest.org.uk

📚 The Spring Weekend has begun!We’re delighted to open the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival Spring Weekend with best...
13/03/2026

📚 The Spring Weekend has begun!

We’re delighted to open the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival Spring Weekend with bestselling author Dr Gavin Francis, speaking at St Peter’s Church this evening.

Drawing on three decades of medical practice, Dr Francis is exploring the realities behind today’s mental health statistics - looking beyond labels to consider the lived experience of anxiety, trauma, addiction and mood disorders. In conversation with Festival President Cathy Rentzenbrink, he’s making the case for a more curious, humane and hopeful way of understanding the mind: not as fragile, but resilient and adaptable.

A thoughtful and inspiring start to our Spring Festival.

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