Marlborough Literature Festival

22/06/2026

🥳It's here! Our 2026 LitFest programme has 40+ events for all ages from 24-27 September. Priority booking for Friends opens on 29 June, general booking opens on 10 July.

In our 17th year we'll bring you a vibrant four-day celebration of books, ideas and storytelling. Highlights include appearances from Sebastian Faulks, Sathnam Sanghera, Jeremy Hunt, Kit de Waal and Chloe Dalton, alongside a rich line-up spanning fiction, history, politics, philosophy, travel, farming, art and culture.

Visitors can also enjoy literary favourites including Poetry in the Pub, the Big Town Read, a Translation Duel (this year in Polish), creative workshops and events for children of all ages.

LitFest is proud to be championing the National Year of Reading through an expanded schools programme that will bring free author events to more than 1,500 local pupils. With a welcoming mix of ticketed and free events, we're offering an inspiring literary weekend for readers, writers and families alike🤩

With thanks to main event sponsor St Mary's Calne St Margaret’s Prep Calne

Full line-up: https://bit.ly/3SBOTBi

Priority booking for Friends opens on 29 June, general booking opens on 10 July. Sign up as Friend of LitFest before 26 June to gain priority booking this year 😍

29/05/2026

Love books? Then consider becoming a Friend of Marlborough LitFest 📚✨

As a Friend of LitFest , you’ll be supporting a volunteer-run literary charity that brings inspiring authors, creative events and free outreach work to our community — while enjoying some wonderful benefits too.

Most importantly, Friends receive priority booking for festival tickets before general sale opens 🎟️

That means:
📚First access to popular events
📚The best chance to secure seats for headline authors
📚Less risk of missing out on sold-out talks

You’ll also be helping us continue our work with local schools, families and the wider community.

The full festival programme is out at the end of June; priority booking for Friends opens on Monday 29 June and the general box office opens on Friday 10 July.

We look forward to seeing you all in Marlborough from 24-27 September this year for a weekend of literary fun for all ages!

More info on becoming a Friend of LitFest: https://bit.ly/3RzQoQ5

29/05/2026

Don't miss this year's The White Horse Bookshop Summer School, starting on Monday and running until 31 July, with loads of great art workshops, talks, lectures and courses on offer!

Marlborough News

The White Horse Summer School returns for 2026 offering two months of workshops, talks, lectures and courses from 1 June - 31 July in The White Horse

21/05/2026

💫 NEW MAIN EVENT FESTIVAL SPONSOR ANNOUNCED FOR 2026!

We are delighted to announce our Main Event Sponsor for 2026 as St Mary's Calne and St Margaret’s Prep Calne. As a charitable arts organisation, LitFest depends on its partners and sponsors to help stage its annual festival; bring free events to children, families and the wider community; and take the joy and transformative power of reading to the current and next generation of readers.

Located in the heart of Wiltshire and one of the UK’s leading independent day and boarding secondary school for girls, St Mary’s Calne was established in 1873 and has a strong ethos of empowering its girls to fulfil their potential and embrace challenges in the world around them. St Margaret’s is an outstanding co-educational nursery and prep school, sharing St Mary’s 27-acre campus and offering a nurturing community for its younger pupils to flourish in.

St Mary’s has already hosted a number of LitFest free school events organised by the festival, demonstrating how meeting an author inspires schoolchildren to both read and to become writers themselves. Both Marlborough LitFest and St Mary’s and St Margaret’s share the ethos that reading for pleasure matters and is key to educational success and transforming lives.

Save the date for this year's LitFest from 24-27 September - we've already announced our first confirmed authors for 2026: acclaimed novelist will be our 2026 joining historian and educationalist and award-winning novelist Kit de Waal author sathnamsanghera and novelist

16/05/2026

Thank you to everyone who came to last night's Quiz Night at St Peter's Marlborough supporting both LitFest and St Peter's😍

Thank you to our brilliant compere and quizmaster David Du Croz and to all the team at St Peter's for hosting the quiz and running the bar. Some tough questions and some fantastic looking picnics too😃

Keep an eye out for future LitFest events outside of the festival weekend and save the date for 24-27 September - our full 2026 programme will be out in late June!

16/05/2026

Loads of brilliant art workshops, lectures and talks on at this year's The White Horse Bookshop Summer School!

Book now for 1 June - 31 July: https://bit.ly/4wzEC86

The White Horse Summer School 2026 catalogue is here! Join in all the fun from 1 June - 31 July with a summer full of workshops, lectures and more...

Bookings are well underway, so don't miss out! June is the month for art classes in watercolour, pastels, calligraphy, lino cutting, mixed media and life drawing. July is more intellectual with talks on local and international politics and history, songwriters, narration in music, creative writing, guest authors, a behind the scenes at flower shows and bookshops, and even guides to bridge, bookbinding and conversational Arabic.

Pick up a brochure in the bookshop or view it online here: https://bit.ly/4tU9KwT

For more info and all the booking details: https://www.whitehorsebooks.co.uk/the-white-horse-summer-school-2026?sort=created

We look forward to welcoming you to The White Horse Summer School 2026!

14/05/2026

LAST CALL FOR LITFEST & ST PETER'S QUIZ NIGHT: FRIDAY 15 MAY, 6.30PM💫

Gather together your finest quizzing friends and join us for a fun-filled evening of general knowledge with a literary twist and prizes to be won, whilst supporting St Peter's Marlborough and Marlborough Literature Festival

📆 Friday 15 May 2026
📍 St Peters Marlborough SN8 1HQ
⏰ Arrive from 6.30pm, the quiz runs from 7pm - 9pm
📚 Teams of up to 8
🍷 Bar available
🧺 Bring your own picnic
🎟 £5 per person. Buy online here https://bit.ly/4dtfnvK or through the QR code on the flyer.

We look forward to seeing you then!

Tickets are now available for Quiz Night with LitFest and St Peters at St Peters Marlborough, Marlborough on Friday 15th May 2026. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!

29/04/2026

✨Thanks to you all we've made the regional finals of Wiltshire's Muddy Stilettos - Wiltshire Muddy Stilettos Awards 2026!

We are one of 10 finalists in the Best Arts, Culture & Theatre category amongst a very strong and wonderful list of finalists 👏

To become the winner, we'd be really grateful for your vote once more!

Please vote online: www.muddystilettos.co.uk/awards/vote or use the QR code in the carousel.

If you've ever enjoyed any of our LitFest talks, workshops, events or volunteered for us, or simply have a love of books and reading, we'd love your support 😍

Voting closes on Tuesday 26 May.

Thank you so much🙏

15/04/2026

💫SEBASTIAN FAULKS ANNOUNCED AS 2026 LITFEST GOLDING SPEAKER

We're excited to announce acclaimed novelist as our 2026 Golding Speaker. Faulks will be appearing at LitFest on Friday 25 September at Marlborough Town Hall.

Marlborough LitFest hosts an annual to highlight the town’s long connection with the Nobel Laureate and Booker Prize winner William Golding, at an event sponsored by William Golding Limited. Past Golding Speakers include Sir Alan Hollinghurst, Sebastian Barry, Ali Smith, Elif Shafak, Ben Okri, Rose Tremain, Will Self, Lionel Shriver, Louis de Bernières, Fay Weldon and Howard Jacobson.

A prolific author with 23 books to his name including literary criticism, biography and memoir, Faulks is best known for his historical fiction, especially the acclaimed French trilogy: 'Girl at the Lion d’Or', 'Birdsong' and 'Charlotte Gray'. His latest novel, 'Farewell to Eden', said to be a rich portrait of an embattled post-war Britain, will be published on 17 September. The Times has called Faulks ‘one of our finest living authors, a writer whose work has often explored the fragility of human sanity and how easily it can unravel.’

Don't forget to sign up as a Friend of LitFest to gain priority booking for festival tickets: https://bit.ly/3Ok6LPy

The full festival programme will be available in late June; the box office opens in early July. For more LitFest info, visit www.marlborouglitfest.org

Save the date for our 17th Marlborough LitFest, from 24-27 September 2026!

14/04/2026

💫QUIZ NIGHT: FRIDAY 15 MAY, 6.30PM💫

Quizzers assemble!

Gather together your finest quizzing friends and join us for a fun-filled evening of general knowledge with a literary twist and prizes to be won, whilst supporting St Peter's Marlborough and Marlborough Literature Festival

📆 Friday 15 May 2026
📍 St Peters Marlborough SN8 1HQ
⏰ Arrive from 6.30pm, the quiz runs from 7pm - 9pm
📚 Teams of up to 8
🍷 Bar available
🧺 Bring your own picnic

🎟 £5 per person. Buy online: https://bit.ly/4tbxHzT or through the QR code on the flyer.

We look forward to seeing you then!