Mere Literary Festival

Mere Literary Festival From the Blackmore Vale to the Vale of Wardour, and right to the heart of Mere.

Good books, great conversations and a warm welcome. 12–18 October 2026
Tickets only available at www.mereliteraryfestival.com Each year, in October, residents of the small town of Mere in Wiltshire, along with their friends, get together to put on a Literary festival to support the local Linkscheme charity. Ably organised, as it has been from its inception in 1997, by Adrienne Howell, and staffed

by volunteers, the festival uses the talents of a combination of local writers and performers, and those from the international stage, to put on a variety of talks, workshops and shows. The festival caters for a wide range of interests including events for children, and audiences are drawn from those living in this rural district and visitors to the town, among them those shortlisted or commended in the biennial open poetry competition. Everyone is assured of a warm welcome to Mere, which nestles below downland on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. Visitors can explore winding lanes, woodland tracks or longer walks on Castle Hill with stunning views of the Blackmore Vale and Mere Downs as well as enjoy the Literary Festival events.

🗿 Why did the ancient people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) carve their colossal stone statues, and what actually caused th...
24/08/2026

🗿 Why did the ancient people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) carve their colossal stone statues, and what actually caused the collapse of their civilisation?

Join us on 14 October 2026 at 4:00 PM for a captivating afternoon with renowned archaeologist, author, and journalist Mike Pitts . In his gripping book, Island at the Edge of the World, Mike uses the latest scientific and archaeological discoveries to overturn everything we thought we knew about Easter Island and its history.
He will also shine a light on the long-overlooked research of pioneering anthropologist Katherine Routledge, restoring her crucial legacy to the story of the island.

Described by the New York Times as "a magisterial history" and by Ken Follett as "the true and fascinating story of Easter Island and its amazing statues," this is an event you won't want to miss!

Book your tickets now before they sell out! mereliteraryfestival.com/product/mike-pitts

23/08/2026

As part of the upcoming Mere Literary Festival this October, we are hosting three incredible Military History talks. If you love deep historical investigations, newly declassified secrets, and remarkable local connections, you won’t want to miss these:

Friday 16 Oct (4:00 PM) – Adam Hart: Operation Pimento.
Join historian Adam Hart in conversation with Lieutenant General David Leakey as he retraces his great-grandfather’s daring, 1,200-mile SOE escape through occupied Europe after being shot down in France.

Saturday 17 Oct (7:00 PM) – Paul Hooley: Goering's Su***de.
Local Gillingham author Paul Hooley (MBE) investigates the Nuremberg mystery of how Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering obtained the poison to evade ex*****on. Fascinatingly, former Mere resident Wolfe Frank is a central character in this painstaking account!

Sunday 18 Oct (7:00 PM) – Tim Tate: Hitler’s British Traitors.
Wiltshire-based, award-winning filmmaker Tim Tate uncovers the secret world of WWII’s domestic fifth columnists and spies using declassified MI5 files.

Book your tickets today: https://mereliteraryfestival.com/product-category/non-fiction/military-history/

🎬 Fringe Event: H is for Hawk Movie Screening! 🎬We are incredibly excited to kick off the Mere Literary Festival 2026 fr...
23/08/2026

🎬 Fringe Event: H is for Hawk Movie Screening! 🎬

We are incredibly excited to kick off the Mere Literary Festival 2026 fringe events with a special screening of the powerful cinematic adaptation of H is for Hawk!

Starring Claire Foy as Helen and Brendan Gleeson as her father, the film follows Helen as she navigates the sudden loss of her father by immersing herself in the ancient art of falconry, training a wild goshawk named Mabel. What begins as an act of endurance transforms into an intimate, breathtaking journey of resilience and healing.

This special screening is hosted in collaboration with CineClub Mere.

🦅 "Dare to be more. Be more Bird." 🦅This October, join us at the Mere Literary Festival for an extraordinary afternoon w...
22/08/2026

🦅 "Dare to be more. Be more Bird." 🦅

This October, join us at the Mere Literary Festival for an extraordinary afternoon with author Candida Meyrick in conversation with Bill Price.

In 2020, during lockdown, a twelve-week-old Harris Hawk named Sophia Houdini Whitewing ("Bird") entered Candida's life. As she trained Bird to soar and hunt, Candida discovered unexpected, profound lessons in courage, patience, and freedom set against the wild landscapes of Anglesey.

✨ Special Live Guests: Joining Candida on stage will be Alan Gates from Mere Down Falconry, who is bringing R2, his magnificent female Harris Hawk, for a close-quarters encounter!

Do not miss this inspiring event blending nature writing, memoir, and the ancient art of falconry.

Two of Dorset’s best-loved bestselling novelists in one room! ✨We are thrilled to welcome Clare Leslie Hall and Sally Pa...
21/08/2026

Two of Dorset’s best-loved bestselling novelists in one room! ✨

We are thrilled to welcome Clare Leslie Hall and Sally Page Author to the Mere Literary Festival on Tuesday, 13 October 2026 at 7:00 PM.

Join them for a lively conversation about inspiration, storytelling, and creating unforgettable characters.

🌟 Meet the Authors:

📚 Clare Leslie Hall – Former London journalist turned Dorset farmhouse resident. Her global sensation Broken Country is a Reese's Book Club Pick, New York Times bestseller, and Sunday Times bestseller published in 37 languages. It is a story of impossible choices, a dramatic trial, and second chances at love.

📚 – Dorset resident and former florist/advertising executive. Her debut, The Keeper of Stories, sold over 500,000 copies. She joins us to discuss her latest witty mystery, A Curious Ending, featuring Lara, North Dorset flowers, and an unexpected 190-year-old ghostly companion!

Book your tickets here: www.mereliteraryfestival.com/product/clare-leslie-hall

We are thrilled to welcome the award-winning author, Andrew Miller, to this year's festival. Andrew will be in conversat...
20/08/2026

We are thrilled to welcome the award-winning author, Andrew Miller, to this year's festival. Andrew will be in conversation with bestselling social historian and author Juliet Nicolson to discuss his latest novel, The Land in Winter.

About the Book: Set in the West Country during the brutal Big Freeze of December 1962, The Land in Winter is a delicate and devastating story of two neighbouring couples whose lives and young marriages begin to unravel under the pressure of a historic blizzard.

Described by the Guardian as potentially his "best book yet" and praised by Booker Prize-winner Samantha Harvey as "tender, elegant, soulful and perfect," this is an exquisite study of love, secrets, and resilience.

This novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 and won both the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2025 and the Winston Graham Historical Prize 2025.

Juliet Nicolson, author of Frostquake, a social history of that very same frozen winter of 1962, will join Andrew on stage. She will also discuss her own new book, The Book of Revelations, on this evening.

Don't wait, book your seats today to hear from two master storytellers! www.mereliteraryfestival.com/product/andrew-miller/

🏎️ Get ready to meet the fearless women who defied gravity, and societal rules, at 120+ mph! 🏁At the world’s first purpo...
18/08/2026

🏎️ Get ready to meet the fearless women who defied gravity, and societal rules, at 120+ mph! 🏁

At the world’s first purpose-built motor racing track in Brooklands, a group of extraordinary women challenged a 20-year ban to compete on equal terms with men.

Join us at the Mere Literary Festival on Tuesday, 13th October 2026 at 4:00 PM as author T.J. Hartwell sits down with Jo Hall to share the captivating, true stories behind his new book, Brooklands Belles.

You'll discover the lives of incredible, history-making pioneers, including:
👉 Kay Petre, the 4ft 10in "Queen of Brooklands" who raced a giant 10.5-litre Delage at over 130 mph using wooden blocks on her pedals, and kept a custom beauty kit under her seat!
👉 Barbara Cartland, the future romance novelist who staged a fake race with her society friends in MG cars to champion equal racing rights for news cameras.
👉 Ethel Locke King, whose relentless determination ensured the engineering marvel of Brooklands opened on time in 1907.
👉 Fay Taylour, the champion racer whose political activities eventually landed her in Holloway Prison.

Come along for an inspiring afternoon of social and sporting history that you won't want to miss!

www.mereliteraryfestival.com/product/toby-hartwell

We are so excited to welcome former NFU President Baroness Minette Batters to the Mere Literary Festival on 16 October!I...
17/08/2026

We are so excited to welcome former NFU President Baroness Minette Batters to the Mere Literary Festival on 16 October!

In a BBC Radio 4 interview yesterday on The World This Weekend, she spoke about the urgent need to adapt British farming to a hotter future and the national strategy required to build a resilient agricultural sector in the face of climate change.

Come hear her discuss her incredible new book, Harvest: A farmer’s story of heritage, home and hope, a blend of memoir and manifesto that acts as a passionate love letter to rural life and a rallying cry to save it.
She will be in conversation with acclaimed broadcaster and Westcountryman, Anthony Gibson OBE.

Don't miss this essential highlight of the festival!
🎟️ Book your tickets today: www.mereliteraryfestival.com/product/baroness-minette-batters

We are delighted to launch our 2026 Mere Literary Festival Children’s and Young People’s Writing Competition. Last year ...
18/05/2026

We are delighted to launch our 2026 Mere Literary Festival Children’s and Young People’s Writing Competition. Last year we received some excellent entries and had some great winners. We hope you will send in your best, most interesting and imaginative writing.
This year, our theme is "Adventure". You can write using this theme in any way you like: it can be a story, a poem, a description or an account of how you think about it.
www.mereliteraryfestival.com/mere-literary-festival-childrens-and-young-peoples-writing-competition

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