The Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival Returns This May
Prepare to immerse yourselves in 10 days of literary wonder as the Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival (TWLF) announces its return and renewal – event and workshop tickets are now on sale.
The production is being led by Creative Tunbridge Wells, with Sam Davey, founder of the Hastings Literary Festival as Producer, and Co-Producers Isobel Dormon from The Forum, and Dan Culmer (Dwella) and Hannah Gee from Word Up.
The festival remains deeply rooted in Tunbridge Wells' cultural life with venues including The Forum, Trinity Theatre, Assembly Hall Theatre, The Old Auction House, The Amelia, The Pump Room and The Barn hosting events.
Amongst the stellar line-up for 2026 are: National treasure Gyles Brandreth celebrating 100 years of Winnie the Pooh, Sunday Times No.1 Bestselling poet Donna Ashworth in conversation with Davina McCall, renowned historical novelist Essie Fox, British Poet and Author Brian Bilston, award-winning Trinidadian-born British writer Monique Roffey, presenter and satirist Iain Dale in conversation with Mike Martin MP discussing Iain's new book – ‘Thatcher’.
The new energy and content is captured perfectly in the festival’s powerful new tagline: Books, Ideas, Action.
Books remain the heart of the festival, celebrating the best in fiction and non-fiction through author talks, readings and writers’ workshops. TWLF is also broadening its scope to embrace Ideas, sharing great insights from all media; podcasts, documentary or digital commentary, that deserve a wider platform.
Finally, the festival moves decisively into Action. Whether it’s exploring projects to help schools address social issues, championing a proactive and positive response to climate change or rekindling the lost art of letter writing, the 2026 festival is dedicated to ensuring that the written word inspires meaningful engagement with the world around us.
The festival kicks off with a gala opening at Trinity Theatre on 1st May. Then over the May bank holiday weekend a festival village will be located in the stunning surroundings of Calverley Grounds. Beginning with the Festival of Ideas on Saturday, bringing together forward-thinkers for debate on journalism, activism and philosophy.
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Sunday sees an exciting partnership with the TW Climate & Nature Fair, featuring leading authors, environmental speakers, workshops, family activities and plenty of community organisations. The weekend concludes with a joyous Family Day on Monday, packed with performances, creative workshops and special author talks for children, including a centennial celebration of Winnie-the-Pooh whose home, the Hundred Acre Wood, is based on our very own Ashdown Forest.
Throughout Tuesday 5th to Sunday 10th May, there are fantastic events hosted by some of the town’s unique venues, covering a breadth of genres and topics including comedy, nature, Shakespeare, art, fantasy, adventure, cabaret, children’s literature and even Doctor Who!
NEW FOR 2026!
Local Author Submissions
The festival team are thrilled to invite submissions from local authors to take part in a diverse, curated coffee and talk session on Saturday 9th May at The Pump Room on The Pantiles. The event will give authors a platform to read from their books, take part in a Q&A and book signing afterwards. Authors can be published or self-published, based in Kent or Sussex, and will need to send a bio, a summary about the book(s) they wish to talk about, and their URL by Tuesday 31st March.
Writing Competition
We are delighted to be part of a partnership between the Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival, the Battle Festival of Folk and Fable and Starcroft Farm Cabins, aimed at celebrating and encouraging writers in Kent and Sussex. The theme this year is ‘animals and folkore’ and writers of fiction and non-fiction are welcome across three categories: Over 18 years, (max. 1,000 words), 14-18 years (max. 500 words) and 11-13 years (max. 250 words).
Judged by Jo Norland, playwright, author and writing coach along with Robin Pridy, author and editor, all three winners will receive cash or book token prizes and can perform their winning entries at both the TWLF and the Battle Festival of Folk & Fable if they wish (or have them read on their behalf). The adult winner will also be gifted a writing retreat from Starcroft Farm Cabins. Submissions need to be sent by Sunday 15th March.
• To book tickets, find out more about the line-up, apply as an author or submit a piece of writing, visit twlf.co.uk
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