Enjoy The Final Few Days Of The Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival!
The Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival started with a bang, with thousands of people enjoying author talks, workshops and activities across the bank holiday weekend in Calverley Grounds, as well as key venues across the town.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Berry & Lamberts Solicitors, the festival has been able to offer 20% of tickets free of charge or on a pay what you can basis.
The momentum is electric and now it’s your turn. Join the crowd for these standout shows to close out the festival: Hear renowned historical novelist Essie Fox discuss ‘Catherine’, her retelling of ‘Wuthering Heights’. Join the Sherlock Holmes of Nature, Tristan Gooley, to find out more about the world around us. Enjoy the hilarious tales of TV icon Johnny Ball, as he recalls highs and lows in his career from his book ‘Stories that must be told’. Celebrate local poets at a showcase of local poetry from Word Up! Spend time with journalists Andy Beckett and Luke Jacobs as they reflect on the 70s, possibly the most important, and fascinating, period in modern British political history. Find out the science of how The Arts transform our health with Professor Daisy Fancourt and Thangam Debbonaire. Or join a conversation with presenter and political commentator Iain Dale in conversation with Mike Martin MP discussing Iain's new book –‘Thatcher’.
Paul Reader, Managing Partner of Berry & Lamberts Solicitors, the festival’s headline sponsor, adds: “We are incredibly proud to support this year’s festival. The new energy and content is captured perfectly in the festival’s tagline: Books, Ideas, Action. Whilst books remain the heart of the festival, I am excited that it embraces ‘ideas’, with opportunities to share great insights across all media platforms, and onto ‘Action’, from addressing social issues, responding 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.”
To book tickets or find out more about the line up, visit twlf.co.uk
Author Talks
Manchester Must Dance – Mike Pickering (Talk, Q&A and book signing)
Friday 8th May, 3pm, at The Amelia Scott
Manchester Must Dance: A Life of Music, Madness and Moving on Up. A revelatory insider’s account that journeys deep into music, Manchester and the wider world. Mike Pickering introduced house music into the legendary Haçienda and signed Happy Mondays and James to Factory Records before working with Kasabian, Gossip and Calvin Harris at Sony. His Mercury Prize-winning, multi-million-selling group M People transformed the music industry's attitude to dance music. Join us to hear him tell remarkable story, introducing us to an array of friends and collaborators, many of whom would become important – and sometimes notorious – figures in music history.
The Hidden Seasons – Tristan Gooley (Talk, Q&A and book signing)
Friday 8th May, 7.30pm, at The Amelia Scott
Join the “Sherlock Holmes of Nature” to find out more about the world around us. In his new Sunday Times bestselling book The Hidden Seasons, Tristan Gooley shows us how to read the clues that the sun, moon, stars, plants, fungi, animals, water and weather give us – but that we continually miss, because we don't know how and where to look.
Catherine – a retelling of Wuthering Heights - Essie Fox (Talk, Q&A and book signing)
Saturday 9th May, 3pm, at Trinity Theatre
In Catherine, Essie Fox breathes new life into Wuthering Heights, transforming a gothic masterpiece into a haunting confession of obsession, madness and love that even death cannot end. Join gothic historical Essie Fox, in conversation with Stephanie Bramwell-Lawes (author of Thornby Manor) as they discuss perhaps the greatest tragic love story ever told – but this time, Catherine tells it herself.
“A haunting work in its own right … provides an extra dimension and new perspectives on one of literature’s best-known tales of doomed love” Sunday Times.
Exploring the 1970s – Andy Beckett & Luke Jacobs (Talk, Q&A and book signing)
Saturday 9th May, 5.30pm, at Trinity Theatre
Join Andy Beckett, British journalist and historian to find out more about the Seventies – probably the most important and fascinating period in modern British political history. They encompass strikes that brought down governments, shock general election results, the rise of Margaret Thatcher and the fall of Edward Heath, the IMF crisis, and the three-day week. But the seventies were also a time of volatility and excitement, from the Gay Liberation Front to the hippie anarchists of the free festival movement. Joined by journalist and commentator Luke Jacobs who will travel with Andy on a journey into the past, revealing this fascinating decade in all its drama and complexity.
Iain Dale & Mike Martin MP (Talk, Q&A and book signing)
Saturday 9th May, 7.30pm, at Trinity Theatre
Join Iain Dale, the author, journalist, presenter and satirist, in conversation with Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin, discussing Iain's sparkling short biography of Margaret Thatcher, which brings her to life and explores her complex paradoxes, contradictions, and lasting impact on British politics. Published in 2025, it aims to introduce her legacy to a new generation, covering her 1979 election as a pivotal turning point, her key role in ending the Cold War, and her domestic economic reforms.
Stories that must be told – Johnny Ball (Talk, Q&A and book signing)
Sunday 10th May, 11am, at Trinity Theatre
We are delighted to welcome television personality, writer and populariser of mathematics, Johnny Ball, to talk about his recently published autobiography (vol 2) “Stories that must be told”. Look forward to hearing more about the highs and lows of Johnny's years in entertainment and television, recounting some hilarious tales of when he was a stand-up comedian in the Northern Clubs, before joining BBC TV as a Presenter for over seventeen years – on shows such as Play School, Play Away, Think of a Number and Think Again.
Art Cure – Professor Daisy Fancourt and Thangam Debbonaire (Talk, Q&A and book signing)
Sunday 10th May, 2pm, at Trinity Theatre
Professor Daisy Fancourt, an award-winning scientist and world-leading expert who recently published "Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health", will discuss the life-enhancing power of the arts with Thangam Debbonaire. "Art Cure" is a Sunday Times bestseller and has been short-listed for the 2026 Women’s Prize for non-fiction. Professor Fancourt will be in conversation with Thangam Debbonaire. Thangam is the CEO of UK Opera Association, a board member of Sadler’s Wells, and the Parthenon Project, and chair of the 2026 Women’s Prize for non-fiction. She was previously an MP for nine years, and Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Rusty Egan in conversation with Matt Stadlen (Talk, Q&A and book signing)
Sunday 10th May, 6pm, at The Forum
Rusty Egan is one of the most iconic and influential figures in the electronic music industry. Please join him in conversation with journalist and presenter Matthew Stadlen to discuss his autobiography – which captures the birth of British electronic music, 1980s London nightlife, and collaborations with Midge Ure, Steve Strange, and other pioneers.
Word Up! Showcase
Sunday 10th May, 6.30pm, at Trinity Theatre
A showcase of local poetry from Word Up – introduced by co-Founder Dan Culmer (Dwella). Word Up!, founded in 2013, is a thriving spoken word event that takes place every month at the Old Auction House in Tunbridge Wells. Attracting over 90 attendees and featuring 30 local poets each month it has become a vital platform for emerging talent, with many poets going on to win awards and publish books. There will be the opportunity to buy the 2026 Word Up anthology – and the work of other Word Up poets.
Music, Gothic Sub-culture and Survival – Rosie Garland (panel discussions, readings, Q&A and book signing)
Sunday 10th May, 8pm, at The Forum
Panel discussion, readings, Q&A and book signing. Join Rosie Garland, award-winning poet, novelist and short story writer, and frontwoman for post-punk / Goth band The March Violets and poets Jess Mookherjee and Barry Fentiman Hall for an evening of post-punk, Goth and living through the 1980s.
#TunbridgeWellsLiteraryFestival #EventsKent #IndexDigital
