Book Festival Events

Sat 7 Nov 2026, 12pm

Join local writer, historian and guide Tony Quarrington and Folkestone Book Festival curator Sophie Haydock for a literary stroll through...

Wed 11 Nov 2026, 5pm

Stories, sparkle and festive magic come together as the Christmas lights are switched on in the heart of Folkestone's Creative Quarter.Taking...

Thu 12 Nov 2026, 7pm

Few figures have delighted British audiences for as long, or with such warmth, wit and infectious curiosity, as Sir Tony Robinson. Actor,...

Fri 13 Nov 2026, 10am

What stories do we carry about ourselves – and what might someone else remember differently? In this bold and original creative writing...

Fri 13 Nov 2026, 3pm

Two brilliantly original novelists come together for a sharp, psychologically rich conversation about identity, reinvention, self-deception...

Fri 13 Nov 2026, 5pm

Few debut authors are generating as much excitement as Jem Calder. Named one of The Observer’s best debut novelists of 2026 and championed...

Fri 13 Nov 2026, 7pm

How well do we ever really know the people around us? For decades, Philippa Perry has helped millions of readers better understand themselves...

Sat 14 Nov 2026, 10.30am

When the call comes in, would you run towards the storm? In this gripping conversation, Dominic Gregory discusses Lifeboat at the End of the...

Sat 14 Nov 2026, 12pm

What if one small act of hope could change millions of lives? Join Paul Sinton-Hewitt, founder of the global parkrun movement, for an uplifting...

Sat 14 Nov 2026, 2pm

What sustains a landscape? What allows a garden, a community or an ecosystem to flourish? And what might we learn from looking beneath the...

Sat 14 Nov 2026, 4pm

In June 2023, the disappearance of the Titan submersible gripped the world, as millions followed the desperate search unfolding in the Atlantic....

Sat 14 Nov 2026, 6pm

What does it mean to offer refuge – and who gets to belong? In this major cultural conversation, acclaimed writer, mythographer and historian...

Sat 14 Nov 2026, 8pm

Few writers have shaped contemporary fiction quite like lan McEwan. For more than forty years, readers have been captivated by novels including...

Sun 15 Nov 2026, 12pm

What kind of world are young people growing up in online – and how do we keep them safe within it? Following the murder of her daughter...

Sun 15 Nov 2026, 2pm

What happens when life falls apart – how do you rebuild something stronger from the wreckage? Join bestselling authors, broadcasters and...

Sun 15 Nov 2026, 4pm

What if the recipe for a better life began with a badly behaved dog? Multi award-winning food writer Felicity Cloake joins journalist and...

Sun 15 Nov 2026, 6pm

What does it take to defy the limits others place on you? In this candid and compelling conversation, former Chancellor and Home Secretary...

Sun 15 Nov 2026, 8pm

AL Kennedy is one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary writers. Winner of the Costa Book of the Year, and author of Day and the Booker...

Mon 16 Nov 2026, 10am

For the first time, the globally celebrated London Writers’ Salon comes to Folkestone. With thousands of writers joining their workshops,...

Mon 16 Nov 2026, 2pm

Why does every app, website and platform seem to get worse over time? Writer, activist and technology critic Cory Doctorow joins us to discuss...

Mon 16 Nov 2026, 4pm

Are we asking the wrong questions about artificial intelligence? While headlines swing wildly between utopia and apocalypse, AI ethicist Dr...

Mon 16 Nov 2026, 6pm

From Marathon to Ukraine, what can the defining battles of history tell us about the world we live in today? Award-winning historian Iain...

Mon 16 Nov 2026, 8pm

Where did conspiracy culture really begin? Long before QAnon, online rabbit holes and shadowy internet myths, there was the Illuminati: a...

Tue 17 Nov 2026, 10am

Step into the darker half of the year for a restorative and imaginative workshop with author Rebecca Beattie, inspired by her book The Season...

Tue 17 Nov 2026, 2pm

Can you make it as an artist without going to art school? Can you return to creativity after raising children, changing careers, illness or...

Tue 17 Nov 2026, 4pm

Join Viktor Wynd, Britain’s high priest of the peculiar, for an hour of wicked enchantments, grotesque transformations and deliciously dark...

Tue 17 Nov 2026, 6pm

What happens to women who become trapped inside other people’s myths? Acclaimed novelists Emily Howes and Julie Owen Moylan come together...

Tue 17 Nov 2026, 8pm

What if we’ve been telling the story of global economic history all wrong? In Economica, economic historian and critically acclaimed author...

Wed 18 Nov 2026, 10am

What if you could build a thriving audience around your work without relying on social media algorithms? Join creative business mentor Claire...

Wed 18 Nov 2026, 2pm

Why do some places get under our skin? And what changes first – you, or the place you call home? Journalist Hazel Sheffield and writer Natasha...

Wed 18 Nov 2026, 4pm

She wrote more than 700 novels, sold hundreds of millions of books and became one of the most recognisable women in Britain. But who was Barbara...

Wed 18 Nov 2026, 6pm

What remains after the person you love most is gone? Joining us live from New York, internationally acclaimed novelist, essayist and thinker...

Wed 18 Nov 2026, 8pm

Few historians have done more to bring Britain's royal past to life than Alison Weir.The bestselling author of more than thirty books, read...

Thu 19 Nov 2026, 10am

What does memory taste like? And how do you turn flavour into irresistible prose? Join acclaimed food writer, broadcaster and critic Sudi...

Thu 19 Nov 2026, 2pm

How do literary legends get made? And what happens when the real person refuses to fit the story? Muriel Spark was one of the most original...

Thu 19 Nov 2026, 4pm

This joyful celebration of local creativity shines a spotlight on the writers of Folkestone and beyond. Fifteen writers. Three minutes each....

Thu 19 Nov 2026, 6pm

Sarah Perry, the internationally bestselling author of The Essex Serpent, turns her remarkable gifts to memoir in Death of an Ordinary Man,...

Thu 19 Nov 2026, 8pm

What happens when family secrets refuse to stay buried? When friendships are tested by time? When entire communities are built on stories...

Fri 20 Nov 2026, 10am

How do great writers transform a family lunch, a train journey or an overheard conversation into something unforgettable? In this special...

Fri 20 Nov 2026, 2pm

Novelist Amy Abdelnoor and Megha Mohan, the BBC’s first Gender and Identity Correspondent, come together for a bold conversation about belonging...

Fri 20 Nov 2026, 4pm

Has a book ever changed your life? One of Britain’s most admired novelists, Tessa Hadley joins us for a celebration of the books that stay...

Fri 20 Nov 2026, 6pm

Following her memorable appearance on The Traitors, million-copy bestselling author Harriet Tyce returns with Witch Trial, a gripping thriller...

Fri 20 Nov 2026, 8pm

For more than three decades, Robert Peston, political editor of ITV News, has been one of Britain’s most influential journalists.Now he...

Sat 21 Nov 2026, 10.30am

Few writers have left a bigger mark on British television than Lynda La Plante. Creator of Prime Suspect and the groundbreaking detective...

Sat 21 Nov 2026, 12pm

As the last generation of Holocaust survivors passes from living memory into history, how do we preserve their stories – and what happens...

Sat 21 Nov 2026, 2pm

What would you do if your family’s greatest treasure vanished without trace? Journalist Serena Kutchinsky joins Carol Woolton – historian,...

Sat 21 Nov 2026, 4pm

In his urgent new book The Fate of the World, leading climate scientist, volcanologist and author Bill McGuire argues that many of the impacts...

Sat 21 Nov 2026, 6pm

What is the role of the artist in a troubled world? Booker Prize-winning novelist Ben Okri joins artist Rosemary Clunie to discuss their collaboration,...

Sat 21 Nov 2026, 8pm

Living just 21 miles from France, Folkestone knows better than most that Britain’s relationship with Europe is more than an abstract political...

Sun 22 Nov 2026, 10.30am

Fantasy and speculative fiction are no longer niche genres. They are some of the most exciting, imaginative and influential forms of storytelling...

Sun 22 Nov 2026, 12pm

If future generations wanted to understand who we were, what would they find? A smartphone? A favourite mug? A shelf of beloved books? A room...

Sun 22 Nov 2026, 2pm

For years, Alasdair Gill worked in some of London’s most prestigious restaurants, chasing perfection in one of the world’s most demanding...

Sun 22 Nov 2026, 4pm

Who was Jan Morris?The journalist who joined the 1953 Everest expedition and broke the news of its first successful ascent to the world. The...

Sun 22 Nov 2026, 6pm

In December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed after more than five decades in power, bringing an end to one of the Middle East’s most entrenched...

Sun 22 Nov 2026, 8pm

Artist. Musician. Poet. Novelist. Painter. Printmaker. Punk. Expelled from school at 15 and told his dyslexia would hold him back, Billy Childish...