Next Event:
2-4 October 2026
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King's Lynn Book Festival 2026
2nd to 4th October



There are six sessions across the three days of the Festival, each takes place in King's Lynn's medieval Town Hall on the Saturday Market Place.

SEE BELOW

Buy Your Tickets Online or Offline

Tickets for single sessions £16.50 from 14 July 26

Season tickets:

Standard £60.00 available now

Online tickets will be e-mailed immediately.

Offline tickets may be collected at the reception desk on the day

For  offline tickets 
Email: info@kingslynnbookfestival.com

or

Call: +44 7356 065362

Book Online

 Programme Sessions with times and dates

Friday 2nd October, 7.30pm (doors open at 6.45pm)

‘With the Law on Our Side’

Lady Hale, former President of the Supreme Court, in conversation with Peter Jacobs, former Crown Court judge 
Ends 9.30pm
Saturday 3rd October, 11am (doors open at 10.30am)

‘Scandi Noir: How it all began’

Stein Ringen, author of The Story of Scandinavia
Janus T Saito Madsen, author of Kings of Two Realms & The Danish Kings who Ruled England
Chaired by Christopher Page
Ends 1pm
Saturday 3rd October, 3pm (doors open at 2.30pm)

 ‘Espionage: In Fiction and In Fact’

Alan Judd, best-selling novelist,
Sir David Omand, former Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office and UK Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator; former Director of GCHQ
Ends 5pm
Saturday 3rd October 7.30pm (doors open at 6.45pm)

‘Approaches to Storytelling’

Rachel Hore, Sunday Times best-selling author of fifteen novels
Caroline McGhie, whose debut novel is ‘The Sitter’
Mary Chamberlain, author of Fenwomen, reissued by Virago to celebrate their 50th anniversary; The Dressmaker of Dachau, and more.
Ends 9.30pm
Sunday 4th October, 11am (doors open at 10.30am)

‘Gandalf meets Aslan’

J.R.R.Tolkien, C.S.Lewis and their worlds

D J Taylor, whose biography of J R R Tolkien is published this year
Simon Horobin, author of C S Lewis’s Oxford

 

Chaired by Christopher Bigsby
Ends 1pm
Sunday 4th October, 3pm (doors open at 2.30pm)

‘Meet Three Poets’

Kevin Crossley-Holland
Jude Nutter
Alia Kobuszko

This session will include a tribute to the late John Lucas, poet, novelist, publisher and great friend of the Festival.

Ends 5pm,  then the  Festival will close with drinks and cakes.
 
 
 
 

What previous visitors have said

The Festival was marvellous in so many ways. Thought provoking, inspirational and exciting. It was wonderful to climb up the steps of the Town Hall into a world of words. As ever, it was unique and so very happy.
Tess Watkins
This was my first time at the Literature Festival, and it was a wonderful experience. Thank you!
PH
The venue was terrific and set perfect, learned tone to the festival. A real sense of occasion in the heart of the city ,all quite excellent.
HT
we both enjoyed greatly the events we attended and were privileged to hear the eminent and entertaining speakers you had assembled.
DW
We felt the themes and topics were well chosen and varied, and the discussions stayed focused. All in all, a very enjoyable weekend.
REH

Authors and Speakers

 

Lady Hale

Brenda Hale, Rt Hon the Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE, was born in Yorkshire and studied Law at Girton College, Cambridge. She was called to the Bar in 1969 and spent almost twenty years in academia In 1984, Lady Hale became the first woman to be appointed to the Law Commission. She  was appointed a QC in 1989, and became a full time judge in the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales in 1994.

She was the first woman to become a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. She was the first woman to serve on the newly created Supreme Court, was appointed Deputy President in 2013, and its President from 2017 to 2020

Peter Jacobs

 

 

The son of a railwayman. Born in Kings Lynn, attended King Edward VII Grammar School.   Went to University College Cardiff  then read for the Bar and practised from 1973.  Became a Circuit Judge in 1997 and Resident Judge at Norwich Crown Court and Recorder of Norwich in 2004.  Appointed Tutor Judge of Judicial Studies Board in 2002 and as an additional Judge of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division in 2008.  Retired in 2013 and in 2014 was appointed Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Advisory Committee supervising response to undercover policing inquiry and corruption.  Retired in 2020. Member of Howard League for Penal Reform.

Stein Ringen

Stein Ringen’s most recent book is The Story of Scandinavia, a history that follows three countries – Denmark, Norway and Sweden – over 1200 years, from their emergence in Europe as the violent Vikings through to their present incarnation as social democratic model states. He is a Norwegian-British social scientist and has published a raft of books on democracy and government before his excursion into history. Like his previous books, the Scandinavia one is published in various translations, most recently in Ukraine and Denmark

Janus T. Saito-Madsen

Janus T. Saito-Madsen  is a Danish author and historian specializing in North Sea history – the interconnected medieval worlds of England and Scandinavia. His work explores how to engage audiences who don’t traditionally connect with historical narratives, blending dramatic storytelling with meticulous scholarship.

He is the creator of The Blood and the Crown, an eight-volume historical fiction series tracing the Danish monarchy from Gorm the Old to Queen Margrete I, alongside nonfiction works on the Danes who became kings of England. His narratives draw extensively on primary sources including the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Jelling inscriptions, and early Norse sagas.

 

 

 

 

Christopher Page

 

Christopher Page is a Fellow of the British Academy and Professor Emeritus of Medieval Music and Literature in the University of Cambridge

Alan Judd

Alan Judd has written two biographies and eighteen novels, three of which have been filmed.  He has won the Guardian Fiction award, the Heinemann award and the Royal Society of Literature’s Winifred Holtby award. About half of his novels are spy novels, comprising the Charles Thoroughgood series and the more recent Whitehall Court series featuring a young woman joining MI6 in the First World War.  He is the authorised biographer of Mansfield Cumming, founder of MI6, and is also biographer of the author, Ford Madox Ford.  He has been a regular columnist for the Telegraph, the Spectator and the Oldie.

Sir David Omand

Sir David was Director of GCHQ; then Permanent Secretary at the Home Office and, later, Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office and UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, responsible to the Prime Minister for the professional health of the intelligence community, national counter-terrorism strategy and “homeland security”.  In that position he was the Government’s chief crisis manager. He served for eight years on the UK Joint Intelligence Committee.

His first book (2010) Securing the State, is an exploration of the relationship between security and liberty based on the 14th century frescoes of Good and Bad Government by Lorenzetti in Siena town hall. His second book (2018), Principled Spying (co-authored with the political scientist Professor Mark Phythian) is an exploration of the ethics of secret intelligence. His latest book, How Spies Think: 10 Lessons in Intelligence, was published in 2021 as a Penguin paperback and is a manifesto in support of rationality and the values of the Scottish Enlightenment in our digital age of social media and fake news.

 

© Gemma Day

                     

 

 

 

 

Rachel Hore

Rachel Hore is the Sunday Times bestselling author of fifteen novels. The French Spymistress, published in July 2026, is set in World War II England and France and inspired by a real-life story. She is married to the writer D.J. Taylor and lives in Norwich.

Caroline McGhie

Caroline McGhie is a multi-award-winning journalist who has written for The Sunday Times, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, and was part of the launch team for The Independent on Sunday. She has also written columns for The Financial Times, The Standard and Country Living. She has lived in North Norfolk for over thirty years and is dedicated to working in fiction and memoir and walking on the marshes. The Sitter is her debut novel.

Mary Chamberlain

Mary Chamberlain has lived and worked in England and the Caribbean.  Her book, Fenwomen, was the first to be published by the feminist imprint, Virago Press, in 1975 and was the inspiration for Caryl Churchill’s award-winning play Fen. Fenwomen has gone through four editions, the latest – returning to Virago – in a special golden anniversary edition as a Virago Modern Classic. Considered a pioneer of oral history, Mary has written many books on women’s history, oral history and Caribbean history. She has also published five novels including the international bestseller, The Dressmaker of Dachau, which sold to 19 countries. 

D.J. Taylor

D.J. Taylor has written 13 novels, including Trespass (1998) and Derby Day (2011), both of which were long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. His Orwell: The Life won the 2003 Whitbread Prize for Biography. His works include Flame Music (2023), Orwell: The New Life (2023) and Who is Big Brother? A Reader’s Guide to George Orwell (2024) and Poppyland, a collection of short stories (2025). ‘The King Under the Mountain: In Search of J.R.R. Tolkien’ is published in September 2026.

© John Cairns

 

                             

 

 

 

 

Dr Simon Horobin

Dr Simon Horobin is Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow and Tutor in English at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. He has published widely on medieval literature and the English language. He has lectured to a variety of audiences on C.S. Lewis, has published articles on Lewis’s scholarly writings and is the author of C.S. Lewis’s Oxford (Bodleian Publishing 2024).

 
 

                             Christopher Bigsby

 

Christopher Bigsby Is emeritus professor in American Studies at the University of East Anglia (UEA), is an award-winning novelist, biographer, literary historian and critic. He has written radio and television plays and for many years worked for the BBC and the British Council. His latest work is ‘The Arthur Miller Tapes’ covering thirty years of his interviews with Miller.

Kevin Crossley-Holland

Kevin Crossley-Holland is a poet, translator from Anglo-Saxon and prizewinning novelist for children whose Arthur trilogy attracted worldwide praise and was translated into twenty-six languages.  He was president of the School Library Association 2012-2017 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.  He has four children and eight grandchildren and lives with his Minnesotan wife in north Norfolk. 

Jude Nutter

 Jude Nutter was born in Yorkshire, England, and grew up in northern Germany.  Her poems have appeared in numerous national and international journals and have received over forty awards and grants. She is the author of four full-length collections: Pictures of the Afterlife (Salmon Poetry, Ireland, 2002); The Curator of Silence (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007); I Wish I Had a Heart Like Yours, Walt Whitman (University of Notre Dame Press, 2010); and Dead Reckoning (Salmon Poetry, Ireland, 2021).  

Alia Kobuszko

Alia Kobuszko is the author of Dream Latitudes (Faber & Faber). Her work has appeared in And Other Poems, Propel Magazine, and Magma. She holds an MA in Poetry from Royal Holloway University of London. She lives in London where she works as a librarian. 

 

 

Our Sponsor

We are very grateful to Hawkins Ryan Solicitors in King’s Lynn for their longterm sponsorship and support for the King’s Lynn Book Festival.

Alex MacBeth, Lisa St Aubyn de Teran, Iseult Teran
Our Floor Manager with Sir David Spiegelhalter
Official Photographer - James Nash
Out Honorary Treasurer and our Bookshop Manager

The friendly Festival

The King’s Lynn Book Festival is fortunate to inherit a reputation as the small festival with a big heart. We cherish our writers and speakers, our audiences and our volunteers. Whether buying a book from our bookstall – run with our independent bookshop associates, ‘Words and Wonder’ of Downham Market – having a drink from our bar or a cup of tea or coffee, there are people to chat with. You can meet the writers, ask them to sign their books, relax in the friendly atmosphere. If you wish, you can simply sit back and listen to some of the world’s best writers talking about their work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Harpham

Richard is our Floor Manager. He keeps an eye on everything from getting the writers wired for sound to opening the doors on time and helping anyone with mobility issues. He cheerfully ensures that the Festival runs smoothly.  We are extremely grateful to this wonderful volunteer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Nash

James is our official photographer and, like all of us, a volunteer. He works at getting the best overview of the Festival and catching amusing moments too. We use the photos for publicity – if you would rather not be in them please have a word with James or any member of the team.

    

   

  

   

   

    

   

   

   

   

   

                         

 

Alan & Richard Moseley

Alan Moseley is our honorary treasurer, seen here with his son Richard who heads the volunteers running our bookstall – they are checking the hardware for the payment system.

What writers have said

‘It is always a pleasure to participate in the King’s Lynn literature festival. It is so well organised and full of interesting people.’
Simon Lewis
Thank you again for a wonderful experience.
Sir Anthony Seldon
It was an absolute pleasure. You truly are the small literary festival with the big heart. Such a treat to attend.
Helen Pilcher
Thanks so much - it was such fun!
Sir David Spiegelhalter
It was a very enjoyable event and one of the most beautiful settings I've ever encountered.
Sarah Perry
Thank you so much for staging such a splendid festival. Never seen such audiences, even for esoteric subjects such as the literature of the Second World War.
D.J.Taylor
Many congratulations on the Festival, which was an absolute triumph! Everybody was clearly enjoying themselves enormously, the audiences were large and the conversations were buzzing.
Patricia Fara
The King's Lynn Literature Festival is not only intellectually stimulating and highly dynamic, it's also incredibly friendly with a uniquely wonderful atmosphere
Sophie Hannah
The King’s Lynn Literature Festival is one of the best around. It always features an intriguing range of writers and the sessions offer much for thought. I love its friendliness, too.
Rachel Hore
Thanks for a beautifully run festival, with such friendly people!
Kate Macdonald
I thoroughly enjoyed the festival and meeting some of the other speakers. I had a brilliant time.
Camilla Balshaw

Buy Your Tickets Online or Offline

Tickets for single sessions £16.50 from 14 July 26

Season tickets:

Standard £60.00 available now

Online tickets will be e-mailed immediately.

Offline tickets may be collected at the reception desk on the day

For  offline tickets 

Email: info@kingslynnbookfestival.com

or

Call: +44 7356 065362

Book Online
Sophie Hannah
Rachel Hore
Lachlan Mackinnon, Sir Anthony Seldon
Lesley Bowers, who so efficiently and pleasantly coordinated volunteers at the 2025 Festival. Birds of prey evidently love her too!

Sitting in the doorway

Doing ‘meet and greet’

Checking people’s tickets

Getting frozen feet

But the smiles on the faces

Warm me to the heart

And I am glad to be here

Just doing my small part

Everyone’s so friendly

The talks all interesting too

So to the authors and the organisers

A very big thank you.

 

Lesley Bowers, Volunteers’ Co-ordinator, 2025

 

Discover Previous Festivals