Literary Festivals and Events

10 Charles Dickens’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood, starring Matthew Rhys and Tamzin Merchant, begins – and, unlike the book, ends – on BBC2.

13 Michael Morpurgo’s much-loved children’s novel War Horse, a long-running favourite at the National and on Broadway, gets the Hollywood treatment. A tearjerking saga about a young soldier and his horse – it was only a matter of time before it was Spielberged.

16 TS Eliot prize. Despite withdrawals from the shortlist over objections to a hedge fund’s sponsorship of the prize, the Eliot remains the UK’s premier poetry award, and its eve-of-event reading is always a treat. This year’s shortlist includes Daljit Nagra, Carol Ann Duffy and John Burnside.

20 Release of film of Coriolanus, an Orson Wellesian effort directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes, with Gerard Butler as Aufidius and Vanessa Redgrave as Volumnia.

24 Costa awards ceremony. The multi-genre shortlist features Matthew Hollis’s biography of Edward Thomas, Andrew Miller’s novel Pure, former Great Ormond Street nurse Christie Watson’s debut novel Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry collection The Bees (also on the TS Eliot shortlist), and debut children’s writer Moira Young’s Blood Red Road.
The 24th is also the 150th anniversary of Edith Wharton’s birth, in danger of being overlooked amid Dickens mania.

31 Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer opens at the National Theatre, starring the former Coronation Street actor Katherine Kelly.

Caomhnú Literary Festival
Bath Literature Festival
Belfast Book Festival
LSE Space for Thought Literary Weekend
North Herts Book Festival x

Caomhnú Literary Festival -
Bath Literature Festival -
Belfast Book Festival -
LSE Space for Thought Literary Weekend -
North Herts Book Festival x

Bath Literature Festival
Dublin Book Festival
Essex Book Festival
Gort Literature Festival
Huddersfield Literature Festival
Kings Lynn Fiction Festival
Kings Lynn Poetry Festival
Kings Sutton Books Alive! , Oxfordshire
London Word Festival
North Herts Book Festival
Stanza: Scotland’s Poetry Festival, St. Andrews x
Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival
Windsor Spring Festival -
York Literature Festival

Cambridge Wordfest
Laugharne Weekend Festival
Redbridge Book and Media Festival-
Cúirt International Festival of Literature (Galway, Ireland) -
Eype Literary Festivals, Dorset
Guernsey Literary Festival
Scarborough Literature Festival
Stratford Upon Avon Literary Festival
Strokestown International Poetry Festival
Hexham Book Festival –

Asia House Festival of Asian Literature x
Chalfont St Giles and Jordans Literary Festival (TBC – not sure if still going?)
Boswell Book Festival
Charleston Literary Festival
St. Ives Literature Festival
Daphne du Maurier Festival
Brighton Festival
Guardian Hay Festival
Guernsey Literary Festival (continued)
Lincoln Book Festival
Listowel Writers’ Week
Poetry-next-the-sea, Wells-next-the-Sea -
Stratford Upon Avon Literary Festival
Swindon Festival of Literature
Salisbury International Arts Festival
Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival
Ullapool Book Festival
University of Aberdeen Writers’ Festival
Wenlock Poetry Festival
Wordfringe -
World Literature Weekend (London Review of Books)

June Listing

Althorp Literary Festival
Ayot Literary Festival
Borders Book Festival
Chichester Fesitval
Dublin Writers Festival
Hebden Bridge Festival
Humber Mouth Literature Festival
Immrama Lismore Festival of Travel Writing
Literary Dundee
Middlesbrough Literary Festival
Thame Arts & Literature festival
TS Eliot Festival
Winchester Writers’ Conference Festival and Book Fair
World Literature Weekend (London Review of Books)

July Listing

BBC Proms Literary Festival
Buxton Festival, Derbyshire
Chichester Fesitval
Dartington Hall Way with Words Festival
Ealing Literary Festival
Hebden Bridge Festival
John Clare Festival
Latitude Festival
Ledbury Poetry Festival
London Literature Festival
Manchester Childrens Book Festival
Middlesbrough Literary Festival (continues)
Port Eliot Lit Fest, Cornwall
Shoreditch Festival
Theakston Old Peculier Harrogate Crime Writing Festival
West Cork Literary Festival
West Meon Festival of Books

August Listing

BBC Proms Literary Festival
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Words in Motion at The Big Chill

September Listing

Appledore
Athlone Literary Festival
Bath Festival of Children’s Literature
BBC Proms Literary Festival
Big Oak Literary and Arts Festival – Londonderry
Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival
Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival
Havant Literary Festival
Islay Book Festival
King’s Lynn Poetry Festival
SW11 Literary Festival, London
Throckmorton Literary Festival
Wigtown Book Festival
Woodstock independent

October Listing

Appledore
Beverley Literature Festival
Bouremouth Literary Festival
Burnham Market Book Festival
Canterbury Festival
Chester Literature Festival
Crystal Palace Children’s Book Festival
Durham Book Festival
Dylan Thomas Festival
Essex Poetry Festival
Eype Literary Festivals, Dorset
Graham Greene Festival
Guildford Book Festival
Havant Literary Festival
Henley Literary Festival
Ilkley Literarture Festival
Inverness Book Festival
Guildford Book Festival
Knutsford Literary Festival
Lichfield literature
Manchester Literary Festival
Morley
New Writers UK
Saffron Walden Literary Festival
Scottish International Storytelling Festival
Sentinel Literature Festival
South Asian Literature Festival (SALF)
Times Literature Cheltenham Festival
Warwick Words
Wellington Literary Festival
Wells Festival of Literature
Wigtown Book Festival
Wolds Word (Louth, Alford and Lincolnshire Wolds)

November Listing

Cambridge Winter Wordfest,
Chorleywood Literature Festival (edge of the Chilterns)
Durham Book Festival (continued)
Dylan Thomas Festival (continued)
Folkstone Literary Festival
Humber Mouth Festival - Hull Literature Festival
Lavenham Literary Festival
LennoxLove Book Festival
London History Festival
Richmond Upon Thames

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