- 31 May -30 June 2024
- Essex Writers House
- For Writers
- In partnership
Essex Writers House
Whether you are hoping to share your work for the first time, editing your third novel, or gathering up the notes on your phone, we’d love to support you on your writing journey. Come along to Chalkwell Hall and make yourself at home. Storytellers, screenwriters and scribblers all welcome! Read more
- Partner Event
Chelmsford Radio Drama Festival
Chelmsford Community Radio are delighted to be hosting the very first Radio Drama Festival for Essex including Radio Drama Listening Sessions, a Community Showcase event in the City Centre and a Radio Drama Day for budding creatives. Read more
- Partner Event
Book Launch: One Midsummer’s Day – Part of EA Festival
Part of EA Festival - The culmination of 16 years of thinking and two years of writing, the book is, on its face, about birds. But really, it is a masterful sum-up of all that is interconnected between nature and man – all perceived during a single day of watching swifts. Read more
- Historical Fiction
- ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
Henry VIII The Heart & The Crown
Henry VIII: The Heart & the Crown is a riveting tale, and ultimately a poignant one, taking an empathetic view of a man who is all too often portrayed as a caricature of his true self. Read more
- CANCELLED
- Crime Fiction
**Cancelled** The Lost Girls
Kate Hamer explores her latest book, The Lost Girls, the stand-alone sequel to Costa First Novel Award shortlisted The Girl in the Red Coat. An enchanting, intense crime novel which sees a girl coming to grips with her past and a mother trying to keep her safe it is a deeply moving story about healing, connection, and the power of the past. Read more
- In Conversation
- Non-fiction
- SOLD OUT!
SOLD OUT – The Seaside
Journeying clockwise around England from Scarborough to Morecambe, The Seaside is Madeleine Bunting’s exploration of England’s great seaside resorts to understand their origins and their heyday, their ongoing influence, and their current struggle. Read more
- Radical Pilgrimage
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
Radical Pilgrimage: The Saffron Trail
Join artist, writer, wild-crafter Lora Aziz as she sets off on a 7-day 70-mile Radical Pilgrimage along The Saffron Trail as part of our series of In My Steps: Radical Walks in Essex. Read more
- Radical Pilgrimage
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
Radical Pilgrimage: The Saffron Trail – Stage 1: Southend to Belfairs / Hadleigh
Join artist, writer and wild-crafter Lora Aziz for Stage 1 of The Saffron Trail, part of a 7-day 70-mile Radical Pilgrimage. Read more
- FREE
- In partnership
- Online
Hope This Helps
Not everyone can be everything all the time, but the little things each of us can do to make the world slightly better can amount to something incredible. Join TikTok "Voice of Change", Benjy Kusi for this online event and an evening of positivity. Read more
- Memoir
Bibliomaniac
Packed with anecdotes and tall tales, Bibliomaniac follows Robin up and down the country in his quest to discover just why he can never have enough books. It is the story of an addiction and a romance, and of an occasional points failure just outside Oxenholme. Read more
- FREE
- In partnership
- Young Essex
St Peter-on-the-Wall: Landscape and Heritage on the Essex Coast
A weekend of events to celebrate the launch of St Peter-on-the-Wall: Landscape and Heritage on the Essex Coast edited by Johanna Dale, kindly hosted by the Othona Community at Bradwell on Sea. Read more
- Radical Pilgrimage
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
Radical Pilgrimage: The Saffron Trail – Stage 2: Belfairs / Hadleigh to Battlesbridge
Join artist, writer and wild-crafter Lora Aziz for Stage 2 of The Saffron Trail, part of a 7-day 70-mile Radical Pilgrimage. Read more
- Partner Event
Imagining the Class of ’37
It is 1937 and a class of 12 and 13 year old girls are writing about their lives: cobbled streets and crowded homes; the Coronation festivities and holidays to Blackpool; laughter and fun alongside poverty and hardship. Read more
- Radical Pilgrimage
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
Radical Pilgrimage: The Saffron Trail – Stage 3: Battlesbridge to Chelmer Village
Join artist, writer and wild-crafter Lora Aziz for Stage 3 of The Saffron Trail, part of a 7-day 70-mile Radical Pilgrimage. Read more
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
- SOLD OUT!
In My Steps: Radical Walks in Essex, Bradwell – Sold Out
Flat circular walk along the seawalls, footpaths and rural roads of Bradwell on Sea. Learn about the area’s history and changing landscape, from Roman occupation, through Saxon missionary activity, agriculture and land reclamation, and military activities, to the construction and operation of Bradwell A. Read more
- FREE
- Young Essex
Family Fun Day – Harlow
Join us for a day of FREE family-friendly activities at Harlow Library including special children's workshops, Baby & Toddler Rhymetime, Family Storytime, Arts & Crafts activities and a special performance by Livewire Theatre Group. Read more
- CANCELLED
- FREE
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Cancelled: Fun Stories From Far Away – Workshop for ages 4+
Have fun with Essex-based teacher and writer, Sade Fadipe, as she shares her book A Fun ABC. Told in claps, familiar rhymes and rhythms and with art & craft activities too, this is bound to be fun! Read more
- Nature Writing
- FREE
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Writing for Nature – Workshop for ages 7+
Come along for a creative writing session with a wildlife twist! Together we'll create a story highlighting a creature or creepy crawly of their choice and go on an adventure to help nature through the written word. Read more
- Partner Event
Creditors & the Beauty Trap
How can an author turn a doctoral dissertation into a book that will engage a general readership? What can the academic historian steal from mass-market writers? In the era of TikTok, social media, and now ChatGPT, what can a human author do that artificial intelligence can’t? Read more
- Radical Pilgrimage
- FREE
- Manifesto For Essex
- Workshop
Myself, Others & The Land – Workshop for ages 15-22
In this one day workshop we will be looking at how we can weave old and new ways of gathering to create our own spontaneous community. Creating our own Rites of Passage that connect us to the land, each other and ourselves. Read more
- Memoir
Miss Willmott’s Ghosts
Miss Willmott's Ghosts traces the remarkable life of the legendary eccentric trail-blazing, green-fingered heiress Ellen Ann Wilmott: the mastermind behind Brentwood's Warley Gardens, who famously booby-trapped her prize plants and sabotaged rivals’ gardens. Read more
- Non-fiction
Ravenous
Henry Dimbleby, founder of the Leon restaurant chain, government adviser and author of the radical National Food Strategy delves behind the scenes to reveal the mechanisms that act together to shape the modern diet and explain not just why the food system is leading us into disaster, but what can be done about it. Read more
- Radical Pilgrimage
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
Radical Pilgrimage: The Saffron Trail – Stage 5: Great Waltham to Great Dunmow
Join artist, writer and wild-crafter Lora Aziz for Stage 5 of The Saffron Trail, part of a 7-day 70-mile Radical Pilgrimage. Read more
- Discussion
- Partner Event
Behind The Covers Of Crime at Braintree Library
Celebrate National Crime Reading month by joining Essex-based crime authors Julia Stone, Michael Heath, Rosie Sandler and David Evans for a lively panel discussion on the crime writing process. Read more
- Radical Pilgrimage
- Discussion
- SOLD OUT!
SOLD OUT – Saffron Coffee Morning (Literary Salon) – Part of Radical Pilgrimage: The Saffron Trail
Join artist, writer, wild-crafter and Radical Pilgrim Lora Aziz, Festival Director Ros Green and storyteller Glenys Newton for a morning of saffron-inspired coffee, cake and discussion. Read more
Killing Jericho
William Hussey is the award-winning author of over a dozen novels, including the Crime Fest award-nominated Hideous Beauty and The Outrage. Killing Jericho is the gothic, helter-skelter thriller debut introducing crime fiction's first-ever Traveller detective, Scott Jericho. Pop along to Waterstones Chelmsford where William will be signing copies of his book from 12 – 12.45pm. Read more
- Radical Pilgrimage
- In partnership
- Performance
Celebration Finale Event – Radical Pilgrimage: The Saffron Trail
Join us to celebrate the end of our first Radical Pilgrimage: The Saffron Trail with the soaring vocals and bass-heavy grooves of Moroccan Gnawa Master, gimbri (three-string guitar) player, Mohamed Errebbaa & Gnawa Bristol. Read more
- Non-fiction
The Marmalade Diaries
Ben Aitken tells the story of an unlikely friendship during an unlikely time. One of the pair a grieving and inflexible former aristocrat in her mid-eighties. The other a working-class millennial snowflake. What could possibly go wrong? What could possibly go right? Read more
- Midsummer Madness
Midsummer Madness
Our Midsummer Madness Family Fun Day for families and young people at Cressing Temple Barns. Storytelling, theatre, poetry, eco-crafts, comics, coding, and mud pies galore in our pop-up forest school, what’s not to like! Read more
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Fun Stories From Far Away – Workshop for ages 4+
Have fun with Essex-based teacher and writer, Sade Fadipe, as she shares her book A Fun ABC. Told in claps, familiar rhymes and rhythms and with art & craft activities too, this is bound to be fun! Read more
- FREE
- Midsummer Madness
- Performance
- SOLD OUT!
- Young Essex
SOLD OUT – The Puddle at the End of the World
Ensonglopedia’s brand new musical comedy. Weird weather! Extraordinary extinctions! Freaky flooding! Water we going to do?! Join Jamie and her Nanna on an exhilarating adventure to rebuild their lives and stop climate change. Read more
- Midsummer Madness
- Workshop
- Young Essex
The Importance of Oceans – workshop for ages 5-9
Deep down in the ocean blue, there are many surprises waiting for you! Solve some Riddles from the Sea and discover some strange facts about the wonderful creatures in our oceans. Read more
- Midsummer Madness
- Workshop
How to Write a Super Story in 3 Easy Steps – workshop for ages 7-11
Award winning author Catherine Emmett will use her book, The Pet, to explore How to Write a Super Story in 3 Easy Steps, from a brilliant beginning, and a magnificent middle to an excellent ending. Read more
- Midsummer Madness
- Workshop
Singing Like Larks Nature Workshop for families
Join nature and folk history writer, Andrew Millham, to uncover the remarkable relationship between birds and traditional folk music and try your hand at some Forest School skills and bug-hunting. Read more
- Manifesto For Essex
- SOLD OUT!
- Workshop
SOLD OUT – Comic Art Masterclass for ages 7+
Comic Art Masterclass with Kev F Sutherland who writes and draws for Beano, Doctor Who and Marvel comics, and makes graphic novels adapted from Shakespeare. Learn everything he knows, so you could leave school and steal his job! Read more
- CANCELLED
- Midsummer Madness
- Workshop
Cancelled: Eco-Podcasting Workshop – For ages 14+
We are in a climate emergency! The Eco-cast project develops audio content around environmental themes. Explore how to research and write content, undertake interviews and join them all together to make a big impact. Read more
- Midsummer Madness
- Performance
- Poetry
- Young Essex
When Creature Met Creature
Legendary author and performance poet John Agard who will delight us with a selection of readings including his 2022 children’s book When Creature Met Creature. Sure to be warm, witty, generous, and flamboyant, it is not to be missed! Read more
- Discussion
- Partner Event
Behind The Covers Of Crime at Great Parndon Library
Celebrate National Crime Reading month by joining Essex-based crime authors Julia Stone, Michael Heath, Rosie Sandler and David Evans for a lively panel discussion on the crime writing process. Read more
- Fiction
- SOLD OUT!
Sold Out! – Foxash
With an unsettling sense of place, Kate Worsley's latest book, Foxash, is a deeply original story of quiet and powerful menace, of the real hardships of rural life, and the myths and folklore that seep into ordinary lives – with surprising consequences. Read more
- Fiction
The Birdcage Library
A gothic-tinged tale of obsession and long buried secrets set in a remote and atmospheric Scottish castle. Discover a mystery within a mystery in The Birdcage Library, a novel that will hold you in its spell until the final page. Read more
- Discussion
- Partner Event
Behind The Covers Of Crime at Clacton Library
Celebrate National Crime Reading month by joining Essex-based crime authors Julia Stone, Michael Heath, Rosie Sandler and David Evans for a lively panel discussion on the crime writing process. Read more
- Fiction
DLS Lecture: The Three Graces
Join award-winning journalist, critic and author, Amanda Craig for a discussion about her latest enthralling, funny and generous book, The Three Graces, as well as her love of Dorothy L Sayers’s fiction, “the marriage of true minds”, 1930s feminism and the Wimsey-Vane romance. Read more
- FREE
- Online
The Girl with the Louding Voice – Online event
New York Times bestselling author, Abi Daré, joins us for this very special online event in partnership with Appetite Book Club. Daré’s exuberant, moving debut revolves around Adunni; a Nigerian girl regarded as property at the age of fourteen, yet determined to find her ‘louding voice’ and live a life that she controls. Read more
- For Writers
- FREE
- Partner Event
- SOLD OUT!
SOLD OUT!! Writing Landscapes Workshop
Authors Samuel Fisher and Justin Hopper are hosting a writing workshop at Wivenhoe Library where participants will be invited to think of the places they cherish and find ways to translate those landscapes into words. Read more
- In Conversation
- Memoir
One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up
An evening with Labour MP and the Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting who will be in conversation with Professor Pam Cox, discussing his honest, uplifting, affectionate memoir and how the power of family and education helped him transform his life. Read more
- FREE
- Manifesto For Essex
- Podcast Workshop
Eco-Podcast Workshop
Join Chelmsford Community Radio broadcaster Michelle Durant to develop the 2023 Essex Book Festival Eco-Casts. Looking at the 70th Anniversary of the East Coast Floods and reflecting on the climate crisis we are in now you’ll learn how to research and write content, undertake interviews and join them all together to make a big impact. For ages 11+ Read more
- FREE
- Online
- Partner Event
- Young Essex
Children & Authors’ Literary Fanfare Event
Once again, CALFE Children & Authors' Literary Fanfare 2023 will be presenting: Readings, Storytelling, Poetry, Music and Creatively engaging activities, from children's Authors of culturally diverse heritage, and from countries across the globe! Read more
- Fiction
- In Conversation
Authors in Conversation
Poet and writer, Holly Pester, and author of two poetry collections and two novels, Keiran Goddard, join us at Red Lion Books in Colchester to discuss their latest books: The Lodgers and I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning Read more
- FREE
- In partnership
- Workshop
- Young Essex
National Saturday Club – Writing & Talking
Our new Writing and Talking National Saturday Club which will be taking place every Saturday 10am-1pm from March to July. Open to all 13-16 year olds living in and around the Chelmsford area who are passionate about writing and talking. Explore zine-making, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, blogging, spoken word poetry, podcasting and more. Read more
- Partner Event
No Ordinary Day – A Red Lion Books event
On 17 April 1984 WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot outside the Libyan embassy in London. As his friend lay dying, PC John Murray made her a promise that he would seek justice. 37 years would pass before he was able to fulfil that undertaking. John Murray will be in conversation with Matt Johnson. Read more
- Restless Brilliance
- Exhibition
- FREE
- Partner Event
Restless Brilliance: The Story of J.A. Baker and The Peregrine
The exhibition explores J.A. Baker’s life, his love of nature and writing, through the archive of his work held by the Albert Sloman Library, University of Essex. It is the first time that this archive has been on public display. Read more
Get Ready to Get Booking: 4th April, 10am
The full programme for 2024 will be announced on 4th April and will go live on our Events List page. Tickets for all Essex Book Festival 2024 events will go on sale at 10.00am on Thursday 4th April. Mark the date in your diary and Get Ready to Get Booking! Read more
- Fiction
Mania
Lionel Shriver turns her piercing gaze on the policing of opinion and intellect, and imagines a world in which intellectual meritocracy is heresy. Hilarious, deadpan, scathing and at times frighteningly plausible, Mania will delight the many fans of her fiction and journalism alike. Read more
- LAUNCH EVENT
- Guided Walk
- FREE
Radical Essex Procession
Essex Book Festival is teaming up with internationally acclaimed arts organisation, Kinetika, for its Radical Procession from St Leonard-at-the-Hythe Church, a key player in the Siege of Colchester (1648), to University of Essex, famed for its foundational radical innovation in the 1960s. Read more
- Guided Walk
- Partner Event
Harlow Sculpture Tour
Come take a unique guided tour with Peter Aylmer and explore the sculptures of Harlow and find out about the planning principles that Sir Frederick Gibberd brought to the town. Includes a visit to the Gibberd Gallery where you can view the exhibition ‘New Town New Art’. Read more
- LAUNCH EVENT
- For Writers
- Workshop
Radical Translation Workshop
Can a poem be translated into a picture? Or a recipe? A novel? In the world of experimental translation, the answer is “yes”. Canadian Gregory Betts and poet Philip Terry will discuss their own work with experimental translation in their recent publications. Participants will explore different experimental translation methods in this hands-on workshop. Read more
- LAUNCH EVENT
- FREE
- Workshop
- Young Essex
This Land: The Launch Pad Workshops
Learn how to make traditional ink out of ink gall gathered from 25 destinations across Essex. Explore the art of calligraphy. Try your hand at a range of traditional printing and basic book-making techniques. Read more
- Open Mic
- LAUNCH EVENT
The Tasting Menu: Poetry Open Mic returns!
lease join us for two hours of poetry from across our community. Come and hear headline poets from the University of Essex, student voices, and share and explore all things Essex poetry in this diverse and inclusive event. Read more
- Video
- LAUNCH EVENT
- Exhibition
- Performance
Woman Life Freedom
Saqi Books presents Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art from the Women's Protests in Iran. Extolling the power of art, writing and body politics this collection is a universal rallying call and a celebration of the women the regime has tried and failed to silence. Read more
- LAUNCH EVENT
- For Writers
- FREE
- Workshop
Beach of Dreams 25 Launch and Creative Writing Workshop
Come along and meet the Kinetika team, our flag-makers/bearers, and find out how you and/or an organisation you belong to, can get involved in the epic new nationwide Beach of Dreams 25 project. Then, take part in a special Beach of Dreams creative writing workshop led by Dr James Canton, and the Wild Writing team based in the Centre for Creative Writing at the University of Essex. Read more