News

Even before this year’s Festival events are all confirmed, we can guarantee that it will feature a fantastic finale – an event quite unlike anything we have ever staged before. The legendary Liverpool poet Roger McGough will join forces with a toe-tapping trio of musicians known as LiTTLe MACHiNe (all are pictured here in a […]

Congratulations to this year’s poetry judge for his recent elevation: It was announced on 10 May 2019 that Her Majesty The Queen ‘has been pleased to approve the appointment of Simon Armitage as the next Poet Laureate for a fixed-term of ten years’. We are delighted with this news and wish Simon all the very […]

On Monday 15 July local writer and historian Ben Kane will be speaking at Cedars Hall at a very special – invitation only – event for our Friends and supporters. Known chiefly for his hugely enjoyable and engaging historical novels set in Roman times, Ben is also highly respected for his meticulous research and authentic […]

Spring is here – and so are the Festival’s hugely popular International Competitions. This year once again we are running four categories so there is a chance for all to get involved – wherever your particular talent lies, and whatever your age. We have some eminent names on our judging panel and are confident of […]

After the success of our 2018 Festival, our audiences can rest assured that our 27th festival will not disappoint. It will begin on Friday 18 October and end on Saturday 26 October with a ground-breaking finale that promises to be a sell-out. In between those two days will be a week packed with a range […]

The 26th Wells Festival of Literature proved to be a celebration of words like never before. Our iconic quotation marks were seen all over the county, heralding the 2018 Festival’s brilliant mix of topics in a quirky and unforgettable way. What had not been anticipated was how quickly our audiences, and our speakers, would want […]

The 26th Festival has got off to a great start! David Runciman got the ball rolling with his magnificently delivered talk on how close we are coming to losing our democracy, followed by Sarah Churchwell’s somewhat different, but equally riveting, take on the current situation in America… This ground-breaking opening night was followed by an […]

Following a relaxed and enjoyable ‘launch party’ for Friends, sponsors, supporters and helpers which was held at Cedars Hall on Thursday 18 October, the Festival itself will begin at 6.30 pm on Friday 19 October with what promises to be a riveting opening night. David Runciman, Professor of Politics at Cambridge, warns about the current […]

We are delighted to announce that former England left-hander Brian Rose will be coming to Wells on Friday 26 October to discuss all aspects of cricket with Mike Brearley. Mike’s latest book On Cricket is a wonderful compendium of anecdotes and observations about the game. Brian of course is best remembered for leading Somerset to their […]

Huge congratulations to forthcoming Festival speaker Liz Berry who has won the Forward Prize in the category ‘best single poem’. This much coveted award was made for her wonderful poem The Republic of Motherhood which features in her current collection of the same name.  The Forward Prize has played a key role in bringing contemporary poetry […]