Welcome to
our Festival
Save the Date
16-24 October 2026
Set up in 1992 to celebrate the written word
Wells Festival of Literature
Celebrating its 34th Year in 2026
Wells Festival of Literature is a registered charity entirely run by a committee of volunteers, funded by ticket sales, competition entries and generous local sponsors and Friends.
IN 2025
VISITORS A YEAR
Education projects
Fleur Hitchcock visits Longvernal Primary
Dicheat School Book Club meet to discuss The Somerset Tsunami by Emma Carroll
St John’s enjoy a visit from Tracey Corderoy
Wookey Sch reading their new books
Waterstones visit by Bishop Henderson Sch
Emily Lloyd-Gale at St John’s
Following a visit from A.F. Harrold:
“It was an enriching session that enhanced our pupils’ appreciation and understanding of poetry. Huge thanks to the Education Team at The Wells Festival of Literature for organising and funding this visit!”
Fairlands Middle School – Cheddar
News
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Congratulations to Booker Prize nominee
Award-winning novelist Andrew Miller’s latest book The Land in Winter has been longlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 and has also won the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The Somerset-based author, who is an Associate of Wells Festival of Literature, appeared at the 2022 Festival where he spoke of his then new novel…
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Friends Event Success!
Remnants of woolly rhinos, hyenas, bears, wolves, aurochs and other species long extinct in the UK are among the fossilised remains found in a small cave high up on Ebbor Gorge, near Wells. Professor Danielle Schreve, a leading palaeontologist at the University of Bristol, revealed the extent of the finds at a fascinating talk for…
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Regency Romance
Regency romance is in the air and Jane Austen fans are in for a treat at this year’s Wells Festival of Literature as the nation celebrates the 250th birthday of the famous author. Comedian Rachel Parris and Austen expert Ros Ballaster are both appearing at the Festival with very different tributes to the much-loved author…
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Recipes for success
Women whose lives have been successful in wildly differing ways are just some of the highlights of this year’s Festival. Among them is Prue Leith, a surprise pop-up visitor last year after fellow cook Sophie Grigson’s Italian-flavoured presentation. This year Prue is herself a Festival headliner, bringing some welcome advice from her latest book Life’s…
