Welcome to our Festival
Save the Date
16-24 October 2026
Set up in 1992 to celebrate the written word
and to encourage the love of books.
2025 Highlights
Prue Leith
Christopher Summerfield
Rachel Parris
Anne Sebba
Steve Crawshaw
Ros Ballaster
Frank Close
Selena Wisnom
Stuart Maconie
Tim Bouverie
Tim Minshall
Emily Hauser
Andrew Lownie
Iain Dale
Lucy Mangan
James Canton
Luke Pepera
Lyse Doucet
“It was an absolute joy to part of such a well organised, stimulating and genuinely fun event. Please pass on my thanks to all other members of your wonderful team who made me feel so welcome and well supported at every stage of the event planning and delivery.“
Tim Minshall – 2025
Wells Festival of Literature
Celebrating its 33rd Year in 2025
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.
VISITORS A YEAR
DISTRIBUTED IN 2024
IN 2024
“It was a joy to be part of the Festival.
I was so impressed by the engagement of the audience and by the knowledge and passion of this year’s
interviewers and speakers.”Susie Dent – 2024
News for 2025
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Top award for Masud Husain
Festival speaker, neurologist Masud Husain, has won the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize for his book Our Brains,…
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justice for war crimes
Will we ever see Vladimir Putin or Benjamin Netanyahu on trial, asks Steve Crawshaw in Prosecuting the Powerful. As someone…
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Pre-Festival orders at Waterstones
Pop up to Waterstones in Wells High Street to pre-order copies of books by any of the speakers you look…
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The Lost Girls of Autism
Why is the history of autism male? This is a question asked by neuroscientist Gina Rippon whose eponymous book delves…
