Welcome to
our Festival


16-24 October 2026

Set up in 1992 to celebrate the written word

Tickets now on sale

2026 Speakers

  • Patrick Gale

    Fiction

  • Stephen Sackur

    Current Affairs

  • Katja Hoyer

    History

  • Adrian Wooldridge

    Current Affairs

  • Louisa Young

    Literature

  • Jess Venner

    History

  • Jonathan Dimbleby

    Current Affairs

  • Martin Sixsmith

    Current Affairs

  • Martin Gayford

    Art

  • Rachel Seiffert

    Literature

  • Richard Elwes

    Science

  • Rory Cormac

    Current Affairs

  • Wells Literary Quiz

    Quiz

  • International Competitions

    International Competitons

  • Damien Lewis

    History

  • Peter Ormerod

    Music

  • Elizabeth Goldring

    Art

  • Daisy Fancourt

    Health

  • Arthur Snell

    Current Affairs

  • Sophia Smith Galer

    Language

  • Sara Wheeler

    Biography

  • Florence Hazrat

    Literature

  • Oz Clarke

    Food and Drink

  • Henry Normal

    Poetry

  • Amy Jeffs

    History

  • Gavin Francis

    Health

  • Oliver Bullough

    Current Affairs

  • Kate Williams

    History

  • Rebecca Seal

    Health

  • Dan Cruickshank

    Art

  • Andrea Wulf

    Biography

  • Ping Coombes

    Food

  • Nicholas Crane

    Travel

  • Lady Hale

    Current Affairs

  • Cathy Rentzenbrink

    Health/Centenary

  • Blake Morrison

    Memoir

  • Maggie Aderin

    Memoir

Our 2026 Sponsors

Principal Festival Sponsor

2026 Brochure

Download PDF Brochure View Digital Brochure

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

Education projects

Wells Festival of Literature

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.

SPENT IN 2025 ON PROJECTS IN LOCAL SCHOOLS
CHILDREN INVOLVED
IN 2025
EVENTS
HAPPY FESTIVAL
VISITORS A YEAR

News

  • Portrait of a traveller

    Portrait of a traveller

    A dazzling new biography of George Forster, the 18th-century naturalist, philosopher and revolutionary, is due to be published this week (2 June). In The Traveller, Andrea Wulf, author of the best-selling The Invention of Nature, brings to life a major European figure who straddled the boundary between the Enlightenment and Romanticism, and was celebrated across…

  • Manga Gifts for School

    Manga Gifts for School

    Manga has become a big hit with pupils at St Dunstan’s School in Glastonbury thanks to a donation of 34 Manga comic books by Wells Festival of Literature. The Japanese blend of art and storytelling in the form of comics and graphic novels has become a global phenomenon, with themes ranging from adventure to fantasy.…

  • Help Our Local Schools

    Help Our Local Schools

    We have set up new ways for local folk and businesses to support the Festival and fund its expanding year-round literacy projects in local schools. For just £100 you can be a Supporter or, if you fancy becoming a Sponsor, there are now three packages to choose from, each of which comes with a range…

  • Tyranny in Weimar

    Tyranny in Weimar

    Historian Katja Hoyer delivers a gripping story of life during the rise and reign of Hitler in her newbook Weimar – Life on the Edge of Catastrophe. Her portrait of this German city through its inhabitants in the years 1919-1933 will be a must whenshe appears at this year’s Festival for anyone with an interest…

Competitions
Education
Friends
  • Nick Trend with visitor
  • Physics Students meet Frank Close