• ‘We’re going to need a bigger stage’

    The final event of the 2021 Festival will probably see more characters on the Cedars Hall stage than have ever gathered there together before, including a journalist, comedian, MP, radio presenter, university chancellor, actor, entertainer, Oldie of the year, poet, podcaster, bear collector, royal biographer… and more, all rolled into one self-confessed ‘oddball’. Gyles Brandreth will close…

  • New dates to note…

    We hope you have already made a note of the dates for the bumper Festival being planned for Wells this year (15 – 23 October) but there are also a few other key dates to remember. The full programme will be revealed during the week commencing 23 August Tickets will go on sale to the…

  • Under Starter’s Orders…

    Our 2021 International Competitions got off to a racing start on 1 April with over 30 entries arriving in the first couple of days. Yet again it looks as though the adjective ‘international’ was aptly chosen: there are poems, short stories and books for children coming from all over the place – and covering a…

  • 2021 Festival: looks new and looks familiar

    Ever since 2014 the Wells Festival of Literature has been recognised by its iconic green and yellow apostrophes.  Now the Festival has reinvigorated those well-known literary markers, making them bolder and brighter yet still a perfect reminder of what our Festival is all about: namely a celebration of the written word. This innovative departure for…

  • Shed-loads of Books!

    With the 2020 Festival over, and the streamed events all watched, our other book business began: the business of inspiring a love of literature in the younger generation. Funding virtual author talks in local schools has been an important feature of our work this year – but there was nothing virtual about the books we…

  • 2020 Festival: From a Speaker’s Perspective

    Professor Helen Taylor was a speaker and an interviewer in Wells this year. She describes the experience: As I struggled into a pair of sleek satin tights on a Tuesday morning, I realised I hadn’t worn a skirt or dressed smartly for over eight months. It was a wet October day and I was off…

  • 2020 Festival: In England’s Smallest City Life goes on

    Iain Dale, opening our 28th Festival on Friday 16 October, related how delighted he was to be in Wells – live. Out of some 36 or more literary festivals throughout the country this year, a mere handful were running any live events, Wells being one of the fearless few! By the time it ends on…

  • 2020 Festival: The Latest on Gina Miller’s Event

    We are very sad to report that, in view of the new Covid restrictions announced for London, Gina Miller has decided it would be imprudent to travel to Wells. She will now be speaking to the Festival ‘virtually’, and we are confident that her talk will be as inspirational and entertaining as originally planned for Friday…

  • 2020 Festival: There’s a Change to the Crime!

    The countdown to the first event of the Festival has begun and with it a last-minute change to the programme which might make you shudder with fear, especially if you are a novelist! Elly Griffiths, who was due to be discussing dangerous women in crime with fellow author Lucy Atkins, will be appearing completely alone…

  • 2020 Festival: Not to be Missed!

    Several Festival events have already sold out, but don’t despair! You haven’t missed seeing the sell-out speakers because this year we will be live-streaming every single event. Which means you can enjoy it at home at the same time as our audience in Cedars Hall. Of course you might still prefer to come to the…