Petworth Literary Festival 2026 welcomes star authors, lively debate and new ideas

From bestselling authors and big-name broadcasters to lively debates and a fresh take on the Booker Prize, Petworth Literary Festival returns with a star-studded line-up of talks, ideas and literary discoveries.

As the National Year of Reading draws to a close, what better way to celebrate the wealth of books on offer than with a visit to Petworth Literary Festival?

From fiction and memoir to politics, history, food, music and culture, a host of acclaimed authors and speakers will share their latest works, ideas and stories through talks and conversations from Friday 23 October until Saturday 7 November 2026.

Sebastian Faulks will introduce his latest novel, Farewell to Eden, while Lynda La Plante will discuss her new crime mystery, Sudden Death, which explores family secrets and deadly obsession. Prue Leith will also share her thoughts on growing older in Being Old and learning to love it.

This year’s line-up also includes Victoria Hislop, John Boyne, Robert Peston, Fergal Keane, Stephen Sackur, Dame Margaret Hodge, Michael Gove, Mary Portas, Diana Henry, Max Hastings, Julian Lloyd Webber, Nigel Planer, Kate Mosse and Rick Wakeman, among many others.

The festival will once again feature an experienced team of interviewers, bringing their expertise and insight to a programme of engaging conversations with authors and speakers.

New for 2026 is LitFestPlus, a series of events exploring books, literature and ideas from fresh perspectives. Running alongside the main festival programme, it offers audiences the chance to discover something new.

Highlights include a discussion on creative writing in the age of AI with Julia Bell, Professor of New Writing at Birkbeck, and the awarding of a ‘non-Booker Prize’ celebrating the remarkable year in literature that was 1966. A panel will debate who might have won the prize had it existed at the time. The first Booker Prize was awarded in 1969.

Another intriguing event will see James Bailey explore The Meaning of Life. Having asked 100 people this seemingly unanswerable question, he discovered a diverse range of responses.

Among those sharing their thoughts were astronaut Helen Sharman, writer and actor Julian Fellowes, best known as the creator of Downton Abbey, IVF pioneer Professor Lord Robert Winston and travel journalist Simon Calder. Bailey will discuss his findings alongside two other contributors: Dragons’ Den star Richard Farleigh and Bonita Norris, the youngest person to reach both the North Pole and the summit of Everest.

As festival director Stewart Collins puts it, “wit, wisdom and fine conversation will be on tap”.

With fascinating conversations, lively debate and plenty of opportunities to discover something new, this year’s Petworth Literary Festival promises something for every kind of reader.

See the full line-up and book at petworthfestival.org.uk/literary-festival-2026.

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