- June 6 - August 29 #wordsmatter
March 2020
- Non-fiction
- SOLD OUT!
Threads of Life – A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle
An eloquent history of the language of sewing over centuries and across continents. Clare Hunter's Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we all have to tell our story. Read more
- Podcast
1954 – Radio Podcast
As part of this year's festival Essex-based Packing Shed Film and Theatre has released its very first radio podcast. Marking 100 years since Marconi made his first radio broadcast in Chelmsford and the 70th anniversary of George Orwell's death, 1954 re-imagines Orwell's classic 1984. Read more
- SOLD OUT!
Colchester’s Literary Legacies
This guided walk will take you on a literary quest to discover serpents, detectives, serving wenches and many other fictional characters and their creators who have known the streets of the ancient town. Read more
- SOLD OUT!
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Printing and Illustration Workshop – Manifesto For Essex
Join resident artist Tom Armstrong and Lee Thomas for a children’s printing and illustration extravaganza as part of our Manifesto For Essex activities and hosted in partnership with Colchester’s Extinction Rebellion. Ages 11-16. Read more
- For Writers
- SOLD OUT!
- Workshop
Wild Writing Workshop
Join James Canton for a workshop which delves into the nature that exists in the cracks between our human constructs, in the wilds just a few feet from our doors. Work with words, reframe your view of how you see the wild, and become mindful of the living landscapes that exist around us. Read more
- Young Essex
Tallulah Goes to the Festival
Join children’s author Rachel Jane for a Campervan storytime and craft session. Sing along with Tallulah the Campervan as she counts down the days to her first festival and get into the Festival spirit by decorating your very own festival headband! Read more
Sweatbox
Travelling across the UK, Chloë Moss’s Sweatbox invites you to enter the back of a prison van in which three women share their stories of arrival and anticipation as they are transported from court to prison, from prison to prison, from prison to court. Read more
- Storytelling
- Young Essex
Pop-Up Storytelling Armchair
Our Pop-Up Storytelling Armchair will be at Firstsite, Colchester on Saturday 14 March as part of our PLACE weekend. A super comfy treat for book lovers young and old to enjoy their favourite stories out loud. Read more
- Young Essex
Tackling Climate Change Makers Workshops
With the Manifesto For Essex now up and running, we urge everyone to come and make their Manifesto 'mark' at our special Tackling Climate Change Makers event at Firstsite. It's free, no booking required. Read more
- Storytelling
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Dragon Detective:Catnapped! Workshop
The Dragon Detective is in town and he needs your help to solve a mystery. Unpredictable, musical and hilarious, Gareth P Jones' performances are totally unique and not to be missed. Read more
- SOLD OUT!
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Printing and Illustration Workshop – Manifesto For Essex
Join resident artist Tom Armstrong and Lee Thomas for a children’s printing and illustration extravaganza as part of our Manifesto For Essex activities and hosted in partnership with Colchester’s Extinction Rebellion. Ages 5 and up. Read more
- CANCELLED
- For Writers
- Workshop
Writing on Place in a Changing World
This writing workshop will be looking at how writers place themselves in their physical surroundings and how this embodies itself in their work. Participants will be invited to write, walk and workshop their words as we examine what lies beneath the surface of the places we move through. Read more
- Young Essex
The Timebubble Machine
Come along and have a go in the interactive Timebubble Machine and get closer to the past… our amazing past. Then use your time-travelling adventures to inspire you to build your own toys using Timebubble Toys sustainable wooden construction kits. Read more
- Discussion
- Non-fiction
- POSTPONED
All at Sea?
The unusually long coastline of Essex makes it especially vulnerable to flooding. Writer and social historian Ken Worpole will be in conversation with Hana Loftus. The talk will be illustrated with archive and contemporary photographs, and graphic material opening out to a discussion of the wider issues raised for the Essex coast as a result of Climate Change. Read more
- Non-fiction
Apples, Orchards and Community
Two different talks with a common thread. Hear Adrian May discuss how apples are closer to human life than Nature. Marina O’Connell will talk about how the back to the land movement is still relevant today with our climate crisis and in re-creating local food supplies. Followed by an open discussion, hosted by Ken Worpole around the subjects of apples, orchards and community. Read more
- Non-fiction
- POSTPONED
Smashing It – Working Class Artists Making It Happen
Smashing It celebrates the exceptional works and words of 30 leading working-class artists in Britain including reflections on how class has impacted these creators’ careers and offers guidance for those looking for a way into the creative arts industry. Read more
- For Writers
- Workshop
Writing for Radio Masterclass
This workshop offers an introduction to writing drama for the radio. Robin Brooks has over twenty years’ experience of writing original plays and adaptations for BBC Radio. Suitable for all tastes and levels of experience. Read more
- Music
- Poetry
Blackwaterside
Ultramarine (Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond) present Blackwaterside, performing music inspired by their time working close to the Blackwater estuary. The performance will feature Philip Terry reading poems from his Quennets collection and a screening of the Blackwaterside film with live soundtrack based on the Survey East photography of Ian Cooper. Read more
- Discussion
- Non-fiction
The power of protest: where should we draw the line?
Join Observer columnist Kenan Malik, legendary LGBT campaigner Peter Tatchell and actor Stella Odunlami for a debate on whether we should stand up for the right to protest. Chaired by Index on Censorship editor in chief Rachael Jolley. Read more
- Poetry
The Word From Paris
The Penguin Book of Oulipo book launch. This is the first collection in English to bring together 100 pieces of "Oulipo" writing. Editor and translator Philip Terry will be joined by novelist Tony White to read and discuss selections from the book. Read more
- Non-fiction
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE
Come along to hear Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE, a space scientist whose passion is presenting science to a general audience. Her BBC 2 programme “Do We Really Need the Moon?” earned Maggie the talkback Thames new talent award. Read more
- Fiction
- SOLD OUT!
Bone China
Join award-winning author, Laura Purcell, to hear about her latest spine-tinglingly eerie book, Bone China. It’s a Daphne du Maurier-esque chilling tale set on the mysterious Cornish coast. Menacing and macabre…you may want to bring somebody to hold your hand. Read more
- Fiction
A Death in Mayfair
Mark Ellis is a thriller writer and the creator of DCI Frank Merlin. Mark grew up under the shadow of his parents’ experience of the Second World War and has always been fascinated by the Home Front and the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavour, crime flourished. Read more
- CANCELLED
- Non-fiction
Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement
An event to celebrate the launch of Mike Chinoy's latest book Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement. He tells the remarkable story of the late Prof. Kevin Boyle, one of the world's great human rights lawyers. Read more
- Podcast
1954 – Radio Podcast
As part of this year's festival Essex-based Packing Shed Film and Theatre has released its very first radio podcast. Marking 100 years since Marconi made his first radio broadcast in Chelmsford and the 70th anniversary of George Orwell's death, 1954 re-imagines Orwell's classic 1984. Read more
- CANCELLED
- SOLD OUT!
Dorothy L Sayers Society Lecture: The Female of the Species: Key Women Crime Writers from Sayers and Highsmith to the Present
This event has been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. If you have a ticket for this event the Box Office will be in touch about next steps. Read more
- Podcast
1954 – Radio Podcast
As part of this year's festival Essex-based Packing Shed Film and Theatre has released its very first radio podcast. Marking 100 years since Marconi made his first radio broadcast in Chelmsford and the 70th anniversary of George Orwell's death, 1954. Read more
- CANCELLED
Golden Age of Crime Weekend 2020
Our Golden Age of Crime Weekend has been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.
If you have a ticket for any of our Golden Age of Crime events the Box Office will be in touch soon about next steps.
Read more
- CANCELLED
- Discussion
Mysteries for ever: the ongoing popularity of PD James and Agatha Christie
This event has been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. If you had a ticket for this event the Box Office will be in touch about next steps. Read more
April 2020
May 2020
June 2020
July 2020
August 2020
- For Writers
- Online
- SOLD OUT!
Re-Writing the Archive – An Online Writing Workshop
Taking your inspiration from specific objects picked from Colchester Museum archives, you will work with bestselling novelist, Syd Moore, to devise a unique piece of creative writing during this online workshop. Read more
September 2020
October 2020
- Non-fiction
- Online
Essex Girls: For Profane and Opinionated Women Everywhere
Red Lion Books are hosting this online event with Sarah Perry who will be in conversation with Ros Green (Essex Book Festival Director). A defence and celebration of the Essex girl by the author of The Essex Serpent. Read more
- For Writers
- Online
Social Networking for Writers – an online seminar
Bestselling author, Lizzie Chantree will help show you how to reach new audiences through social media; how to network with other writers, develop a writing brand and build a social media platform. Read more
- Online
Defining Legacies: Stand Up For Diversity in Museums, Libraries and Archives
All are welcome to this online event, an evening of three-minute mini-talks online, for those wanting to champion and celebrate diversity in museums, libraries and archives. Read more
November 2020
March 2021
- Fiction
- Online
- Partner Event
The Manningtree Witches
Appetite Book Club and Essex Book Festival are very excited to host this online event with debut author A.K. Blakemore. In The Manningtree Witches fear and destruction take root in the lives of the local women when the Witchfinder General comes to town in this dark and thrilling debut. A.K Blakemore gives a striking account of the everyday mechanics of misogyny, power and privilege—and a masterfully crafted, ferociously compelling story. Read more
April 2021
- Book Club Event
- Fiction
- In partnership
- Online
Essex Book Festival (UK) in partnership with Roving Heights Book Club (Nigeria) presents Ukamaka Olisakwe
A modern feminist classic in the making from a rising star of the Nigerian literature scene
Ogadinma or, Everything Will be All Right tells the story of the naive and trusting Ogadinma as she battles against Nigeria's societal expectations in the 1980s.
After a rape and unwanted pregnancy leave her exiled from her family in Kano, thwarting her plans to go to university, she is sent to her aunt's in Lagos and pressured into a marriage with an older man.
As their whirlwind romance descends into abuse and indignity, Ogadinma is forced to channel her independence and resourcefulness to escape a fate which appears all but inevitable.
Ogadinma, the UK debut by Ukamaka Olisakwe, introduces a heroine for whom it is impossible not to root, and announces the author as a gifted chronicler of the patriarchal experience.
Publisher: The Indigo Press
ISBN: 9781911648161
Read more
- Festival Finale
- Workshop
Scallywags Press, Children’s workshops
Essex Book Festival is teaming up with children’s publisher Scallywag Press for a series of fabulous author/artist events as part of our Festival Finale. All events are suitable for ages 4+ An adult must accompany children. Rob Ramsden Join Rob Ramsden as he reads from his brilliant picture book I Saw a Bee. He’ll also be exploring nature and the importance of bees through an activity inspired by Cressing Temple Barns own buzzy inhabitants. More information and booking … Read more
May 2021
- Book Club Event
- Digital
- Non-fiction
Essex Book Festival and the African and Caribbean Books and Writers Group present a digital book club with Toby Green – A Fistful of Shells
A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution. Described a s a book "that shakes history", Winner of the Historical Writers Association Non-Fiction Crown, the Jerry Bentley Prize in World History and the Nayef Al-Rohdan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding amongst many many other accolades. Toby Green, historian joins the Essex Book Festival and African and Caribbean Book and Writers Group digital book club to discuss, share his outstanding book.… Read more
- Digital
- In partnership
Stand Up for Diversity : Celebrating Women in Essex
Stand Up For Diversity Snapping the Stiletto: Campaigning for Equality Book your place at su4d-women-in-essex.eventbrite.co.uk All are invited to an evening of three-minute mini-talks, short soap-box shout-outs that put a spotlight on women and diversity. Snapping the Stiletto: Campaigning for Equality, is an exciting project that seeks to re-examine the Essex Girl identity and represent what it is to be a woman living in Essex today. The event will bring together people who want to champion and celebrate women and diversity in… Read more
- Digital
- Essex Writers House
- ESTUARY 2021
- Partner Event
ESTUARY 2021
23 Days of Art, Music, Literature and Film Estuary 2021 is the second edition of the large-scale arts festival that celebrates the lives, landscapes and histories of the spectacular Thames Estuary. Taking place on the river itself, and along the 83 miles of South Essex and North Kent coastline, contemporary artworks, discussion and events explore and respond to powerful themes resonant to the estuary. Artworks set in the landscape, online and within Covid-safe venues, explore the estuary through the lens… Read more
June 2021
- Digital
- In partnership
- ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
- Re-Writing the Archive
- Workshop
Re-Writing the Archive – Online Writing Workshop with Thurrock Museum
Essex Book Festival has joined forces with the Essex Museums on an exciting new writing project: Rewriting the Archive. A team of writers and artists, assisted by four curators, have each been invited to select ten objects from the County’s heritage collections that tell difficult ‘stories’. These objects will form the basis of four two-hour online writing/artist workshops. Thurrock Museums hosts Syd Moore, writer, activist and founding member of Essex Girls Liberation Front as she explores the collection at Thurrock… Read more
- Essex Writers House
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
- Non-fiction
- SOLD OUT!
Radical Marshes – Wat Tyler Country
Tom King has an unsurpassed knowledge and passion for walking the Thames Estuary coastline. On this outing Tom takes us across the radical marshes into Wat Tyler country, leading us to where The Peasants Revolt began, through the lowlands and across the marshes to the White Lion Pub in Fobbing (which is thought to be haunted by previous occupants) for some respite. Meeting 11am Pitsea Station Length: up to 4/5 Hours Difficulty: Flat terrain but mixture of footing Read more
- Digital
- Discussion
- Festival Launch
- Non-fiction
- ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
Festival Launch – We need to talk about Essex Girls
Join us for the Launch event of the 2021 festival with the amazing Women of Essex: Sarah Perry, Patron of Essex Book Festival, Syd Moore, Writer, Co- founder of the Essex Girls Liberation Front, Sadie Hasler, Playwright, Journalist and Director of Old Trunk Theatre Company, and honorary Essex Girl, Festival Director Ros Green, who will be discussing what it means to be an Essex Girl: the jokes, the misconceptions, and the strengths and growing movements that are starting to challenge… Read more
- In Conversation
- In partnership
- Non-fiction
How Britain Ends
Award-winning TV and Radio presenter, Scottish novelist and Journalist Gavin Esler will be discussing his latest book How Britain Ends to Professor Lorna Fox O’ Mahoney. Essential reading for anyone interested in how the UK has become so fractured, and how it might be put back together. This is a partnership event with University of Essex. Tickets : £10/ £8 /£5 Read more
- Digital
- In Conversation
- In partnership
- Non-fiction
1, 2, 3, 4 The Beatles in Time
From the bestselling author of Ma’am Darling comes a kaleidoscopic mixture of history, etymology, diaries, autobiography, fan letters, essays, parallel lives, party lists, charts, interviews, announcements and stories. Best known for his parodies in Private Eye, critic and satirist Craig Brown’s One Two Three Four: The Beatles In Time, Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2020. This a partnership event with Anglia Ruskin University. Tickets are £10/ £8 / £5. Read more
- Digital
- ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
- Theatre
MASKED – a zoom theatre event plus Q & A
MASKED – a zoom theatre event plus Q&A Written by award winning Essex writer, Nicola Werenowska, MASKED explores undiagnosed female neurodivergency through the lives of three women. What happens when you know you're the weird girl? The one no one wants to play with. The one who can't hold down a job. How do you hide who you are? And what happens when you can't hide it anymore? MASKED is directed by Jeni Draper and supported by Arts Council… Read more
- ESTUARY 2021
- In partnership
- Online
Meet the Writers – Sutton Manor
Hosted by curator Gareth Evans, this online event brings together Amina Atiq, Season Butler, Alison Moore and Martha Pailing to read from their work, discuss their approaches to the commission and share their impressions of the distant and removed Sutton Manor. It will be hosted from our Live programme page on http://www.estuaryfestival.com/ Read more
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
- Non-fiction
- SOLD OUT!
Witch Trail – Manningtree to Mistley
Syd Moore leads a guided walk from Manningtree to Mistley the setting for one of the biggest witch hysteria’s the county has ever seen, and which are mentioned in several of her books. The walk promises a discussion about witchfinder general and associates and their motivations, and a commemoration to some who the lost their lives. The walk brings the villages to life, where the participants are transformed back to the time of the witch trials. Read more
- For Writers
- ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
- Workshop
Self Editing and Self Publishing Workshop
Why is it important to self-edit your manuscript and how should you do it? What are the advantages of self-publishing your book, and what do you need to be aware of if you’re looking to collaborate with a professional or publishing business? Find the answers to these questions in this Zoom workshop with author and editor, Maddy Glenn. Read more
- DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND
- In My Steps - Radical Walks in Essex
Riots and Rebellion in Colchester – By Popular demand!! Another walk added for 2pm !!!
Colchester has always been an epicentre of radicalism: from John Ball’s Peasants Revolt to The modern Poll Tax riots: and from the three day battle of St Botolphs to the Siege: the fight for margarine in Long Wyre Street and the one-boy battle against caning. Join Dorian Kelly as he takes you in his inimitable combination of stories, poetry and street theatre on a covid-safe constitutional cabinet of curiosities through the town centre. Tickets: £8 / £5 2nd Walk 2.15… Read more
- Digital
- Essex Writers House
- ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
Fens, Forests and Fields
Fens, forests and Fields is an astonishing new book about a landscape in Essex that time forgot; The Land of the Fanns: www.landofthefanns.org In this talk, one of its authors, Ken Worpole, will discuss what he discovered on his journeys through ‘the Fanns’, exploring the ebb and flow between London and Essex that has created this liminal landscape. Ken Worpole is a renowned author and social historian. His many books include 350 Miles: An Essex Journey (2005) & The New… Read more
- Essex Writers House
- ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
- Outside
- Partner Event
Fens, Forest and Field Bike Ride
Join Ken Worpole on a gentle cycle across ‘the Fanns’, exploring hidden gems and local stories that uncover the history of this unique landscape. Starting and finishing in Rainham, a maximum of 12 miles. More Info: : www.essexwritershouse.com Read more
- In partnership
- Online
- Re-Writing the Archive
- Workshop
Re-Writing the Archive with Southend Museums
Essex Book Festival has joined forces with Essex Museums on an exciting new writing project: Rewriting the Archive. A team of writers and artists, assisted by four curators, have each been invited to select ten objects from the County’s heritage collections that tell difficult ‘stories’. These objects will form the basis of four two-hour online writing/artist workshops. Delaine Le Bas, British Multi-Media Artist explores life from a British Romany perspective using objects and archival material based within Southend Museum’s… Read more
- Digital
- In partnership
- Re-Writing the Archive
- Workshop
Re-Writing the Archive with Harlow Museums
Essex Book Festival has joined forces with Essex Museums on an exciting new writing project: Rewriting the Archive. A team of writers and artists, assisted by four curators, have each been invited to select ten objects from the County’s heritage collections that tell difficult ‘stories’. These objects will form the basis of four two-hour online writing/artist workshops. UK-based Polish writer Agnieszka Dale explores the Outsider’s experience using objects from Harlow Museum’s collection. Tickets: £5 pp Limited places book early Read more