News

Henry James’ classic ghost story, The Turn of The Screw, chillingly reimagined by playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Her Naked Skin, National Theatre) is ...

We are delighted that author Rob Eastaway will be joining us at our Midsummer Madness Family Fun Day to give a fun, interactive talk for ages 10+ on ...

Following the success of last year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Castle Park Theatre returns with the Bard’s ultimate ...

We had the best time at our Spoken Word Power Sharing Event which took place at Chelmsford Theatre Studio last week. With performances from local ...

About Walk With Words Colchester City Council and the University of Essex have commissioned a wayfinding strategy for the walking routes between the ...

Take a look at all of the wonderful cultural projects funded by Essex County Council in 2023. The Essex County Council Arts and Cultural Fund supports ...

An exciting 4 week course set in the heart of Colchester in the inspirational environment of the Minories Gallery. Starts Wed, 22 Nov 2023 18:00 – ...

Children & Authors’ Literary Fanfare Event (Black History Month ’23) On it’s 3rd run, CALFE ’23 promises great ...

The AGM for Essex Book Festival will be taking place on Friday 29th September 2023 at 2pm online via Zoom. For more information please contact ...

Author / Artist submissions now open for 2024. Are you a writer, performer, poet, artist, activist or more? In 2024 we’ll be celebrating the ...

This year, Layer Marney Tower are commemorating Henry, 1st Lord Marney, who built Layer Marney Tower, the tallest of all Tudor Gatehouses in the ...

A huge thank you to our partner Essex Cultural Diversity Project and to Gibberd Galley and Harlow Art Trust for hosting our latest Stand Up For ...

We are delighted that historical musicians, Pearl in the Egg, will be joining us at our special The History Books day at Layer Marney Tower as part of ...

Due to popular demand, Lemmings Theatre and Essex Libraries have arranged to release extra tickets for the Telling Tales library tour. Don’t ...

We’re very excited to reveal the ‘mystery’ silent film at Harwich’s Electric Palace Cinema as part of our Criminally Good ...

Do you defy a stereotype? Are you like an open book and do you have valuable experiences that readers could benefit from learning about? Are you ...

Discovering, celebrating, and publishing the next generation of youth poets. Spoken Word Power supports schools across the UK to make poetry fun and ...

Essex Libraries’ popular Essex Authors Day is back as part of the 2023 Essex Book Festival and will take place on Saturday 24th June. There will be an ...

The tenth Stand Up For Diversity took place in November 2022. Essex Cultural Diversity Project and Essex Book Festival teamed up with the Mercury ...

Are you passionate about Culture, Nature and the Environment, 14-25 years old living and/or studying in Essex? If the answer is YES, then join Essex ...

Essex Book Festival Director, Ros Green, was delighted to attend the second conference of the Global Association of Festival Directors last week in ...

Are you an Essex-based Poet in the early stages of your facilitation journey, looking to develop your skills delivering poetry education in schools? ...

The AGM for Essex Book Festival will be taking place on Monday 26th September 2022 at 2pm online via Zoom. For more information please contact ...

June 2023 – Tell Us What You Want, What You Really Really Want As preparations get underway for June 2023, we thought we’d take this ...

Our friends at @metalcultureuk are calling for creatives to join their artist residency programme! They are offering 9 opportunities for artists ...

Chelmsford Cathedral is delighted to be welcoming Gaia to Essex for the first time this October. Gaia is a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. ...

Following the wonderful foraging walk with Lora Aziz as part of our Midsummer Madness day at Cressing Temple Barns, order your copy of Lora’s ...

Essex Gardens Trust Beth Chatto Writers Prize 2022 Essex Gardens Trust in association with Beth Chatto Education Trust and Essex Book Festival invite ...

Essex Book Festival 2022 has lift off… You can now book tickets for our Essex Book Festival 2022 events. Browse the digital edition of the ...

We’re proud to announce our continuing partnership with EA Festival this year.  One of the highlights of Essex Book Festival is our co-produced ...

Hosted in partnership with our friends at Metal, Essex Writers House returns to Chalkwell Hall throughout April, as we host a range of events, ...

Just over one week left to apply to Metal’s Artist-in-Residence 2022/23 programme! They’re offering 21 residencies across the year, to creatives ...

All schools can get involved in the Spoken Word Power project via the Open Call. Find out more at eastside.org.uk Simply download a free Speaking My ...

We are so excited about this year’s festival which is taking place 1 – 30th June. We can’t wait to share the full programme of ...

The winners of The Story Hunters Project flash fiction competition were announced at a special event held at Cressing Temple Barns on Saturday 27th ...

From Friday 26 November, residents can have their say on Essex County Council’s new vision for Libraries as the draft Everyone’s Library Service ...

“Witty, experimental, clever, thought-provoking and sometimes plain laugh-out-loud” Colchester WritenightShort Prose CollectionEdited by ...

From 7th – 30th October 2021 at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch – see the production of The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown, ...

The AGM for Essex Book Festival will be taking place on Thursday 23rd September at 3pm online via Zoom. For more information please contact ...

Have you wanted to be part of a book club but never had enough time to read? Now the Royal Literary Fund have introduced a new type of reading group – ...

Thanks to a generous grant from Arts Council England, our successful Crowdfunding Project, and continued support from our other funding partners, ...

Tim Wander’s latest book From Marconi to Melba was written for the Centenary of the First British Radio Broadcasts from Chelmsford. Find out ...

The Essex Book Festival presents the Green Shoots writing competition, for writers aged between 18 to 28 who wish to develop their craft whilst ...

Here at Essex Book Festival HQ we have been unseasonably busy for the time of year. We’re thrilled to have been featured in the local news, ...

Our crowdfunder for Essex Book Festival 2021: #BackWithABang launches today. Thanks to exceptional support from friends and partners, plus an ...

Here’s a great resource provided by rehab4addiction. The world is an overwhelming place at the moment. Anxiety and uncertainty are common ...

As part of an ongoing strategy, the people of Essex have stepped forward to showcase real Essex and dispel the stereotype. A female rally driver, ...

We have launched a new series of podcasts featuring people from migrant and vulnerable communities sharing their stories. It was curated by ...

Taking place on 28th October, Talent >> Forward will give 14-25 year olds from the county an opportunity to have honest and inspiring conversations ...

Chelmsford Creatives are a group of 15-24 year olds who have worked alongside Chelmsford Museum for the last three years to deliver projects that make ...

As part of our Manifesto For Essex we commissioned young Chelmsford Community Radio journalists to conduct a series of interviews with ...

Essex Book Festival and Anglia Ruskin University are delighted to invite you to this online event hosted by Tony Fisher, on Wednesday 11th November. ...

Today marks the start of Black History Month. Anglia Ruskin University have launched a programme of free events as part of their Black History Month ...

Support the Mercury Theatre’s crowdfunding campaign. Your theatre needs you now more than ever – to see them through the year and reopen ...

The AGM for Essex Book Festival will be taking place on Friday 25th September at 1pm online via Zoom. If you would like further information please ...

Essex Steamettes have created a Scratch Studio to showcase their Manifesto For Essex coding projects. The Scratch stories include Earth Poems and ...

Create a 24 page comic book in 24 hours. 3rd-4th October 2020. Pick up a free activity pack in Colchester to take part. The 24 hour comics challenge ...

As part of our special Manifesto For Essex Exhibition, which is taking place Chelmsford City Centre as part of Heritage Open Days (11-20th September), ...

Josie Dom, local children’s author, has penned an epic poem celebrating the animal kingdom who have stepped up to compete in the Animalympics. ...

A series of conversations and practical activities took place on Instagram last week on the theme of sustainability and the fashion industry. These ...

We are delighted to announce the winner and runners up of our Criminally Good Crime-Writing Short Story Competition. Congratulations to the winner, ...

Rescheduled from earlier in the year, join us online on Focal Point Gallery’s Instagram page for three conversations and practical activities centred ...

The Only Way is Reading is a podcast brought to you by Essex Library Services. It is dedicated to bringing you great book recommendations and interest ...

Mercury Theatre will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of VE Day this Friday 8th May, with a range of exciting, safe, socially distanced and online ...

During Essex Book Festival 2020, quantum physicist, author and broadcaster, Jim Al-Khalili gave a talk about his first ever novel, Sunfall. After the ...

World Book Night is run by The Reading Agency, a national charity that tackles life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading. It is a ...

Here is your chance to showcase your talent on the BBC. You can upload any kind of content: audio, video, text and images to the BBC via their upload ...

Cath Drake, poet and nonfiction writer, is running a six-week online writing workshop called ‘Writing to Buoy Us’ which begins on the 9th April. ...

The Reading Agency staff have collaborated on a toolkit containing their programmes’ digital resources as well as ideas on how to stay connected ...

Monday 27 April to Sunday 3 May 2020 A new online literary festival has been launched bringing authors and readers together online for 7 days of ...

To make up for the disappointment of cancelling this year’s Golden Age of Crime Weekend at the Park Inn Palace Hotel in Southend-on-Sea, Essex Book ...

To mark Essex 2020: A year of Science & Creativity, Essex Book Festival is working with its partners and friends to create a giant snake of ...

Look under your beds and in your cupboards for all those lost and forgotten library books – because from 1 March to 31 March Essex Libraries are ...

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 ...

A performance like no other. Riverside swimming pool in Chelmsford was transformed with an audio-visual performance inspired by JG Ballard’s The ...

Choose to stay from 2nd–8th March or 16th–20th MarchPlease note – you do not have to stay for the entire week if successful in applying.This ...

Due to University strikes, we have rescheduled Labour MP Jess Phillip’s eagerly anticipated event Truth to Power at University of Essex from Thursday ...

Susannah Constantine, fashion guru of What Not to Wear fame, will be taking part in Essex Book Festival. Susannah will talk about her novels After the ...

Mark Ellis will now be appearing at Grays Library at 7pm on Monday 16th March. Join thriller writer, Mark Ellis to hear about his latest book A Death ...

We have just released more tickets for Jennifer Potter’s The Jamestown Brides event at Shenfield Library, Thursday 5th March. Get in quick to ...

We are delighted to announce a new event to our 2020 programme. The performance group Peeling Onions with Granny will be at Harlow Playhouse on ...

Grab a copy of the latest Essex Life magazine to read all about Essex Book Festival. Festival Director, Ros Green looks ahead to some of the books ...

Bizarre, magical and astonishing – don’t miss your chance to experience this unique event. Inspired by JG Ballard’s The Drowned ...

We are thrilled that both Abi Daré and Louise Hare have made it into The Observer’s top 10 debut novelists. Make sure you don’t miss them ...

In the first episode of Essex 2020’s new Podcast series, Richard from always possible talks to our Festival Director, Ros Green, about the Essex ...

Some events have already started selling out so please make sure you book your tickets quickly to avoid disappointment. Don’t say we ...

This event has changed dates since the publication of our brochure. Christine Dwyer Hickey will now be appearing at Wickford Library on 23 March. See ...

We will launch our full programme of events for Essex Book Festival 2020 on Monday 13th January. In the meantime, we are very excited to announce that ...

Huge congratulations to Polish artist, Jola Kudela, for winning the Jury Special Award at Berlin Art Film Festival for her short film “We Are ...

Ros Green, Festival Director, featured on the Tony Fisher show on BBC Essex on 29th October to talk about the plans for Essex Book Festival 2020. ...

It was wonderful to host Agnieszka Dale as writer-in-residence at our Crossing Borders writing exchange in Harwich, as part of the opening weekend of ...

We are delighted to announce the Top Twenty Books That Rock Essex - old and new - as part of our 20th Birthday celebrations in partnership with Essex ...

Come and celebrate Colchester’s diverse communities through food, music and dance, with aromas and flavours from around the world to tickle the palate....

Essex Book Festival Respects Your Privacy Essex Book Festival understands that your personal information and privacy is important to you, and ...

“Snapping the Stiletto” is a two year project by Essex County Council, exploring how Essex women’s lives have changed since 1918. The project has ...

Well, the festival has got off to a terrific start, despite the snow. We launched on Wednesday with Billy Bragg, who drove through the blizzards to ...

Essex Book Festival’s Golden Age of Crime Weekend is being hosted by Park Inn by Radisson Palace Hotel in Southend-on-Sea. This magnificent ...

Essex Book Festival is partnering with Essex Children’s University, which provides 5-14 year olds with exciting learning experiences outside school. ...

For Essex Book Festival 2017 we are offering four events for the price of three on selected talks. Just choose any four events with the ‘Festival 4’ ...

We are delighted to announce the winners of our very first Crime Writing Short Story Competition. Congratulations to: 1st Prize: Bella D’Arcy ...