window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-146347922-1');
The Festival: 6 - 14 November 2026 | Tickets: 01308 424901|bridport.tic@bridport-tc.gov.uk
FacebookInstagram

Buy Tickets

  •

    Event 31 | Juliet Nicolson | The Book of Revelations

    £12.00

    Juliet Nicolson - The Book of Revelations

    Research shows that the average person is keeping thirteen secrets at any one time, five of which they’ve never shared with a soul. The Book of Revelations, by the bestselling social historian Juliet Nicolson, is specifically about the secrets women hold. Told through a blend of first-person stories, family history and memoir, Nicolson’s compelling account moves from the “silent generation” of the 1950s to the influencers of the 2020s. What does the changing nature of the secrets women keep tell us about our world and what makes any of us hide or reveal ourselves? In conversation with the novelist and television producer Daisy Goodwin. “Utterly engrossing and timely”, India Knight. Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Tuesday 10 November 2026 @ 1.30 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Ros & John Senior
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 32 | Sarah Churchwell & Jon Lee Anderson | America’s Stories

    £14.00

    Sarah Churchwell & Jon Lee Anderson - America’s Stories

    The United States is defined by the tales it tells about itself, a land of freedom, opportunity, self-sufficiency and equality. But, as America marks its 250th year, these foundational myths have never looked more fragile. Bridport-based New Yorker writer Jon Lee Anderson and Sarah Churchwell, professor of American Literature and Public Understanding at the University of London, discuss how these narratives have found expression through history, and whether they remain fit for purpose. Jon Lee Anderson’s latest publication is To Lose a War. Sarah Churchwell’s books include studies of Gone with the Wind and The Great Gatsby.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.  
    When: Tuesday 10 November 2026 @ 3.00 pm
    Where: Electric Palace
    Sponsored by: Diana & Robert Clarke
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 33 | Francis Spufford | Nonesuch

    £12.00

    Francis Spufford - Nonesuch

    Lauded by the Times as “one of the finest prose stylists of his generation”, the author of Golden Hill and Light Perpetual talks to fellow author Raffaella Barker about his fantastical new novel, Nonesuch. It’s the summer of 1939. London is on the brink of war. Iris Hawkins, an ambitious young woman working in the City, has a chance encounter with Geoff, a technical whizz at the BBC’s new TV unit. But what was supposed to be one night of abandon leads her instead into a netherworld where time bends and spirits can be summoned. London will soon be burning. But Iris has more to worry about than the Blitz. A fascist fanatic is at large with a gun in her hand. And only Iris can stop her from altering the course of history. Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Tuesday 10 November 2026 @ 4.30 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 34 | Nicholas Hely Hutchinson | This Ancient Shore

    £12.00

    Nicholas Hely Hutchinson - This Ancient Shore - Paintings of the Dorset Coast

    In 1993, the artist Nicholas Hely Hutchinson moved to Dorset. First walking to the ancient chapel of St Adhelm’s overlooking the sea, he was captivated by the coast. From that moment, he has walked and painted the coast path time and time again, often in the company of his dogs. The book follows his travels west from Studland to Lyme Regis. In this work, which is accompanied by short essays, Nicholas perfectly recreates the drama in the landscape and seascape, its nature, farmland, the forgotten lanes and distant fields. His Dorset paintings will delight residents and visitors alike. £30 for 2 course supper Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Tuesday 10 November 2026 @ 6.30 pm
    Where: Sladers Yard
    Sponsored by: Rachel & Allan James
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 35 | The Bookery with Angela Tomaski | Home

    £10.00

    The Bookery with Angela Tomaski - Home

      Bridport’s regular literary pop-up presents an evening of readings on the theme of “Home”. A trio of Dorset authors is led by Angela Tomaski whose “exquisitely gothic and darkly comedic” The Infamous Gilberts was shortlisted for the 2026 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. The five eccentric protagonists of Tomaski’s novel are a romantic, a traditionalist, a dreamer, a diva and an explorer. As their crumbling stately home is handed over to a chain of luxury hotels, these five fatherless siblings are cast adrift on the troubled shores of the 20th-century. Angela is supported by Ros Huxley whose novel Kendal Acts Up, is published by local imprint WriteSideLeft, while Lesley Gillilan, shares her work-in-progress, Creatures of Habit. Two hours, with interval. Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Tuesday 10 November 2026 @ 7.00 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 36 | Brian Jackman | Lion Song

    £12.00

    Brian Jackman - Lion Song

    For over five decades, Brian Jackman has reported from the front lines of African wildlife conservation. In Lion Song, Britain’s foremost safari writer reflects on a lifetime tracking the continent’s megafauna, from his first encounter with a roaring lion in the Maasai Mara to the famous Marsh Lions, which he documented for the BBC’s Big Cat Diary. Blending vivid field reporting with reverence for the natural world, Jackman chronicles Africa’s changing wilderness through meetings with legendary naturalists like George Adamson and firsthand accounts of the war against poaching. Part memoir and part call to action, this narrative charts the retreat of wild spaces while celebrating a continent where, for now at least, the rulers of the savanna are still free to greet the dawn. Chaired by Sam Rose.
    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 10.30 am
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 37 | Julian Baggini | The Book of Coffee

    £15.00

    Julian Baggini - The Book of Coffee - A Philosophy

    Julian Baggini has long been fascinated by the philosophical ideas behind how we eat and drink. The chance discovery in Tokyo of a copy of The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura (published in 1906) led him on a journey to explore our relationship with coffee. In The Book of Coffee (co-authored with James Hoffmann), Baggini considers how a humble bean transformed global commerce and fuelled the European Enlightenment, continuing to influence the way we work and socialise. What can the world’s favourite hot drink teach us about the art of living? Ticket price includes a freshly brewed cup of hot coffee and a biscotto, served within the delightfully informal setting of Mercato Italiano. Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 10.30 am
    Where: Mercato Italiano
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 38 | Amy Jeffs | Arthur

    £12.00

    Amy Jeffs - Arthur - A New Life

    Historian, artist, musician and author of the Sunday Times bestsellers Storyland and Wild, Dr Amy Jeffs turns her focus to Britain’s most enduring legend. Known for bringing ancient folklore to life through meticulous research and her own beautifully bold line drawings, Jeffs gives fresh form to a story we only think we know. Drawing from early medieval Welsh, Latin and French sources, she strips away Victorian romanticism to resurrect an earlier, earthier Arthur: a warlord raised by fairies, leader of the Wild Hunt and monster-slayer. Journeying from deep forests to the underworld, Jeffs explores how these ancient stories were continually reshaped to serve the political needs of their day. In conversation with the writer James Crowden. Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 12 noon
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 39 | Amanda Craig | High and Low

    £12.00

    Amanda Craig - High and Low

    Few novelists capture the “state of the nation” better than Amanda Craig, who we’re delighted to welcome back to the festival. High and Low is the latest in her gripping and eagle-eyed depictions of Britain today. Set in a six-hour timeframe, a small group of writers, bakers and shopkeepers are under siege from an armed mob. Inside a café, they have nothing but books and flour to defend not just themselves, but a child being hunted by a gang. This is a fascinating novel about moral choices made in extreme situations. What do we owe strangers, neighbours or even our enemies? Amanda Craig is the author of 10 novels, including A Vicious Circle, The Three Graces, Hearts and Minds and The Lie of the Land. Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 1.30 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 40 | Judith Mackrell | Artists, Siblings, Visionaries

    £14.00

    Judith Mackrell - Artists, Siblings, Visionaries - The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John

    Acclaimed biographer and former Guardian critic Judith Mackrell examines the entwined lives of two artistic giants. While Augustus achieved early fame as a bohemian prodigy, his reclusive sister Gwen combined a devotion to her subtle portraits with a series of obsessive romantic affairs in Paris. Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, Mackrell’s exceptional dual biography explores their fierce sibling rivalry, shared obsession with absolute creative freedom and complex private lives. She reveals how two strikingly different personalities, reshaped British art. Chaired by Gill Pyrah.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 3.00 pm
    Where: Bridport Arts Centre
    Sponsored by: Bettina & Michael Pescod
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 41 | Tobias Ellwood | Ten Steps to Prevent World War Three

    £16.50

    Tobias Ellwood - Ten Steps to Prevent World War Three

    Putin’s Russia at the throat of Ukraine. War across the Middle East. China seeking leadership of the Global South. Nuclear-armed rogue states. The world is closer than it ever has been to midnight on the Doomsday Clock. So how worried should we be? In conversation with former BBC correspondent Andrew Cassell, politician and military veteran Tobias Ellwood introduces his book Ten Steps to Prevent World War Three. Drawing on his frontline service in the Royal Green Jackets and his experience as a defence minister and chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, Ellwood and asks what the west can do to avert the unthinkable.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 4.30 pm
    Where: Electric Palace
    Sponsored by Barry Mawhinney | Helen & Andrew Carless
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 42 | Debbie McGee | A Magical Life

    £15.00

    Debbie McGee - A Magical Life

    Famously, and cruelly, the comedian Caroline Aherne asked Debbie McGee: “What attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?” But the ultimate magician’s “assistant” has had the last laugh. Her self-described “first and only” memoir depicts a rich and varied life. A dancer by trade, she spent time at the Royal Ballet School before joining Iran’s national ballet – having to flee the country during the revolution. While she is universally recognised as Daniels’ wife, few people know she was the first woman to be admitted to the Magic Circle. One of the great showbiz survivors talks to journalist Teddy Jamieson about her life on and off stage, facing breast cancer, coping with the public loss of her husband, and finding a new fanbase through Strictly.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 6.30pm
    Where: Electric Palace
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 43 | Martin Maudsley | Common Threads

    £10.00

    Martin Maudsley - Common Threads

    Storyteller and writer Martin Maudsley weaves together a performance piece specially commissioned for the festival, mixing folklore, oral history and personal experience. Since moving to Dorset in 2013, Martin has been researching, recording and re-imagining stories about Bridport and its surrounding landscapes. Drawing on many of these colourful strands, Common Threads is a spoken word tapestry of living voices and traditional heritage, delivered for the first time in the newly renovated workshop space of Oxenbury’s Yard. A passionate praise-song to town and country, people and place. “Martin is a master craftsman, telling old tales with new resonance”, Aberystwyth Storytelling Festival. Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 8.00 pm
    Where: Oxenbury’s Yard
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 44 | Jon Woolcott | The Tattooed Hills

    £12.00

    Jon Woolcott - The Tattooed Hills - Journeys to Chalk Figures

    Across the downlands of Britain, giant white horses, warriors and regimental badges are etched into the chalk. These landmarks have captured the human imagination for centuries, permanently altering the contours of our countryside. In The Tattooed Hills, Dorset-based writer and publisher Jon Woolcott explores iconic sites – from the Cerne Abbas Giant to the Uffington White Horse – tracing how each generation has reinterpreted, maintained and even fabricated these hill figures. Blending travelogue, folklore and cultural history, Woolcott examines how these carvings reflect our relationship with the land. Are they timeless symbols of local identity or mirror images of our changing anxieties?

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Thursday 12 November 2026 @ 10.00 am
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: David & Sue Orr
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 45 | Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall | High Fibre Heroes

    £14.00

    Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - High Fibre Heroes

    Join the broadcaster, writer and food campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for a feast of an event. Best known for his River Cottage TV series, bestselling books and his passion for food focused on local, seasonal and ethically produced ingredients, Hugh has reshaped the conversation around how we eat. Now he’s determined to help us all eat more fibre, conjuring 100 recipes from 12 of the most versatile and readily available vegetables. He’ll be chewing things over with the journalist Teddy Jamieson. “Only Hugh could take on a subject like fibre and transform it into something interesting, desirable and delicious,” Meera Sodha.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Thursday 12 November 2026 @ 11.30 am
    Where: Bridport Arts Centre
    Sponsored by: Pippa & Hugo James
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 46 | Lucy Hughes-Hallett | Cleopatra

    £12.00

    Lucy Hughes-Hallett - Cleopatra - Histories, Dreams and Distortions

    For two thousand years, Cleopatra has been continually reinvented: medieval emblem of wifely devotion, Renaissance beauty, Romantic femme fatale and Hollywood temptress. Yet these archetypes tell us less about Egypt’s last pharaoh than about the preoccupations, racial politics and erotic fantasies of the cultures that constructed them. Samuel Johnson Prize-winning biographer Lucy Hughes-Hallett examines the historical monarch alongside her legion of imaginary counterparts. From hostile Roman propaganda to modern pop culture, Hughes-Hallett disentangles the astute political strategist from centuries of myth-making. “Brilliant and discursive”, Antonia Fraser.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Thursday 12 November 2026 @ 1.00 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Flora Hood
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 47 | Ed Davey | Why I Care

    £16.50

    Ed Davey - Why I Care - And Why Care Matters

    Care is the thread that runs through Sir Ed Davey’s life. At four, he lost his father. When his mother also became ill with cancer, Ed and his brothers nursed her until she died when Ed was just 15, and that experience was one of his main inspirations to enter politics. Now he and his wife care for their son, who has severe physical and learning disabilities. In Why I Care, the Liberal Democrat Leader reveals his deeply moving personal story. Shedding light on the often invisible, he calls for society and government to lift up the silent carers who form the backbone of our communities. He talks about his experiences with former BBC correspondent Andrew Cassell.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Thursday 12 November 2026 @ 2.30 pm
    Where: Electric Palace
    Sponsored by: Fenella Wynford
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 48 | Steve Crawshaw | Prosecuting the Powerful

    £12.00

    Steve Crawshaw - Prosecuting the Powerful - War Crimes and the Battle for Justice

    Putting a ruling dictator in the dock once seemed unthinkable. Today, as international warrants for world leaders mount, that is changing. Author and human rights advocate Steve Crawshaw introduces his book Prosecuting the Powerful. Drawing on his career as a foreign correspondent for the Independent and senior director at both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Crawshaw offers a front-row seat to the fight against state impunity. From the Nuremberg trials to today’s investigations in Gaza, he brings to life the prosecutors, whistleblowers and survivors challenging political crimes. Is the era of immunity for despots coming to an end?

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Thursday 12 November 2026 @ 4.00 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 49 | Sara Wheeler | Jan Morris

    £14.00

    Sara Wheeler - Jan Morris - A Life

    Jan Morris led a life as vast as her literary output. A pioneering journalist who scooped the 1953 Everest ascent, covered the Eichmann trial and authored acclaimed works on Venice and the British Empire, Morris was equally famed for her 1970s gender transition, a groundbreaking journey documented in her classic memoir, Conundrum. Award-winning biographer Sara Wheeler discusses her authorised life of the literary icon. Granted unrestricted access to Morris’s personal diaries and archives, Wheeler moves beyond the public persona to explore a brilliant, contradictory figure: a Welsh nationalist who wasn’t Welsh, an intrepid traveller who sought the meaning of home, and an unyielding romantic.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Thursday 12 November 2026 @ 5.30 pm
    Where: Bridport Arts Centre
    Sponsored by: Felicity Fairbairn
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 50 | Imani Thompson | Honey

    £8.00

    Imani Thompson - Honey

    Yrsa doesn’t mean to kill the first time, when she knocks a bee into her hated professor’s Sanpellegrino. But it’s a delicious feeling finally having some control. So who’s next? Imani Thompson’s novel about a bored graduate student who murders “bad men” in the name of feminism provoked a 10-way auction between publishers, drawing comparisons with My Sister, the Serial Killer, Butter and Yellowface. She talks about why a darkly comic thriller is the ideal vehicle to talk about race and misogyny – and why she’s the most unlikely creator of a serial killer imaginable. Raised in Dorset, Imani Thompson is a British writer of Scottish, Irish and Jamaican heritage. After studying Sociology at Cambridge University, she worked as a bookseller. “Wow, basically”, Harriet Tyce.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Thursday 12 November 2026 @ 7.00 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 51 | Literary Dinner Tim Bouverie | Allies at War

    £90.00

    Literary Dinner Tim Bouverie - Allies at War

    We are delighted to welcome prize-winning historian Tim Bouverie as our guest speaker at this year’s George Millar Literary Dinner. Tim will be speaking about his latest book Allies at War: The Rivals who Defeated Hitler. This compelling and timely piece of scholarship from the author of the bestselling Appeasing Hitler tells the story of the coalition of nations that produced victory in 1945, but also the start of a new global rivalry still being felt today. Winner of this year’s Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize, Allies at War is a fast-paced narrative history that uses vivid, first-hand accounts, unpublished diaries and material drawn from over a hundred archives to produce a blow-by-blow account of the high-stakes diplomacy that was every bit as vital in securing victory as the battles fought and won in the field. The result is a novel and illuminating way to tell the story of the second world war. The ticket price includes welcome drinks and a three-course dinner from the kitchens of Symondsbury Estate.

    Priorty booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Thursday 12 November 2026 @ 7.00 pm
    Where: Tithe Barn
    Sponsored by: Johnnie & Sophie Boden
    PRIORTY BOOKING Details

  • Event 52 | Peter Stanford | Gaudi

    £12.00

    Peter Stanford - Gaudi - God’s Architect

    Today Antoni Gaudíʼs unfinished basilica, La Sagrada Família,welcomes five million visitors a year. Yet its creator died in a pauper’s hospital after he was hit by a tram and mistaken for a tramp. What led him to this fate? Even in the centenary year of his death, much about this unworldly genius remains a mystery. Telegraph writer Peter Stanford tries to make sense of it, treading in the great man’s footsteps from the Catalan countryside to industrial Barcelona, a city in which Gaudi was at once a loner and a celebrity. This revelatory biography explores how the tragedies and triumphs of Gaudiʼs life connect, and how the architectʼs work drew on his religious faith. He talks to broadcaster Gill Pyrah.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Friday 13 November 2026 @ 10.00 am
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 53 | Luke Pepera | Motherland

    £12.00

    Luke Pepera - Motherland - A Journey Through 5,000 Years of African History

    For centuries, Africa’s kaleidoscopic history has been viewed through a narrow, often colonial lens – but its true heritage spans an astonishing 500,000 years. Join historian, archaeologist, and broadcaster Luke Pepera as he discusses his groundbreaking book, Motherland. A brilliant presenter of his subject, Pepera brings to life a remarkable cast of characters, from the wealthiest rulers of the ancient world to fierce warrior queens who defeated the Romans. Moving effortlessly between ancient empires and modern pop culture, he reveals how African history shapes our world today. “Wonderful and illuminating … an essential read”, Simon Sebag Montefiore.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Friday 13 November 2026 @ 11.30 am
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 54 | Mary Berry | Mary All in One

    £18.00

    Mary Berry - Mary All in One

    Join broadcaster and cook Dame Mary Berry in conversation with the author and food writer Lucy Brazier. This event marks the publication of Mary: All in One, a collection celebrating effortless, one-dish cooking. Alongside these new recipes, from chicken tartiflette to strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake, the discussion will trace Mary’s journey from her classic Cordon Bleu training in Paris during the 1950s to her decades spent teaching Britain how to cook and her time as a judge on The Great British Bake Off. An intimate and lively hour in the company of a woman who for over half a century has helped shape the way the nation gathers round the table and made us all aware of our “soggy bottoms”.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Friday 13 November 2026 @ 1.00 pm
    Where: Electric Palace
    Sponsored by: Symonds & Sampson
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 55 | Patrick Gale | Love Lane

    £16.50

    Patrick Gale - Love Lane

    One of Britain’s best-loved storytellers returns to Bridport Literary Festival to talk about his beguiling new work of fiction, an epic portrait of what it means to make a home spanning three generations of one family. Although it’s a standalone novel, Love Lane features one of Gale’s most memorable characters, Canadian farmer Harry Cane, protagonist of the Costa Award-shortlisted A Place Called Winter. Forced to sell up on the prairies and return to a Britain transformed by two world wars, he receives a mixed reception from his family. Can Harry make a new life for himself or will he be cast out again? Patrick talks with fellow novelist Raffaella Barker. “A tender, delicately devastating novel”, Sarah Waters.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Friday 13 November 2026 @ 3.00 pm
    Where: Electric Palace
    Sponsored by: Maggie & John Mills
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 56 | Catherine Carr | Who’s the Favourite?

    £12.00

    Catherine Carr - Who’s the Favourite? - The loving, messy realities of sibling relationships

    Ever wondered if parents really do have a favourite child? BBC radio presenter, podcaster and producer Catherine Carr unpacks one of family life’s last remaining taboos. Stripping away the guilt and secrecy surrounding the subject, she’ll be diving into the dynamics of parental bias. Carr explores why favouritism happens, how it affects both the chosen and the sidelined child, and the unexpected ways these early dynamics dictate our romantic relationships and even career choices as adults. It promises to be an eye-opening, hilarious and perhaps liberating hour. Chaired by Mary Morris. “Truly enlightening, charming and moving”, Jane Garvey

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Friday 13 November 2026 @ 4.30 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 57 | Andrew Wood | Noble Nine

    £20.00

    Andrew Wood - Noble Nine - The Story and Science of the World’s Favourite Wines

    Join plant biologist and wine expert Dr Andrew Wood upstairs at Mercato Italiano for a fascinating look at the world’s most popular drink. Andrew introduces his book Noble Nine, which explores the history and science behind the nine “noble” grape varieties that have traditionally dominated wine racks. He shares the human stories behind every bottle, from 18th-century French peasants discovering sweet Sauternes by accident, to how modern science is protecting our greatest vineyards from climate change. This event will offer a fresh perspective on how botany, climate and culture intertwine in every glass. Tickets include a glass of wine or soft drink and table snacks.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Friday 13 November 2026 @ 5.00 pm
    Where: Mercato Italiano
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 58 | Panel | Future Rural

    £10.00

    Panel - Future Rural - Imagining Tomorrow’s Countryside

    What might the countryside of tomorrow look like? That’s the question asked in Future Rural, a new collection of essays published by Little Toller. Roger Mortlock, Chief Executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, will be joined by some of the contributors including Kim Squirrell and Sophie Gregory. Together they will explore how climate change, nature recovery, housing needs, farming and, above all, creative thinking are reshaping rural Britain. A lively and timely conversation that celebrates the power of writing to inspire change, offering an optimistic, imaginative vision of the landscapes, communities and stories that will change the countryside for future generations.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Friday 13 November 2026 @ 6.00 pm
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 59 | Lesley-Ann Jones | The Tanya Bruce-Lockhart Event

    £12.00

    Lesley-Ann Jones - The Tanya Bruce-Lockhart Event - David Bowie’s Hunkydory Live

    Lesley-Ann Jones has a very personal perspective on David Bowie. As a schoolgirl, she first came across him when he was just Davie Jones. It was before he was famous. But, in suburban Beckenham, Kent, he was already a local hero. One day she and a friend knocked on his door. He answered in a dirty yellow kimono and invited them in for tea. She was charmed. While Bowie would go on to global stardom, she would become one of the UK’s leading music journalists, her early experiences informing her acclaimed biography, David Bowie: Hero. In this event, introduced by Jamie Giles, Lesley-Ann will lead the audience through Bowie’s iconic 1971 album Hunkydory track by track, using each song to offer insight into his life and work. Having worked as a showbusiness correspondent, Lesley-Ann Jones became a full-time author in 1997 and has written more than twenty books about the music industry, including works on Freddie Mercury, John Lennon and Marc Bolan. This event will be followed by a drinks reception for friends of Tanya Bruce-Lockhart.

    The Tanya Bruce-Lockhart event marks the life and interests of BridLit’s much-missed co-founder. This year we explore one of Tanya’s musical loves, David Bowie, who she described as: “Probably the most intelligent man of popular music I’ve had to interview and spend time with.” Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Friday 13 November 2026 @ 8.00 pm
    Where: Oxenbury's Yard
    In association with Clocktower Records
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details

  • Event 60 | Cathy Rentzenbrink | The Agatha Christie Cure

    £12.00

    Cathy Rentzenbrink - The Agatha Christie Cure - What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught Me about Living

    Cathy Rentzenbrink fell in love with Agatha Christieʼs novels aged nine, after her grandmother paid her 10p for every mystery she finished. It turned her into an avid reader, but soon she left the Queen of Crime behind. Only when she was facing the end of her marriage, did she turn once more to Christie’s books, discovering in them the comfort and emotional support she craved. She talks to Lucy Brazier about the healing power of our greatest crime writer. Cathy Rentzenbrink worked as a bookseller and as an editor at the Bookseller, before becoming the bestselling author of The Last Act of Love and many other titles.

    Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901.
    When: Saturday 14 November 2026 @ 10.30 am
    Where: Bull Ballroom
    PRIORITY BOOKING Details
The Bridport Literary Festival © Copyright 2004 - 2026
Charity No: 1147075 | All Rights Reserved | Designed by BRACED
FacebookInstagram
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Settings
Ok Reject

Third Party Cookies

Some pages include videos, maps or other content from third-party services, which may set their own cookies.

Tracking Cookies

we use a few cookies to understand how our site is used so we can make it better. They never store personal details.

Privacy Policy

You can read more about how we use and protect your information in our Privacy Policy.
Go to Top