Wantage Literary Festival 2026
About the Wantage Literary Festival 2026
This autumn, the market town of Wantage once again becomes a meeting place for writers, historians, journalists, artists, musicians and curious readers as the Wantage Literary Festival returns for its 16th year.
Running from Monday 26 October to Saturday 07 November, the 2026 festival brings together an eclectic programme of talks, conversations, performances and family events, with subjects ranging from poetry and politics to art, science, history and the natural world.
Among this year’s guests are acclaimed writers and broadcasters including Victoria Hislop, Jasper Fforde, Alan Johnson, Stephen Sackur and Janina Ramirez, alongside historians, artists, scientists, journalists and specialists exploring everything from the history of the World Cup and ancient Mesopotamia to climate change, British waterways and the future of space exploration.
The festival also has plenty of room for the unexpected. There are ghost walks through Wantage, a piano recital of Schubert, an evening of sea shanties and a walking tour exploring the town’s Anglo-Saxon history. Families can join a free Wind in the Willows day, while aspiring authors can pick up practical advice on self-publishing.
At the heart of the 2026 programme is the Big Town Read, with Simon Mason’s The Dangerous Stranger bringing readers together to explore the dark secrets and buried crimes at the centre of his novel.
With events spread across Wantage and a programme that moves easily between serious ideas, lively conversation, performance and entertainment, the festival offers a chance to discover something new — whether your interests lie in literature, history, politics, art, science or simply a good story.
The 2026 line-up
Monday 26 October
12.00pm — Bernard O’Donoghue and Esther Lay: Talking Poetry
1.30pm — Bernard O’Donoghue: The Poems of Seamus Heaney
3.00pm — Jonathan Wilson: The Power and the Glory: A New History of the World Cup
7.00pm — Professor David Wilson: A History of Modern Britain in Twenty Murders
Tuesday 27 October
11.00am — Christina Strang: Graphologist
1.00pm — Alexandra Loske: The Artist’s Palette: The Palettes Behind the Paintings of 50 Great Artists
2.00pm — Victoria Hislop: The Wine-Dark Sea
4.00pm — Rob Stepney and Kathy Clugston: Good Occasionally Rhyming: A Celebration of the Shipping Forecast in Poetry and Prose
8.00pm — Mike White: Ghost Walk, Wantage Town — Sold out
Wednesday 28 October
10.00am or 1.00pm — Free family event: Wind in the Willows Family Day
12.00pm — Rod Craig and Peter Adamson: Blenheim: Reflections in Paint and Poetry
2.00pm — Miranda Seymour: I, Vera: The Many Lives of Vera Gedroits, a Radical Princess
3.15pm — Victoria Wright: The Health Rebels Almanac: Seasonal Wisdom and Modern Science for Women Who Want to Reclaim Their Health Naturally
6.30pm — Maria Razumovskaya: Piano Recital: Schubert
Thursday 29 October
12.00pm — Nicola Moorby: Turner and Constable: Art, Life, Landscape
2.00pm — Daniel Stables: Fiesta: A Journey Through Festivity
3.00pm — Hamish de Bretton-Gordon: Tank Command: How the Tank Changed the Face of Battle
4.00pm — Jack Perks: The Great British River: A Guide to Our Waterways and River Wildlife
6.00pm — The Big Town Read: Simon Mason, The Dangerous Stranger: Dark Secrets. Buried Crimes
Friday 30 October
10.00am — Moudhy Al-Rashid: Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History
12.00pm — Charlotte Mullins: The Art Isles: A 15,000-Year Story of Art in Britain and Ireland
2.00pm — Alexander Ballinger: Phyllis Dalton: A Career in Costume
4.00pm — Jasper Fforde: Dark Reading Matter: A Last Thursday Novel
5.30pm — Alan Johnson: Biography of Harold Wilson: 20th Century Man
Saturday 31 October
12.00pm — Catherine Edwards: Orator: The Life of Cicero and the End of the Roman Republic
1.15pm — Adam Hart: Operation Pimento: My Great-Grandfather’s Great Escape
2.00pm — Peter Cardwell: Political Animals
3.15pm — Debbie Kilroy: Members Behaving Badly: A History of Britain in 52 Parliamentary Rogues
4.00pm — Chris Lintott: Beyond Artemis II
7.00pm — Monkeyfists: Sea Shanties with Your Local Landlocked Shanty Band
Sunday 01 November
11.00am — James Mitchell: A Short Walking Tour Through the Anglo-Saxon History of Wantage
Wednesday 04 November
7.00pm — Free event: Debbie Reiber and Mike White: Practical Tips to Self-Publishing
Thursday 05 November
1.30pm — Free event: Suzie Tilbury and The Sheep Pens: Timelines
Saturday 07 November
2.00pm — Janina Ramirez: Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths that Shaped Europe
2.15pm — Arthur Snell: Elemental: The New Geography of Climate Change
3.30pm — Dominic Gregory: Lifeboat at the End of the World: A Volunteer’s Story
4.00pm — Stephen Sackur: Hard Truth: 10 Investigations That Shook the World and Why They Matter Now
6.00pm — Andrew Lownie: Entitled: The Fall of the House of York
