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Cliveden Literary Festival
11 October 2025 to 12 October 2025
About Cliveden Literary Festival
Established in 2017 and now in its eighth year, Cliveden Literary Festival will take place from 11 – 12 October 2025.
Hosted at the iconic Cliveden House in Berkshire, the 2024 festival heard Salman Rushdie talk to Ian McEwan about his storied and courageous literary career; screen stars Rachel Weisz and Emily Maitlis took us behind the scenes of their careers in the spotlight; ex-MI6 chief Alex Younger and Niall Ferguson investigated global threats to the West, from China and Russia to Islamic extremism; and Simon Sebag Montefiore discussed Jerusalem and holiness in a supposedly secular world with Tom Holland, and the Mughal and Romanov dynasties with William Dalrymple.
There were also panels interrogating everything from the future of fiction with Merve Emre and Elif Shafak to the history of the monarchy with Helen Castor and Robert Hardman; in between discussions of the current state of the Middle East, the classical world and much more.
Renowned as a forum for lively discussion, innovative ideas, and political debate, Cliveden Literary Festival has been described by Ian McEwan as ‘probably the world’s best small literary festival,’ and by Alain de Botton as ‘the most dignified and beautiful literary festival on the planet’.
Run by a committee of writers and historians – Andrew Roberts, Natalie Livingstone, Catherine Ostler and Simon Sebag Montefiore – Cliveden Literary Festival draws on Cliveden House’s unique history as a literary salon frequented by writers and thinkers including Alexander Pope, Alfred Lord Tennyson, George Bernard Shaw, Jonathan Swift and Sir Winston Churchill.
A sell-out success every year, priority bookers are given early access to festival tickets, with the wider public able to book from 10am on Monday 11 August, on the Cliveden Literary Festival website.
Visitors to Cliveden Literary Festival will also have the opportunity to explore the beautiful National Trust gardens and enjoy scenic walks down to the River Thames.
Cliveden House, operated by the Iconic Luxury Hotel group, has been awarded a Forbes Travel Guide Star Award, and Condé Nast Johansens Award for Excellence.
2025 Speakers
Ian Rankin, Salman Rushdie, Richard E Grant, Douglas Murray, Jung Chang, Niall Ferguson, Hallie Rubenhold, Alain de Botton, Elif Shafak, Marlon James, Anthony Horowitz, William Boyd, Sarah Vine, Michael Gove, Joanna Coles, Peter Godwin, Helen Castor, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Patrick Marber, Tristram Hunt, Merve Emre, Jake Sullivan, Bari Weiss, Andrew Davies, Tina Brown, Peter Frankopan, James Marriott, Alex Burghart, Charles Moore, Emily Maitlis, Jonathan Bate, David McCloskey, Dambisa Moyo, Jonathan Freedland, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Nicholas Boggs, Mark Rosenblatt, Gordon Corera, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Freya Johnston, Robert Hardman, Sarah Churchwell, Geordie Greig, Georgia Beaufort, Yana Peel, Andrei Soldatov, Adam LeBor, James McAuley, Tim Bouverie, Anne Somerset, Cindy Yu, Rachel Kelly, Anne Sebba, Jake Wallis Simons, Alice Loxton, Luke Pepera, Carol Woolton and Caroline Derby; and our founders, Catherine Ostler, Natalie Livingstone, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Andrew Roberts.
Watch the highlights
Tickets
Please see important booking information below.
Booking information
Ticket prices:
Weekend – £235.00 plus £8.63 booking fee
Saturday – £120.00 plus £7.69 booking fee
Sunday – £120.00 plus £7.69 booking fee
Student Ticket Weekend – £117.50 plus £7.54 booking fee
Student Ticket Saturday and Sunday – £60.00 plus £4.09 booking fee
Student Ticket Sunday – £60.00 plus £4.09 booking fee
Dates & times:
Saturday 11 to Sunday 12 October 2025
