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"A glorious festival – one of the loveliest in the UK” Peter Frankopan
"Inspiring writers, enthusiastic audiences and a beautiful setting are the ingredients that make the Chipping Campden Literature Festival one of the best in the land" Loyd Grossman
"One of my favourite Literature Festivals. The audience for my talk was so engaged and the location and atmosphere wonderful" Jane Martinson |
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"The Chipping Campden hosts looked after me so well, and the audience was wonderfully engaged. A great experience" Gillian Slovo
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May 2nd - 8th 2027
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US IN 2027
Literature Festival Patrons, & Friends, enjoy priority booking It is only through the great generosity of our Sponsors, Patrons, & Friends that we can both present an exciting Festival and make it accessible to as many people as possible, including special lower priced seats at some events, and the allocation of free tickets to school students. At the end of this message you will find full details of how to sign up.
Firstly, here are details of a few more of events we have for you and the full programme will be sent to you at the end of this month.
The Classics
Homer Haunted
Whether you loved, loathed or simply ignored Christopher Nolan’s film you’ll discover a whole lot more about Homer’s stories with Henry Power, classicist and professor of English Literature at Oxford University, who takes us on a surprising journey through the afterlives of the Iliad and Odyssey travelling from the islands of Greece to the Scottish Highlands, the Devon coast to suburban Los Angeles - to trace the footsteps of the poets, politicians, lunatics, and lovers haunted by Homer's mythical heroes and monsters.
We have a sponsor for this event 
The return of some of our favourite authors
Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest
The #1 New York Times best selling author and award winning Guardian foreign correspondent discusses his new book with Alan Rusbridger. Luke charts the dramatic collapse of the post 1945 international system. Ours is now a world in which Trump’s America has endorsed Putin’s land- grab in Ukraine, painted Europe as an enemy, and toppled and kidnapped Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro. Meanwhile, an anti-western alliance has taken shape featuring China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Countries find themselves in an uncertain and dangerous era. It is a return to nineteenth century imperialism and spheres of influence – but with withering modern firepower. Despite all this it ends with a surprisingly optimistic reveal.
‘As dark and compelling as a Le Carre spy thriller . . . . Brilliant ’ Bill Browder
Cold Sunset
William Boyd who held a sell out Cidermill audience spellbound this year returns with the final volume of his spy trilogy Cold Sunset.
Gabriel Dax is on route to Russia, tasked with delivering a mysterious Blanco drawing to celebrated defector, Kit Caldwell. But Caldwell is convinced that the KGB suspects him of treachery and he wants to get out - now. When Gabriel is ordered by his enigmatic handler Faith Green to help, he is pulled into a web of shifting loyalties and dangerous escape plans. As tensions rise and trust fractures, he is forced to confront the fine line between devotion and deception. 
Ukranian Lessons
Charlotte Higgins In the autumn of 2022, seven months into Russia’s invasion Charlotte travelled to Ukraine to cover a literary festival and in her latest book Ukrainian Lessons, long listed for the prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction, she tells Alan Rusbridger the story of how the experience changed her life and explores the profound connections between war, art and life. "Can you imagine what it would be like if war marched, with its filthy tread, through this, your life, your perfectly ordinary life?"
Will Hutton & Alan Rusbridger
We invite you to take a three journeys La Belle France
Simon Morley
The first journey is from the bohemian cafes of Paris to the fertile warmth of le Midi with British artist and art historian Simon Morley to explore the influence of French culture on British artists during the modernist period, travelling in the footsteps of artists including Francis Bacon, the Bloomsbury Group, Edward Burra, Leonora Carrington, David Hockney, Gwen John, Ben Nicholson, and Walter Sickert. For these British Francophiles, France’s culture and social milieu were the most powerful expressions of the spirit of modernity and profoundly inspirational, helping to free them from what they perceived as the straight-laced parochialism of their homeland
William Morris and His Gardens Gavin Stoneystreet
The second journey is with cultural botanist Gavin Stoneystreet who, in William Morris and His Gardens features previously unpublished archival material that brings to life the ubiquitous “Morris print” as he takes us through the gardens of Red House, Kelmscott Manor, Kelmscott House, and Morris’s factory garden at Merton Abbey, a radical utopia in the heart of industrial London, that inspired Morris’s patterns, influenced his wider craftwork and writing, and informed his place as a forefather of the environmental movement.
'A sincere example of how to live a creative life in sympathy with nature' We have a sponsor for this event 
On the Mark Florence Hazrat A History of Punctuation from Ancient Egypt to the Emoticon For our third journey Florence Hazrat takes us on a witty and original journey across the world and through the evolution of language, celebrating the silent marks that infuse our words with meaning and shape our literary cultures; the creators and rebels who made punctuation what it is today; and conjuring new meanings from commas and colons, parentheses and pilcrows.
We have a sponsor for this event 
We share with you the lives of two best selling female authors
Last Night I Dreamt
A personal history of the du Mauriers
Paul de Zulueta
Paul explores how his grandmother Daphne du Maurier’s life – spanning war, complex family dynamics, marriage to a renowned but damaged general, and unrequited love – inspired her writing, and also uncovers the powerful influence of her domineering father Gerald, the most famous actor-manager of his generation; her grandfather George, a renowned Victorian novelist and cartoonist; and the mistress to the Duke of York, Mary Anne Clarke. Daphne dreamt up the stories that have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide and still haunt our cultural imagination, including Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and 'The Birds’ ‘ a love letter both to the family and a bygone England’ FT
The Great Dictator Matthew Sweet The Perfectly Outrageous Biography of the Queen of Romance
Drawing on unprecedented access to Cartland’s vast archives and firsthand accounts from those who knew her, Matthew Sweet delivers a wonderfully entertaining study of class, fame, scandal and self-aggrandisement. Partsatire, part biography, part social history, the book reveals how a literary legend was made and how the woman behind the powder and mascara wrote 723 books without touching a typewriter; instead she reclined on her sofa with a Pekinese on her lap - and romantic fiction billowed out of her.
Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction. We invite you to consider the following
Flying Pianos
Charles Spicer The Eccentric Birth of British Aviation Charles Spicer tells of the risks taken by those shaping the future of British aviation from string-and-canvas deathtraps to sleek metal machines including Hugh ‘Boom’ Trenchard, eccentric ‘father’ of the RAF; the glamorous Harriet Quimby – journalist, screenwriter and record-breaking pilot; and Grahame Christie, passionate aviator, spy and uneasy acquaintance of Hermann Göring.
Predators
Tim Coulson & Syma Khalid
The creators of Science of The Times podcast, Tim Coulson Professor of Zoology and joint Head of Biology and Syma Khalid Professor of Computational Microbiology both at Oxford University, consider The role of predators in a changing climate: How nature’s killers shaped life on earth from the dwarf orb weaver spider to the giant-squid-feeding cetacean, and the sperm whale.
Generation Maybe
Camilla Cavendish & Lindsay Mackie
Why We're Having Fewer Children, and What It Means for Us All In Britain, one in five couples have no children, and almost half of all families have only one. The populations of China, Japan, Russia and Italy are shrinking. Pronatalists cry that feminism has killed the family. Governments throw money at childcare. Would-be grandparents wring their hands at the apparent selfishness of the young. But the conversation is in the wrong place.
Generation Maybe offers a startling blend of data and stories to uncover what is really driving the baby bust and argues for a future in which we respect the happily childfree while genuinely empowering those who long for children. Incisive, frank, eye-opening and humane, this book is for anyone who cares about the world we may – or may not – choose to make for the next generation.
With you we mark anniversaries
The First Champions David Berry & Mark Laurence Wimbledon Rivals Who Saved Tennis - Celebrating Wimbledon's 150th Anniversary. Mark Laurence, tennis historian and member of The All England Club with one of the best collections of tennis art in the country and award-winning writer, journalist, and filmmaker David Berry tell us how the first Wimbledon champions – as famous as Federer and the Williams sisters in their day – Spencer Gore, Frank Hadow, John Hartley, the Renshaw twins, Maud Watson, Blanche Bingley, and Lottie Dod – ensured that the game invented as a country house recreation turned into a sport which is now played and watched by millions. A story about dramatic, fascinating lives, and the pressures that come with success.
Book to be published May 27th 2027 so no book image available yet.
The Sack of Rome Sarah Dunant New York and Sunday Times bestseller and ‘the pre-eminent novelist of Renaissance Italy’ Sarah Dunant returns to the Sack of Rome for the 500th anniversary in May 2027. It is an event which is almost forgotten today but changed the course of English history. The walls were breached on May 6th 1527. Book to be published May 6th 2027 so no book image available yet.
And finally we aim to entertain you
Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn’t Easy
Daniel Okrent & Martin Prendergast
Prize-winning American author Daniel Okrent tells us of the complex inner world of one of the twentieth century’s most beloved theatrical composers: think Sweeney Todd & A Little Night Music just for starters.
Daniel shines new light on Sondheim’s complicated emotional life, wavering self-confidence, and alcoholism drawing on the artist’s intimate correspondence with such notable figures as Hal Prince, Leonard Bernstein, and Arthur Laurents; exclusive interviews with his close friends and collaborators, including James Lapine and John Weidman; and Sondheim’s own oral history, which remained closed until his death. Daniel also reveals a previously unknown (and crucial) aspect of the infamous letter from Sondheim’s mother that made him believe she regretted his birth. Martin Prendergast spent eleven years at the National Theatre where he was Deputy Director of Development and then Director of Communications, and knew Sondheim so expect some amusing anecdotes! After the interval there will be performances of iconic Sondheim numbers from Martin Prendergast, Stephanie Dittmer, & Lewis Chandler.
These three did a brilliant event at Wiltons Music Hall a few months ago 
Up All Night
Imogen Willets
A History of Going Out
What, in our increasingly online lives, are we missing when we pass up the chance of a big night out? Join party historian Imogen Willetts for a guided tour of history's wildest nights out from shogunate Japan to noughts LA. Who invented jazz? What did 18c Londoners do for entertainment? Why was Detroit the birthplace of techno? Who built Las Vegas? “A lively history of nightclubs through the ages” Wall Street Journal
INTERVAL
The Pasadena Roof Orchestra: 1920s And 1930s Music LIVE
Expect a sparkling collection of music and lovingly recreated orchestrations of classics from the likes of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, and Irving Berlin. Led by suave singer and band leader Duncan Galloway, capture the hot rhythms and sweet melodies of this iconic era. So, pack up your troubles, come on and get happy, and enjoy the music. There with be 2 x 50 minute sets. We have a sponsor for this event
Become a Patron or Friend for 2027 and enquire about Sponsoring an event. If you would like to consider being an event sponsor please email charlie@campdenliteraturefestival.co.uk and we can discuss the idea with you
There are two levels of 2027 membership - Patrons & Friends Patrons - a minimum donation of £100 or £180 for a couple Friends - a minimum donation of £35 or £60 for a couple
HOW TO BECOME PATRON OR FRIEND AND SEND DONATIONSNB - IF YOU ARE A NEW SUBSCRIBER, WHEN YOU HAVE SENT YOUR DONATION, PLEASE EMAIL charlie@campdenliteraturefestival.co.uk SO WE CAN ENSURE YOU ARE ADDED TO THE Patrons & Friends DATABASE TO RECEIVE PRIORITY BOOKING INFORMATION 1. Bank Transfer (BACS) By far the quickest and simplest way to send your donation is by bank transfer
For bank transfer payments our bank details are as below Please use your full name as the payment reference NB- the account used by the Literature Festival is one of the accounts held by Chipping Campden Music Festival. So please make sure when setting up a payment you use the account name Chipping Campden Music Festival but the sort code and account number below to ensure the payment goes into the correct account.
Account name Chipping Campden Music Festival Sort code 30-80-34 Account number 61396368
2. If you would prefer to send a cheque please make sure it is made out to ‘Chipping Campden Music Festival/Literature account’ and that there are no alterations on it as the bank is likely to reject it even if alterations are signed.
Please send cheques to Chipping Campden Literature Festival, The Old Police Station, High Street, Chipping Campden, GL55 6HB
GIFT AID If you are able to Gift Aid your donation that is of enormous help to us. We no longer need Gift Aid forms sent to us, simply click on the icon below and (most importantly) add your personal details before pressing send |
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Vicky & Charlie Bennett Co-Artistic Directors Chipping Campden Literature Festival The Old Police Station High Street, Chipping Campden GL55 6HB
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Buy your books ahead of time or at each event
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Borzoi Bookshop - trading for over 40 years.
One of the first questions the publishers ask us when we are pitching for authors is, ‘Who is your book seller?’ So, without the wonderfully run independent Borzoi book shop with it’s hardworking, knowledgeable team of staff we couldn’t invite authors to the Festival. Please, if you can, order your Festival books from the Borzoi Book shop or buy them at the Festival 1 Digbeth St, Stow-on-the-Wold, Cheltenham GL54 1
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