A selection of bookshop readings, performances, literary lunches, salons, festivals and other writerly goings-on are listed here and regularly updated.
For your wider literary and cultural fix, check out the in-person and virtual event listings at the British Library, the London Review Bookshop, Waterstones, English PEN, the Southbank Centre, publisher and author websites and social media streams, as well as those of your local organisations and venues.
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Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 September
Queen’s Park Book Festival 2026
Queen’s Park, Harvist Road/Kingswood Avenue, London NW6 6SG
Daily from 11:30 am to evening
Events individually priced or free
The ninth and final edition of the popular local literary gathering brings together internationally renowned authors including Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Pullman, Simon Garfield, Natasha Walter, Sathnam Sanghera and Sebastian Barry for a weekend of talks, readings, comedy and discussion. Among the enticing free events are Monisha Rajesh in conversation with Chrys Salt about her latest travel book Moonlight Express (Saturday, 1 pm), Richard Tyrrell in conversation with Mike Simkins about his warm-hearted debut novel The Fox of Kensal Green (Sunday, 4 pm), and Lisa Harding and Anna Maconochie in conversation with Shyama Perera about their personal takes on fictionalising Difficult Women (Sunday, 5:30 pm).
More info and book
Read an extract from The Fox of Kensal Green
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Ongoing
Arvon courses and retreats
Online or in-person, from one hour at home to five weeks at historic writers’ houses in Devon, Shropshire and Yorkshire, you can find inspiration, support and transform your writing with Arvon. Discover a range of creative writing courses and events for writers of any genre and any level of experience.
Residential courses for Summer/Autumn 2026 include Stories from Life with John-Paul Flintoff, Lily Dunn and Clover Stroud (Totleigh Barton, 5 to 12 September); Making Human Connections with Kirsty Logan and Chikodili Emelumadu (Lumb Bank, 7 to 10 September); Poetry: Polishing and Redrafting with Helen Mort, Declan Ryan and Sarah Howe (Lumb Bank, 12 to 19 September); Non-Fiction: Clearing the Path with Keiron Pim, Rose Tomaszewka and Rebecca Carter (Totleigh Barton, 14 to 19 September); and Jump Start Your Fiction with Nicholas Royle, Kerry Hadley-Pryce and Simon Okotie (Lumb Bank, 28 September to 3 October).
More info and book
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