YORK LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2026
28 February to 30 March
We are please to announce that tickets for all the events at the 2026 York Literature Festival are now available!
See below for one click links to tickets for the entire programme!
| Date | Time | Event | Writer | Location | Ticket price | Event type |
| Saturday 28th February | 19:00-20:30 | Your Life is Manufactured, Tim Minshall in Conversation | Tim Minshall | St Peter’s Memorial Hall | £12 | Non-fiction |
| Wednesday 4th March | 19:00-21:30 | The Sleepwalkers, Scarlett Thomas in Conversation | Scarlett Thomas | Merchant Adventurer’s Hall | £12 | Literary Fiction |
| Friday 6th March | 14:00-16:00 | Let’s Get Philosophical: Writing Philosophical Fiction with Rachel Handley | Rachel Handley | York Medical Society | £8 | Workshop |
| Friday 6th March | 18:00-21:00 | Climate Sci-Fi Fiction with Fly on the Wall Press | Isabelle Kenyon, Amy Lilwall & John Ironmonger | York Medical Society | £12 | Panel discussion |
| Saturday 7th March | 14:00 | Smith & Waugh’s Satirical Voyage: From Jonathan Swift to H. G. Wells. | Dr Jo Waugh and Dr Adam James Smith | York St John Creative Centre Auditorium | Free | Lecture/talk |
| Saturday 7th March | 18:00 | The Book of Jonah: Luke Kennard in Conversation with Caleb Klaces | Luke Kennard | York St John Creative Centre Auditorium | Free | Poetry |
| Sunday 8th March | 13:00-15:00 | Writing Women in York – Poetry Workshop | Janine Bradbury | Theatre@41 (Gilpin Room) | £10 | Poetry |
| Sunday 8th March | 19:00 | International Women’s Day poetry Showcase | Kayleigh Campbell, Kimberly Campanello, Minal Sukumar, Helen Ivory | Theatre@41 | £12 | Poetry |
| Monday 9th March | 19:00 | Beyond the Walls | Various | De Grey LectureThetare, York St John University | Free | Student launch |
| Tuesday 10th March | 18:00 | Writing the Environment in Prose & Poetry | Wendy Pratt | York St John Creative Centre Auditorium | Free | Talk |
| Wednesday 11th March | 18:00-20:00 | Writing with Water, Hydro-poetics workshop | Becca Drake | Spark SHOW | £8 | Poetry workshop |
| Wednesday 11th March | 18:30:00 | Breaking Not Broken: Ableism and the Church after Constantine | Canon Timothy Goode and Stephen Cottrell | York Minster | Free | Talk |
| Thursday 12th March | 19:00-21:00 | Elly Griffiths Launching The Killing Time | Elly Griffiths | Merchant Adventurer’s Hall | £15 | Crime fiction |
| Thursday 12th March | Doors 19:30 | Unwritten: The Literary Improv Show | The Bluffs | Bluebird Cafe | £8 | Theatre |
| Friday 13th March | 19:00:00 | The Poets Behind the Press | Scarlett Ward, Paul Whelan and Becca Drake | Theatre@41 | £12 | Poetry & panel |
| Friday 13th March | 19:00-21:00 | Francis Spufford in Conversation: Celebrating Nonesuch | Francis Spufford | Joseph Rowntree School | £12 | Literary fiction |
| Saturday 14th March | 9:30-10:30 | Poetry for All the Family – poetry workshop (ages 4-10) | Olivia Mulligan | York Explore Marriott Room | £1 | Children’s event |
| Saturday 14th March | 11:00-12:00 | The Wildsmith Workshop | Liz Flanagan | York Explore Marriott Room | £1 | Children’s event |
| Saturday 14th March | 14:00-16:00 | When We Were Divided: Book Launch with Liz Flanagan | Liz Flanagan | York Explore Marriott Room | £5 | Historical fiction |
| Saturday 14th March | 14:00-16:00 | Colette Snowden: Celeste | Colette Snowden | YSJ Auditorium | Free | Literary fiction |
| Saturday 14th March | 19:00 | Rónán Hession, in Conversation | Rónán Hession | St Peter’s | £12 | Literary fiction |
| Sunday 15th March | 13:00-15:00 | Ghost Chilli | Nikkitha Bakshani | York Explore | £5 | Debut fiction |
| Sunday 15th March | 15:00-17:00 | Writing Crime: a Creative Writing Workshop with Katie Collom | Katie Collom | Spark SHOW | £8 | Workshop |
| Monday 16th March | 19:00-22:00 | Can You Solve the Murder? | Antony Johnston | The Crescent | £12 | Crime interactive event |
| Tuesday 17th March | 18:00-20:00 | An Evening with Jasper Fforde | Jasper Fforde | Tang Hall Explore Library | £8 | Literary fiction / crime |
| Tuesday 17th March | 19:00 | I’m with Pulp, Are You? | Mark Webber | The Crescent | £15 | Music Memoir |
| Wednesday 18th March | 18:00 | Writing Children’s Fiction Workshop | Camilla Cassidy | Spark: SHOW | £8 | Workshop |
| Wednesday 18th March | 18:00 | These Isles: A People’s History of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales | Brian Groom | York Explore | £5 | Non-fiction |
| Wednesday 18th March | 18:30 | The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny | Laura Bates* | St Peter’s School | £12 | Non-fiction |
| Thursday 19th March | 19:00 | Inter-Uni Poetry Slam: Uni of York and York St John | Say Owt | Theatre@41 | £5 | Poetry |
| Friday 20th March | 18:30 | Fantasy Fiction: Susanna Clarke in Conversation | Susanna Clarke | St Peter’s School | £12 | Fantasy fiction |
| Saturday 21st March | 11:00 | Literary Walk of York | David Holt | Museum Gardens entrance | £10 | Walking tour – pay in cash on the day |
| Saturday 21st March | 10.00-11.00 | Folk Horror and the Urban Wyrd | Professor Robert Edgar and Dr Wayne Johnson | YSJ – De Grey | £5 | Talk |
| Saturday 21st March | 11.30-13.00 | The Lamb | Lucy Rose | YSJ – De Grey | £10 | Folk Horror fiction |
| Saturday 21st March | 14.00-15.30 | Night Babies | Lucie McKnight Hardy | YSJ – De Grey | £10 | Folk Horror fiction |
| Saturday 21st March | 16.00-17.30 | Saltwash | Andrew Michael Hurley | YSJ – De Grey | £10 | Folk Horror fiction |
| Saturday 21st March | 19.00-20.30 | An Evening with Ramsey Campbell | Ramsey Campbell | YSJ – De Grey | £15 | Horror fiction |
| Saturday 21st March | 14:00 | Finding the Words: York Explore Poetry Showcase | Deborah Alma, Max Wallis & Carole Bromley | York Explore | £2.25 plus fees | Poetry |
| Saturday 21st March March | 18:00-21:00 | Pen to Paper | Lizzi Linklater | Spark SHOW | £8 | Performance |
| Sunday 22nd March | 11:00-12.00 | Spectral York | Adam Smith | YSJ – Creative Centre | £5 | Talk |
| Sunday 22nd March | 13.30-15.00 | Come Sing for the Harrowing | Dan Coxon (250) | YSJ – Creative Centre | £10 | Folk Horror fiction |
| Sunday 22nd March | 15.00-16.30 | Hex House | Amy Jane Stewart (250) | YSJ – Creative Centre | £5 | Folk Horror fiction |
| Sunday 22nd March | 18:00 | I Don’t Think I’m Straight: Queer Poems to Celebrate You’ Tour | Isabella Dorta | Spark SHOW | £15 | Poetry |
| Monday 23rd March | 19:00 | Super Nintendo: why do we game? | Keza MacDonald | The Crescent Community Venue | £12 | Non-fiction |
| Tuesday 24th March | 19:30 | The Little Apple Bookshop Quiz | Philippa & Tim | The Black Swan | £2 | Quiz |
| Tuesday 24th March | 18:00 | A Very Vexing Murder, launch | Lucy Andrew | York Explore Marriott Room | £5 | Crime fiction |
| Tuesday 24th March | 19:00 | Wilson, Blair & Starmer: Leading Labour into Government | Steve Richards & Alan Johnson | St Peter’s School | £10 | Politics |
| Wednesday 25th March | 18:00 | Stu Hennigan Launch Keshed | Stu Hennigan | Spark: SHOW | £8 | Literary fiction |
| Thursday 26th March | 18:00-20:00 | Manish Chauhan debuts Belgrave Road | Manish Chauhan | Spark: SHOW | £8 | Debut fiction |
| Monday 20th March | 19:00-22:00 | Stu Freestone The Lights that Blur Between Book Launch | Stu Freestone | The Crescent | £8 or £13 | Poetry |
More information on each event can be found on our Events page listings
Due to huge demand, and the rapid sale of our season passes, we have decided to move York Festival of Hauntology to a larger venue. To make sure as many of you as possible can join us to celebrate Folk Horror and the Urban Wyrd, the events will now take place at York St John University Campus on the 21st and 22nd March.
Season pass tickets with the previous venue are valid at the new venue. Though these passes are sold out, do not worry! Single tickets for all of the author events, their prices and event timings can be found on the link above.
While you’re waiting for the next festival…
The York Howlers
Every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month, 7:30pm, head down to the Blue Boar for everyone’s favourite poetry open mic night!
Society of Hauntologists
The York Society of Hauntologists is a reading group embracing all things Folk Horror in England’s most haunted city at the Black Swan Inn on the last Wednesday of the month, 7pm.
Head to their Instagram to find out what they’re currently reading:
YLF 25
Sponsored by York St. John University for the 2026 York Literature Festival.
Join Us
We hope that you will join us at our events taking place across our wonderful city.
