Durham Book Festival

This year the festival took place at Gala Durham, Clayport Library and Collected Books between 13–15 October, offering 35 events with more than 40 authors over a bustling long weekend. We’re also proud to have commissioned poetry from Zaffar Kunial, a six-part podcast with academics, an audio-guided walk through County Durham and a brand new essay from historian Janina Ramirez.

We celebrated the history of Durham and St Cuthbert, with a specially commissioned dramatic reading from Durham writer Benjamin Myers’ novel Cuddy – performed by actor Toby Jones and accompanied by The Shining Levels. We explored explored themes ranging from North East politics to the NHS.  Melanie Sykes discussed her experiences as a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world, while Grace Dent celebrated the joy of comfort food and Jeanette Winterson introduced her new ghost story collection. Climate change and evolution are the themes of our Little Read picture book, Moth by Isabel Thomas, which was given out for free to young readers and their families who could pick them up in libraries across County Durham.

Durham Book Festival is a Durham County Council event, produced by New Writing North with support from Durham University and Arts Council England.