Commissions
Every year Durham Book Festival commissions new writing. See our Durham Book Festival 2024 commissions below and view our archive of commissions from previous years.
Pat Barker:
The Voyage Home
Celebrate Durham author Pat Barker’s new book, The Voyage Home, with an exclusive dramatic live reading accompanied by new music from The Shining Levels. The performance will be followed by a conversation between Pat and writer Adelle Stripe, in which they’ll discuss this highly anticipated follow-up to The Women of Troy and The Silence of the Girls, chronicling the experiences of women in the aftermath of the Trojan War.
A special Durham Book Festival commission directed by Maria Crocker in partnership with Live Theatre.
North East Now
In 2024, we entered a new era. The newly elected North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, ushered in a significant shift of power. Devolution promises greater control of our own destiny.
Inspired by this seismic change as we look ahead, New Writing North and Redhills commissioned 12 vibrant new essays from the north’s leading talent, showcasing new stories of the North East.
All 12 essays will be available to read on our website and there will be an event on Saturday 12 October.
The Little Read
This year’s Little Read is I Am Brave, written by Caryl Hart and illustrated by Zoe Waring.
I Am Brave is the perfect picture book to highlight and celebrate the different ways that children tackle the difficult things in life … whether it’s speaking up in class, or choosing to do something different to their friends, or struggling to make friends in the first place!
Curated in partnership with Children’s Books North.
