All About

Welcome to Winchester Books Festival.

Winchester Books Festival is a Community Interest Company.

Co-founders Sophie Liardet and Sian Searles share an unwavering passion for bringing the most exciting and thought-provoking authors to Winchester—a city steeped in culture and the perfect setting for a world-class books festival.

Their bold vision and ambition for the Winchester Books Festival shines through their creative and forward-thinking partnerships.

Highlights for 2025 include the exclusive Bombay Sapphire festival cocktails, adding a dash of sophistication to the celebrations, and the eye-catching Partridge of Hampshire festival green fleet, ensuring branded cars turn heads across the city.

Together, they’re redefining what a literary festival can be, combining innovation, style, and a love for the written word.

Book cover of Why Tyrants Fall
One Day pbk
You Are Here - final jacket
web logo WBF
The New Neighbours Claire Douglas
Nature Needs You jacket Hannah Bourne-Taylor
An English Vision Ben Pentreath Cover
Much more to come book cover
Much Ado About Numbers cover
In Search Perfect Peach
Any Trout About COVER
How to Design a Garden (jacket cover)
Glorious Exploits, paperback jacket
Oh What a Knight Cover
Alberta_A cautionary tale cover

Newsletters

Read about all the latest news and events in our 15 May 2025 news bulletin.

Watch the David Nicholls event (1)

Watch our David Nicholls event

We were lucky enough to be joined by the acclaimed playwright and author of “One Day” in February 2025.
You can watch the recording here for free anytime on any device or share with a friend.
We hope you enjoy it as much as we did and look forward to seeing you at an event soon.

2023 Authors & Books

Dr. Sohom Das – In Two Minds

S.J. Parris – Alchemy – the latest Giordano Bruno mystery

Wendy Joseph KC – Trials at The Old Bailey

Governor James Bourke – Doing Time: 175 years of Winchester Prison

Frank Gardner – Outbreak

Hugh Petter – Living Tradition

Daisy Goodwin – Diva

Alison Weir – Winchester’s Queens (a bespoke talk)

James Holland – The Savage Storm: The Brutal Battle for Italy 1943

Edward Bulmer – The Colourful Past

Dr. Brian Klass – Fluke: Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We do Matters

 

 

Liz Earle MBE – A Better Second Half

Sarah Freethy – The Porcelain Maker

Claire Fuller – A Big Book Club event

 

Children’s authors:

Andy Hussey – There’s No Deer Around Here, Any Trout About

Margaret Sturton – Alberta

Chitra Soundar – Creative Writing Workshop

Lauren Child – Clarice Bean – Smile

Sam Sedgman – The Clockwork Conspiracy

2024 Authors & Books

Jennie Maizels – Pop-Up London

Marc Morris – The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginning of England

Claire Fuller  – The Memory of Animals

Chibundu Onuzo – Sankofa

Frances Liardet – Think of Me

Charlie Corbett – 12 Birds to Save Your Life

Gill Hornby – Godmersham Park

Bill Browder – Freezing Order

Marina Wheeler QC – The Lost Homestead

Rebecca Abrams – Licoricia of Winchester

Sue Stuart-Smith – The Well Gardened Mind

 

Contact us

Say hello to our little but lovely team by sending an email to info@winchesterbooksfestival.com

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