6.87°C Essex Book Festival returns from 28th May to 30th June 2026 bringing a month of talks, workshops and literary events to venues across the county, with Colchester hosting a substantial part of the programme.
More than 250 writers and artists will appear at over 40 venues across Essex. While events take place from Manningtree to Harlow, and from Chelmsford to Southend-on-Sea, Colchester and its surrounding area once again feature heavily in the line-up.
Full details of the wider programme can be found at essexbookfestival.org.uk, but here are the events taking place in and around Colchester.
Abi Daré – Humanising Climate Change
The Colchester programme begins earlier in the year with Abi Daré appearing at Firstsite on Saturday 28th March as part of EA Sustain.
Daré won the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize in 2025 for her novel And So I Roar. In Humanising Climate Change, she discusses how climate change intersects with justice, power, education and human lives.
Festival launch at Colchester Community Stadium
The festival launches on Thursday 28th May at Colchester Community Stadium.
Football writers Jonathan Wilson, author of Inverting the Pyramid, and Simon Kuper, author of Soccernomics and Football Against the Enemy, will discuss the global game ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Love and Loss Day at Colchester Samaritans
On Saturday 6th June, Colchester Samaritans Community Hall hosts a series of events exploring grief, memory and storytelling.
Playwright and poet James McDermott leads a Grief Writing Workshop, drawing on his poetry collection Father Myself.
The programme also includes A Celebration of Dave Monk with Brian Southall, reflecting on the life of the BBC Essex broadcaster and discussing his memoir Whatever Happened to Dave Monk?
Festival patron Sarah Perry discusses her award-winning non-fiction book Death of an Ordinary Man, a moving account of caring for her father-in-law during his final illness.
Booker Prize longlisted author Siân Hughes also appears to discuss her novel No Such Thing As Monday.
Common Treasures at The Minories
On Wednesday 10th June, Giles Smith of the architecture collective Assemble appears at The Commons Community Kitchen and Café at The Minories.
In conversation with writer and planner Hana Loftus, he discusses Common Treasures, a project exploring new approaches to rural housing, land use and community-led development.
Writers and ideas at the University of Essex
The University of Essex hosts The Writers Room on Saturday 13th June at the Lakeside Theatre.
Events include What It Takes to Make a Book, with novelist Eva Verde, author of Them Girls, in conversation with publishing director Sabah Khan.
Dr Andrew Burton leads the Writing the Archive Workshop, drawing inspiration from the J.A. Baker archive and the author’s nature classic The Peregrine.
Nature writer James Canton, author of The Oak Papers and Renaturing, chairs Nature Memoir: What Next?, a discussion on the future of the genre.
Granta authors Holly Pester (The Lodgers), Ben Pester (The Expansion Project) and Rebecca Perry (May We Feed the King) appear together in Breaking the Mould, discussing experimental writing.
The day concludes with the premiere of How to Become a Peregrine, a film by the Cabinet of Living Cinema inspired by J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine, accompanied by a live soundscape by composer Kieron Chissick.
Family events at The Minories
Family audiences are catered for on Sunday 14th June at The Minories with Midsummer Madness Family Fun, a day of storytelling and creative activities.
Events include Where the Wild Rumpus Is, an immersive cinematic experience based on Maurice Sendak’s classic book, and From Oi Frog! to Oi Dinosaurs!, where children’s author Kes Gray discusses his hugely popular Oi! picture book series.
Crime, fiction and history in late June
On Wednesday 24th June at Colchester Library, crime writer Vaseem Khan appears in From Bombay to Bond, via a Small Town Killing.
Khan discusses several of his books, including the Malabar House novels such as The Edge of Darkness, his thriller The Girl in Cell A, and his new spy series beginning with Quantum of Menace.
On Thursday 25th June, short story writer Wendy Erskine appears at Colchester Arts Centre to discuss her novel The Benefactors, a sharp portrait of modern-day Northern Ireland.
History talks at Layer Marney Tower
The programme concludes on Sunday 28th June with three history events at Layer Marney Tower near Colchester.
Tony McMahon discusses Downfall of the Templars, Emily Hauser explores the real women behind Greek myth in Mythica, and Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland talks about his Second World War history The Traitor’s Circle.
A county-wide celebration of storytelling
Founded in 1999, Essex Book Festival has grown into one of the East of England’s leading literary festivals, bringing together writers, readers and communities each year.
Alongside the Colchester programme, events also take place across Essex at venues including Chelmsford Cathedral, The Gibberd Garden in Harlow, Manningtree Library, Chalkwell Hall in Southend-on-Sea and Wrabness Community Shop and Bar.
The full programme and ticket information can be found at essexbookfestival.org.uk/events.
