Litfest is Lancaster’s internationally-renowned Literature Festival, and this year will be our 43^rd annual festival! We’ve grown with the times and faced the challenges of the past couple of years – and this year we’re excited to be able to offer the very first hybrid festival - meaning that we’ll be able to welcome you either in person at one of our Lancaster venues or online via Crowdcast – so wherever you are in the world you’ll be able to join us!

Bringing you the best in fiction, poetry, history, nature writing, ideas and storytelling, the festival aims to discover new works and explore topical issues.

In the light of COP-26 and the Climate Crisis, our theme this year is ‘This Place, This Planet’. We are delighted to welcome the celebrated environmental campaigner Dr Vandana Shiva to give the very first ‘Lancaster Environment Lecture’ (online only), and A.C. Grayling who will ask the question “Is Global Agreement on Global Challenges Possible?”. Our Nature events will delve into themes of climate change, population change, biodiversity and other global challenges through fiction, poetry, photography and discussion.

The festival will tackle some challenging subjects such as Lancaster’s prominent role in the Atlantic Slave Trade, and will explore other local history topics including migration and settlement, and the legacy of historic figures such as John of Gaunt and Charles Dickens.

Our Fiction and International Fiction events will span a range of topics from science to the supernatural, from the serious to the comedic – with Matthew Dooley’s graphic novel Flake describing the friendships and rivalries of ice-cream salesman in a Lancashire seaside town.

The Poetry Day will bring some of the best contemporary poets, culminating with a reading by the acclaimed TS Eliot Prize winner, Roger Robinson, and we round off the festival with the hugely popular storyteller, Dominic Kelly, who will enthral us with mesmerising myths and fairy tales set in a haunting landscape.

There are chances too for you to get involved! Take part in our Nature Writing Workshop with Anita Sethi, or our Publishing Workshop with Alexa Gregson-Kenmuir and Chris Moore.

Enter our Big Read Challenge, or submit your own work – either poetry to Litfest’s ‘This Place, This Planet’ poetry map or photos to our wildlife photography competition.

A fantastic International Women’s Day event on the 8^th March, with Rachel Holmes introducing her book Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel,leads us strongly into the main festival.

We hope you’ll be able to join us in Lancaster – virtually or in person – for this lively literary festival!

43rd Lancaster Literature Festival: Tuesday 8^th – Sunday 20^th March 2022

Festival tickets start from just £5.

For more information about what’s on and how to book, please visit www.litfest.org.