The Bath Literature Festival was established in 1995 with the support of local entrepreneur Andrew Brownsword, founder of the Forever Friends brand of greeting cards. From the beginning, the festival aimed to be a major celebration of literature and ideas, bringing writers and thinkers to venues across the historic city of Bath.
Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the festival grew in scope and reputation, eventually becoming one of the most significant events in the UK’s literary calendar. Starting in 2012, The Independent became the main sponsor of the Bath Literature Festival. During its heyday, the festival’s artistic directors included Scottish author and academic Sarah LeFanu, British author and filmmaker James Runcie, and British journalist, writer, and comedian Viv Groskop.
In 2016, the Bath Literature Festival merged with the Bath International Music Festival to form a new multi-arts event called the Bath Festival. However, a decade later, the literature and music festivals were revived as separate events held close to each other but not concurrently.
Each year, the Bath Literature Festival features prominent novelists, poets, playwrights, journalists, screenwriters, biographers, actors, comedians, and public figures from the UK and abroad. Past guests have included Nobel and Booker Prize winners Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hilary Mantel, and Howard Jacobson; leading political thinkers such as Tony Benn, Tariq Ali, Anna Politkovskaya, and Eric Hobsbawm; poets Ted Hughes, Andrew Motion, Carol Ann Duffy, Wendy Cope, and Simon Armitage; humorists Garrison Keillor, Steve Bell, and Terry Pratchett.
The Bath Literature Festival offers a rich and diverse program of events, including talks by prominent contemporary authors, themed sessions, poetry readings, and panel discussions. Taking place in historic buildings throughout Bath, these events give organizers a unique opportunity to align the festival’s theme with the city’s incredible architecture.
Originally held in late February or early March, the Bath Literature Festival was moved to May when it became part of the Bath Festival. The first edition of the revived literature festival in 2026 was also held in May, while the revived Bath International Music Festival was moved to June.
Photo: bathfestivals.org.uk
