Festival 2026

Free mini festival featuring fifteen incredible writers, poets and authors from best-sellers to unknown treasures.

Pulitzer-nominated US author, Thomas Hauser discussed his prolific writing on Sherlock Holmes and Muhammad Ali.

Poet, critic, novelist and lecturer, Luke Kennard introduced his 2026 Booker Prize shortlisted novel, Black Bag.

Our panel answered questions from the perspectives of a literary agent, a publishing house, an independent publisher and a self-published author.

Poets In Performance day concluded with the Liverpudlian legend and ‘godfather of modern poetry’.

Katie Lee (a.k.a. K.J Lyttleton) hosted a panel with local authors discussing the key elements of writing crime followed by a workshop.

Mini-book fair – poetry books to sell, swap or give away. Followed by monthly spoken word open mic night in Hastings.

CHILDREN'S EVENT: Rebecca Patterson read from her new book Lennox Dean Living the Dream with a drawing and storytelling workshop.

Naomi Wood performed her hilarious and joyful spoken word show 'Monster'.

Part one of our Poets In Performance day; Screenwriter Andy Riley and James Domestic entertained our audience.

A competition to encourage people to read in the open and celebrate Hastings love of dressing up.

Local fiction writer, Joan Taylor-Rowan held a interactive workshop to help create, develop, and begin writing your own short story.

The historian and broadcaster talked about his life and his work, A House Through Time, Black and British a Forgotten History and... The Traitors!

CHILDREN'S EVENT: Alex Milway introduced the cast of his new series 'Captain Sunshine!' with a lively mix of reading, drawing and singing.

Twenty of the most exciting poets in Britain celebrated the seaside, plus our competition winners.

Part two of our Poets In Performance day; Robin read poetry from his recent collections, Ice Cream for a Broken Tooth and Let the Quiet Ones Speak.

Glyn Carter's workshop explored how we enrich our writing by conjuring authentic worlds.

VG Lee and Della Reynolds hosted local writers who performed their short stories and poetry entries on the theme of ‘humour or horror’.