Wilmslow Festival of Writing

05/07/2026

And it's a wrap! Thank you from our hearts to all exhibitors, performers, directors of performance. workshop facilitators, volunteers and staff and of course our lovely attenders who made yesterday so amazing. We work hard to give you the best and we certainly achieved that yesterday.
See you next year!

05/07/2026

Our lovely venue!

From 1st September, The Guild is officially celebrating our 100th anniversary of bringing adult education, creativity, and community spirit to the heart of Wilmslow!

To celebrate a century of shared heritage, we are hosting a Centenary Retrospective Exhibition from Monday 7th September to Friday 23rd October 2026. We would love for you to join us to raise a glass at our special Preview Evening.

📅Date: Friday 11th September 2026
⏱️Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
📍Location: The Guild, 1 Bourne Street, Wilmslow SK9 5HD

Hope you can make it 🍷

04/07/2026

**WE ARE OPEN!**

03/07/2026

01/07/2026

We're excited to welcome back to the festival! Her poetry books sold like hot cakes last year. In fact her poetry is so good she sold out!! We're so pleased too that she will be reading from her poetry in the afternoon too, and trust us when we say she really does present poetry so beautifully. Don't miss out! Get your ticket here:
https://guildlifelonglearning.org/events/wilmslow-festival-of-writing-2026

01/07/2026

Sometimes words just beg to be performed. Learn how with Katja!

We have an exciting and hugely enjoyable lunchtime workshop for you! Joun our Director of Performance, Katja Ebrigens, for her annual sensory and performance workshop. You'll explore how actors express emotions and respond to suggestions, and have a go yourself in a relaxed and fun way. Suitable all ages!
Endorsements:
* from the gran of two primary school age children who gave it a go: 'The boys loved it! Great fun.'
* from a 90 year old attender who tried the workshop: 'Most enjoyable! I learned a lot!'
Immerse yourself in a new way a exploring how the written word comes to life. Informative, expressive, fun in a gentle ambience. See you there!

01/07/2026

IT'S FUN, IT'S INSPIRING AND BY GUM IT'LL DO YOU GOOD!

**ASPIRING WRITERS! HERE'S WHAT THE FESTIVAL CAN DO FOR YOU!*
Just over a week to gotill the and the excitement is building! But wait! You're an aspiring writer, and you're not sure if the festival will be for you?
Here are four rock solid reasons why you should be there!
LEARN: Join our award winning workshop facilitator, Rehms Ruia, and learn how to craft and short story! 11.00am, book a place by emailing [email protected] And learn from our amazing line up of exhibitors, all published writers, who will be happy to share their expertise with you no matter where you are at in your writing journey.
OBSERVE: Join our audience and listen to our speakers Sheena Kalayil, John Ironmonger, and Emma Jane Barlow who will read from their work and answers question afterwards! That's 2.00pm onwards. Then enjoy seeing how a piece of writing can be performed with our live theatre enemble.
NETWORK: Join with writers at all levels of ability, chat, learn, share your own experiences. The festival is one space where everyone will be on the same page as you! (pardon the pun!).
PRACTICE: Join the short story workshop! Learn from exhibitors and speakers how to present yourself and your work to the public, and chat to us about our fantastic Creative Writing courses at the , our are a wonderful community!
All this for a tenner! Follow this link to sign up:
https://guildlifelonglearning.org/events/wilmslow-festival-of-writing-2026

01/07/2026

BUY YOURS NOW!

It's getting closer.....do you really want to miss out on an event that is fast making a name for itself in literary circles? So that we are able to offer an outstandng lineup of exhibitors, speakers, workshop facilitators and performers and it just keeps on getting better?
Oh and did we mention we have CAKE??? 🎂🍰🍥🧁
Seriously, this festival is going to be wonderful but to fully enjoy the whole thing, you need a ticket. Take a look at who's coming by browsing the posts on this page. For £10 you'll have an unforgettable day, access all areas. Here's the link. Do it now! See you soon!
https://guildlifelonglearning.org/events/wilmslow-festival-of-writing-2026

01/07/2026

Thought we are all about fiction and poetry, huh? You're wrong! Come and chat to Susan Dunne about her new book exploring the friendshp between two Northern power women, Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte Bronte. This new and exclusive research throws new light on how the two authors infleunced and supported each other. Make sure you save some book money for a copy!

Take a deep dive into the lives of two stellar female classic novelists with exhibitor Susan Dunne! We're delighted to welcome Susan to the where she'll be on the spot to chat about her new 'dual' biography of the author friends, Charlotte Bronte and Elzabeth Gaskell.
Susan's not just a scholar of Victorian literature and those who wrote it - she has been a teacher and also a journalist, her work appearing in local and national publications.
We know Susan's work will appeal to writers, but also to keen readers and fans of the two authors in question. Get your signed copy on the day!
Book your festival ticket here:
https://guildlifelonglearning.org/events/wilmslow-festival-of-writing-2026
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01/07/2026

We're super excted to welcome to the festival! She'll be on hand to chat about her award winning writing and to tell you about her newly released novel, Da, which is already attracting attention in all the right places. Now's your chance to get a signed copy!

We're thrilled and honoured that gifted author Arathi Menon (MA, Creative Writing, University of East Anglia) is coming all the way from London to the ! And she'll be bringing with her copies of her newly published book Da, which has received rave advance reviews. Set in an Indian metropolis in 2013, Da is a tender story of a boy caught between devotion and fear, chronicling the everyday courage it takes to love someone the world refuses to accept.
Arathi is the winning author of the SI Leeds Literary Prize and Novel London, and has also been on numerous shortlists and longlists, including the BPA First Novel Award, Cinnamon Literary Award, Virginia Prize for Fiction, UA 100X100, FAB Prize, Ivan Juritz Prize and the Penguin WriteNow programme.
If you have an idea for a story or are already a writer exploring otherness in society, Arathi is the person to chat to! Once you've bought a copy of Da, of course....
Get your festival ticket here: https://guildlifelonglearning.org/events/wilmslow-festival-of-writing-2026
https://www.instagram.com/arathimenonauthor/




Author Image Credit - John Antony Thadicaran.