Marlborough LitFest is delighted to announce acclaimed novelist Sebastian Faulks as its 2026 Golding Speaker. Faulks will be appearing at LitFest on Friday 25 September at Marlborough Town Hall.
Marlborough LitFest hosts an annual Golding Speaker to highlight the town’s long connection with the Nobel Laureate and Booker Prize winner, William Golding, at an event sponsored by William Golding Limited. Past Golding Speakers include Sir Alan Hollinghurst, Sebastian Barry, Ali Smith, Elif Shafak, Ben Okri, Rose Tremain, Will Self, Lionel Shriver, Louis de Bernières, Fay Weldon and Howard Jacobson.
A prolific author with 23 books to his name including literary criticism, biography and memoir, Faulks is best known for his historical fiction, especially the acclaimed French trilogy: Girl at the Lion d’Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray. His latest novel, Farewell to Eden, said to be a rich portrait of an embattled post-war Britain, will be published on 17 September. The Times has called Faulks ‘one of our finest living authors, a writer whose work has often explored the fragility of human sanity and how easily it can unravel.’
Mary-Vere Parr, Chair of Marlborough LitFest, said: “We are delighted to have Sebastian Faulks as our Golding Speaker and so grateful to William Golding Limited for their support which makes it possible for us to bring writers of his calibre to Marlborough.”
Marlborough LitFest has already announced its first confirmed authors for 2026 as historian and educationalist Sir Anthony Seldon and award-winning novelist Kit de Waal. Marlborough LitFest will return for its 17th year from 24–27 September, and planning for the programme is underway. Confirmed authors and events will be released over the coming months; for more information, click here. The full programme will be available in late June; tickets go on sale from early July.
Marlborough LitFest would like to thank its sponsors, partners and supporters for 2025: founder sponsor Robert Hiscox; main event sponsor Hiscox; event sponsors: AM, Brearley & Rich, Hamilton Trust, Indigo Antiques, Mcfarlane Property, St Francis School, The Arts Society, Wansbroughs, William Golding Limited; general sponsors: Cocklebury Farm, Deacons, Haine & Smith Opticians, marlborough.news, Steele Davis.
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