More names announced for Marlborough LitFest’s 2025 line-up include poet Brian Bilston, actor and author Rupert Everett, as well as this year’s Big Town Read by prizewinning author Susan Fletcher. They will join John Suchet, Poppy Okotcha, Clare Chambers and 2025 Golding Speaker Alan Hollinghurst at this year’s festival from 25 – 28 September. The full programme will be announced at the end of June; general tickets go on sale on Friday 11 July, with priority booking for Friends of LitFest from Monday 30 June.
The Big Town Read aims to get as many people as possible in and around Marlborough reading and discussing a chosen book. This year’s title is The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher, praised as an ‘uplifting literary murder-mystery’ and packed with lovable characters, lyrical prose, profound themes and page-turning plot twists. Fletcher’s first novel, Eve Green, won the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Betty Trask Prize and she has subsequently written seven other novels.
LitFest encourages everyone to come along to the event ready to quiz the author. To help you, reading group questions will be available on the LitFest website from late July but – spoiler alert – do read the book first!
Brian Bilston has been dubbed both ‘the Poet Laureate of Twitter’ and ‘the Banksy of the poetry world’. A former publishing marketing manager, Bilston began his writing career as a Twitter poet, producing pithy, often humorous poems and racking up more than 134,000 Instagram followers. Bilston will be reading from his collections, which include You Took the Last Bus Home; Alexa, What is There to Know About Love?; and Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems. His first novel, Diary of a Somebody, was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award for First Novel and his new book of poetry for children, A Poem for Every Question, illustrated by Joe Berger, will be published in September
We’re very grateful for support for the Big Town Read from Wiltshire Libraries. Multiple copies of The Night in Question are available to order from Marlborough Library from mid-June. Call into the library to borrow a copy and if you want to check availability before your visit, call 01672 512663 or email libraryenquiries@wiltshire.gov.uk People will be encouraged to return their copy quickly so that others can read it.
Actor, writer and director Rupert Everett will be coming to Marlborough to talk about his latest book, The American No, a collection of short stories that draws on Everett’s wealth of TV and film ideas. He is also the author of no less than three sets of memoirs as well as two novels over the past 30 years. The American No features the “ferociously unforgiving” life of an LA talent agency. Another story vividly evokes Oscar Wilde’s last night in Paris. And then there’s the Russian-American countess who confronts sex and age in a Wiltshire teashop… Marlborough audiences will be in for an entertaining ride.
LitFest is encouraging people to sign up to Friends of LitFest for 2025 to take advantage of priority booking for this year’s festival. There are different levels of Friends support offering Festival benefits ranging from free tickets to the chance to support an author event. Please click here to find out more.
Mary-Vere Parr, Festival Chair, said: “With poetry, short stories and murder-mystery fiction joining the LitFest line-up, we hope you are as excited as we are to meet the authors in September. We are so grateful to our sponsors, Friends and supporters for making it possible for us to bring them to Marlborough.”
The full festival programme will be announced in late June with priority booking for Friends of LitFest from 30 June and general ticket sales from 11 July. For more information and regular 2025 festival programme updates, click here.
Marlborough LitFest would like to thank its 2025 sponsors for their support: main event sponsor Hiscox; founder sponsor Robert Hiscox; AM; Brearley & Rich; Cocklebury Farm; Deacons; Haine & Smith Opticians; Hamilton Trust, Indigo; McFarlane Property; marlborough.news; St Francis School; Steele Davis; The Arts Society; Wansbroughs and William Golding Ltd.
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