Literary Festivals
Africa Writes - Exeter
Africa Writes is the UK’s leading platform curating the best contemporary African and African diaspora writing. An Exeter-based edition of the festival launched in 2020 with the Africa Writes Exeter digital book club, and in 2022 & 2023 returned with an exciting literary weekend offering a blended programme of online and in-person events.
Africa Writes – Exeter is brought to you by the Royal African Society and Saseni! working in partnership with the University of Exeter, local independent bookshop Bookbag and creative hub Roots Resistance.
Appledore Book Festival
The Appledore Book Festival is a charity founded in 2006 by Nick Arnold, author of Horrible Science, in a bid to raise money to save Appledore Library. His campaign brought the community together and was an overwhelming success.
Today, the Appledore Book Festival continues to thrive and grow - becoming one of the biggest cultural festivals in Devon, attracting world-class authors, speakers, and performers. Run almost exclusively by a team of volunteers, who do everything from stewarding the events to adorning the village with bunting, Appledoor Book Festival is a unique experience.
Budleigh Salterton
Literary Festival
Situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on East Devon’s World Heritage Site, the Jurassic Coast, Budleigh Salterton hosts the most outstanding literary festival in South West England. As a registered charity, their mission is to celebrate books and their authors and promote the art of writing and the enjoyment of reading in their East Devon community and in local schools.
Dartmouth Book Festival
A popular tourism destination home to the successful Dartmouth Royal Regatta, Music Festival and Food Festival, Dartmouth Book Festival is an exciting new venture for The Flavel Centre, in partnership with Browser Books, Dartmouth Community Bookshop and Dartmouth Library, and one which they hope will evolve into an annual event.
The Flavel Centre’s new patron is John Suchet, the renowned broadcaster, journalist and author, and they are delighted that he is supporting the Book Festival, and will be participating in the event.
Dulverton Exmoor
Literary Festival
The Dulverton Exmoor Literary Festival is an annual event for story-lovers of all ages across Exmoor, Devon and Somerset, held in a charming moorland town. Festival Director, Ali Pegrum, created the inaugural event in 2022.
Author talks take place in the Town Hall, with writing workshops and readings in other venues across the town. A feature of the Festival is the linked Children’s Writing Competition, with awards presented by Sir Michael Morpurgo (2023) and former Children’s Laureate Lauren Child (2024).
International Agatha Christie Festival
The International Agatha Christie Festival aims to use the extraordinary power and reach of Torquay-born Agatha Christie’s global reputation to promote local engagement and participation in literature and the arts, help the recovery and growth of the local economy and wider efforts to increase tourism, and support work to understand and promote the area’s literary and geological heritage.
Hartland Book Festival
A super event for your diary, Hartland Book Festival promises to be a relaxed, intimate affair. A chance for authors and readers to connect, chat and eat cake – it’s a brilliant, Free Entry, Friendly Festival. Twenty local authors will attend the festival, there will be something for all types of bookworms. If you love romance novels, you enjoy spy thrillers or you’re a sci-fi fan come and meet the friendly authors, buy books, and enjoy some delicious cake at Hartland Parish Hall.
Play On Words Festival
Formerly known as the English Riviera Literature Festival, the Play on Words Festival takes place at the Palace Theatre in Paignton.
The festival includes a stellar cast of well-known and emerging Southwest based authors and writers, with a programme including more workshops to stimulate and inspire festival goers along their own creative path. Writers looking to turn their hobby into a business or exploring self-publishing for the first time can take part in an interactive workshop and hear from authors sharing stories of their own journey.
South Hams Literary Festival
The South Hams Authors Network was set up by historical fiction author Alison Huntingford in August 2021 when she looked around to find a local group to connect with other authors. In 2022 they held their first literary festival at the Clay Factory in Ivybridge which included authors’ talks, book readings and workshops, children’s activities and storytelling, a poetry competition, an ‘open mic’, raffle, book stalls and more. This was followed in 2023 by the South Hams Literary Festival, again in Ivybridge.
The festival returns to the Ivybridge area in October of 2024.
Tiverton Book Festival
Tiverton Literary Festival was an initiative started by The Tiverton Portas Company in 2015 to help revive the town and bring new and familiar folk to Tiverton. We were lucky to have some very dedicated, professional and talented volunteers bring this event to town for 4 years (2015-18).
After a 6 year gap, we are pleased to announce Tiverton's 5th Book Festival will be taking place in Autumn 2024. The 5 day event includes an illustration workshop, a bookish quiz, talks with authors, and advice on routes into publishing.
Are you involved in a Literary Festival in Exeter and Devon that isn’t on this list? Let us know about it!