Durham Book Festival

11/10/2025

Welcome to day 2 of Durham Book Festival!

Today we'll be chatting politics and energy, North East history, music, and feminism. It's a great day for poetry fans as we'll hear new responses to Tony Harrison's poetry and a live reading of Anna Barker's Book of Crow collection. Plus you can bring your kids for a storytime at Clayport Library!

It's not too late to book your in-person and livestream tickets 🎟

10/10/2025

If you've booked a livestream ticket for an event this weekend, you will be able to access it by going to streaming.galadurham.co.uk, logging in with the details you used to book your ticket, and selecting the relevant event.

Livestreams will be available to watch back until 31 October. Please get in touch with the Gala Durham box office if you have any issues.

10/10/2025

DURHAM BOOK FESTIVAL 2025 IS HERE 🎉🙌

We're getting things started with a packed evening tonight at Gala Durham. You can still book in-person or livestream tickets to come and hear about fashion with Mary Portas, The Beatles with Ian Leslie, and murder mysteries with Jeremy Vine. And you can meet and share work with other North East writers at our Scratch Night!

See you there very soon 👋

08/10/2025

🚌 A note about travelling to the festival!

On Saturday and Sunday, there will be no trains running in and out of Durham due to engineering works on the line. There will be rail replacement buses running, which will take 35 minutes from Newcastle and Darlington, 75 minutes from Eaglescliffe, 85 minutes from Bishop Auckland and 120 minutes from York.

If you’re driving in, the closest car parks to our venues are the Walkergate, Prince Bishops and The Sands multi-storeys. There are also park-and-rides operating during the daytime. There may be more demand for parking spaces due to the train disruption.

⏰ Please make sure to leave extra time and check before you travel!

You can find more information about getting here on our website: https://newwritingnorth.com/durham-book-festival/about/

03/10/2025

1 week to go until Durham Book Festival!!

Why not get in the mood this weekend by stopping in at our official bookseller Collected for a cuppa and cake to shelter from the rain and browse some of the fab reads featuring in this year's festival? ☕📚

We can't wait to see you SO soon 😁

02/10/2025

It’s National Poetry Day! Poetry is always a special and important part of our festival, and this year is no exception.

Andrew McMillan is bringing together three acclaimed Northern poets – Malika Booker, Jo Clement and Paul Farley – to share their responses to Tony Harrison’s seminal 1984 poem, v.

Book of Crow, the stunning poetry collection from North East writer Anna Barker, comes to life with a dramatic live reading, accompanied by music from Durham band The Shining Levels.

The Poetry Book Society presents two award-winning poets from its prestigious Autumn 2025 recommendations list – Mona Arshi and Caroline Bird – to chat about their new collections in an intimate event at Collected Books.

All happening between 10-12 October right in the centre of Durham. Book your tickets now: https://newwritingnorth.com/durham-book-festival/programme/

28/09/2025

Hear from two former politicians as they share stories of their time as MP and discuss their latest insightful books at Durham Book Festival.

Alan Johnson, award-winning writer and former Labour cabinet minister, will discuss his new biography of one of the most successful politicians of the 20th century – former Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.

Alan will be in conversation with his former parliamentary colleague Chris Mullin, who was MP for Sunderland South and is the celebrated writer of novels and diary collections, including his latest, Didn’t You Use to be Chris Mullin.

Book your tickets now to join us at Gala Durham or online on Saturday 11 October:

Alan Johnson joins us to talk about his biography of one of the most successful politicians of the 20th century:...

26/09/2025

Disaffected millennial angst, ropey rentals, and complicated relationships – you can find all of these and more in Gráinne O’Hare, Vincenzo Latronico and Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin’s bitingly witty novels, which are three of the most exciting and timely fiction releases of 2025.

💖 Gráinne O’Hare’s Thirst Trap is a funny and bittersweet story of the messy friendships between a group of young women living in Belfast

💙 Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection follows a millennial expat couple in Berlin as they search for meaning and authenticity amongst the dissatisfaction of contemporary life

💚 Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin’s Ordinary Saints is a heartfelt exploration of family, grief, q***r identity, and the legacy of the Catholic Church in Ireland

You’re sure to discover a new fiction favourite when you join these three authors at Durham Book Festival on Sunday 12 October, 2:30pm. Book your tickets now:

Disaffected millennial angst, ropey rentals, and complicated relationships link Gráinne O’Hare, Vincenzo Latronico and Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin’s bitingly witty novels,...

16/09/2025

The WOW Show is coming to Durham Book Festival! 🎉

Fresh from its Edinburgh Fringe run, WOW - Women of the World Festival Founder Jude Kelly brings an evening of powerful stories, bold conversations, and unforgettable moments – joined by the brilliant comedian and writer Shaparak Khorsandi 💥

From money to s*x, housing to ageing, this is a space to rage, laugh, share, and celebrate together. Plus, we’ll shine a spotlight on a local hero who has been nominated by the community – if you know someone who's making a difference and works tirelessly to make the lives of women, girls and non-binary people better, you can nominate them at the link in WOW's bio!

📅 11 October, 7.30pm
📍 Gala Durham
🎟️ https://newwritingnorth.com/event/the-wow-show/

Bring your friends, bring your family – this one’s for everyone.

There’s no denying it – the world feels heavy right now and the news feels relentless. Rights are being rolled...

15/09/2025

"Being born in north east England gives you grit" – Fiona Hill in the Guardian at the weekend.

The former White House adviser and Durham University Chancellor is putting a spotlight on our ‘resilient’ region in the new short podcast series, Forged in the North. Commissioned by Durham Book Festival, all episodes will be available from 10 October.

Forged in the North explores how the North East has shaped the lives of successful people with Hill talking to two people in each episode. The pairings on the episodes are: music icon Sting and Yale historian Paul Kennedy; award-winning writers Lee Hall and Peter Straughan; entrepreneur Sara Davies and North East Mayor Kim McGuinness; and sport pioneers Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and Brendan Foster.

Fiona Hill was born and brought up in Bishop Auckland in County Durham, the daughter of a coalminer and a midwife. She went on to be a foreign affairs adviser to US presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and she is considered one of the world’s leading experts on Russia and Putin.

A special Forged in the North event will take place at Gala Durham as part of the festival on Sunday 12 October. Fiona Hill will be in conversation with authors Dan Jackson and Richard O’Neill about how they tell the story of the North East in their books.

Former White House adviser turns spotlight on ‘resilient’ region with new podcast Forged in the North