Barkway Literary Festival
Saturday 3rd October 2026
The Barkway LitFest provides a forum for bibliophiles, thinkers and aesthetes from across East Anglia to learn from authors and artists from within the creative world.
Tickets are priced at £10.00
Or book the whole day.
Want to participate in multiple events? Our day ticket gives you the flexibility to drop in and out of all the events throughout the day. With 7 author presentations, this is a great value ticket that gives you the flexibility to know you won’t miss any of the days activities.
Barkway Literary Festival
Saturday 3rd October 2026
The Barkway LitFest provides a forum for bibliophiles, thinkers and aesthetes from across East Anglia to learn from authors and artists from within the creative world.
Tickets are priced at £10.00
Or book the whole day.
Want to participate in multiple events? Our day ticket gives you the flexibility to drop in and out of all the events throughout the day. With 7 author presentations, this is a great value ticket that gives you the flexibility to know you won’t miss any of the days activities.
10:00am
Caroline Biggs, Fraser Grace & Susan Grossey
Cambridge Crime in the 19 Century – Three authors reveal the murky past of the world-renowned city and university.
The Spinning House, how Cambridge University locked up women in its private prison…infamously arresting unchaperoned women walking the streets after dark.
Caroline Biggs, a former trustee at the Museum of Cambridge and founder of the city’s History Festival, explores its scandalous secrets.
Firestarter
Firestarter, the controversial deeds and death of the Shelford arsonist.
Fraser Grace, award-winning playwright and a Senior Teaching Associate at the University, recounts the true story of the disruptive farm worker – wronged man or compulsive sociopath?
Ostler, Sizar and Whipster
Ostler, Sizar and Whipster in the Cambridge Harriman mystery series.
Susan Grossey, skilled financial investigator, presents her highly authentic crime novels set in the 1820s, featuring a university constable. Chaired by Kay Blayney.
11:30am
Richard Negus
The British Countryside: A hedgelayer’s view
Words from the Hedge they stitch the landscape together, yet these crucial ribbons of thorn and barb often get overlooked. Master of the ancient craft Richard Negus champions rural people, work and wildlife – exploring the challenges of modern farming, land ownership and conservation.
He writes in the Times, the Telegraph and The Critic magazine, features on Radio 4 Farming Today and co-hosts Countryside, a popular weekly podcast. In conversation with Callum McInerny-Riley, a fellow Countryside raconteur.
1:00pm
Oli Hein
Champion Racehorses –
Twin compilations of the greatest 50 Flat and 50 National Hunt horses from many countries, in conjunction with the Racing Post.
Punch a Hole in the Wind separates fact from myth around the best Flat horses worldwide since the dawn of film. Immortals tells fascinating and sometimes humorous stories of legendary horses in the jump-racing world and the people behind them.
Horseracing expert Oli Hein writes with passion along with indefatigable research. A long-standing voiceover artist, he is a former UN, OSCE and UK diplomat who has published histories of Mauritius, Borneo and Turkmenistan. A talk, illustrated with slides.
2:30pm
Tina Hodgkinson
Agatha Christie’s links with London – A historical look at the Queen of Crime’s love of the capital.
Agatha Christie’s London a special place in her life and books. From childhood stays with her Auntie Grannie, to home ownership… from the residences of Poirot and Hastings, and Tommy and Tuppence, to Miss Marple’s shopping trips, and as a location for stories.
Working at the London Archives and as a qualified tour guide, Tina Hodgkinson has created a series of Agatha Christie walking guides there. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Tina researches and presents papers on Agatha. A talk, illustrated with slides.
4:00pm
Lucy Mangan
The Love of Books – An ode to a lifetime of books in every guise and of every genre.
Bookish a bookaholic’s love letter to reading as an adult, from classics to bonkbusters, follows her earlier Bookworm, a burrowing through favourite characters of childhood.
Memories full of nostalgia and comic energy…comforting, witty, fortifying and magical. Lucy Mangan is a broadcaster, the Guardian’s TV critic and a columnist for i newspaper and others. Owner of 10,000 books. In conversation with Jude Simpson.
5:30pm
Dr Matt Bothwell
Out of this World – Mysteries of the Universe and the excitement of Space.
The Invisible Universe – why there is more to reality than meets the eye. An extraordinary journey through the cosmos, revealing new galaxies and our prehistory, along with black holes and supernovae. Plus, thoughts on man’s new missions to the moon, the planets and maybe beyond.
Dr Matthew Bothwell is Public Astronomer at Cambridge University’s Institute of Astronomy. Hosts stargazing evenings, writes for New Scientist and lectures at the Royal Institution, the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Astronomical Association. Part talk, part visual presentation.
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7:00pm
Jon Mein
Beer, Beds & Stabling in Barkway
The historic story of the village’s multiple pubs on a major highway route.
Everyone is invited to join the members of the Barkway Local History Society as they celebrate the launch of their new village book, with a presentation by its author Jon Mein
No ticket required, free entry.
A bookshop in the heart of the community offering great value, friendly service and unrivalled bookselling experience, Bow Books is a treasure-trove of information, education, relaxation and entertainment.
Barkway Village Hall is located to the east of the main car park. The Pavilion is located next to the main car park area.
Barkway Village Hall
4 Cambridge Road
Barkway
Royston
SG8 8BS
M: 07801 349731