A slate of international writers has been announced for the 2026 Wimbledon Bookfest, which runs from October 15 to 25. A Booker Prize winner, columnists and other big-name novelists and non-fiction writers will congregate in the south London neighbourhood to speak about their latest works, the art of writing and current affairs. Writers from South Asia, Turkey, Ireland and South Korea will appear alongside UK names.
Hamnet author Maggie O’Farrell will appear in a celebration of her career and her newest novel, Land, a work of fiction that charts the legacy of Ireland’s Great Famine. The 2025 Booker Prize winner David Szalay will be joined by Gwendoline Riley, who won the 2026 Windham-Campbell Prize for her novel The Palm House; they’ll chat about how they approach their stripped-back writing styles.
Sebastian Barry, the Irish laureate for fiction from 2018 to 2021, beloved Turkish British author Elif Shafak, historical fiction staple Robert Harris and The Midnight Train novelist Matt Haig will all separately feature and discuss their latest works. Marcia Hutchinson and Orlaine McDonald, whose works map Black British life, will come together to speak about motherhood, childhood and survival.
On the non-fiction side, highlights will include broadcaster and writer Zakia Sewell, whose latest book delves into the folk traditions and myths of the British Isles, and Guardian columnist and The Rest is Entertainment co-host Marina Hyde, who will be on hand to satirise recent current affairs and their protagonists. Sathnam Sanghera will extrapolate on his latest book, Tonight the Music Seems So Loud, which is a portrait of George Michael and his legacy. And journalist and columnist Caitlin Moran will close the festival with a reflection on the goodness we can find in the everyday, a continuation of her latest book, which is about the year she chose to “live joyfully”.
This year’s festival will have a renewed focus on young readers, and also introduce its first children’s laureate, children’s and young adult’s author Nathanael Lessore. Tickets will be £10 for those aged between 16 and 29, and as part of an initiative with the Merton Big Read programme, all year eight pupils in Merton will receive a copy of the graphic novel edition of William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies.
Also expect timely conversations around technology, social media and AI, and their impact on young people, as well as journalists John Sweeney and Peter Chappell chatting about Reform. Plus, a live event with The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast and performances from the Chineke! Orchestra – the first European orchestra with majority Black and ethnically diverse musicians.
Wimbledon Bookfest runs from October 15–25, at various locations around Wimbledon. Priority booking opens at 10am on June 12, and general public tickets on sale from 10am, June 19.
