Creative Folkestone

Take a podcast idea from first spark through recording and editing to an episode ready to share in a hands-on masterclass with experienced podcaster Selina Barker. Find your voice and shape content for an audience. No experience is needed - just bring your laptop.

Join a live conversation with Siri Hustvedt, joining from New York, as Folkestone-based author Ann Morgan chairs a discussion on grief, memory, love and her memoir Ghost Stories. The one-hour event ends with a book signing in The Clearing.

Explore Tudor power, intrigue and royal personalities in a Book Festival conversation with bestselling historian Alison Weir, discussing The Boleyn Secret and Queens of the Age of Chivalry. Culture journalist Alex Peake-Tomkinson chairs, with a book signing afterwards in The Clearing.

Explore Muriel Spark’s work as a novelist, poet and satirist, while examining how reinvention and contradiction shape a writer’s reputation. Chaired by Sophie Haydock, the discussion draws on James Bailey’s biography and ends with a book signing in The Clearing.

Hear AI ethicist Dr Eleanor Drage unpack who shapes AI and whose values guide it. Explore Big Tech, biased algorithms and the stakes for justice, democracy and public good in a hopeful conversation chaired by Tamer, followed by a book signing.

Explore Barbara Cartland’s archives with historian Matthew Sweet and her granddaughter, Tara Parker, as they uncover the woman behind the pink gowns and romantic heroines. Lucy Trodd chairs this conversation on her life and legacy, followed by a book signing and festival bookshop.

Follow Bateman’s conversation through the history of money, from the Stone Age to the digital age, as she challenges who gets credit for economic progress and spotlights women’s contributions. The event is chaired by Leigh Chambers and ends with a book signing in The Clearing.

Hear two novelists unpack fame, marriage and the pressure of public attention through the stories of Catherine Dickens, Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe. Join an hour-long discussion chaired by National Gallery curator Francesca Whitlum-Cooper, then meet the authors at a book signing.

Hettie Judah explores how to build a life in art, unpacking creative-career myths and different routes into artistic practice. This one-hour event considers making it without art school and is followed by a book signing in The Clearing.

Investigative journalist Hazel Sheffield discusses her first book, exploring places across Britain that communities are repairing and reclaiming. Hear how people are reimagining neglected landscapes, from silt-filled harbours to overgrown forests and empty buildings.

Write alongside author Rebecca Beattie in a participatory workshop drawing on winter folklore, ritual and her book about a witch’s winter. Explore intuition and imagination through guided prompts, writing exercises and quieter moments of reflection and release.

Spend an hour of darkly imaginative storytelling with Viktor Wynd, who revisits witches, curses, beasts, ghosts and desires through a mischievous gothic take on familiar folklore. A book signing follows the event.

Historian Michael Taylor traces how an eighteenth-century secret society became a blueprint for modern conspiracy culture. Explore its links to misinformation and online extremism in conversation with BAFTA-winning writer Jolyon Rubinstein. The event ends with a book signing in The Clearing.

Bestselling historian Iain MacGregor traces 3,000 years of conflict, from Marathon and Bannockburn to Stalingrad and Kyiv, revealing how morale, leadership and innovation can turn battles - and nations - around. The talk is chaired by historian Martin Latham and is followed by a book signing.

Cory Doctorow unpacks why online platforms get worse, tracing Big Tech monopolies and the incentives shaping digital life. Hear sharp analysis, wit and practical ideas for change at this in-person festival conversation, followed by a book signing in The Clearing, with books available from Waterstones.

Hear Marina Warner explore sanctuary through myth, literature, history and refugee storytelling projects in the UK and Sicily. Novelist Zoe Gilbert chairs the discussion, which is followed by a book signing.

Ian McEwan discusses his new novel and the ideas and craft behind more than forty years of writing in a rare live conversation. Journalist Helen Sharp chairs the discussion, which explores love, memory and morality, before a book signing in The Clearing.

Join a live conversation with celebrated writer A.L. Kennedy about her new novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, exploring family, memory, justice and hope. Writer and publisher Matt Trinetti chairs the discussion, followed by a book signing where you can meet Kennedy.

Former Chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid Javid discusses his memoir, The Colour of Home, tracing family, identity and ambition through his upbringing in Rochdale and path into politics. Parul Bavishi chairs, followed by a book signing with Waterstones.

Hear Juliet Sargeant explore soil with Fergus Garrett, revealing how it shapes gardens, biodiversity, food production and climate resilience. Consider how gardeners of all abilities can help create healthier spaces, then stay for a book signing.

Hear a volunteer RNLI crew member from Dungeness discuss courage, teamwork and moral clarity under pressure, drawing on life on the English Channel. The conversation is chaired by local open-water swimming coach Kirsty Hogben and followed by a book signing.