A literary celebration
25th July – 1st August 2026
Following the success of our fifth birthday weekend of events last summer we are back… bigger, better, and extended to a whole week of celebrations, as befits the shop – “Now We Are Six”.
Once again, our thanks go to all our customers, and also the regular seasonal visitors that make our shop what it is today. We simply would not be enjoying the success that enables us to offer such a variety of events without the encouragement we have received throughout the year.
Our philosophy behind the celebration is not just to offer author events and speakers as other festivals are apt to, but provide a multi-faceted experience of the arts, music and film. With a nod to our Georgian heritage, we open with an evening of the music of Jane Austen. Afternoon tea, a Nero award-winning author and even a miniature pony are thrown in for good measure! All proceeds from refreshments served at the venues during the week go to support Holt Community Centre and St Andrew’s Church.
Individual event tickets – including a week pass for just £129 for all the events – are on sale online at buytickets.at/theholtbookshop – or you can buy multiple or single tickets or a Weekend Pass in the Bookshop or just email us to reserve tickets, or if you have any queries. Afternoon tea with Lady Anne Glenconner is sold out.
Details of the ticketed events below, click on the arrow for futher details
Dancing with Darcy ~ A narrative recital of music in Jane Austen ~ Saturday 25th July 7pm at St Andrew’s Church
As part of the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the birth last year of one of our most beloved literary figures, and in tribute to Holt’s Georgian heritage, we are delighted to present a light-hearted exploration of the music featured in the novels of Jane Austen.
Like her character Emma Woodhouse, Austen herself “played and sang,” and music played a central role in her life. She also used it brilliantly in her writing, revealing her characters’ personalities and highlighting the contrasts between them throughout her books.
The event will feature Jayne Jones – Soprano, Brenda Blewett – Piano and Richard Lawry – Narrator
All the profits from this very special event will be donated to St Andrew’s Church fund.
Tickets £20 available in the shop or online
Claire Daverley in conversation with Keith Britten ~ Sunday 26th July 4pm at Holt Community Centre
Claire Daverley was born in 1991 and has been writing stories ever since she was six years old.
After graduating with a degree in Fine Art from the University of Oxford, she began a career in publishing, writing about books by day but penning her own by night. Her debut novel, Talking at Night, was nominated in the Debut of the Year category at the Nibbies and shortlisted for the Nota Bene prize.
Claire will be talking about her highly anticipated second novel people in love, a love triangle you’ll never forget, a story that asks what would happen if the one who got away… came back.
Tickets £8 available in the bookshop or online
James Briggs in conversation with Kayleigh Poacher ~ Sunday 26th July at Holt Community Centre (film included)
A lifelong David Bowie fan, James Briggs will be talking about his first book From Ibiza To The Norfolk Broads. Part rock biography, part memoir and part sociology, the book traces James’ inspirational and often hilarious journey criss-crossing Europe, in the steps of his musical hero.
James is a writer specialising in music and travel who has written for the Guardian, the Irish Times and various travel magazines. Originally from Somerset, he now lives in London.
Followed by The Man Who Fell To Earth – Film starts at 7.30pm
Continuing the theme to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of David Bowie, and on the 50th anniversary of its release.
1976 British science fantasy drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg and adapted by Paul Mayersberg. Based on Walter Tevis’s 1963 novel, the film follows an extra-terrestrial named Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) who crash-lands on Earth seeking a way to ship water to his planet, which is suffering from a severe drought, but finds himself at the mercy of human vices and corruption.
Tickets £10 available in the shop or online
Sarah Hall in conversation with Emma Healey ~ Monday 27th July 7pm at St Andrew’s Church
Sarah Hall is a two-time Booker Prize nominee, the author of six novels and three short-story collections. Notably, she is the only author to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice.
Sarah will be talking with novelist Emma Healey about her life and work and discussing her latest book Helm, a millennia-spanning study of the mysterious and ferocious wind, which has blasted the landscape of the Eden Valley since the very dawn of time.
Tickets £8 available in the shop or online
Land Art Now – Ben Tufnell in conversation with Amanda Geitner ~ Tuesday 26th July 2pm at Holt Community Centre
In the 1960s young artists on both sides of the Atlantic turned away from the gallery and went out into the landscape
to make a revolutionary new type of art.
Encompassing a wide range of practices and including elements of sculpture, performance, photography and conceptual art, Land art continues to be an important global movement. Indeed, in a time of climate crisis this form of art, which prioritizes attentiveness to and immersion in landscape, nature and environment, feels more significant than ever. Ben Tufnell and Amanda Geitner will discuss the contemporary relevance of Land art, taking in key figures including Richard Long, Hamish Fulton, David Nash and the late great Roger Ackling, who was based for much of his life in Norfolk.
Dr Amanda Geitner is currently Director of the East Anglia Art Fund, and a Trustee of the Houghton Art Foundation and the Alfred Cohen Trust. Ben Tufnell is a writer and curator. He was a curator at Tate, Director of Exhibitions at Haunch of Venison and then Director of Parafin, and has published widely on modern and contemporary art. Particularly, on artforms that engage with ideas of landscape and nature
Tickets £8 available in the shop or online
Claire Lynch in conversation with Elizabeth Lewis Williams ~ Tuesday 28th July at St Andrew’s Church
Claire Lynch is a university lecturer and scholar of English and Irish literature. She is the author of Small: On Motherhoods. She lives in Windsor with her wife and three daughters.
Winner of the Nero book Awards Gold Prize 2025, Claire will be discussing her latest book A Family Matter, a dual timeline narrative about a mother following her heart, a father with the law on his side and a child caught in the middle.
Tickets £8 available in the shop or online
Peter Grainger in conversation with Keith Britten ~ Wednesday 29th July, 4pm at Holt Community Centre
Peter Grainger is the ‘creator of the greatest fictional sleuth you’ve probably never heard of’ (FT Magazine).
A former sixth-form English teacher, Peter is the author of 23 self-published novels, 19 of which are now scheduled for release by major British and North American publishers. Peter lives with his wife, sometimes a grandson and a dog in a cottage in the Cambridgeshire fens. He travels as often as possible to the Norfolk coast he once called home.
Peter will be talking about his life, work and writing and introducing us to DC Smith and the Kings Lake Investigation series.
Tickets £8 available in teh shop or online
Rob Parker and Tim Sullivan in conversation with Elspeth Latimer ~ Wednesday 29th July 6.30pm at Holt Community Centre
Rob Parker is a best-selling crime writer. He is the host of Crime Central Manchester; and alongside his wife, runs writing workshops for budding young authors around the country. Rob was inspired to write the Cam Killick mysteries by years of holidays in the Norfolk Broads – during which he has never, he is pleased to say, found a dead body. Rob will be talking about the second book in the Cam Killick series Forbidden Waters.
Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director. His critically acclaimed crime series features the brilliantly persistent DS George Cross who has Autistic Spectrum Condition. The clever, twisty, touching and funny series has won an army of fans and sold over one million copies. Tim will be talking about his latest book in the series The Tailor.
Tickets £8 available from the shop or online
Wendy Holden in conversation with Andrew Taylor ~ Thursday 30th Jully 7pm at St Andrew’s Church
In her dazzling new novel, Wendy Holden presents a fresh take on the Anne Boleyn story.
The Queen’s Painter traces Anne’s stellar rise and tragic fall as seen by Tudor court artist Hans Holbein. Close friend of the ill-fated queen, did he use his genius in a stunning act of revenge?
Wendy is a Sunday Times No.1 bestseller whose 21 books have sold over three million copies in 14 languages. Born in Yorkshire, she read English at Cambridge then spent 14 years as a journalist on the Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Harpers Bazaar and Tatler before becoming a novelist.
Tickets £8 available in the shop or online
Melissa Harrison in conversation with Jess Streeting ~ Friday 31st July 2pm at Holt Community Centre
Melissa Harrison is a novelist, nature writer, podcaster and children’s author.
Her 2018 novel All Among the Barley was the UK winner of the European Prize for Literature. Her work has been shortlisted for the Costa Book Award and the Wainwright Prize and longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She lives in Suffolk. Melissa will be talking about her life, work, and her latest book The Given World, a luminous story about village life set in the ancient Welm Valley
Tickets £8 available in the shop or online
Rilke – You Have To Change Your Life ~ Friday 31st July 5pm at Holt Community Centre (Film)
UK Premiere of a documentary about Rainer Maria Rilke.
Lady Gaga has his verses tattooed on her upper arm, Bono quotes him in his songs, a CD series with his poems recently achieved gold status three times in a row: Rainer Maria Rilke is now much more than just one of the most important poets in literary history; with his ‘Duino Elegies’ in particular, he has become an international life guide and keyword giver of a new longing for depth and seriousness. He also travelled all over Europe, lived in Paris for a long time and wrote a significant proportion of his poems in French, making him the Franco-German poet par excellence. This is the story of a phenomenon that still fascinates today and the search for the secret of its magic.
English Subtitles 52 minutes. Written and directed by: Thomas von Steinacker
A production of 3B-Produktion GmbH in co-production with ZDF and SRF in co-operation with ARTE
Tickets £10 available in teh bookshop or online
“You Must Change Your Life” Rilke, Rodin and Gwen John ~ Friday 31st July 7pm St Andrew’s Church
One of the most ambitious events in this year’s ‘Now We Are Six’ Literary Festival.
“You Must Change Your Life”: Rilke, Rodin & Gwen John is a specially commissioned narrative concert marking the centenary of poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s death and the 150th anniversary of artist Gwen John’s birth. It tells the story of the extraordinary circle around sculptor Auguste Rodin in turn-of-the-century Paris — Rilke, his devoted young secretary, and Gwen John, sister of Augustus John, a brilliant artist in her own right and Rodin’s model and lover.
The evening features twelve of Rilke’s poems newly set to music by Tony Britten — the composer behind the UEFA Champions League anthem — alongside works by Debussy and Erik Satie. Performing are tenor Nicholas Mulroy, pianist Alisdair Hogarth, and narrator Roy Marsden.
Tickets £20 are available in the bookshop or online
Sara Bayat in conversation with Sarah Mitchell Saturday 1st August 2.30pm Holt Community Centre
Sara was born in Manchester and spent her earliest years in Stockport before relocating to an island off the west coast of Canada with her family. She returned to England to join the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia and now lives in Norwich. Her short fiction has been published in various literary magazines and has been shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize.
Hesket: A Norfolk Haunting, is her debut novel, weaving a tapestry of a small village community in which each character has their own story to tell. With close observation of the natural world, the book describes how we are shaped by our ecology and haunted by the changes we have imposed on it.
Tickets £8 available in the bookshop or online
Kiran Millwood Hargrave ~ Saturday 1st August 5.30pm Holt Community Centre
Kiran Millwood Hargrave is an award-winning poet, playwright, and novelist.
The Mercies was her first novel for adults and became an instant Sunday Times bestseller, named amongst the NYT 100 Most Notable Books of 2020. Her bestselling works for children, including The Girl of Ink & Stars, have won or been short- and long-listed for numerous awards including the Blue Peter Best Story Award and, twice, the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Kiran lives in Oxford with her husband, the artist Tom de Freston, and their rescue cats, Luna and Marly. Kiran will be discussing her work, including her latest book Almost Life, a captivating and immersive ode to both love’s possibilities and its pain
Tickets £8 available in the bookshop or online
