Durham Book Festival Unveils 2025 Line-up

Strategic Insights -

The Durham Book Festival has announced its 2025 lineup, featuring a diverse range of authors, poets, and storytellers from the North East and beyond. Running from October 10 to 12, the festival celebrates the power of the written word, with events exploring themes of family silences, literary legacy, and maternal relationships. Dame Pat Barker, a renowned living author, will make a special appearance alongside her daughter, the writer and poet Anna Barker, to discuss their forthcoming memoir. Internationally best-selling authors from the North East, including Ann Cleeves and Steph McGovern, will also take part in conversations about their work.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Durham Book Festival will take place from October 10 to 12, featuring a diverse range of authors, poets, and storytellers from the North East and beyond.
  • Dame Pat Barker will make a special appearance alongside her daughter, the writer and poet Anna Barker, to discuss their forthcoming memoir.
  • Internationally best-selling authors from the North East, including Ann Cleeves and Steph McGovern, will participate in conversations about their work.
  • The festival will include a special commission, with support from Manchester Metropolitan University, to mark the 40th anniversary of Tony Harrison's seminal poem, v.
  • Poets Andrew McMillan, Malika Booker, Jo Clement, and Paul Farley will present their reimagining of the 1984 poem.
  • Durham University alumni broadcaster Jeremy Vine will discuss his debut crime novel, Murder on Line One.
  • TV's retail guru Mary Portas will bring her memoir, I Shop, Therefore I Am.
  • Literary acts also include bestselling and award-winning novelist Jonathan Coe, with his latest novel, The Proof of My Innocence.
  • One of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists, Natasha Brown, will bring her acclaimed second novel, Universality, to the festival.
  • New Writing North's 2022 Debut Award for Fiction winner, Grainne O'Hare, will feature on a panel with novelists Vincenzo Latronico and Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin.

Statistics:

  • 16 novels have been written by Dame Pat Barker, including the Booker-Prize winning The Ghost Road.
  • 40 years will be explored in the Barker's forthcoming memoir, discussing family silences, literary legacy, and maternal relationships.
  • 500 free copies of James Harris' picture book, Help! We Need a Story, will be distributed to libraries across the county as part of the festival's events for aspiring children's book writers.
  • Durham Book Festival has been running for 35 years, with this being its 2025 edition.
  • The festival has been produced by New Writing North, with support from Durham University and Arts Council England.

Sources:

  • Durham Book Festival website
  • New Writing North website
  • Durham County Council website
  • Arts Council England website