Leicester’s flagship literature festival, Literary Leicester, will return this month with an impressive roster of internationally acclaimed authors, including bestselling crime writer Sophie Hannah, novelist Louise Doughty, award-winning author Jonathan Coe and children’s literature icon Dame Jacqueline Wilson.
Organised by the School of Arts, Media and Communication at the University of Leicester, the festival’s main programme will run from Wednesday 18 to Saturday 21 March across the university’s campus. In addition to the March celebrations, Literary Leicester hosts events throughout the year as part of its wider annual series.
Picture credit: Dean Leivers
A highlight of the 2026 programme will be a special day dedicated to crime fiction, marking the 50th anniversary of the death of legendary mystery writer Agatha Christie. The event will celebrate her enduring influence on the genre and feature discussions exploring the evolution and continued popularity of crime writing.
Further extending the festival beyond its March dates, Dame Jacqueline Wilson will deliver the prestigious Annual Creative Writing Lecture on Thursday 30 April.
Festival co-directors Dr Claire Wood and Dr Harry Whitehead said they were thrilled to bring the free literary celebration back to the city.
“We’re so delighted to host the city’s annual free book festival once again in 2026. We’ve a fantastic line up this year, both during the main festival and in our annual events series that run throughout the year,” they said.
They added that this year’s programme offers a wide-ranging exploration of contemporary themes and creative forms. “As well as our main headliners, we’re talking how to be climate hopeful, what it means to ‘Write Leicester’ with the city’s poet laureate and newest major novelist. We also ‘Ride Leicester’ with a free bike tour of local literary highlights. We’ve kids’ workshops with local schools and Saturday events considering ten people who changed the world; there’s science fiction, visual poetry and much more.”
Emphasising the festival’s inclusive ethos, they said: “We’re a 100% free book festival in the country’s first ‘plural’ city. As such, we’re delighted always to see the most diverse audiences from right across the city. We welcome everyone. We hope to entertain, to inform, and, in this National Year of Reading, to promote and celebrate books across a huge range of subjects.”
The full programme for Literary Leicester 2026 is available online, at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/literaryleicester, with further events and guest announcements expected in the coming months.
