Charleston Festival
13–25 May
For 37 years, Charleston Festival has been a home for bold ideas and boundary-pushing art. This year’s lineup brings audiences together with the creative trailblazers shaping our ever-changing world. Join us this spring for two weeks bursting with live conversations, electrifying performances, family fun and hands-on creative workshops.
Become a Festival Friend
Enjoy priority booking for Charleston Festival and year-round events, plus free entry for you and a guest to the house and eight exhibitions at Firle and Lewes.
£10 Tickets for Under 30s
We’ve earmarked 1,000 £10 tickets across the whole festival for anyone aged 30 and under.
Sign up for our free Under 30s membership. Join at charleston.org.uk/support
At a Glance
Wed 13 May
In Print
Sharmaine Lovegrove and Margaret Busby with Gaby Wood
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £18
Radical Ink
With special guests to be announced
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £30
Thu 14 May
Creativity in Conflict and Confinement
Nazanin ZaghariRatcliffe, Ester Coen and James Bulgin with Rebecca Newell
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £30
Writing with Ambition
Sharmaine Lovegrove
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 2pm ⍞ £60 WORKSHOP
In Defence of Europe
Caroline Lucas, Anand Menon and Marina Wheeler with Tom McTague
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £20
The Power of Music
Sheku Kanneh-Mason with Linton Stephens
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £25
Notes from the Underground
Lauren J. Joseph and Paris Lees
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £18
Fri 15 May
In Defence of Democracy
Ash Sarkar and John Kampfner
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £20
Taking Risks
Sheena Patel and Ella Frears
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 2pm ⍞ £60 WORKSHOP
On Being Ill: Pain, Language and the Body
Susanna Clarke and Darcey Steinke with Chris Power
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £20
☆ My Life in Art
Rose Wylie with Jennifer Higgie
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £25
Having Spent Life Seeking
Kae Tempest
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £25
Sat 16 May
Make a Nature Crown
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 9.30am ⍞ £10
♡ FAMILY WORKSHOP
Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room
Hugh Bonneville
→ Festival Tent
◔ 11am ⍞ £10
♡ FAMILY EVENT
In Defence of a Free Press
Clive Myrie and Robin Ince with Katie Razzall
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £20
A Matter of Conscience
Reni Eddo-Lodge, Alice Oswald and Ahdaf Soueif
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £25
On Memoir
Geoff Dyer and Blake Morrison
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £20
Art is for Everyone
Kate Bryan and Katy Hessel
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £20
Sun 17 May
Make
Magical Wings
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 9.30am ⍞ £10
♡ FAMILY WORKSHOP
Horrid Henry
Francesca Simon
→ Festival Tent
◔ 11am ⍞ £10
♡ FAMILY EVENT
The Unquiet Conservative
Michael Heseltine
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £25
From Rasputin to Putin: Myth, Power and Russia
Antony Beevor and Luke Harding
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £20
Self-Help from the Middle Ages
Peter Jones and Helen Carr with Eleanor Janega
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £18
Common Sense at 250
Sarah Churchwell and Jonathan White
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £20
Wed 20 May
The Great Good Places
Margaret Drabble with Sarah Moss
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £20
Story and Character
Alexandra Pringle, Alex von Tunzelmann and Faiza S. Khan
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 2pm ⍞ £60
WORKSHOP
Keynes for Our Times
Robert Skidelsky
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £20
Secrets and Lies
Elizabeth Day and Juliet Nicolson
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £20
Not Giving Up Yet
Sandi Toksvig with Lennie Goodings
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £30
At a Glance
Thu 21 May
Life Writing
Sarah Moss
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 12.30pm ⍞ £60 WORKSHOP
Mind over Murder
Philippa Perry
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £20
Nation of Strangers
Ece Temelkuran and Kamila Shamsie
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £18
☆ Jeremy
Hutchinson Memorial
Lecture: Impunity
Philippe Sands
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £25
Lives Under Pressure
Douglas Stuart with Ferdia Lennon
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £20
Fri 22 May
After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal
Merlin Holland and David Hare
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £20
Historical Fiction
S. J. Parris
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 2pm ⍞ £60 WORKSHOP
Why Stories Matter
Jeanette Winterson
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £25
Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia
Maria Alyokhina with Zoe Williams
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £18
Every Joke is a
Tiny Revolution
Rosie Jones
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £20
Sat 23 May
Make a
Monster Mask
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 9.30am ⍞ £10
♡ FAMILY WORKSHOP
The Magic
Faraway Tree
Simon Farnaby, Jennifer Saunders and Ben Gregor
→ Festival Tent
◔ 11am ⍞ £10
♡ FAMILY EVENT
Cinecittà Dreams
Olivia Laing with Francine Stock
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £18
Fiction, Distilled
Colm Tóibín and Ruth Ozeki
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £25
Men in Love
Irvine Welsh with Miranda Sawyer
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £25
☆ Charleston
Monologue: PURGE
Written by Joelle Taylor
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £20
Sun 24 May
Make a Dream Catcher
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 9.30am ⍞ £10
♡ FAMILY WORKSHOP
The Story of Art Without Men… For Tweens!
Katy Hessel
→ Festival Tent
◔ 11am ⍞ £10
♡ FAMILY EVENT
The Making of England
Tony Robinson and S. J. Parris
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £20
Vocal Break
Lauren Elkin and Melissa Auf der Maur
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £18
The Emperor of Gladness
Ocean Vuong with Kayo Chingonyi
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £20
Walking Shadow
Greg Doran and Harriet Walter
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £25
Mon 25 May
The Future is Peace
Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon
→ Festival Tent
◔ 1.30pm ⍞ £18
Writing Place
Lauren Elkin
→ Orchard Tent
◔ 2pm ⍞ £60 WORKSHOP
☆ What I Believe
Jung Chang with William Nicholson
→ Festival Tent
◔ 3.30pm ⍞ £25
American Lives
Tayari Jones and Jay McInerney
→ Festival Tent
◔ 5.30pm ⍞ £20
☆ Goodbye to Berlin: Christopher Isherwood in His Own Words
Olly Alexander
→ Festival Tent
◔ 7.30pm ⍞ £30
After Bloomsbury
The Charleston Podcast
Can’t wait until May?
Our brand-new podcast, presented by Claire Ratinon, unearths voices from over 25 years of incredible festival archives, with conversations previously only heard live at Charleston Festival.
Featuring Sir David Attenborough, Patti Smith, Paula Rego, Richard E. Grant, Bob Geldof, Susan Sontag, Dame Judi Dench, Zadie Smith, Roxane Gay and many more.
Listen on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or wherever you usually get your podcasts.
A Peanut & Crumb production for Charleston
Design by Kellenberger–White
Photography by Lewis Ronald
From thrilling conversations and hard-hitting debates to magical family events and hands-on workshops, our 2026 programme spans literature, politics, art, history and everything in between.
The Power of Words
Language has threaded through thousands of years of human history, shaping how we understand ourselves and one another. It can comfort and persuade, provoke and inspire, outrage and unite. At a moment when words feel under siege – by governments, algorithms, and AI – we celebrate their power. This year’s festival explores the pleasure and politics of words and reminds us why reading and writing matter now more than ever.
In Defence of…
For decades, many of us have assumed that democracy, a free press and close ties with Europe were a given. In recent years, that confidence has fractured. This series explores why these assumptions are being challenged so forcefully – and what’s at stake. Journalists, writers and politicians discuss not only how we defend these systems, but how we renew and reshape them for a changing world.
☆ Charleston Festival Originals
Look out for the ☆ to explore our annual Festival Originals – unique events commissioned and produced by Charleston. These include What I Believe, inspired by E. M. Forster’s powerful 1938 defence of secular values; the Jeremy Hutchinson Memorial Lecture, honouring the formidable barrister; and Charleston Monologue, a newly commissioned dramatic response to our time.
Book Group
Take part in our festival Book Group hosted by writer and editor Holly Dawson. The full list of books, featured within the festival programme, will be available online so you have plenty of time to prepare.
See website for dates and full reading list.
In Print
Sharmaine Lovegrove and Margaret Busby with Gaby Wood Part of The Power of Words
Radical Ink
With special guests to be announced Part of The Power of Words
◔ Wednesday 13 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £18, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
In 1917, Virginia and Leonard Woolf launched the Hogarth Press as a daring experiment in editorial freedom and creative risk. It grew into one of the 20th century’s most influential independent publishers.
Legendary publishers Margaret Busby and Sharmaine Lovegrove join Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize, to discuss the radical legacy of the Hogarth Press and the role of publishing as a cultural and political act, both then and now.
◔ Wednesday 13 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £30, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Hogarth Press blazed a trail across 20th century publishing, giving voice to some of the most dazzling and innovative books of the era. From Virginia Woolf’s Orlando to T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, from Sigmund Freud to E. M. Forster, it reshaped literature and the reading world.
In this dramatic reading, ten extraordinary texts come vividly to life, capturing the press’s bold, unconventional and politically charged spirit – a vivid reminder of the enduring power of literature in a turbulent world.
Virginia Woolf and the Hogarth Press exhibition runs from 1 April to 6 September 2026 at Charleston in Firle.
Creativity in Conflict and Confinement
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Ester Coen and James Bulgin with Rebecca Newell
◔ Thursday 14 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £30, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was imprisoned for more than six years by the Revolutionary Guard of Iran. During that time, she turned to sewing, knitting and woodwork, fashioning clothes for herself and her daughter, made from Liberty fabric that she had special permission to bring into prison.
This event builds on a new Imperial War Museum and Liberty collaboration, of which Zaghari-Ratcliffe is the ambassador, exploring how creativity in confinement can restore identity, agency and hope. Together with curator Ester Coen and James Bulgin, head of public history at the museum, they reveal remarkable stories from the Imperial War Museum’s collections - from wartime camps to the Holocaust - showing how craft, music and art can provide healing and hope for the future.
In Defence of Europe
Caroline Lucas, Anand Menon and Marina Wheeler with Tom McTague
Part of In Defence of...
◔ Thursday 14 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Ten years on from the Brexit referendum, the questions it raised have not gone away. As alliances shift and the US grows openly hostile towards Europe, we are being forced to think again about Britain’s place in an increasingly fractured world.
In this conversation, Tom McTague, editor of the New Statesman and author of Between the Waves, is joined by former Green Party leader and MEP Caroline Lucas, political scientist Anand Menon, and lawyer and writer Marina Wheeler to reflect on what Brexit has exposed, how Europe is responding to new pressures and what collective action might still be possible in a more unstable world.
The Power of Music
Sheku Kanneh-Mason with Linton Stephens
◔ Thursday 14 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
From winning BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016 to playing at Harry and Meghan’s wedding, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s music has moved millions across the globe with its extraordinary beauty. In conversation with fellow musician Linton Stephens, he talks about the discipline and drive behind his ascent, the family that shaped him, and the exclusion and elitism that still govern classical music. This special event is a celebration of music and those who make it, and a rallying call for change.
Notes from the Underground
Lauren J. Joseph and Paris Lees
◔ Thursday 14 May, 7.30pm → Festival Tent
⍞ £18, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Two of the most thrilling voices in contemporary fiction come together to explore the lure of excess, glamour and reinvention. Joseph’s Lean Cat, Savage Cat follows Charli from Soho to Berlin as she falls under the spell of the enigmatic
musician Alexander Geist and the dizzying dream of making him a Bowie-like star. Lees' hit book and BBC series What It Feels Like for a Girl tracks thirteen-year-old Byron’s escape from small-town life into Nottingham’s hedonistic underground, where desire and violence collide. Together they expose obsession, fame and the terrible lengths we go to feel loved.
In Defence of Democracy
Ash Sarkar and John Kampfner
Part of In Defence of...
◔ Friday 15 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
For some of us, the act of voting may feel like an empty gesture and public institutions may seem distant. What happens when trust in the system drains away? And what is at risk when democracy stops delivering what people want of it?
Writer and political commentator Ash Sarkar and journalist John Kampfner discuss democracy as it is lived today – from protest and political media to elections, accountability and trust. They ask not how democracy can be defended, but how it can be reshaped to reflect the people it serves. This urgent conversation explores what has been lost, what has been distorted, and where there is still room for renewal and meaningful change.
On Being lll: Pain, Language and the Body
Susanna Clarke and Darcey Steinke with Chris Power
Part of The Power of Words
◔ Friday 15 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
It is 100 years since the publication of Virginia Woolf’s essay On Being Ill, in which she describes how illness disrupts daily life, isolates us from the familiar and sharpens our perception of the world. In this festival commission, two writers respond. Susanna Clarke, whose writing life has been shaped by long-term illness, reflects on ill health, imagination and the body. She is joined by Darcey Steinke, author of This Is the Door: Notes from a Body in Pain. In conversation with writer Chris Power, they explore how illness resists language and what it means to write from the altered states it creates.
My Life in Art
Rose Wylie with Jennifer Higgie
☆ Charleston Festival Original
◔ Friday 15 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Following her landmark Royal Academy exhibition, iconic painter
Rose Wylie sits down with writer and critic Jennifer Higgie to reflect on a career that began in her fifties, from an unconventional beginning to being recognised as one of Britain’s most
accomplished artists. Wylie’s playful and irreverent paintings mix cinema, celebrity and ancient history, and her cast of characters – from Elizabeth I and Marilyn Monroe to Serena Williams and Snow White – sits alongside personal memories. Join Wylie and Higgie for a bold, entertaining and deeply human conversation about art, influence and the power of the imagination.
Having Spent Life Seeking
Kae Tempest
◔ Friday 15 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Kae Tempest is an award-winning poet, novelist, playwright and performer whose work has consistently explored voice, belonging and survival. In his first novel in a decade, Having Spent Life Seeking, Tempest traces his protagonist Rothko Taylor’s return to a coastal hometown after 15 years away, drawing together family history, first love and the life once left behind. Moving between past and present, the novel asks what it means to remake a life without disowning what came before.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Tempest will reflect on the relationship between poetry, performance and long-form fiction and explore themes of community, forgiveness and the need to be seen.
In Defence of a Free Press
Clive Myrie and Robin Ince with Katie Razzall Part of In Defence of...
◔ Saturday 16 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Journalism is increasingly under attack, undermined and dismissed. The question now is not whether a free press matters, but how it survives.
BBC journalist and newsreader Clive Myrie and comedian and broadcaster Robin Ince explore what it means to report in an era of political hostility, legal intimidation and online abuse. In conversation with BBC Media Editor Katie Razzall, they reflect on the personal toll of this scrutiny and ask what the future of journalism looks like in an era of “fake news” and growing public distrust.
A Matter of Conscience
Reni Eddo-Lodge, Alice Oswald and Ahdaf Soueif Part of The Power of Words
◔ Saturday 16 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
In times of upheaval, we often turn to writers who bear witness, who resist, who speak out despite the risks of doing so.
But what does it mean to write and act from conscience? Must a writer always be bound by their conscience? What are the costs of doing so – or not doing so? And does
the responsibility of the writer start and end with the written word?
This special commission invites journalist and author Reni EddoLodge, poet Alice Oswald and novelist Ahdaf Soueif to explore the choices and possibilities faced by writers today: the consequences of speaking out, and the ways imagination can confront, subvert or transform the world.
In partnership with English PEN
On Memoir
Geoff Dyer and Blake Morrison with Holly Dawson
Art is for Everyone
Kate Bryan and Katy Hessel
◔ Saturday 16 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Can memory ever be trusted — or is every memoir a work of fiction?
In his new book On Memoir, Blake Morrison explores the pleasures and pitfalls of the form. Best known for the much loved When Did You Last See Your Father?, Morrison helped redefine modern memoir by writing with honesty, clarity and emotional force.
Writer Geoff Dyer, whose memoir Homework and wide-ranging fiction have long played with the boundary between truth and invention, joins Morrison in conversation. Together with author Holly Dawson, they talk about the complexities of putting real lives on the page, and why memoir remains one of the most vital and compelling literary forms today.
◔ Saturday 16 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Lifelong art obsessives, curator
Kate Bryan and art historian
Katy Hessel believe that art should be part of everyday life.
In How to Live an Artful Life, Hessel offers a year of artistic wisdom – from the writings and words of artists from Marina Abramovic and Nan Goldin to Louise Bourgeois and Lubaina Himid – designed to help you notice, feel and create. Bryan’s How to Art is a playful, practical handbook for enjoying great art, making it at home and collecting with confidence. Together they make the case that art is not a luxury but can be woven into all our lives.
The Unquiet Conservative
Michael Heseltine
◔ Sunday 17 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Few figures in British politics have loomed as large, or proved as unpredictable, as Michael Heseltine. Under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, he was a central player in government across several decades, but rarely a quiet one. Throughout his career, he showed an instinct to break ranks and challenge orthodoxy, often at the expense of his own career.
Drawing on ideas from his recent book From Acorns to Oaks, Heseltine reflects on power, leadership and the long view of political life. A rare chance to hear from a politician shaped by government, but never entirely contained by it.
From Rasputin to Putin: Myth, Power and Russia
Antony Beevor and Luke Harding
◔ Sunday 17 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
In the brave new world of 21st century geopolitics, Russia has shown that myth and charisma shape politics as much as laws or institutions. But was it ever different?
In his latest book, Antony Beevor re-examines Rasputin, the “mad monk” whose influence at the heart of the Romanov court helped hasten the collapse of imperial Russia. In conversation with The Guardian journalist Luke Harding, an acclaimed chronicler of modern authoritarian Russia, they explore how charisma and storytelling have shaped the country’s past and present.
Self-Help from the Middle Ages
Peter Jones and Helen Carr with Eleanor Janega
◔ Sunday 17 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £18, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
What can a 12th-century monk teach us about burnout, envy and despair?
Long before today’s self-help culture, medieval thinkers developed sophisticated ways of understanding anxiety, failure and how to live well in times of upheaval.
Historian Peter Jones explores these ideas in Self-Help from the Middle Ages, with fellow historian and author of Sceptred Isle: A New History of the Fourteenth Century, Helen Carr. In conversation with broadcaster and medievalist Eleanor Janega, they consider how medieval writers made sense of the human psyche, and why their ideas still resonate today.
Common Sense at 250
Sarah Churchwell and Jonathan White
◔ Sunday 17 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
In January 1776, a slim political pamphlet electrified the world.
Founding Father Thomas Paine’s Common Sense argued that power flows not from kings, empires, or inherited authority but from the people themselves. Today, amid rising populism, polarisation and contested
truths, writer Sarah Churchwell and professor of politics Jonathan White revisit Paine’s challenge.
How do we challenge those in power when wealth and influence are so concentrated? How do imperial ambitions continue to shape the world? Who are “the people” today, and who is allowed to speak in their name?
In partnership with Thomas Paine: Legacy
The Great Good Places
Margaret Drabble with Sarah Moss
Keynes for Our Times
Robert Skidelsky
◔ Wednesday 20 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Margaret Drabble is one of the defining literary voices of the past 60 years, a novelist who has chronicled private lives against a backdrop of enormous social change with clarity, intelligence and quiet moral force. In her new collection The Great Good Places, a blend of essay, memoir and short fiction, she reflects on ageing, memory and the landscapes that shape a life. In conversation with fellow novelist Sarah Moss, Drabble reflects on time, recollection and the long view of a writing life.
◔ Wednesday 20 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Nearly a century ago, John Maynard Keynes changed how governments think about economics, arguing that markets alone cannot deliver stability and that fairness and social wellbeing must also matter. As we again grapple with instability and stark inequality, his view of economics as a moral issue feels newly urgent.
Economist Robert Skidelsky, author of Keynes for Our Times, considers how economic policy can serve the common good.
Secrets and Lies
Elizabeth Day and Juliet Nicolson
Not Giving Up Yet
Sandi Toksvig with Lennie Goodings
◔ Wednesday 20 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
What do the secrets we keep reveal about the world we live in?
Elizabeth Day’s One of Us is a gripping novel of betrayal and power, following an establishment family as it unravels under the weight of its hidden secrets. Juliet Nicolson’s The Book of Revelations blends memoir, first-person stories and social history to trace the hidden lives of three generations of women, from post-war restraint to the freedoms and dangers of the online age. Together they explore how secrecy shapes identity, protects privilege and destroys relationships – and how the past may still shape our future.
◔ Wednesday 20 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £30, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Sandi Toksvig is one of Britain’s most beloved writers, broadcasters and activists. She is joined by author, publisher and friend Lennie Goodings for a wide-ranging conversation about books, politics, feminism and the stubborn optimism required to keep believing that words – and people – can still change the world.
Toksvig will also discuss her Mappa Mundi project, created to “tell the other half of the story” while Goodings reflects on her decades at Virago Press, championing women’s voices.
Expect laughter, candour and an evening that proves why giving up has never been much of an option.
Mind over Murder
Philippa Perry
◔ Thursday 21 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Psychotherapist and agony aunt
Philippa Perry is one of the country’s most trusted voices on emotional life and human behaviour. Now, in her debut novel Shrink Solves Murder, she turns to crime fiction to explore the themes of psychotherapy through storytelling.
Join Perry as she explores why this form is so compelling, how it echoes therapeutic work and what crime novels reveal about our longing for meaning, order and justice.
Nation of Strangers
Ece Temelkuran and Kamila Shamsie
◔ Thursday 21 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £18, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
For many, home is not a fixed place but something fragile, shaped by memory, language and hope. Ece Temelkuran, a Turkish writer and journalist whose life has been shaped by political upheaval, draws on her new book Nation of Strangers to reflect on how people become outsiders, the lived reality of exile and how home can be fractured and remade. She is joined by novelist Kamila Shamsie, whose work explores identity and belonging across borders. Together they ask how storytelling can help us understand belonging in an age of displacement.
Jeremy Hutchinson Memorial Lecture:
Impunity
Philippe Sands
☆ Charleston Festival Original
◔ Thursday 21 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
In an era marked by conflict and civilian suffering, how robust are international law and institutions in holding perpetrators to account?
Barrister and writer Philippe Sands acts before international courts and his books – such as his recent 38 Londres Street – combine legal scholarship with narrative history to explore justice, accountability and the legacies of atrocity. From Pinochet to Ukraine, from Israel, Palestine and Sudan to Venezuela, Sands addresses matters of law, literature and justice.
Lives Under Pressure
Douglas Stuart with Ferdia Lennon
This lecture honours renowned barrister Jeremy Hutchinson, celebrating his lifelong commitment to advocacy and civil liberty.
◔ Thursday 21 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
With his Booker Prize-winning debut novel Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart announced himself as one of the most powerful voices in contemporary fiction, with the acclaimed bestseller Young Mungo cementing that reputation. In his new novel, John of John, Stuart turns to the Hebridean Isle of Harris, tracing a young man’s return home and the fault lines that open between faith, family and desire.
Stuart is a master of workingclass storytelling, writing with extraordinary tenderness and control about love, shame and survival. Join Stuart and Ferdia Lennon, author of Glorious Exploits, to explore the pull of home and the cost of freedom.
After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal
Merlin Holland and David Hare
◔ Friday 22 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Oscar Wilde’s disgrace and downfall have captured our imagination for more than a century. In After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal, Wilde’s grandson and biographer Merlin Holland traces the writer’s posthumous life across 125 years, from exile and infamy to his emergence as a modern gay icon.
In conversation with acclaimed playwright David Hare, Holland examines the sensational myths that have shadowed the family and explores how Wilde’s legacy has been fought over, reshaped and reclaimed. Together they consider Wilde’s genius, his tragic life and why his work still delights audiences today.
Why Stories Matter
Jeanette Winterson
Part of The Power of Words
◔ Friday 22 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
What if telling a story could keep you alive?
In One Aladdin, Two Lamps, Jeanette Winterson cracks open the tale of Shahrazad from One Thousand and One Nights, who each night tells stories to postpone her execution, asking urgent questions about power, love and truth.
Drawing on her own working-class beginnings and a lifetime of reading and writing, Winterson explores why storytelling always mattered, and why, in uncertain times, it still does.
A dizzying tale of survival and transformation from the beloved author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Sexing the Cherry.
Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia
Maria Alyokhina with Zoe Williams
◔ Friday 22 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £18, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
In 2012, Maria Alyokhina hit headlines around the world as a member of Pussy Riot, after being imprisoned for performing the punk prayer Virgin Mary, Banish Putin inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
After two years in a Russian penal colony, Alyokhina was released under a limited amnesty ahead of the Winter Olympics. She returned to a country more tightly controlled, and more openly repressive than the one she had left.
In Political Girl, Maria Alyokhina writes from inside a system that criminalises speech, polices bodies and treats opposition as treason. Her account traces the personal cost of political action in Putin’s Russia, from arrest and imprisonment to exile, surveillance and escape.
Joined by The Guardian’s Zoe Williams, Alyokhina reflects on the uneasy relationship between artistic endeavour and political activism, and on what it means to keep speaking when silence is safer.
Every Joke is a Tiny Revolution
Rosie Jones
◔ Friday 22 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
George Orwell once observed that “every joke is a tiny revolution”, a subtle act of defiance against the powers that be. Few comedians embody that idea more vividly than Rosie Jones.
Jones has carved out a unique place in British comedy by placing disability front and centre. With precise timing, bold exaggeration and a willingness to make audiences uncomfortable, she exposes prejudice, impatience and the social hierarchies that decide who gets to be heard. In this event, she explores how laughter can be a disruptive force – playful, provocative and genuinely hilarious. This event will be BSL interpreted
Cinecittà Dreams
Olivia Laing with Francine Stock
◔ Saturday 23 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £18, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
What price do we pay for beauty?
Acclaimed novelist and critic Olivia Laing brings the charged eroticism of 1970s Italian cinema vividly to life in The Silver Book, set amid the Cinecittà studios of the great filmmakers Fellini and Pasolini.
Part fact, part fiction, the novel explores the uneasy space between illusion and reality, tracing the jealousies, obsessions and euphoria of creative collaboration.
In conversation with film critic Francine Stock, Laing reflects on the dark underbelly of cinematic fantasy and the real-world violence that sustains it.
Fiction, Distilled
Colm Tóibín and Ruth Ozeki
Men in Love
Irvine Welsh with Miranda Sawyer
◔ Saturday 23 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
What makes short stories so compelling?
In this conversation, authors Colm Tóibín and Ruth Ozeki come together to reflect on their new collections and on what draws them to short form at this stage in their writing lives.
Tóibín’s The News from Dublin returns to themes of memory, place and inner life with his characteristic clarity, while Ozeki’s The Typing Lady and Other Fictions, her first collection of short stories, marks a new direction in a career known for its formal range and intellectual curiosity. Talking across borders and traditions, they explore what short stories allow that novels do not and why brevity can sometimes carry the deepest emotional force.
◔ Saturday 23 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
With the publication of Trainspotting in the early 1990s, Irvine Welsh transformed British fiction, bringing new voices, rhythms and realities onto the page. In Men in Love, Welsh returns to Trainspotting’s characters to explore what happens when youth, excess and rebellion give way to intimacy, responsibility and emotional risk. Set against late-80s rave culture, the lives of Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie shift focus as Welsh asks what love looks like for men shaped by friendship, addiction and social expectation. In conversation with Miranda Sawyer, Welsh reflects on masculinity, vulnerability and the limits of bravado.
Charleston Monologue: PURGE
Written by Joelle Taylor
Plus post-show discussion
☆ Charleston Festival Original
◔ Saturday 23 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
PURGE is a monologue about bodies, borders and the violence of visibility. Inspired by the testimonies of butch lesbians abducted and persecuted in Chechnya, it asks: how do you hide when your body is evidence?
Joelle Taylor is a legendary poet, performer and playwright, whose acclaimed poem C+nto won the 2021 T. S. Eliot Prize. Known for electrifying live performances, her work explores lesbian subcultures, class, desire and rebellion.
Now in its fifth year, a new monologue is commissioned annually by Charleston and is premiered at the festival and performed live for the first time in a thrilling encounter with the audience.
This event will be BSL interpreted
The Making of England
Tony Robinson and S. J. Parris
Vocal Break
Lauren Elkin and Melissa Auf der Maur
◔ Sunday 24 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
For decades, Tony Robinson has been one of Britain’s most familiar guides to the past, whether playing Baldrick in Blackadder or through his long role presenting the BBC’s Time Team. In The House of Wolf, his first work of historical fiction, Robinson brings storytelling flair to a lifelong fascination with early English history.
This is an earthy, entertaining and gloriously witty recreation of the Anglo-Saxon world that moves through the age of Alfred the Great and the violent, uncertain making of England. In conversation with bestselling author of Heresy, S. J. Parris, they will reflect on the pleasures and challenges of historical fiction.
◔ Sunday 24 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £18, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
In Vocal Break, her dazzling blend of memoir, feminist manifesto and cultural history, Lauren Elkin explores how women’s singing has long been labelled unruly, dangerous and uncivilised – from Maria Callas to Beyoncé, Edith Piaf to Billie Eilish. As a member of Hole, bassist Melissa Auf der Maur helped redefine female rebellion and create a sound that defined a generation. Her memoir Even the Good Girls Will Cry is a richly evocative ride through the 90s US alt-rock scene. Together they celebrate the women who defied genre, capitalism and sexism through sound. Join them for a full-throated call to arms.
The Emperor of Gladness
Ocean Vuong with Kayo Chingonyi
Walking Shadow
Greg Doran and Harriet Walter
◔ Sunday 24 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth
We’re Briefly Gorgeous, is one of the most celebrated and influential writers of his generation. His lyricism and emotional clarity have redefined contemporary literature.
In The Emperor of Gladness, he returns with a delicate, devastating masterpiece – a tender reckoning with the quiet violence of ordinary life. Set in a small Connecticut town, it follows an unlikely friendship between a young man and an elderly widow, and the fragile, fierce bonds that hold them together. A luminous exploration of chosen family, unexpected love and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.
Vuong is in conversation with poet and author of Kumukanda and A Blood Condition, Kayo Chingonyi.
◔ Sunday 24 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Why does Shakespeare still speak so powerfully to us today? His words capture love, ambition, desire and loss with an immediacy that feels strikingly modern. In Walking Shadow, former RSC Artistic Director Greg Doran draws on a lifetime of directing and living with Shakespeare, tracing how the plays continue to resonate across cultures and generations. He is joined by Harriet Walter, one of our greatest Shakespearean actors, whose book She Speaks reclaims Shakespeare’s women for today. Together, they explore how Shakespeare’s language still shapes our understanding of what it means to be human.
The Future Is Peace
Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon
What I Believe
Jung Chang with William Nicholson
☆ Charleston Festival Original
◔ Monday 25 May, 1.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £18, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Since 7 October 2023, the war in Israel and Palestine has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Families have been torn apart and communities devastated, leaving little room for anything beyond grief and anger. Where can hope be found when common ground feels impossible?
Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon are peace activists – one Israeli, one Palestinian – yet they are friends.
Drawing on their co-authored book The Future Is Peace, they speak about a friendship that honours the human cost of war and asks what it takes to imagine a future shaped by trust rather than fear.
◔ Monday 25 May, 3.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £25, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
In 1939, E. M. Forster wrote: “I do not believe in Belief.” Instead, he asked what values guide us when life is most complex. Chinese-born British novelist Jung Chang joins Oscar-nominated screenwriter William Nicholson to reflect on an extraordinary life.
From Wild Swans to Fly, Wild Swans, Chang explores truth, courage and the personal choices that form our moral compass. This is not about doctrine, but about how we find meaning, integrity and hope in the tangle of history and lived experience.
American Lives
Tayari Jones and Jay McInerney
Goodbye to Berlin: Christopher Isherwood in His Own Words
Olly Alexander
☆ Charleston Festival Original
◔ Monday 25 May, 5.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £20, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
As the United States nears its 250th anniversary, American writers continue to grapple with what it means to tell the story of a nation. Women’s Prize–winner Tayari Jones is joined by fellow novelist Jay McInerney to reflect on how their characters and narratives explore American ideas of belonging, identity and memory. Jones discusses Kin, her novel of friendship and survival in the American South; McInerney brings See You on the Other Side, a sharp reckoning with marriage, mortality and social change.
◔ Monday 25 May, 7.30pm
→ Festival Tent
⍞ £30, Under 30s £10, Conc. 15%
Berlin, 1929: a young writer called Christopher Isherwood walks the streets pulsing with life. His work captures a city and a society on the brink, illuminating the lives of outsiders, the rhythms of daily life and the fragile, often unseen spaces where identity, desire and conscience intersect.
This intimate reading, by actor and singer Olly Alexander, brings one of the 20th century’s most influential queer writers vividly to life at a moment of profound personal and political crisis.
Using Isherwood’s own diaries, letters, memoirs and fiction, the piece traces his journey from the sexual freedom of Weimar Berlin to exile under Nazism and to the creative breakthrough that produced The Berlin Stories.
Today, his reflections on displacement, social upheaval and the courage to live authentically feel strikingly relevant, offering a clearer view of the world and ourselves.
♡ Family Events
Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room
Hugh Bonneville
◔ Saturday 16 May, 11am
→ Festival Tent ⍞ £10
Age 6+
Hugh Bonneville, beloved by many as Mr Brown in the Paddington films, introduces his first children’s book, Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room. A warm, funny adventure, it follows Rory as he runs away with the circus and sails to South America. In this lively event, Hugh reads and discusses the story, celebrating imagination, friendship and the joy of getting things gloriously wrong.
Family Workshops
Horrid Henry
Francesca Simon
◔ Sunday 17 May, 11am
→ Festival Tent ⍞ £10
Age 4+
Join much-loved author Francesca Simon as she brings the irrepressible Horrid Henry to life. From dreadful teachers to disastrous lessons, Francesca will share some of Henry’s funniest adventures from her new book Horrid Henry: Rules the School, and talk about how one very naughty boy became a global phenomenon.
Expect plenty of laughs, mischievous storytelling and a chance for young readers to ask their own questions.
Get creative in the Orchard Tent! Our family workshops are designed for sparkling imaginations and messy creativity. Join us for artist-led sessions where families can explore, experiment and make together.
Make a Nature Crown
◔ Saturday 16 May, 9.30am
→ Orchard Tent ⍞ £10
Age 5+
Make Magical Wings
◔ Sunday 17 May, 9.30am
→ Orchard Tent ⍞ £10
Age 5+
Make a Monster Mask
◔ Saturday 23 May, 9.30am
→ Orchard Tent ⍞ £10
Age 5+
Make a Dream Catcher
◔ Sunday 24 May, 9.30am
→ Orchard Tent ⍞ £10
Age 5+
The Magic Faraway Tree
Simon Farnaby, Jennifer Saunders and Ben Gregor
◔ Saturday 23 May, 11am
→ Festival Tent ⍞ £10
Age 4+
Step into Enid Blyton’s fantastical world of The Magic Faraway Tree, now a major movie, with the film’s adaptor Simon Farnaby, star Jennifer Saunders, and director Ben Gregor. Together they will explore the book’s unforgettable characters, wondrous worlds and mischievous adventures, as well as sharing behind-the-scenes insights from the making of the film. Expect plenty of laughs, storytelling magic and a chance for the audience to ask their own questions.
The Story of Art Without Men… For Tweens!
Katy Hessel
◔ Sunday 24 May, 11am
→ Festival Tent ⍞ £10
Age 10–14
Journey through the untold stories of the art world with Katy Hessel, author of the global sensation The Story of Art Without Men.
Join Katy for a colourful, fast-paced tour of art’s hidden heroes, freedom fighters and troublemakers. Discover the women who’ve shaped art history – and why they’ve been overlooked. Packed with vibrant visuals, a lively quiz and plenty of laughs, this is the perfect event for curious boys and girls (and their grown-ups) who love art.
Workshops
Writing with Ambition
Sharmaine Lovegrove
◔ Thursday 14 May, 2pm
→ Orchard Tent ⍞ £60
Literary agent and publisher
Sharmaine Lovegrove encourages you to push your work further, focusing on voice, structure and braver creative decisions.
Taking Risks
Sheena Patel and Ella Frears
◔ Friday 15 May, 2pm
→ Orchard Tent ⍞ £60
Writers Sheena Patel and Ella Frears
host a playful workshop on writing dangerously, experimenting with voice, persona, content and form.
Story and Character
Alexandra Pringle, Alex von Tunzelmann and Faiza S. Khan
◔ Wednesday 20 May, 2pm
→ Orchard Tent ⍞ £60
Explore style, substance and storytelling in an intensive workshop that sharpens creative skills, led by three publishing titans and industry veterans.
Life Writing
Sarah Moss
◔ Thursday 21 May, 12.30pm → Orchard Tent ⍞ £60
Sarah Moss leads a workshop on life writing rooted in the body and in place, exploring how attention to history, art and observation shapes personal writing.
Historical Fiction
S. J. Parris
◔ Friday 22 May, 2pm
→ Orchard Tent ⍞ £60
Learn how to bring the past to life in this workshop with number-one bestselling author S. J. Parris, exploring voice, research and setting.
Writing Place
Lauren Elkin
◔ Monday 25 May, 2pm → Orchard Tent ⍞ £60
Non-fiction writer Lauren Elkin leads a workshop on place, power and attention, exploring how environments shape lives and language.
All workshops last two hours
Plan Your Visit
Charleston in Firle
Charleston Festival takes place in the grounds of Charleston in Firle, where you can take a stroll through the walled garden or picnic by the pond. Include a visit to the house or spring exhibitions as part of your festival experience, visit our popular shop, or enjoy a walk or cycle from our beautiful South Downs setting.
Charleston in Lewes
You can now experience Charleston in our second space in Lewes. Just a short walk from Lewes train station, Charleston in Lewes is home to two galleries showcasing unmissable exhibitions and a shop brimming with Bloomsbury-inspired gifts and homewares.
Charleston in Lewes
◎ Southover Rd, Lewes BN7 1AB
Charleston in Firle
◎ West Firle, Lewes BN8 6LL
Rail
Services run regularly to Lewes from London Victoria, Brighton and Eastbourne. Shuttle bus and taxis available from Lewes Station.
Road
Parking is limited, please consider car sharing or using the shuttle bus service.
Shuttle Bus
A shuttle bus will run between Lewes station and Charleston throughout the festival. Visitors arriving by shuttle bus are eligible for the ‘green traveller’ concession.
House and Galleries
Tickets to visit our house and exhibitions are also available to book throughout the festival.
City Books
Throughout the festival we are joined by much-loved booksellers, Brighton and Hove’s City Books, who run a pop-up bookshop inside the Festival Tent. Browse their well-stocked bookshop, join a book signing after your event and take home some inspiring new reads.
Food and Drink
Our café in the Hay Barn will be open throughout the festival. You will find a range of pop-up food options serving delicious, locally sourced, sustainable meals, with choices to suit all diets. Whether you’re after a hearty lunch, a glass of local Sussex wine, or a refreshing craft beer, we've got you covered.
Accessibility
The Festival Tent is fully wheelchair accessible. There are accessible toilets on-site and allocated parking for visitors with access needs. There is a hearing loop in the Festival Tent and assistance dogs are welcome.
BSL
We provide BSL interpretation for certain events at the festival, however we warmly welcome BSL interpretation requests for other events.
For further information about access support or to request BSL, accessible seating and free companion tickets call the Box Office, email access@charleston.org.uk, or visit our website for FAQs.
Become a Festival Friend
Enjoy priority booking for Charleston Festival and year-round events, plus free entry for you and a guest to the house and eight exhibitions at Firle and Lewes.
Join at charleston.org.uk/support
Booking
Book Online: charleston.org.uk/festivals
Priority Booking opens on Tuesday 24 February, 10am
General Sale opens on Thursday 26 February, 10am
A £3 booking fee applies per transaction.
Priority Booking
Festival Friends, Super Friends, Patrons, Benefactors and our Director's Circle get access to festival tickets 48 hours before they go on general sale. Our Box Office phone lines will be open from 10am–5pm. Our shops at both Firle and Lewes will be selling Priority Booking tickets from 10am–5pm on both days.
Box Office:
01323 408520
Monday–Friday, 10am–2pm
Day Tickets
Make a day of it. Book a day ticket and attend all of the events on your chosen day for a discounted price.*
Day tickets start from £70.
For our full list of day ticket prices, visit our website: charleston.org.uk/festivals
*Day tickets do not include our book clubs, family events, workshops or entry to the house or galleries.
£10 Tickets for Under 30s
Sign up for our free Under 30s membership to access £10 tickets for events in the Festival Tent. Join at charleston.org.uk/support
Concessions
15% discount for students, disabled visitors, universal credit and pension credit recipients, and green travellers who arrive by public transport, by bike or on foot.
Brochure Design: Will Mower
Lead image, art direction and design: Kellenberger-White
Lead image and Charleston Festival photography: Lewis Ronald
Portrait photography credits, in order of appearance:
Caroline Lucas by David Woolfall
Sheku Kanneh-Mason by Mahaneela
Paris Lees by Danny Baldwin
Lauren J. Joseph by Robin Christian
Susanna Clarke by Sarah Lee
Rose Wylie by Gabby Laurent
Kae Tempest by Clara Nebeling
Clive Myrie by Sam Thompson
Reni Eddo-Lodge by Ekua King
Peter Jones by Jairo Vargas Martin
Helen Carr by George Naylor
Margaret Drabble by Ruth Corney
Elizabeth Day by Jacquetta Clark
Sandi Toksvig by Debbie Toksvig
Philippa Perry by Pal Hansen
Douglas Stuart by Desiree Adams
Jeanette Winterson by Charlotte Hadden
Olivia Laing by Sophie Davidson
Joelle Taylor by Robin Christian
Tony Robinson by Paul Marc Mitchell
Melissa Auf der Maur by Jessica Chappe
Ocean Vuong by Gioncarlo Valentine
Tayari Jones by Tyson Alan Horne
This brochure is printed by L&S Printing on FSC paper which is fully sustainable and recyclable.
The Charleston Trust (Bloomsbury in Sussex) is a registered charity and a non-profit making company limited by guarantee.
Registered charity number 1107313.
Registered in England and Wales, company number 5212725.
Registered office: Charleston, Firle, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 6LL.
The information in this brochure was correct at the time of going to print (February 2026).
Charleston reserves the right to alter programmes and artists without notice.
All tickets subject to availability.
13–25 May 2026
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Sandi Toksvig
Reni Eddo-Lodge
Olly Alexander
Susanna Clarke
Rose Wylie
Paris Lees
Ocean Vuong
Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Kae Tempest
Irvine Welsh
Michael Heseltine
Jennifer Saunders
Jung Chang