Bookings open on 24th August
Friends & Benefactors bookings open on 17th August
We are excited to announce that the programme is finalised and you can check all the events on our website now so take a look for yourself – we are sure that there is something for everyone at this year’s festival.
Read on to discover the children’s authors who will be joining us on the stage this time, our Poetry & Tea at Ockenden Manor with Annette Badland and the sketch writer John Crace best known for his brilliantly lacerating political sketches in the Guardian.
Please note that bookings will open earlier than usual this year with Friends & Benefactors opening on the 17th August and general booking opening on the 24th August. To find out how to become a Friend or Benefactor please visit Support Bookfest.
We look forward to welcoming you to our eighth Cuckfield Book Festival!
We have entertaining children’s authors who will be joining us this year! The wonderful Chris Bradford (see below) brings tales of gripping space adventures, ideal for young action fans and budding astronauts aged 5-9.
And Sarah Crossan, the award-winning author of children and teen books brings her engaging and exhilarating stories to the festival with her new book, Where The Heart Should Be, revisiting the time of the Great Hunger in Ireland.
To top all that, we also have Adam Kay, accompanied by illustrator Henry Paker with his first children’s book, Dexter Procter, The 10-Year-Old Doctor.
All tickets for children’s events are £8 each regardless of age and children must be accompanied by an adult.
Chris’s latest book Stellar will be making its debut at Bookfest. Disaster strikes the International Space Station Museum during a space walk. Stella will need her knowledge of the stars and a whole galaxy of luck to return safely to Earth.
Perfect for young astronomy lovers! Learn about the effects of gravity; discover fascinating facts about the Moon and space; find out what it will take to live on the Moon.
Lunar is a gripping outer-space survival story filled with fascinating information and facts about the Moon and space travel. Luna lives on the Moon but a devastating meteor strike destroys their base and she’s left stranded. She must find a way to survive but she is running out of time.
We are delighted that Annette Badland is returning to Cuckfield Bookfest to entertain us with more poetry readings, this time from the work of Simon Armitage, our poet laureate. Annette recently narrated Simon’s Hansel and Gretel: A Nightmare in Eight Scenes at the Globe Theatre in London.
Annette is an award-winning actress, known for her roles in Ted Lasso, Big Boys, The Crown and Outlander, to name but a few.
This is the perfect gift for poetry lovers and admirers of Annette Badland’s work. Tea and cake will be served and Annette will be happy to talk about her varied career.
Taking in everything from Partygate, BoJo’s drawn out farewell, the disastrous reign of Liz Truss, the psychodrama of the Tory leadership contests and the return of Rishi Sunak, John Crace’s Depraved New World is a worryingly funny collection which captures British politics at its most absurd.
And now since 4th July, John has a whole new set of possibilities for his blisteringly hilarious pen and will no doubt find plenty to talk about with Gerry Foley, formerly a political journalist and now a regular interviewer on the literary festival circuit.
We are delighted that Cumnor House Sussex will again sponsor the Bookfest this year. This partnership strengthens our ties with local schools and supports a rich and rewarding literary experience for children and young people locally.
Cumnor House Sussex is one of the country’s leading independent day schools for children from the ages of 2 to 13 including the award-winning Cumnor Nursery.
For more information, visit www.cumnor.co.uk or follow on social media @cumnorhousesussex
You can see a full list of the events on our website and we will shortly release a detailed programme.
Don’t forget that Friends and Benefactors get priority booking to events (excluding the Quiz) on the 17th August, a week before booking opens to the public. To find out how to become a Friend or Benefactor please visit Support Bookfest.
In the meantime, please follow us on social media for updates as they happen!
Best wishes
Cuckfield Bookfest Team