Milton Keynes Literary Festival returns for the first time in four years with 11 in-person events in 24 hours

Milton Keynes Literary Festival returns for its first season of in-person events since 2019 later this month.

There will be a wealth of writer events and conversation, writing workshop and masterclasses as well as sessions with children’s authors.

MK Lit Fest Springs Back will be taking place on the 14th and 15th of April in two impeccably wordy city centre venues: MK Central Library and Waterstones at Midsummer Place.

Those attending have the chance to meet renowned authors, discover new favourites, get books signed – or even take part in a workshop to develop your own writing.

Fiction fans and literary types will recognise bestselling and award-winning authors Kit de Waal, in conversation about her captivating memoir, Without Warning and Only Sometimes, and Jennifer Saint with her brand new novel, Atalanta.

There will be a wealth of stellar non-fiction too, as Russell Jones – known to hundreds of thousands of social media users as @russincheshire – brings his bestseller, The Decade in Tory; John Grindrod, writer of a series of books on modern architecture and contemporary buildings, talks to Fiona Robinson of MK Futures 2050 about his book, Iconicon; and Sinclair McKay – author of several titles about Bletchley Park – reveals the 50 Codes that Changed the World.

Bletchley Park figures largely in one of our children’s book selections too, as Rhian Tracey draws on exciting family history and true historic events in her book I, Spy: A Bletchley Park Mystery. Meanwhile, Sarah Coyle will enchanting younger readers with her interactive session, Pick A Story: A Dinosaur+Unicorn+Robot Adventure.

For those seeking fresh new voices, MK Lit Fest brings you bestselling debut novelist and MK resident Lizzie Damilola Blackburn and her book Yinka, where is your husband? There will also be fresh local writing, as the winners of the MinK2023 Creative Writing Competition are announced.

There is a writing workshop with the Hawthornden and Polari Prize winning poet, John McCullough, and a masterclass on The Art of the Short Story with the editor of Scratch Books, Tom Conaghan.

As a bonus event there will be a free online creative writing workshop on Sunday 16th of April with walk•listen•create.

Tickets and full programme details can be found on the website.