This year’s Guernsey Literary Festival has been another huge success, with an estimated 13,000 people attending events across the two-week programme. It featured more than 80 events, many of them sold out, bringing together internationally acclaimed authors, broadcasters, poets and performers as well as local writers.
Festival chairman Rob Shepherd said the continued support from island audiences, as well as visitors to Guernsey, had been incredible to see.
‘We’re absolutely delighted with how this year’s festival has gone. The atmosphere across the events has been fantastic and it’s been wonderful to see so many people coming together to celebrate books, particularly during the National Year of Reading.
‘What makes the festival special is the variety of the programme. Whether people came to hear about politics, history, food, science, fiction, poetry or wellbeing, there really was something for everyone.’
This year’s festival welcomed a wide range of high-profile speakers including Sophie Raworth, Mishal Husain, Chocolat author Joanne Harris, novelist Patrick Gale, scientist Tim Spector and comedian Cally Beaton.
Audiences also enjoyed talks from face equality campaigner Jono Lancaster, and filmmaker and environmental storyteller Colin Butfield, who discussed his book which was co-written with David Attenborough.
The programme also featured performances and discussions from poets Brian Bilston and John Agard, and family events with Lauren Child and MC Grammar.
Festival director Claire Allen said the schools and outreach programme had again remained central to the festival’s mission.
‘This year we reached more than 3,500 children through our education programme, which is something we’re incredibly proud of.
‘One of the stand-out moments was our joint schools event with MC Grammar, which brought together all Year 5 students in Guernsey. The energy in the room was amazing and it really captured what the festival is all about, inspiring young people through creativity and storytelling.
‘We were also able to deliver free events in care homes across the island and a talk at the prison led by our honorary chairman Sir Terry Waite, all of which help make the festival accessible to as many people as possible.’
This year’s WriteStuff short-story competition attracted entries from students across 28 local schools, while the Guernsey International Poetry Competition was judged by John Agard, with the winning poems displayed at the airport, harbour, on local buses and at the library.
The festival also celebrated local writing talent with the launch of its first-ever Guernsey Short Story Anthology, showcasing stories inspired by island life and written by authors with a connection to the Bailiwick.
Another highlight this year was the official opening of the restored literary bench at La Vallette by Joanne Harris. The bench is believed to have been used by Victor Hugo during his time living in Guernsey and forms part of a wider community initiative led by Vive La Vallette.
‘Literary festivals play such an important role in bringing people together,’ Claire continued. ‘They create space for discussion and creativity, while giving audiences the opportunity to meet writers and hear directly from them. We’re so grateful to everyone who supported the festival this year, our audiences, authors, sponsors, patrons, volunteers and organising team. It really is a community effort.
‘We also loved seeing our speakers embrace everything Guernsey has to offer during their time on the island. Vassos Alexander, who was visiting to discuss his book Swimmingly, enjoyed a dip at the bathing pools, while Paul Sinton-Hewitt and broadcaster Sophie Raworth took part in the Guernsey parkrun.
‘We also had the pleasure of introducing historical novelist Tracy Borman to Castle Cornet and showing author Joanne Harris around Hauteville House. Nature navigator Tristan Gooley enjoyed a trip to Sark whilst Toby Lichtig from the Times Literary Supplement visited Herm.
‘The speakers we bring to Guernsey always have such positive things to say about the island, and we know that experience helps build word of mouth and plays an important role in attracting such high-calibre speakers year after year.’
Planning is already under way for 2027, with the festival set to take place from 23 April to 2 May.
