Tickets for the 2026 Yeovil Literary Festival are now on sale, with an outstanding programme of bestselling authors, celebrated speakers and creative talent.
Somerset Council’s Yeovil Library, working in partnership with Yeovil Town Council’s Westlands Entertainment Venue and Octagon Theatre, Waterstones Yeovil and Yeovil Community Arts Association, is set to be part of another fabulous festival.
Now established as one of the South West’s leading cultural festivals the 2026 festival runs from Wednesday 14 October to Monday 23 November, with 40 inspirational events taking place.
Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Communities, said: “We’re thrilled to announce the 2026 Yeovil Literary Festival, which promises to be another outstanding celebration of literature and creativity.
“With a fantastic line up of bestselling authors and debut novelists, this year’s festival is set to inspire and captivate audiences. Book your tickets now and join us for what promises to be a memorable festival.”
To book tickets visit yeovilliteraryfestival.co.uk or phone 01935 422884.
FRIDAY 16 OCTOBER:
Noon: Holly Watt – The Good Listener, Yeovil library. Tickets £8.
Bestselling author Holly Watt will be chatting about her latest novel The Good Listeners. One unexpected call. One terrifying truth. The Good Listeners are there for anyone who needs to talk.
And Clara is prepared for every kind of caller. Except this one. Because the woman on the other end of the line has just told her, ‘My husband killed a little girl.’
Two years ago, Clara’s own daughter was murdered and her killer never caught. The police have no leads. This is Clara’s only chance of justice. But when the caller is anonymous, what chance does she have of finding them?
Holly Watt is an award-winning author. She also used to be an investigative journalist who worked at the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. Holly has also written for Red Magazine and Vogue. The Good Listener was inspired by Holly’s experience volunteering for The Samaritans.
2pm: Ellie Levenson – Room 706, Yeovil Library. Tickets £8.
Nobody knows she’s checked into Room 706. Caught in the wrong place at precisely the worst time, Kate must face the most confronting situation of her life – and discover what matters most – in this deeply suspenseful and thought-provoking debut novel.
Kate stretches her legs and turns on the TV while James washes away the traces of their morning. She watches in horror at the unfolding news: the hotel they are staying in has been taken under siege.
She should be making her way home, working on appearing normal, getting ready to re-enter family life with her loving husband Vic and their two adored children. Instead, she is trapped somewhere she shouldn’t be, with a man she definitely doesn’t love.
Kate can only hide, take a deep breath, and reflect on the series of choices she’s made that have brought her to this moment. What will her marriage and her life look like if she makes it out?
Ellie Levenson is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared across many national newspapers and magazines. Room 706 is her debut novel.
4pm: Lori Inglis Hall – The Shock of the Light, Yeovil Library. Tickets £8.
Lori Inglis Hall’s book The Shock of the Light is the story of a twins Tessa and Theo set during the Second World War.
Cambridge, 1942. Twins Tessa and Theo had always shared everything – until the summer Tessa spent studying in France. She hasn’t been the same since. But before Theo can find out why, he is recruited by the RAF and disappears into the skies.
Determined to carve her own path, Tessa joins the clandestine Special Operations Executive, slipping into the shadows of occupied France. It will be dangerous work, but France is the home of her greatest love – and her darkest secret. Tessa has many reasons for wanting to return.
Two years later, only one of them comes home. A dazzling literary achievement that brings to life the shattering emotional impact of World War Two on ordinary people, The Shock of the Light is as exhilarating as it is heartbreaking.
The Shock of the Light is Lori’s first novel. She holds an MA in History and currently works in the archives of World War II photographer Lee Miller.
SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER
Noon: Meg Clothier – In the Shadow of the Solstice, Yeovil Library. Tickets £8.
The new novel from the author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Book of Eve, The Shadow of the Solstice is a devastating feminist reimagining of Arthurian legend set in the dark and dangerous years after the Romans left Britain.
Nin is joining the gilded world of her sister’s husband – a powerful man known only as the Bear. It’s midwinter and there’s victory to feast. And where better than at the Hall high above the mists of the Lake? Why is the Lake so unsettled?
The bonds of love and ambition once united the Family. But as night falls and the shadows lengthen, dark secrets and unruly passions threaten to rip it apart. What is the strange crying only Nin can hear?
Torn between loyalty and desire – between rage and fear – Nin must fight to the death to uncover a terrible truth. Who will live to see the sun rise?
Meg Clothier is the Sunday Times bestselling author of seven books. After studying Classics, she sailed from England to Alaska and worked as a journalist in London and Moscow. Her fiction is inspired by bold women in myth and history; her non-fiction by Britain’s coast and countryside. She now lives and writes in Somerset.
2pm: BA Paris – When I Kill You, Yeovil Library. Tickets £8.
The Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and global phenomenon B. A. Paris will be at Yeovil Library with her chilling and unsettling new suspense thriller.
Nell Masters is certain someone is following her. The hairs on the back of her neck rise when she travels to and from work, there are silent calls to her office, and a huge bouquet of flowers arrives without a card. And Nell has a reason to be looking over her shoulder, because she has a secret that she’s hiding from everyone in her life, including her new partner, Alex. But Alex also has secrets of his own.
Fourteen years earlier, when Nell went by the name Elle Nugent, she witnessed a student, Bryony Sanders, getting into a stranger’s car. When Bryony was found murdered, Elle became obsessed with finding the person responsible. She was convinced she knew who it was and her fixation with Brett Parker, the man she accused, led her down a dangerous path.
Now, Nell tries to convince herself that this unnerving feeling of being watched is all in her mind. Has someone from her past discovered her new identity? Has the stalker become the stalked? Or is there something even more deadly at play?
B.A. PARIS is the New York Times and Sunday Times international bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors, The Breakdown, Bring Me Back, The Dilemma, The Therapist, The Prisoner, and The Guest.
