Sturminster Newton Literary Festival News- May 2025
News of our cultural event and some of the festival events.
Image- Pixabay
Tickets for the 2025 Sturminster Newton Literary Festival are selling well this year, and already, our Tess of the D’Urbervilles-themed Marnhull walk and death-themed walk in the town have sold out. Our full events programme, with links to ticketing, is here.
Cultural Event in Sturminster Newton Saturday 7th June
We were delighted to receive funding from Dorset Council for the festival. That has enabled us to work with our Central European residents in the town and involve them in SturLitFest. First, there’s a huge map of Europe that residents are decorating with stories of their homeland. That will be on display on 7th June. However, there’s much more to see—and it’s free. There is dancing from our Bulgarian community, folk songs from the Latvian residents, and even a chance to taste food from Latvia.
Book Launches in May
May is a busy month for book launches. Three of our speakers have books being launched during May and will give talks about them at the festival. On 8th May, Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons is published- and you can hear more about this book on the 6th June. The paperback version of The Glassmaker is also out on 8th May, and Tracy Chevalier will be speaking at the festival on 13th June. Finally, Damien Lewis has his fourth book on SAS Great Escapes published on 22nd May. Damien will give his talk on 14th June.
Spotlight on History
Several talks have a historic context this year at Sturminster Newton Literary Festival. One of the highlights is a talk on the Shakespeare Ladies Company, which has a Dorset connection. During Cromwell’s reign, much of the text from Shakespeare’s plays was sanitised. However, a group of four ladies led by Susannah Ashley Cooper, the Fourth Countess of Shaftesbury from Wimborne St Giles, successfully campaigned to get the plays restored to their uncut version. Authors, Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth, will be joining us from Adelaide, Australia, during their book launch week. The authors are delighted to be in North Dorset (home of the Countess) for their book launch. Tickets to hear about this fascinating aspect of local history are here.
Greg Duncan has written a book based on his aunt, who was a forger in the French Resistance during World War Two. He’ll be at Sturminster Newton Literary Festival on 14th June, outlining some of the fascinating insights he came across during his research. Get tickets here or buy a Saturday day ticket which also includes Damien Lewis and the talk on Dorset’s science heritage by Rachael Rowe.
Finally, step back into the 1950’s with this fascinating talk about Elvis Presley and his fashion statements by Lorraine Gibson on 8th June.
Festival Articles
Andrew Norman wrote an article in the Dorset Echo recently about the inspiration for Thomas Hardy’s poems, and how grief affected the writer. Read the piece here and book tickets for Andrew’s talk on 13th June here.
Another Hardy article, this time by Tracy Hayes. She explores Hardy’s relationship with William Shakespeare. Read the article here. Tracy Hayes will be discussing Mike Langridge’s novel, A Casterbridge Tale, on 13th June.
Finally, as it’s May, here’s a fantastic video of the Morris dancers on Giant Hill at Cerne Abbas.
Bursaries and Prizes
Festival Writing Competition
The theme for this year’s writing competition is HOME. More importantly, the deadline has been extended to May 16th. Full details are on our website here.
Sherborne Travel Writing Festival
The Sherborne Travel Writing Festival has announced a new travel writing prize worth £10,000. Details are here. Entries need to be made by the end of September 2025, and a shortlist will be announced in January 2026. The winner will be announced at the April 2026 Sherborne Travel Writing Festival.