Cliveden Literary Festival 2026

The ninth Cliveden Literary Festival takes place on 10–11 October 2026, returning to Cliveden House for a weekend of literature, politics, history and cultural debate.

This year’s line-up brings together an exceptional cast of writers, historians, politicians and commentators, including Jay McInerney, Julian Barnes, Candace Bushnell, Michael Connelly, Patrick Radden Keefe, Patrick Marber, David Nicholls, Kemi Badenoch, Katie Kitamura, Robert Harris, Tom Holland, Emily Maitlis, Mishal Husain, Niall Ferguson, Wes Streeting, Michael Gove, Alice Winn, Yael van der Wouden and John Burn-Murdoch, alongside festival founders Natalie Livingstone, Catherine Ostler, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Andrew Roberts.

Among the weekend’s conversations, Kemi Badenoch will talk to Simon Sebag Montefiore about the reinvention of the Conservative Party and the state of British politics; Robert Harris discusses Agrippa, his new novel exploring loyalty and ruthlessness at the birth of the Roman Empire, with Tom Holland; while Patrick Radden Keefe joins Misha Glenny to discuss his bestselling investigation into London’s underworld.

Elsewhere, panels will tackle subjects ranging from the making of the modern Middle East and America in its 250th year to historical fiction, Nazi Germany, Napoleon’s empire, relationships and the enduring British love of gardens — particularly fitting given the setting of Cliveden itself.

Described by Her Majesty The Queen as ‘a perfection of a literary festival’, Cliveden Literary Festival has become one of the highlights of the autumn literary calendar.