A festival for readers, writers & curious minds in Leicestershire
Photography by Terry Eato
Market Harborough Literary Festival
19-27th September 2026
Putting Market Harborough
on the literary map
We are bringing book lovers and writers together to celebrate storytelling as part of the first Market Harborough Literary Festival in September 2026, with a wide range of author and literary events for adults and children.
The festival is a chance for readers and writers to listen to their favourite authors across a wide range of genres including crime and historical fiction, fantasy as well as poetry and book club fiction. Our aim is to create a community literary festival that offers something for everyone.
Featured Authors
Janice Hallett is a British crime writer best known for her bestselling mystery novels The Appeal, The Twyford Code and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. Her books are renowned for their clever, unconventional storytelling styles, often told through emails, messages, transcripts and documents that allow readers to piece the mystery together themselves. She joins the Market Harborough Literary Festival to discuss and launch her latest novel, The Silent Appeal.
Janice Hallett
Claire Fuller is an English novelist best known for her atmospheric literary fiction, including Our Endless Numbered Days, Swimming Lessons and Unsettled Ground. Her writing often explores family relationships, isolation, secrets and survival, brought to life through richly detailed settings and emotionally complex characters. At the Market Harborough Literary Festival, Claire will be discussing her latest novel, Hunger and Thirst.
Claire Fuller
Manish Chauhan is a British–Indian author from Leicester. His debut novel Belgrave Road: A Love Story, follows Mira and Tahliil - two young immigrants who meet in Leicester and risk everything for a forbidden romance. Chauhan’s “Pieces” was shortlisted for the 2024 BBC National Short Story Award, and his work has been shortlisted for the Galley Beggar Short Story Prize and the Exeter Short Story Competition.
Manish Chauhan
Marisa Linton is a professor of history and the author of several books of history and fiction. She specialises in the history of witchcraft and magical beliefs, folklore and popular culture, revolution and terror. Alongside her acclaimed historical research, she is the author of the fantasy novel Circle of Shadows, which draws on her expertise in folklore, myth and the supernatural.
Marisa Linton
Louise Jensen is the internationally bestselling author of ten psychological thrillers, including The Sister, The Family and The Liar. Her novels have sold nearly two million copies worldwide, been translated into 25 languages, and have been optioned for TV and film.
Louise Jensen
E C Bateman is the author of the Felicia Grant Mysteries, a charming and witty cosy crime series set in the world of antiques and auctions. Having studied Art History and worked in the antiques trade, she draws on her insider knowledge to create her much-loved whodunnits.
E C Bateman
Belinda Campbell is a fantasy author from Coventry who now lives in Leicestershire with her partner and a long-haired tabby cat named Goose. A graduate of De Montfort University with a BA in Creative Writing, she is the author of the YA fantasy thriller Something Wicked and its forthcoming sequel, Something Cursed. When she isn't writing, Belinda can usually be found with her nose in a book, dreaming up her next magical adventure.
Belinda Campbell
Carolyn Kirby is a British historical novelist best known for her novels The Conviction of Cora Burns, When We Fall and Ravenglass. Her writing often combines historical settings with strong emotional storytelling and themes around identity, conflict, and human nature.
Carolyn Kirby
Simon Mason is a British author and screenwriter best known for both his adult crime fiction and award-winning children’s and young adult novels. He is the author of the Oxford-based DI Ryan Wilkins mystery series, including A Killing in November and The Broken Afternoon.
Simon Mason
Tim Relf’s work has been published in most of the UK’s leading poetry journals. Based near Market Harborough, he is a former poet-in-residence at Leicester Botanic Garden. He also writes fiction and his most recent novel, published by Penguin, has been translated into 20 languages.
Tim Relf
Charles G. Lauder, Jr’s poems have been published widely, both in print and online. His work has been commended twice, in 2018 and 2024, for the Prole Laureate Poetry Competition, and in 2022 he was shortlisted for the Gingko Prize, Best Poem of Landscape Category. His debut collection of poetry, The Aesthetics of Breath, was published in 2019 by V.Press.
Charles Lauder Jr
Jayne Stanton’s poems have appeared in print and online literary magazines and poetry anthologies. Her first pamphlet, Beyond the Tune, was published by Soundswrite Press in 2014. She has written commissions for Market Harborough museum, University of Leicester’s Centre for New Writing, UoL poems for International Women’s Day 2018, and a Leicester city residency.
Jayne Stanton
Kia Matanky-Becker, is a spoken word poet, performance artist, and the co-director of Queer Noise, a creative collective hosting regular poetry events, festivals, and gallery takeovers platforming LGBTQ+ artists.
Kia’s poetry has been published by T`Art Press and they were awarded second place in The Poetry Society’s Collaboration Award.
Kia Matanky-Becker
Pam Thompson is a writer, educator and reviewer based in Leicester. She is a Hawthornden Fellow. Her works include The Japan Quiz (Redbeck Press, 2009) and Show Date and Time, (Smith|Doorstop, 2006). Her collection, Strange Fashion, was published by Pindrop Press in 2017. Pam was winner of the 2023 Paper Swans Pamphlet Competition.
Pam Thompson
D.A. Prince lives in Leicestershire and London. Her second full-length collection (Common Ground, HappenStance, 2014) won the East Midlands Book Award 2015. Her third collection, The Bigger Picture (also from HappenStance) was published in 2022. A pamphlet, Continuous Present, was published by New Walk Editions in 2025.
D.A. Prince
Schedule Overview
Saturday 19 September
2pm - 4.30pm
Writers’ Day: Introduction to Publishing: with industry expert and editor Sara-Jade Virtue
Saturday 26 September
From 12pm
12pm - Marisa Linton and Belinda Campbell: In conversation with Diana Bretherick.
1pm - Manish Chauhan: Leicester author of acclaimed Faber novel ‘Belgrave Road’
2pm - Claire Fuller: award-winning author discusses her new novel ‘Hunger and Thirst’
3pm -Janice Hallett: best-selling crime author talks about her brand-new book ‘The Silent Appeal’
Sunday 27 September
11:30am - 1pm
A Literary Walk Through Market Harborough
Sunday 27 September
10:30am - 4pm
Children’s Activities at Waterstones
Sunday 27 September
From 3pm
‘Cannonballs, corsets and coal: an 18th Century story in eight objects’: talk by historical fiction author Carolyn Kirby
Crime fiction panel and author Q&A with E C Bateman, Louise Jenson and Simon Mason. Panel chair: Diana Bretherick.
Sunday 27 September
From 5:30pm