This Code of Conduct applies to all participants in the Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival, whether as an author, partner, volunteer or audience member, as well as to every member of the Board and Organising Committee.

 

Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival acknowledges its duty of care to all members of our community and values their safety and wellbeing.  We will act responsibly and swiftly to safeguard against any behaviour we deem to be in violation of this Code of Conduct and  reserve the right to remove anyone who we feel violates this Code in either or both online and offline spaces and/or who persists in any harmful behaviours which have been brought to our attention. 

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We expect all participants in the Festival to act in the manner set out below: 

To create a welcoming and safe environment for all 

To conduct all interactions associated with the Festival with openness, respect and empathy 

To respect the privacy of participants and any sensitive personal information that you may be entrusted with 

To be respectful, constructive and helpful if offering critique To be prepared to challenge yourself and audience members to identify biases 

To be respectful when engaging with every member of the community 

To act responsibly both on and offline and to adhere to any boundaries put in place by the Festival or your fellow participants. ​

 

We will not tolerate any: 

Hate speech, inflammatory or discriminatory language or behaviours, whether on or offline. This includes both macro and micro aggressions, or the agreement/ sharing of derogatory and prejudiced words, articles and pictures both past and present with the intent to cause offence or to deliberately demean any person or community. 

Offensive comments relating to race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, body size, mental illness, class or any other comments made in order to denigrate or discriminate against a person’s background or lifestyle. 

Persistent harassment or intimidation, whether on or offline, including unwelcome sexual attention or contact and the sharing of any sexually explicit materials 

Any behaviour we reasonably deem to be physically, sexually or mentally inappropriate 

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We respectfully ask all participants in the Festival to adhere to this code of conduct and we reserve the right to ask persons associated with us to desist in any harmful behaviours brought to our attention. Failure to do so may result in expulsion from Festival spaces and/or the severance of any agreement between us.  ​

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If you or any other member of our community feel that you are experiencing behaviour that is not in line with this Code of Conduct, we ask you to contact us immediately and draw attention to our Complaints Policy 

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This policy will be reviewed annually by the Trustees

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​Reviewed April 2026