BURY ST EDMUNDS LITERATURE FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival has appointed author Kate Sawyer as its first Artistic Director.

The Bury born and bred award winning author of The Stranding, This Family and recent release Getting Away has been working with the Festival since 2023, starting in a role that focused on social media, marketing and publicity, before stepping into the role of Programme Curator for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Julia Wakelam, Chair of Trustees and Festival co founder

Julia Wakelam, Chair of the Trustees and co founder, said:

“During the three years Kate has been working with us, we have seen the Festival grow into a vibrant annual event which attracts stellar authors, delighting our audiences and bringing people to our lovely town from all over East Anglia. We have ambitious plans for expansion of the Festival so as to achieve our key mission of bringing a love of literature, reading and writing to everyone and Kate will help us achieve those ambitions.”

Susan Pocklington, Trustee and Festival co founder

Susan Pocklington, Trustee and co founder of the Festival, said:

“In addition to greatly raising our profile and increasing our collaboration with other organisations in Bury St Edmunds, one of Kate’s most important innovations has been her work inspiring our children and young people through the Creative Writing competition and by bringing celebrated authors into the winning schools. This has always been one of our ambitions and we are excited to support Kate in expanding this outreach work in the years to come”

Kate Sawyer - Author & Artistic Director of Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival

Kate Sawyer, new Artistic Director said:

“When I moved back to Bury five years ago with my debut novel about to hit the press, I was keen to see how I might be part of the cultural scene in East Anglia and.

Working with Bury Lit Fest over the last three years has combined my background in theatre and event production and publicity with my love of literature and my publishing connections. But being part of building opportunities and community in the town I grew up in, which I once again call home, has given me the drive to work with the Festival to grow it into a destination event that is also of great value to local residents. I am thrilled to be stepping into the role of Artistic Director for the 8th Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival.

This year has been branded the Year Of Reading by the National Literacy Trust and I am excited to go ALL IN with the programming and outreach events for this year’s Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival. Expect a diverse programme of accessible free events for children and young people, celebrated authors and new discoveries offering stories to lose yourself in, opportunities to explore your own creativity and non-fiction events to challenge and broaden your horizons. I can’t wait to get stuck in!”

Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival will return 8-11th October 2026, with a soon-to-be-announced special launch event in the summer, when tickets for the main festival events will go on sale.