MK Lit Fest
MK Lit Fest was set up by a Steering Group that brings together arts and education professionals and enthusiasts who share a love of books, words, writing, speaking and thinking. After a triumphant debut in 2017 - with Lynton Kwesi Johnson, Michael Rosen and much more - we returned in 2018 with an even more ambitious programme, working with new Festival partners and venues to bring some of the finest contemporary writing to the city. Highlights included Hollie McNish, Mark Haddon and Lemn Sissay.
In 2019, we partnered with MK Gallery and other local organisations and groups, to bring an enhanced programme of workshops alongside performers including Paul Mason, Attila the Stockbroker, Carrie Gracie, Dan Cruickshank and Lissa Evans as well as a wealth of rising talent across the literary arts.
Facing the horrors of 2020, we delivered several series of online events, including: Chris Bryant MP; AstraZeneca vaccine co-developer Cath Green, political journalist Ian Dunt; novelist and scriptwriter Courttia Newland; award winning poets including John McCullough, Luke Kennard and Alison Brackenbury; poetry, prose and songwriting workshops with Richard Scott, Sean Hewitt, the editors of The Phare and others, and the launch of our second MinK anthology of local writing. This online programme is now a year-round element of the Festival, bringing a wealth of fine writing and workshop opportunities to both local and (inter)national audiences.
MK Lit Fest continues to build both its face-to face and online, upholding our real reputation for quality across many literary strands (including both fiction and non-fiction, poetry, scriptwriting and memoir), giving platforms to rising voices (including LGTBQ voices and writers of colour), and offering development opportunities for emerging writers. As we grow as an organisation, we will also connect more deeply and pro-actively with local communities and seek to engage with more diverse audiences.
In 2019, we partnered with MK Gallery and other local organisations and groups, to bring an enhanced programme of workshops alongside performers including Paul Mason, Attila the Stockbroker, Carrie Gracie, Dan Cruickshank and Lissa Evans as well as a wealth of rising talent across the literary arts.
Facing the horrors of 2020, we delivered several series of online events, including: Chris Bryant MP; AstraZeneca vaccine co-developer Cath Green, political journalist Ian Dunt; novelist and scriptwriter Courttia Newland; award winning poets including John McCullough, Luke Kennard and Alison Brackenbury; poetry, prose and songwriting workshops with Richard Scott, Sean Hewitt, the editors of The Phare and others, and the launch of our second MinK anthology of local writing. This online programme is now a year-round element of the Festival, bringing a wealth of fine writing and workshop opportunities to both local and (inter)national audiences.
MK Lit Fest continues to build both its face-to face and online, upholding our real reputation for quality across many literary strands (including both fiction and non-fiction, poetry, scriptwriting and memoir), giving platforms to rising voices (including LGTBQ voices and writers of colour), and offering development opportunities for emerging writers. As we grow as an organisation, we will also connect more deeply and pro-actively with local communities and seek to engage with more diverse audiences.