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HAWKESBURY UPTON LITERATURE FESTIVAL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2025

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We’re pleased to invite you to this year’s Christmas Special event, to be held in the Bethesda Chapel, Park Street, Hawkesbury Upton GL9 1BA on Saturday 6th December from 11am until 3pm. Newly refurbished, this will be a cheerful, cosy venue for our festive celebrations.

Signed books make great Christmas presents – and there’ll be a good mix of books and authors to ensure you have plenty of choice for all your friends and relations.

The quickfire programme will pack into the event:

  • Caroline Sanderson with Listen with Father: How I Learned to Love Classical Music & Jane Austen: The Life of a Literary Titan
  • Jenny Harris with her new book of comic poems, A Poetry Collection for Christmas
  • comedy by Nicola Kelsall with her Diary of a Stressed Out Mother series
  • Mary Flood‘s novel about women’s lives in Ireland in the 60s and 70s, To Love and Serve
  • Jean Burnett‘s new cosy mystery novel, A Brush with Death
  • Debbie Young‘s latest cosy mystery, Death at the Village Christmas Fair
  • young adult fiction with Trevor Stubbs, including his latest novel, Breakthrough
  • children’s stories with Betty Salthouse
  • festive short stories by Stefania Hartley, Pauline Masurel, and Mark Rutterford
  • readings from Christmas classics by Gerard Boyce

Included in the ticket price will be tea, coffee, and cake throughout the event, plus a £2 book voucher valid at the event.

Click here to buy your tickets now via Eventbrite for £10 plus a small booking fee.

NEXT EVENT: HULF Christmas Special

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Saturday 7th December, 11am-3pm

at Hawkesbury Upton Village Hall, High Street, Hawkesbury Upton GL9 1AU

Our next HULF Talk will be a celebration of Christmas stories and poems to get you into the festive spirit. The full programme is currently being finalised, but it will includes the following – and much more!

  • readings from favourite seasonal poetry and prose performed by Gerard Boyce
  • two festive short stories written especially for our event: “Hearth & Home: A Dan Foster Christmas Special” by Lucienne Boyce and “An Alien’s View of Christmas” by Mark Rutterford
  • a chat about cosy Christmas mysteries with author Frances Evesham and Debbie Young
  • Carole Britton reflecting on Christmases past and present with reference to her new book Past, Present, Presence about the Athelstan Pilgrim Way
  • festive readings from their books for children by Tiggy Greenwood, Betty Salthouse & Linda Alvis
  • an introduction to the fabulous Hawkesbury Soup and Cake recipe book, edited by Louise Roberts with the help of local cooks
  • a talk by Linda Cohen about children’s reading charity Read With Me, of which she is founder and director

The event will include a pop-up shop selling signed copies of the guest authors’ books which make great Christmas presents for all the family!

As ever, the ticket price of £5 includes coffee, tea and cake, plus a £2 book voucher valid at the event.

During the lunch break, you’ll be able to try some home-made soup made from recipes in Hawkesbury Soup and Cake, in return for a donation in aid of Read With Me.

Two important notes:

  • The venue has changed Hawkesbury Village Hall because our original venue of the Bethesda Chapel is currently undergoing refurbishment.
  • The running time will be 11am-3pm, by popular request, to avoid the need for anyone to drive to or from the Festival in the dark.

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE VIA EVENTBRITE.