WRITING FESTIVAL CELEBRATES FOURTH BIRTHDAY WITH SILVER TOURISM AWARD AND HYBRID EXPANSION

The Bournemouth Writing Festival has marked its fourth birthday alongside a Silver Award win for Tourism Event/Festival of the Year at the Dorset Tourism Awards.

Fittingly, the Festival is evolving as it begins a new chapter exploring a hybrid model of online talks, in-person events and community projects.

Taking place from 23rd to 25th April, the main online festival will feature around 55 virtual talks and masterclasses across dedicated streams including The Craft of Writing, Ready to Publish, Writing for Joy, Writing for Performance, and Genre Worlds, alongside exclusive one-to-one pitch sessions with literary agents. All main festival sessions will be recorded and available on demand until 30th September 2027. 

Alongside digital programming, seven monthly in-person events will take place across Dorset venues from January to June, featuring book launches, poetry performances, nature writing walks, and live band improvisation showcase events with Tongue Fu and local organisations. Free community initiatives, including a Dorset youth writing competition with Bournemouth One Radio and local library writing groups, remain central to the festival's mission. 

"Receiving the Silver Award, following two Gold wins is an incredible testament to everyone who has supported us from day one," said Dominic Wong, Director of the Bournemouth Writing Festival. "We owe this success to our extraordinary attendees, brilliant speakers, generous sponsors and tireless volunteers. Building on this foundation, our new hybrid format allows us to continue local support while opening our doors to a global writing community - delivering flexible, year-round guidance to writers wherever they are and whatever stage of the writing journey they are at." 

A live Q&A webinar with Festival Director Dominic Wong will take place at 7pm on Sunday 25th October to share details about the new hybrid lineup and answer questions.