Coming up in-person!
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Ingram Day for Indie Authors
Wednesday 9 April 2025, IngramSpark Headquarters, Milton Keynes, 10.00am - 3.00pm; Free (booking essential)
Tour Ingram’s world-class printing facility, gain in-depth knowledge on key aspects of successful publishing including marketing, distribution and metadata, and meet other local writers. A must for anyone interested in indie and self-publishing.
Edward Stourton: Confessions with Rob Gifford (in-person or livestream)
Wednesday 9 April 2025, Waterstones Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes, 7.00pm; £10/£7/£5
One of British broadcasting’s best-known names reflects on his life against the context of a world that has changed dramatically during his forty-year career. As, of course, has Edward Stourton, who - in conversation with Rob Gifford - shares his remarkable journey with his familiar candour, humour and insight.
'Home': MinK2025 Prizewinners Ceremony and Anthology Launch
Thursday 10 April 2025, The Parks Trust Pavilion, Campbell Park, 6.30pm; Free (donations welcome)
Celebrate the winners of our 2025 Creative Writing Competition – exploring the theme of 'Home' – as author Michael Stewart awards the prizes and introduces readings by the winning writers, and we launch MinK#5, our latest anthology of the best local writing.
Poetry in the Pavilion: Will Burns and Hannah Copley with Caroline Davies
Thursday 10 April 2025, The Parks Trust Pavilion, Campbell Park, 7.45pm; £10/£7
As a new wave of nature-writing in poetry explores our vital and threatened relationship with the environment and the flora and fauna with which we share it, two superb poets share their work and discuss how they address the natural world.
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Workshop: Finding Your Voice - Michael Stewart
Friday 11 April 2025, Central MK Library, MK9 3HL, 10.00am - 12noon; £20/£15 (places limited)
We often talk about a writer’s voice, but what does it mean? This workshop with author Michael Stewart explores the relationship between voice and style, how your voice can be developed, and its importance in shaping how your work is received.
Workshop: What Editing Is - Aki Schilz
Friday 11 April 2025, Central MK Library, MK9 3HL, 12.30pm - 2.30pm; £20/£15 (places limited)
Discover how a professional editor thinks when they review a manuscript, and how to apply this approach to your own work. Learn what editing is, what publishers are looking for, how to finish your book, and your best next steps as a writer.
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Workshop: Spinning Tales from Myth and Folklore - Zoe Gilbert
Friday 11 April 2025, Central MK Library, MK9 3HL, 3.00pm - 5.00pm; £20/£15 (places limited)
This workshop explores using myth and folklore as starting points for fiction, looking at approaches to creating modern myths and informing folklore-inspired tales. It includes tools, readings and exercises to shape traditional sources into brand-new stories while retaining their inherent resonance and power.
Free Speech and the Politics of Literature - Panel Event (in-person or livestream)
Friday 11 April 2025, Waterstones Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes, 6.00pm - 7.00pm; £10/£7/£Free
Literature has always been on the front line in debates about free speech – and never more so than today. Join a panel of writers (Aki Schilz, Henry Porter, Sabrina Mahfouz and Dónall Mac Cathmhaoill) whose distinct experiences and expertise on the issue of freedom of expression can help make sense of our paradoxical times.
Kaliane Bradley: The Ministry of Time with Eley Williams (in-person or livestream)
Friday 11 April 2025, Waterstones Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes, 7.30pm - 8.30pm; £10/£7/£5
In Kaliane Bradley’s astonishing debut novel, The Ministry of Time, a mysterious government ministry gathers ‘expats’ from history to test the limits of time travel. In this fabulous fusion of genre and ideas, she asks how you can defy history when history is living in your house?
Lubaaba Al-Azami: Travellers in the Golden Realm with Dr Molly Ziegler
Saturday 12 April 2025, Central MK Library, 10.30am - 11.30am; £10/£7
Cultural historian Lubaaba Al-Azami explores the dramatic and engaging story of the first English travellers to India in the 16th century, their encounters with an unimaginable superpower – the Mughal dynasty - and what grew from this tempestuous and transformative period of England’s past.
Laura Henry-Allain MBE: Maya & Marley and the Great Big Tidy Up (Age 4+)
Saturday 12 April 2025, Central MK Library, 12noon - 1.00pm; £5 + £3 per accompanying adult
Join Maya and Marley on their Great Big Tidy Up! Laura Henry-Allain – creator of CBeebies series JoJo and Gran Gran – brings her adventurous new picture book to life, reminding us that caring for our world, and each other, makes everyone happier!
Anna February: The Hive (Young Adult)
Saturday 12 April 2025, Central MK Library, 12noon - 1.00pm; £5
Anna February's debut YA novel is a thrilling dystopian murder mystery set in a ruthless future monarchy. Young bodyguard Feldspar awaits execution, guilty of living when her charge lies dead. With just one defender, a royal maverick, on her side, she has three days to uncover the truth…
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Jack Noel: Dadbot (Age 6+)
Saturday 12 April 2025, Central MK Library, 1.30pm - 2.30pm; £5 + £3 per accompanying adult
Meet the all-new Dadbot at this hilarious event full of robots, puns, drawing and dastardly dad-napping with award-winning Jack Noel! Josh and Daisy upgrade to a super-strength robo-dad, but evil Dr Egg wants to steal him. Can they save Dadbot before it’s too late?
Hallie Rubenhold: Story of a Murder
Saturday 12 April 2025, Central MK Library, 1.30pm - 2.30pm; £10/£7
Award-winning social historian Hallie Rubenhold subverts history with her epic retelling of the infamous true-crime story of wife-murderer Dr Crippen – and how he was brought to justice by an extraordinary group of music hall women.
Onjali Q. Raúf: The Letter with the Golden Stamp (Age 8+)
Saturday 12 April 2025, Central MK Library, 3.00pm - 4.00pm; £5 + £3 per accompanying adult
Award-winning writer Onjali Q. Raúf shares the adventures of Audrey, a secret Young Carer, stamp collector – and thief – whose mysterious neighbour just might be spying on her. With her two best friends and a friendly postman in tow, Audrey must find a way to save her family…
Sanjana Modha: Sanjana Feasts
Saturday 12 April 2025, Central MK Library, 3.00pm -4.00pm; £12.50/£9 (including tasting plate)
Sanjana Modha, a rising star in modern Indian cuisine, showcases the bold flavours and creativity of the Indian diaspora in her debut cookbook, while exploring how the recipes she loves are rooted in her Indian heritage, East African family background, and Yorkshire childhood.
Raising Voices: A Chorus of Local Writers (in-person or livestream)
Saturday 12 April 2025, Waterstones Midsummer Place, 5.00pm - 6.30pm; Free (donations welcome)
Tales from the city, from green spaces, from home. From Midsummer, Midwinter, Lammas, the future, the past and more... Join us for a medley of readings chosen from our #MinK anthologies and online events that celebrate the depth and quality of the local writing shared over the last eight festival years.
Mark Billingham: The Wrong Hands with Sarah Pinborough (in-person or livestream)
Saturday 12 April 2025, Waterstones Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes, 7.30pm - 8.30pm; £10/£7/£5
Multi-bestselling Mark Billingham – one of our most acclaimed and popular crime writers – brings his brilliant, twisty new detective novel The Wrong Hands to MK, in conversation with internationally bestselling author Sarah Pinborough. Join us for a criminally entertaining festival finale!
An Evening with Ash Bhardwaj
Wednesday 7 May 2025, Waterstones Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes, 7.00pm; £5
Award-winning journalist, podcaster & broadcaster Ash Bhardwaj is the author of Why We Travel, The Independent’s “Travel Book of the Year 2024”. He’s reported from over 50 countries for the BBC, Conde Nast Traveller, Discovery, the Guardian, and appears as a travel expert on BBC One and Sky News.
Ben Aitken: Sh*tty Breaks - A Celebration of Unsung Cities
Wednesday 21 May 2025, Waterstones Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes, 7.00pm; £5
Join us as award winning travel author and journalist Ben Aitken talks about how he discovered some of the UK’s most charming unsung cities – MK included! Ben will also be signing copies of the book and all ticketholders receive a complimentary beverage.