Welcome to Cuckfield Life’s Cuckfield Bookfest event page. Here you will find our most recent information for everything Bookfest.

As a community interest group, Bookfest relies on the generous support from sponsors, benefactors and friends to help them host brilliant writers and new talents every year.

Tickets are now on sale

Tickets are now on sale for our tenth book festival. Those early days of 2017 seem a long time ago. We are enormously proud that we have survived and grown – even Covid didn’t stop us when we had an online day of events which cheered up the village.

Very late in the planning, we were delighted to arrange for award winning actress and Celebrity Traitors star, Celia Imrie to return to Bookfest. On Wednesday 14th October, she will be talking about her latest book at Whitemans Green Sports Club at 7.00pm. This is quite a coup for Cuckfield Bookfest as Celia is incredibly busy this autumn at book festivals talking about her new book, which is a love letter to adventure, friendship and the enduring joy that rewards curiosity. It’s all told with Celia’s signature wit and humour. The journeys may be long, but they are never dull, especially with her travel companion Fidelis Morgan in tow.
Please note the venue for this event: Whitemans Green Sports Club, Cuckfield, where there is a bar. Doors will open at 6.15pm.

After the celebration supper at Ockenden Manor opening the proceedings on Friday night, 2nd October, when Jeremy Hunt will be encouraging everyone to think more optimistically about the future of Britain’s economy, there follows a packed programme of events. Over the weekend, we cover subjects as varied as the secrets women keep, money laundering, a literary tour of France and two almost forgotten Scottish artists. Tim Spector has a huge following and will be sharing how ferments have transformed his diet, there’s a history of the football world cup and Kate Mosse’s love-letter to Sussex will delight everyone. Kate’s husband and son are also joining us, and Harriet Rix’s book on trees will explain how trees have learned to harness the effects of fire – an encouraging thought in this year of horrendous fires all over Europe.

This year we are delighted to welcome Highweald wine estate, a very local vineyard also celebrating its tenth anniversary. Saturday ends with Highweald offering all ticket holders attending the Prue Leith event a complimentary glass of their Brut Reserve.

Sunday opens with Steve Brusatte’s irresistible book about birds and then he and his wife Anne will be offering the perfect session for all young dinosaur fans. There are also children’s events for all ages on Saturday afternoon.

Our survey responses always feature more fiction as a key request, so we are delighted this year to have four women authors on Sunday morning, each offering fascinating books. Their sessions promise to be unmissable; one is about the Ruth Ellis case which is of particular interest as Ruth Ellis was granted a posthumous conditional pardon by the King in July, 70 years after she became the last woman hanged in the UK. The pardon recognises the historic injustice of her death sentence by commuting it to life imprisonment, taking modern understandings of domestic abuse and coercive control into account.

Several traditional events will, of course, be happening as usual this year; the literary quiz will be on Friday 25th September, a session for local authors on 3rd Saturday, a writing workshop and the Poetry and Tea at Ockenden with Annette Badland on Sunday 4th October.

The Big Book Group, this year featuring Patrick Gale, will be the final event on 4th October at 7.00pm. By the way, if any readers of Patrick’s Love Lane have questions about the book, they would like to put to him, please do email them to programming@cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

We can’t end this last piece about the book festival without thanking our sponsors, friends and benefactors whose support has allowed us to get to our tenth year. And of course, our cheerful enthusiastic volunteers who work so hard for the weeks leading up to Bookfest and over the weekend itself – thank you all.

Once again, we hope you find something to enjoy. There are more events and you will find details on our website: www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk Tickets are available for all events at: www.ticketsource.co.uk/cuckfieldbookfest

Bookfest programme launched

The programme for the 2026 Cuckfield Bookfest is now available, full of interesting and stimulating sessions specially selected to make our tenth anniversary memorable. As usual, the literary quiz opens proceedings a week before the festival weekend, in the Hayloft at the Talbot on 25th September. The small, indefatigable team that devises the quiz has been beavering away since January and will be offering a stimulating and challenging set of questions.

Friday Celebration Supper 2nd October
Jeremy Hunt is our guest at the celebration supper at Ockenden Manor on Friday 2nd October. His new book, Can We Be Rich Again, sets out a credible case for optimism in these uncertain times.

Saturday 3rd October
Starting at 10am, there is a flow of lively speakers from different genres. Juliet Nicolson is a welcome return visitor with her book on the secrets women keep, followed by Oliver Bullough on money laundering. Peter Fiennes is in search of French writers, and Kate Mosse returns with an atmospheric portrait of autumn in her beloved Sussex.

Damian Barr is back with his touching book about two Scottish painters, and Tim Spector explains the life-changing power of microbes. Sport is not forgotten, with Jonathan Wilson’s new history of the football World Cup. There’s crime from Andrew Hunter Murray, nature with books about trees and hedges, and Kate Mosse’s husband and son discuss their new books – one featuring cosy crime, the other a fantasy novel. Juliet Nicolson also talks to Alwyn Turner about his book on Britain between the wars.

Saturday evening will be unmissable when Prue Leith talks to Matt Stadlen about the fun to be had when growing old. We are also delighted to welcome Highweald Vineyard which will be serving a glass of its Brut Reserve to every ticket holder.

Sunday 4th October
Sunday begins with Steve Brusatte and his marvellous book about birds and how they are descended from dinosaurs. Steve later shares a session with his wife Anne and her children’s book about dinosaurs, perfect for young dinosaur enthusiasts.

There’s a session on David Bowie and his career revival, Renaissance medicine, and a no-holds-barred account of the Battle of Trafalgar. Two novelists discuss books about female friendship and memory, and two authors inspired by the lives of women accused of murder, including Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain, will discuss the real cases behind their fiction. Books on royalty are always popular, and we are delighted to welcome Catherine Mayer, who uncovers the extraordinary women behind royal myths. Julian Worricker will remember the Dunblane primary school shootings with the author of a new book on that dreadful day. Hotel Exile explores life on the edge of war, and James Campbell will talk about the creators of Winniethe-Pooh.

Crime fiction is always popular, and a Sunday evening event with Abir Mukherjee and Simon Toyne will provide a lively session. As usual, the Big Book Group rounds off the festival, with Patrick Gale discussing Love Lane. If you enjoy the Big Book Group, there’s plenty of time to read it.

Poetry and community
There has been an elegant poetry tea at Ockenden Manor most years, and we’re delighted that Annette Badland is back with Hugh Ross to read poems from Allie Esiri’s delightful new anthology. Interspersed with the adult events are four children’s sessions, together with a session for local authors and a workshop on writing a memoir.

During the ten years of the festival, we have been generously supported by sponsors, friends and benefactors, and we are very grateful. Our thanks also go to the wonderful volunteers who make the festival what it is.

Read the full programme: www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

Tickets go on sale 15th August for priority booking and 22nd August for general sale.

Bookfest returns

This year’s festival is shaping up to be our most varied yet and the first event over the opening weekend is the supper held on Friday 2nd October at Ockenden Manor with Jeremy Hunt MP, whose latest book ‘Can We Be Rich Again?’ will be published in June. The former Chancellor of the Exchequer sets out a credible case for optimism in his book when it comes to the future of Britain’s economy.

Jane Rogoyska, author of Hotel Exile, Paris in the Shadow of War, joins us on Sunday. Her latest book tells the true story of how one Paris hotel came to hold the weight of a century. Hotel Lutetia on Paris’s Left Bank, was a meeting place for Europe’s bohemian artists, a headquarters of the Nazi occupation and a shelter for camp survivors.

We are also running a very special joint literary event alongside Hurst Festival on Wednesday 16th September, where best-selling author Zadie Smith will be at Holy Trinity Church in Hurstpierpoint discussing her historical novel, Fraud. Set against the real-life Victorian scandal of the Tichborne Claimant, the book spans literary London and Jamaica’s sugar-cane plantation. There are several references to local places including a chapter entitled Cuckfield Park, so there’s a very local connection.
Tickets to the event will be available in July on the Hurst Festival website www.hurstfestival.org

Bookfest tickets go on sale in August from: www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

Founded in 1966, The Independent State of Cuckfield is celebrating 60 years of Cuckfield Mayors, elections, processions and fundraising. This year’s election takes place on Friday 16th October at The Talbot, with the Mayor’s Procession the following day. We talked to Mike Schlup, Chairman of the Independent State to find out more.

What does it take to become mayor of Cuckfield?

It’s quite straightforward. Votes are actually pennies, so whichever candidate raises the most money come election night will be elected mayor.

Do you have to raise big sums to win the election?

This varies from year to year. Some years can result in big vote counts but for most other years the election can be won with a much lower total. What is important is that whether a candidate raises £100, £1,000 or more, every penny goes into the pot for the community to support the procession floats and wider good causes in and around Cuckfield.

People often say they are too busy to run for mayor or to be mayor. What does it take?

The election is all about fun and fundraising. If a candidate has just one small fundraiser for their campaign and doesn’t win, that’s fine. It’s about having fun and contributing to the community. It’s genuinely an enjoyable thing to do to run for mayor; I’ve done it myself and we had a great time. In fact, it’s better all round to have multiple candidates raising a smaller amount of funds than just one or two trying to raise larger amounts. And if you do win then you can do as much or as little as you want as mayor, depending on your other commitments.

What happens if nobody stands for election?

Traditionally, if there is no contest, then the current mayor is automatically re-elected. But this means there will be no new funds for local groups and organisations, and eventually this could mean the end of the Independent State of Cuckfield. In October’s Cuckfield Life, we’ll meet the candidates and hear more about their campaigns.

To find out more about taking part in the election, or entering a float in the procession email info@cuckfieldstate.org or call Mike on 07736 910344.

Cuckfield Bookfest