Chip­ping Nor­ton Lit­er­ary Festival

We're thrilled to welcome political journalist Ian Dunt back to ChipLitFest to hear the story of liberalism, from its birth in the fight against absolute monarchy to the modern-day resistance against the new nationalism. Ian will be in conversation with Julie Bindel.

Thurs 23 Sept, 19:30 - 20:30 The Theatre

We are so excited to let you know that Richard Osman will be in Chipping Norton to talk to Mark Billingham all about the second novel in the record-breaking, million-copy best-selling Thursday Murder Club series.

Thurs 30 Sept, 19:30 - 20:30 The Theatre

An incredibly special event with photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas discussing his beautiful photographs of the Coronation Wildflower Meadows and the vital conservation of these wonderful biodiverse meadows.

Thurs 7 October, 19:30 - 20:30 The Theatre

We are very excited to announce the winners of the sixth ChipLitFest short story competition! Sponsored by HW Fisher, we received 248 entries from across the world.

The standard of submission seemed higher than ever, in fact we weren't able to get the shortlist down to ten stories so our judge, literary agent Isobel Dixon, had to make her selection from 12 stories. In turn, Isobel was very reluctant to exclude a fourth story so we awarded a Highly Commended category.

Thanks to all the writers who got involved, to our readers, to our sponsor and to our judge. And many congratulations to our four winners, read their fantastic stories here.

First place, winner of £500, A Place in the Sun by John Budden

Second place, winner of £100, I Used to Live Here Once by MS Clary

Third place, winner of £50, Requiem for a Woolwich Canary by Sarah Doyle

Highly Commended, winner of £50, Waiting for the Light by D Dignam

The top 25 chartered accountancy firm, HW Fisher, is joining the festival's list of loyal and generous supporters to become the new sponsor for our short story competition. We are really thrilled about this new working relationship with HW Fisher, it's a perfect match between festival and business as HW Fisher specialises in advising authors and journalists, helping them to manage their finances. They are keen litfest attenders and we look forward to welcoming the team to Chipping Norton as soon as possible.

HW Fisher's generous sponsorship means that we are now in a position to offer free entries to those writers on a low income. Eight people were able to take advantage of this free entry in the 2021 ChipLitFest short story competition.

We're delighted to announce a live literary event. ChipLitFest's founder and patron Clare Mackintosh introduces Hostage, her sensational new book. Just when you thought it might be safe to travel again! Make a reservation for this thrilling journey on a non-stop flight from London to Sydney. Clare's latest thriller is a hijack story where Mina the flight attendant has to decide between saving 100s of lives or the one that matters most...Adopt the brace position!

Thurs 24 June, 19:30 - 20:30 The Theatre

STATEMENT RE CHIPLITFEST 2021

Following the wretched but inevitable decision to cancel ChipLitFest 2020, we have to acknowledge the reality of not being able to guarantee the viability of ChipLitFest 2021 so, with very heavy hearts, there will be no weekend Festival in April 2021.
We are heartbroken not to be able to deliver the Festival for a second year running but we have to abide by the rules, of course, and not risk the health of any authors, audience, volunteers and the community.
We do hope to be able to continue our work in the community as soon as schools are open and happy to receive visits from authors. We also plan to bring you live literary events in the autumn when we can once again bring the best contemporary authors to our wonderful town.