Saturday 11th – Sunday 12th October 2025
Returning for its eighth year, the festival is a unique forum for lively discussion, thought-provoking ideas, and political debate. Last year Elif Shatak described the festival as a cultural space we leave ‘feeling much more nurtured, nourished and inspired‘.
Rachel Eliza Griffiths said, ‘the setting of Cliveden… is a kind of mirror of the beauty that I find in books’.
The 2024 programme featured: Salman Rushdie, Rachel Weisz, William Boyd, Ian McEwan, Tom Holland, Emily Maitlis, John Banville, Neil Jordan, Robert Harris, Patrick Radden Keefe, Niall Ferguson, Elif Shafak, Helen Castor, Dan Jones, William Dalrymple, Alex Younger, Michael Gove, Merve Emre, Nicole Taylor, and many more. Soon we will know this year’s line up. So exciting.
Cliveden Literary Festival is run by a committee of authors and historians – Andrew Roberts, Natalie Livingstone, Catherine Ostler and Simon Sebag Montefiore – drawing on Cliveden House’s unique history as a literary salon frequented by writers and thinkers including Alexander Pope, Alfred Lord Tennyson, George Bernard Shaw, Jonathan Swift and Sir Winston Churchill.
Cliveden Literary Festival is well entrenched in the ‘Literary Festival experience’ after launching in 2017. It continues the rich literary heritage of Cliveden House, which has inspired writers and thinkers from Alexander Pope, Alfred Lord Tennyson, George Bernard Shaw and Jonathan Swift to Sir Winston Churchill. Cliveden’s unique setting, architecture and interiors are matched only by the palpable sense of history that infuses its walls: for over 350 years the house has been dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure, power and politics. Built in 1666 by the 2nd Duke of Buckingham as a gift to his mistress, Cliveden from its first incarnation was a site of intrigue and glamour – good heavens, one so wants to know more.
Perhaps you’ll find out when tickets will go on sale in July 2025, and you can go and investigate in October. Why not sign up to the Cliveden Literary Festival newsletter and follow on Twitter and Instagram to be notified when tickets go on sale.
Additionally, visitors to Cliveden Literary Festival will also have the opportunity to explore the beautiful National Trust gardens and enjoy scenic walks down to the River Thames. Cliveden House, operated by the Iconic Luxury Hotel group, has been awarded a Forbes Travel Guide Star Award, and Condé Nast Johansens Award for Excellence.
www.clivedenliteraryfestival.org • @ClivedenLitFest on Twitter and #ClivedenLitFest on Twitter and Instagram for further updates