Folkestone Book Festival 2025 – international to local

Creative Folkestone’s Book Festival 2025 is curated, for the 2nd time, by local resident Sophie Haydock.  Award-winning author and journalist, Sophie has the best job in town.  It’s safe to say that ‘excited’ is an understatement when Sophie talks about what is on offer at this year’s festival from 13th to 23rd November.  Folkelife spoke to her about the task ahead.

“My first Folkestone Book Festival was amazing.  I loved every minute of it; the response from the audience and the guests was such a buzz for me.  Now onto the second Festival, which is daunting, but judging by the ticket sales already, I think we’re in for a good time. 

“Looking at the programme there are themes that come through.  It’s hard when you start booking people to come, as you don’t know who will be available, so the themes develop as you go.  For example, there’s the masculine voice, and the feminine voice with Irvine Welsh and Trainspotting being such a masculine thing, and Emma Jane Unsworth with Slags – her fearless new novel about sex, shame and sisterhood.”

brit pop nostalgia

“But weirdly, I think the biggest theme to come out of it is this Brit Pop nostalgia. There’s a feel good 90s thing going on with Joanne Harris, her book Chocolat came out a couple of years after Trainspotting, but had a massive following.  Jung Chang’s Wild Swans from 1991 has now followed up with Fly Wild Swans, and you might have read these big, big books the first time around, but now it’s time to explore them again.

“Even Amanda Knox, that story was huge 20 years ago, and she’s coming to discuss how to reclaim your life when things get taken out of your hands.  And Will Young is here with James Cahill to talk about Success, and everything that goes with it.  Will Young was the first winner of Pop Idol, which brings that feeling of this speaking to a slightly different era.”

Literary folkestone

“We have lots of workshops happening which also seem to have settled into a theme of supporting writers.  There are so many people here in Folkestone who are accomplished writers, and that breeds new, emerging talent too.  So our workshops cater for a wide range of skill sets; finding an agent, being a freelancer, writing a memoir, and how to finish that damn book!  I think we’ve all been there, be it an essay at school or something longer.  Hopefully there are things here to help people take their writing onward to the next step. 

“Dean Atta is here to talk about love, poetry, identity and figuring it all out.  His work in teen and young adult fiction is really good. And, for me, it’s important to get diversity into the Book Festival – age, gender, genres and diversity through different life experiences.”

Politics

“There’s quiet a lot to talk about on this front too.  We have Labour Under Starmer – and I wonder if Starmer will still be PM by November!  Whatever happens in politics, you know there will always be something to talk about. John Sweeny, veteran war reporter, is coming to talk about Putin’s Russia.  Caroline Lucas returns to Folkestone to discuss what type of England we want to be a part of.

“There are the important local conversations to have too.  Dr Kathryn Ferry is leading a discussion about the buildings that have shaped Folkestone.  The Burstin is a real talking point, but there are other issues to discuss here too, which we must not shy away from.  The Seafront Development is part of the dialogue of our town, and the future of it too. There are strong feelings, and it’s right to be able to have a conversation about it.”

and food

“Yes, in amongst all of this there is a food theme too.  We have a debate about crisps – everyone loves crisps! Sabrina Ghayour will be talking about her new book Persiana Easy, following on from the great success of Persiana.  Middle Eastern food feels complicated, but the way Sabrina talks about it, it really isn’t. Dr Steven Parissien is coming to talk about the drinks that define us, from gin to tequilla.

“There are big names, and names to discover.  The ticket sales for Rupert Everett’s talk sold out so quickly, we’re trying to see if we can find a bigger venue for him!  Lee Miller’s son is coming to talk about his mother, the war photographer; Kate Winslet has just made a film about her.  Kate Mosse is coming, which I’m very excited about, and also Lisa Jewell, who is a big crime novelist, and her latest book is based along our Kent coastline.”

Discovering folkestone

“We moved to Folkestone a couple of years ago; my husband being the reason I discovered the town. He’s a music producer on the side of his normal job and makes music with Johnny Tomlinson who many people know as a yoga teacher.  He’s a really skilled keyboard player and has been playing with Bonobo since 2013.  Anyway, my husband would come down to Folkestone for a week at a time and I didn’t have the same time to commit.  I was living in Hackney, East London, which is supposed to be the epicentre of creativity in the coolest city in the world. Honestly, there’s nothing there compared to the concentration of what we have here in Folkestone. Plus, your work/life balance is sorted too.” 

inspiring my writing

“I published my second book earlier in 2025, Madame Matisse. And in May 2025 I went on a writing retreat to the Artic Circle.  I met Eley Williams there who is a poet and a lecturer in Creative Writing at Cardiff University.  She’s incredibly playful, and we got on like a house on fire – which possibly isn’t the right metaphor for a trip to the Arctic!  Eley created some poetry when we were on the boat using the flags and her sense of language.  I wanted to pair her with Abigail Parry who also has this playfulness with language that is such a skill and really engages people. 

“I feel like Folkestone’s done half my job for me.  Every week there’s an appealing article in the papers saying how amazing our town is, and all these authors want to come here to talk.  It’s been a privilege to invite them, and I can’t wait to hear what people think.”