Tickets for all 11 events at Derby Book Festival’s Autumn Edition are on sale from today, 20 September.  The events include 10 to be hosted at QUAD, Derby and one, An Evening with Pam Ayres, at Derby Theatre, which are already on sale.  You can buy tickets for all events online or from QUAD and Derby Theatre for the events they are hosting. 

The Festival’s Autumn Edition runs from Friday 5th to Tuesday 9th November and is another hybrid Festival including in-person, live streamed and recorded events. All the events to be held at QUAD will be available as both in-person and live-streamed events. An Evening with Pam Ayres is only available as an in-person event at Derby Theatre. A Digital Pass is available which includes recordings of nine events at QUAD. This costs £15 and enables people to view the recordings from Monday 8 November to Monday 6 December.

This is the second Autumn Edition, the first one being held in 2019. It gives a flavour of what to expect in the main Festival, which is held each spring over nine days with around 80 events in the programme. The sixth Derby Book Festival was held from 28 May – 6 June 2021 and will return in 2022.

The Festival’s Autumn Edition programme will include:

  • Politician and author David Lammy MP who will discuss his book, Tribes: A Search for Belonging in a Divided Society with BBC East Midlands Today presenter, Navtej Johal
  • Journalist and political columnist Steve Richards considers The Prime Ministers We Never Had          
  • Author Wendy Moore looks at the pioneering women who ran Britain’s Trailblazing Military Hospital: Endell Street in the first world war
  • Author Katherine May talks about her memoir, Wintering, and explains her experiences of the healing powers of the natural world
  • Author and autograph collector Adam Andrusier talks about his memoir: Two Hitlers and a Marilyn
  • Guardian columnist and TV critic Lucy Mangan discusses her first novel, Are We Having Fun Yet?
  • Nottingham-based author T M Logan shares his experience of becoming a best-selling novelist and selling over a million copies of his novels
  • Historian Alison Weir presents the final novel in her series about Henry VIII’s wives: Katharine Parr: The Sixth Queen
  • Costa Novel winner and Booker longlisted author Jon McGregor discusses his latest: Lean Fall Stand
  • Former MP and Home Secretary Alan Johnson discusses his first novel, The Late Train to Gipsy Hill.


The Festival is organised in partnership with all the major arts and cultural partners in the city with funding from the Arts Council England, the University of Derby and over 20 businesses and individuals across the city.

Liz Fothergill, Chair of the Festival says:

We held our first Autumn Edition in 2019 and it was a great success. Little did we think it would be our last Festival for 18 months and we were delighted we were able to go ahead.

As things start to return to normal, we hope to welcome old and new audiences back to our wonderful partner venues, encouraging people to enjoy the pleasure that books bring to our lives.

Professor Kathryn Mitchell DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby, said:

I am delighted that the University of Derby continues to support Derby Book Festival and look forward to seeing the inspirational activities planned for this year’s Autumn Edition.

The Festival continues to go from strength to strength, enriching the city’s diverse arts and cultural offering and providing people with more ways to explore, celebrate and share experiences to create a sense of place.

The Festival will have book sales and author signings at all events plus a Book Stall selling books from previous Festivals as well as a selection of children’s books and a Mystery Book selection.

The Festival programme, designed by local company, Archer Hampson, is available from QUAD, Derby Theatre, all libraries and tourist offices. Tickets can be booked online on the Derby Book Festival website or in person or by phone at Derby Theatre or QUAD.