Our Poetry Competition is back

The Chesham Literary Festival will return in 2026 for a full day of talks, performances and workshops, culminating in our annual Poetry Competition Awards Ceremony.

Check back soon for more information.

#ChesLitFest

Founders Ben Batten and Jon Bickley impart their wisdom in our 9-part series, How to Write a Poem. 

The follow-up, How to Write a Novel, has also launched to help budding novelists.

The Chalk Stream, our first publication, is now available.

The anthology features prizewinners and highly commended poems from our competitions over the recent years of the Festival. It also includes a selection written during our Mindful Verses workshops.