Our mission at Monty Lit Fest is simple: to bring people together for a weekend of books, stories and fun. And judging by the buzz in Montgomery this weekend, it looks like we came close to mission accomplished. Thank you to everyone who came along to help make our 2026 Festival a weekend to remember. …
Monty Lit Fest 2026 takes place this weekend, 12th-14th June, in the beautiful town of Montgomery. We’re all set for a weekend of books and fun. It’s the chance to meet and hear from authors about their work; have a go yourself at our writers’ workshops; join us for our Saturday night quiz or a …
In his book, Tir, the author Carwyn Graves makes the case for the Welsh having a special relationship with our land. He argues (convincingly) for his “deeply held conviction that the land and its people are inextricably intertwined.” In Montgomeryshire and the Borders, we see this all around us. And it‘s not only on our …
Visitors to Monty Lit Fest are fortunate to have such a choice of places to eat. At one of them, the Ivy House Cafe & Post Office, you can buy your Lit Fest tickets and post your parcels as well as sit down to a menu of delicious home-cooked food. In a full-on life in …
The book publishing event of 2026 is one designed to bring a smile to all our faces. This September, Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s latest collaboration, Gruffalo Granny, is set to take the book world by storm. It’s a reminder that, despite all the doom and gloom about children’s reading – and National Literacy Trust …
According to psychologists, we humans love to make stuff. This urge to create is an innate human need, associated with self-expression, leaving our mark on the world, the ability to explore and process our emotions and connect with others. Creation may not always be an easy process, but the rewards are many. Fortunately, we have …
In the world of books, fiction is having something of a moment. Sales are at a record high, whether readers are buying books in print, listening to an audiobook or snuggling up with their Kindles. A whole host of reasons have been explored for this phenomenon. It’s true, for example, that more of us than …
The swallows are back, swooping low over the bluebells under the oak trees and it is Literary Festival Season once again. As writers live solitary lives and often find the door to socialization blocked by a chunky barricade of deadlines, Literary Festivals provide us with the chance to emerge, blinking like Mole from ‘Wind in …
Monty Lit Fest is nothing without its volunteers. Visiting writers have remarked, more than once, that they can’t believe that we rely totally on people giving their time for nothing. Of course, it’s not really for nothing as the pleasure we get from pulling this amazing event together has a value all of its own. …
Earlier this year, the UK’s Booksellers Association (BA) published a report on the role playedby Welsh bookshops in their communities. It gave voice to what we already instinctivelyknow: that the country’s 116 bookshops – 64 of them independents – are crucial forpromoting Welsh culture and language, championing literacy, connecting readers withwriters and acting as social …