Michael Palin heads Smithdown Litfest 2025 programme

Sir Michael Palin is set to headline the 2025 Smithdown Litfest – but if you haven’t secured your ticket, you may be disappointed because the event is already sold out.

The annual festival of the written word – which is now in its ninth year - takes place at from September 25-28.

Author talks and readings will be staged at locations including Ullet Road Unitarian Church, St Bridget and St Thomas’s, Mossley Hill Church and, new for 2025, at Toxteth Park Cemetery.

The festival opens on September 25 at St Bridget and St Thomas’s in Bagot Street when Klopp author and journalist Anthony Quinn returns to Litfest to talk about his latest book, Keegan: The Man Who Was King. He will be ‘in conversation’ with Ragnhild Lund Ansnes about the book and highs and lows of Kevin Keegan’s career.

An Evening with Michael Palin takes place at Ullet Road Unitarian Church on September 26, where he will talk about his fascinating career and new book Michael Palin in Venezuela. The event is sold out but there is a waiting list in case of any returns.

Toxteth Park Cemetery – and Sips and Stories coffee shop nearby on Smithdown Road – is the location of Graves and Echoes: The Characters of Toxteth Park Cemetery on September 27. The event is led by historical fiction author JP Maxwell and the tour will delve into the power of epitaph, place and character.

September 27 also sees Liverpool Memories: A Century of Liverpool on Film at Mossley Hill Parish Church which will give its audience a rare opportunity to watch film footage of the city from the 1890s to the 1980s.

And on September 28, Ann Dinsdale, principal curator of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth will join journalist and author Sharon Wright to uncover the untold secrets about the buildings which inspired siblings Charlotte, Emily and Anne and their novels.

This year the Litfest also launches two unique projects, in partnership with Liverpool Libraries and Information Services and the Liverpool Learning Partnership.

The Smithdown Litfest Big Read celebrates the rich tradition of wordsmiths in the Smithdown area with a reading list of books written by/about people with a link to the Smithdown Litfest area (L8, L15, L17 and L18 postcodes). The books on the reading list will form the basis of displays in Liverpool Central Library and branch libraries from September 25 and the list will also be available from these libraries.

Meanwhile the Smithdown Litfest Reading Champions is a competition for primary school pupils in Y5 and Y6 (in L8, L15, L17 and L18 postcodes) to write a review of their favourite book. Winners and runners up will have their review displayed in Liverpool Central Library, alongside the reviewed book. There are also book token prizes.

Ian Skillicorn, founder and organiser of the Smithdown Litfest says: “We can't wait to welcome our speakers and audience to this year's festival.

“Meanwhile the Smithdown Litfest Big Read celebrates our area's great literary legacy, and the Reading Champions competition is sure to inspire a new generation of writers from within our community.”

The 2025 Litfest is being supported by the Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History, Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, and Liverpool City Council. And profits from the festival will go to Smithdown in Bloom.

Smithdown Litfest runs from September 25-28 at venues in South Liverpool. Full details and tickets HERE

Top: Image of Michael Palin by John Swannell.