WELCOME!
THIS PAGE GIVES YOU THE LATEST SOUTHAM BOOKFEST NEWS
October 12th 2026
Book In The Window Competition
The winners of the Book in the Window competition were announced yesterday at the festival. They are as follows:
Joint first
Grineaux Accountants - Thomas the Tank Engine
Grange pre-school - The Little Red Hen
Second place
Daisy B - The Teddy Bear's Picnic
Joint Third place
Glitz & Glam - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Brindley Twist Taft and James - Winnie the Pooh
Southam Heritage Centre - Alice in Wonderland
Finally a big thank to all of the businesses who entered - we recognise the hard work that goes into designing & decorating the windows and the community spirit it creates.
October12th 2026
Flash Fiction Competition Winners announced
Out of 259 entries from 20 different countries we have chosen three winning stories.
As well as an outright winner, the judges could not decide on second & third so agreed to have two in joint second.
The top stories can be found on our competitions page here - we hope you enjoy reading them.
You will also find the Judges Report there that explains a little more about the judging process and the rationale behind the choices.
September 29th 2026
Book In The Window Competition
We have once again invited local businesses to take part in our Book In The Window competition to represent a book.
The aim is to promote the business, publicise the Book Festival and enliven our tow by getting people to stop and look & hopefully be amused by what they see.
We have certainly had some entertaining entries in past years and are looking forward to seeing that creativity on display again.
Judging is taking place this week, so do go along and have a look.
There is a trail map showing those businesses taking part.
September 25th 2026
Flash Fiction Competition
THE SHORTLIST
Of the 259 entries that we received, the following is the top ten shortlist.
Entries are listed in the order in which they were submitted, not in order of merit.
The winning stories will be announced at the festival and published on here as soon as possible thereafter, as well as on our social media.
September 7th 2026
Flash Fiction Competition
This year's competition is now closed.
We have had an impressive 259 entries from around the world, including USA, Canada, China, Iran, Greece, France, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, South Africa, Ireland, Italy, Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Kyrgyzstan, Kauai and of course the UK.
Our judges are now wading through to pick a shortlist of 10, from which the 3 winners will be chosen. There are some impressive and thought-provoking stories so watch out when they get posted on here in a few days.
August 17th 2026
2026 Speakers
We have curated a diverse selection of speakers for this year's festival.
Do pop over to the speakers page and have a look - you will find links to Eventbrite where you can book for free.
-
Amy Clennell - poet and novellist talking about her work and the challenges of disability.
-
Anna Byk - the writing process for a contemporary novel for 5 women whose stories are intertwined and set in the local area.
-
Andy Mullaney - a heart-warming book about overcoming cancer with humour, resilience and positivity.
-
Jacci Gooding - what makes a good horror story, what the hooks are and why the genre is so popular
-
Karen Storey - about writing a Romcom that has been picked up by a screenwriter for a film
In addition there will be a talk in the Hub at Galanos House on September 23rd at 2:30pm
by Rick Thomson (former BBC journalist) about his book 'A Year on the Fosse' - an illustrated journey month by month along it's 230 miles
August 10th 2026
2026 Exhibitors
We now have a full complement of exhibitors for 2026. We also have writers groups representing Banbury, Leamington, Rugby & Northants so it will be busy in the hall!
There is a good mix of both new talent and some familiar faces with new books.
Their work covers a multitude of genres covering fiction and non-fiction, adult, young adult & children's, along with some poetry.
Do pop over to the exhibitors page and have a look - there is some intriguing work there.
August 2nd 2026
Book In The Window competition
Following the huge success of the 2025 “Book in the Window” Competition we are inviting local businesses to take part in this year’s event.
Decorate your shop/business window to represent a book. This will promote your business, publicise the Book Festival and enliven our town.
Over the next few weeks our volunteers will come and see you and discuss how you can take part. Entry to the competition is free. Winners will have their name engraved on a shield and can display this until next year's competition.
Window displays should be in place by 28th September 2026 ready for judging but can be ready any time before this.
If you would like some tips and hints for decorating your window then look for our leaflet when we visit or email us at southambookfest@gmail.com
Entries will be judged by an expert panel for creativity, relevance, interest and wow factor.
The winner will be announced at the Book Festival on Sunday 11th October 2026.
Last year's winner - The Tiger Who Came to Tea - Community Hub @Galanos
.jpeg)
June 5th 2026
This Year's Competition is now open!
Writers submitting 100 word stories for Southam Book Festival’s Flash Fiction competition must include one particular word selected by one of the judges.
This years chosen word is HORIZON - we opted for a noun for a change.
We will be looking for works that are original and can be entertaining, thought-provoking, witty, have a relevant message or observation of society, for example.
Please take note of the rules on the competitions page.
1st prize £60
2nd prize £30
3rd prize £20
May 7th 2026
The organising of the 2026 Southam Book Festival is well underway. Although it is a well oiled machine it would be nice to have some new people to help us turn the handles. If you are interested in books, poetry, stories, writing, authors or you want to help promote reading and have some fun, send us a message or email southambookfest@gmail.com. No literary skills necessary!
Do you think you could judge a short story of 100 words?
What about 100 of them?
We are looking for new readers to help us judge the world famous "Flash Fiction" competition as part of the annual Southam Book Festival taking place this year on 11th October. If you or your reading group if you are part of one are interested and want to know more, just email us at southambookfest@gmail.com.
Entrants to the competition are invited to write a short story no longer than 100 words, including a given word that must appear as part of the story. The competition is publicised on literary web sites and social media and many entries come in from far and wide from the UK and from abroad. The competition opens in June and closes early September - most submissions arrive in August, so judging usually starts then.
The rules can be found on the competitions page.
March 24th 2026
Not a lot to see yet - we have only just started our planning, but we will be posting news as and when it happens.
We have had a lot of interest already, especially as we had more authors wanting to attend than we could accommodate last year, so they will get first dibs this year.
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
Once again we are looking for a couple more volunteers to augment our core team. Enthusiastic volunteers are needed to help with the planning and organising of the 2026 festival and on the day. If you've got a skill you think we might need, an idea for an event you'd like to be involved in, or you just want to rock up and help on the day, we'd love to hear from you.
Typical activities include:-
-
Liaising with potential exhibitors.
-
Identifying those who would provide an amusing talk or informative panel discussion.
-
Identifying marketing ideas and opportunities and implementing them.
-
Design and print of physical media.
-
Continual development of our social media strategy and managing their feeds.
-
Providing support to the webmaster.
-
Managing bookings via Eventbrite.
-
Book in the Window competition for local shops and business.
-
Flash Fiction 100 words competition.
-
Coordinating the kitchen - organising drinks, cakes and snacks - running the kitchen on the day with our regular volunteers.
These are the main activities - there are plenty more.
If you want to know more see the contacts page or email directly southambookfest@gmail.com
FUNDING
We are a charity, run by volunteers, and the costs of putting on the festival come entirely from donations, sponsors and flash fiction entry fees, which also pays for the prizes.
If you enjoy what we are doing and would like to see it continue, please consider making a donation if you can, no matter how small.
If you would like to contribute, just click on the JustGiving logo below and you will be taken to our page.
THANK YOU!
