WELCOME!
THIS PAGE GIVES YOU THE LATEST SOUTHAM BOOKFEST NEWS
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:-
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Liaising with potential exhibitors.
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Identifying those who would provide an amusing talk or informative panel discussion.
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Identifying marketing ideas and opportunities and implementing them.
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Design and print of physical media.
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Continual development of our social media strategy and managing their feeds.
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Providing support to the webmaster.
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Managing bookings via Eventbrite.
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Book in the Window competition for local shops and business.
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Flash Fiction 100 words competition.
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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!
