What's on
Helmsley Literary Festival 2026!
Fri 18 September - Sun 20 September
Helmsley Literary Festival returns this September with an eclectic collective of creatives for a weekend of literary entertainment! You can book the events below now! We are running several competiti...Event type: Other , Talks, Theatre
This event is family friendly
Read more about Helmsley Literary Festival 2026!
Luke Wright: Later Life Letter
Sat 19 September, 7pm-8pm
Later Life Letter tells the story of Luke Wright’s adoption – the life he leads, and the one he might have done. What’s it like to stumble across your birth mother on Facebook? How...Event type: Spoken Word, Talks, Other
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HLF - Frances Wilson - Electric Spark
Sat 19 September, 5pm - 6pm
The Enigma of Muriel Spark In this talk, Francis Wilson follows the clues and riddles of the enigma that was Muriel Spark and leads us to a greater understanding of this innovative and brilliant writ...Event type: Talks, Other
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HLF - Giles Milton - Empire at the Edge of the World
Sat 19 September, 3pm - 4pm
Endurance and Madness in the High Arctic In 1913, William Stephenson, a Briton who changed his name to Vilhjalmur Stefansson to sound more like the Viking forefathers he idolised, organised an ...Event type: Talks, Other
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HLF - Rachel Watkyn & Claire Hornby - The Baronesses
Sat 19 September, 1pm - 2pm
A true story of sisterhood, survival and a secret that rewrote their past The Baronesses is the memoir of half-sisters Rachel and Claire, whose childhoods were spent in stately homes. Rachel's ...Event type: Talks, Other
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HLF - Rob Cowen - The North Road
Sun 20 September, 6.30pm - 7.30pm
Rob Cowen takes you on the long and winding road that leads from the English to the Scottish capital. Along the way, we share that highway’s history and Rob’s modern-day encounters and exp...Event type: Talks, Other
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HLF - Dr Michelle Hills - The Wrong Order of Things
Sun 20 September, 4.30pm - 5.30pm
Dr Michelle Hills, Chief Medical Officer at Martin’s House Children’s Hospice in Yorkshire, describes in her book, The Wrong Order of Things, the realities of caring for children with comp...Event type: Talks, Other
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HLF - Lucy Easthope - Come What May
Sun 20 September, 2.30pm - 3.30pm
Life-Changing Lessons for Coping with Crisis When a disaster happens, who picks up the pieces? The answer is Lucy Easthope or one of her colleagues in the field of Disaster Management. Her books, Whe...Event type: Talks, Other
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HLF - Rukky Brume - It Comes in Waves
Sun 20 September, 12.30pm - 1.30pm
Rukky Brume grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. Her ‘breathtaking’ debut novel, It Comes in Waves, featured on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on Wednesday 24th June 2026, follows Onome, a l...Event type: Talks, Other
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The Arts Society Helmsley: Picasso's 'Guernica' and the Spanish Civil War
Mon 5 October, 7pm
Guernica is one of the most famous paintings in the world and probably Picasso’s best known picture. It was prompted by events in the Spanish Civil War, and specifically the fascist destruction ...Event type: Talks
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The Arts Society Helmsley: A new royal tomb in Egypt: the life and death of Thutmose II
Mon 2 November, 7pm
1822: the decipherment of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs 1922: the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun 2022: a new pharaoh's tomb found near the Valley of the Kings. This lecture covers the lif...Event type: Talks
Read more about The Arts Society Helmsley: A new royal tomb in Egypt: the life and death of Thutmose II
Brian Bilston - How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside
Fri 13 November, 7.30pm
With over 500,000 followers on social media and a host of sell-out shows across the country, Brian Bilston is one of the UK’s most popular poets. He has published several bestselling collection...Event type: Talks, Spoken Word
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