What's on
HistFest 2026
HistFest is back! This spring, one of the UK’s Leading history festival returns to the British Library.
Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups
An evening of dark and daring stories with Amal El-Mohtar, Susanna Clarke, Gregory Maguire and Terri Windling.
Strange Girls, Beautiful Monsters, the Grateful and the Dead
The Crick Crack Club presents a dark night of fairy tales for grown-ups.
The General Strike of 1926 Britain at a Standstill
Jonathan Scheer and David Torrance examine how nine days in May 1926 reshaped the country.
The Dylan Thomas Prize: A Shortlist Celebration
The world’s largest literary award for young writers.
An Evening with Gilles Peterson
One of the UK’s most iconic DJs in conversation with Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy for a Classic Album Sundays event.
European Writers’ Festival
Featuring authors from across Europe, an unmissable weekend of debate and conversation with European literary voices that matter.
Self-Help from the Middle Ages
Historian Peter Jones on what medieval thinkers can teach us about modern life.
The Fairy Tale Fan Club, with Richard Ayoade and David Roberts
What happens when curious kids send letters to their fairy-tale idols?!
Milton Hatoum, a lecture and conversation with Maya Jaggi
A lecture and conversation.
A Feast of Tales: The Stolen Smell and The Feast by the River
One of our most popular storytellers, Vanessa Woolf, brings to life two wonderful folk tales.
President Gabriel Boric of Chile in Conversation
with Isabel Hilton.
The Queen of Crime: The Life and Legacy of Agatha Christie
JLF London opens with a special panel featuring Lucy Foley, James Prichard and Lucy Rowland in conversation with Shrabani Basu.
JLF London 2026. The Jaipur Literature Festival
Two days of inspiring conversations, ideas, books, music, food and more.
At the Irish Table
Food, culture and tradition across the island of Ireland.
Please Sir, I Want Some More: Revolutionising What Kids Eat
How some school cooks are creating magic on a shoestring.
Much Ado About Cooking
Appetite, feasting and hunger in Shakespeare, with Simon Russell Beale and guests.
Palm Oil: The Crisis of a Contested Food
How a vital cultural ingredient came to be demonised.
From Fork to Fiction: Food and Drink Writers Turned Novelists
Crossing genres and rewriting expectations with Catherine Kurtz, Felicity Cloake Gurdeep Loyal and Olly Smith.
Bourdain and the Myth of the Kitchen Hero
Jay Rayner, Sally Abé, Andrew Clarke and Zoe Williams on influence, masculinity and the pressures of chef culture.
A Midsummer Night’s Fairy Tale, with Mermaid Chunky
Late at the Library.
How to Party in Pompeii, with Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins
The celebrated classicists dig into the food of the Romans, at this Instant Classics live recording.
Paths Through Britain
Nicholas Crane, Phoebe Smith and Chris Butterfield explore ancient routes, the enduring power of walking, and the landscapes that shape us.
Neneh & Andi: 45 years of Friendship, Family and Food
With Neneh Cherry and Andi Oliver.