Our annual festival will be on 4th – 6th September 2026 at the Stourpaine Village Hall, Stourpaine, near Blandford Forum, Dorset. There will be readings, talks, discussion, book signings, music, an installation and projection of literary materials, refreshments and a Festival bookstall.
The festival theme / title is ‘Uncertainty’. We look forward to another wonderful gathering of friends, old and new, from near and far.
Amongst the featured poets will be David Caddy, Kelvin Corcoran, Mélisande Fitzsimons, Richard Foreman, Ralph Hawkins, Penny Hope, Sharon Kivland, Morag Kiziewicz, Kym Martindale, Ghazal Mosadeq, Mandy Pannett, Elaine Randell, Elźbieta Wójcik-Leese.
This year’s Festival address will be given by Biljana Scott and Kevin Nolan will be talking about Poetic Artifice.
Amongst the open readers will be Alan Baker, Valerie Bridge, Westrow Cooper, Grace Gauld, Janet Hancock, Andrew Henon, Jeremy Hilton, Chris Kerr, Gerald Killingworth, Geraldine Monk, Adam Piette, Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani, Colin Campbell Robinson, Biljana Scott, Aidan Semmens, Catherine Simmonds, Steve Spence, Harriet Tarlo, Moyra Tourlamain, Sarah Watkinson, Charles Wilkinson.
We are looking for some people to help out with refreshments during the festival to help spread the load.
Festival programme (subject to change)
Friday 4th September 2026 from 6.00 pm
Evening Session: 7.20 – 9.30 pm
Welcome: David Caddy
Host: Gerald Killingworth
Tribute to Ric Hool by Charles Wilkinson
Open Readings: Huw Gwynn-Jones, Kara Barlow, Annie Philpott, Gervase Gordon, Biljana Scott,
Featured Poets: Mandy Pannett, Iris Lewis, Kevin Nolan
Saturday 5th September 2026 from 9.00 am
Morning Session: 10.30 – 12.30 pm
Host: Morag Kiziewicz
Festival Address: Biljana Scott
Open Readings: Westrow Cooper, Valerie Bridge, Andrew Henon, Grace Gauld, Harriet Tarlo
Featured Poets: Elaine Randell, Penny Hope, Elżbieta Wójick-Leese
Lunch 12.30 -2.30 pm
Sandwich, wrap and salad buffet with veggie and non-veggie options (not in conference fee)
Music: 1.45 – 2.30 pm with Phil Gravett
Afternoon Session: 2.30 – 5.30 pm
Host: Harriet Tarlo
Open Readings: Chris Kerr, Moyra Tourlamain, Sarah Watkinson, Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani, Alan Baker
Featured Poets: Mélisande Fitzsimons, Ghazal Mosadeq, Sharon Kivland
Tribute to J.H. Prynne by Richard Kerridge
Festival Talk: Kevin Nolan on ‘What is Not Artificial: a discussion of Vernica Forrest-Thomson’s Critical Work Q&A
Supper: 5.30 – 7.00 pm
Tikka Trak Indian Street food with vegetarian options (not included in conference fee)
Evening Session: 7.30 -9.30 pmy
Host: Andrew Henon
Open Readings: Colin Campbell Robinson, Janet Hancock, Vincent De Souza, Gul Ozseven, Gerald Killingworth, Charles Wilkinson
Featured Poets: David Caddy, Kym Martindale, Richard Foreman
Sunday 6th September 2026 from 9.00 am
Morning Session: 10.30 – 12.30 pm
Host: David Caddy
Open Readings: Adam Piette, Geraldine Monk, Aidan Semmens, Catherine Simmonds, Jeremy Hilton
Featured Poets: Ralph Hawkins, Morag Kiziewicz, Kelvin Corcoran
Closing Remarks: David Caddy
3.30 pm Post-festival Walk to Hod Hill from the White Horse Inn
BOOKINGS
Festival Weekend tickets are £80
Festival Friday and Sunday tickets are £25 each
Festival Saturday tickets are £25 for each session or £65 for the day
Please book on the pay / subscribe / donate page. Click on the Subscription menu and select your option and pay through the Donate button at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, our BACS payment details are available upon request.
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Festival Bursaries are available as part of our social inclusion policy.
BAME writers and poets, writers on no/low income, working class writers, writers from areas of rural or coastal deprivation, writers who have experienced homelessness, refugee writers, writers in the LGBTQ+ communities, writers who have survived abuse, disabled writers, neurodivergent writers, and writers with chronic health conditions. Please email tearsinthefence@gmail.com with the subject ‘Tears in the fence festival’ to apply for a free pass to all sessions.
OPEN READINGS
We welcome everyone who wishes to read at the Festival. Open readings are available on a first come first served basis. We will aim to accommodate everyone that wishes to participate. Please book as soon as possible so that we can allocate reading slots and timings. Many thanks.
BOOKSTALL
There will be a Festival bookstall. Please bring your books, pamphlets and magazines. Lists of Bookstall items with quantities, book titles and prices should be emailed in advance to Richard Foreman at Richefff@gmail.com as soon as possible. We charge a 10% commission for running the bookstall and put this income to the next festival.
ACCOMMODATION
There are a considerable number of guest houses and B&Bs in and around Stourpaine, Durweston and Blandford Forum, and in north Dorset in general. We recommend using Airbnb and the search engines available at booking.com, laterooms.com and trivago.co.uk. Our nearest local hotels are the Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum, Royal Chase Hotel, Shaftesbury and King’s Head Hotel, Wimborne Minster. Please book early as accommodation gets booked out quickly in this area of outstanding natural beauty. Apparently some places are already fully booked.
