Saturday 18th October, 2.00-6.00pm
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1R 4RL
We are excited to confirm details of this year’s Wordstock which once again is part of the Bloomsbury Festival. It’s going to be a feast for your imagination so bring your notebooks to capture the experience and buckle in for the ride!
The Festival’s theme this year is The Paths we Tread. We will be literally treading paths together throughout the afternoon – physically, emotionally, intellectually.
Flow for the afternoon:
- Rob Self-Pierson and panel: A Writing Life
- 26 Bridges – the final flourish and walking across the 27th Bridge!
- The Way We Do It – get involved as we launch two writing projects for 2026
- Performance Poetry – hearing from some exciting new voices
We start with Rob Self-Pierson leading a panel discussion, ‘A Writing Life’. What does it mean to live as a writer today? Rob has been contributing a regular column to the 26 Newsletter about straddling the fine line between commercial and creative writing. He’s invited 3 writers to join him in conversation around this subject: Olivia Sprinkel (her book, To Hear The Trees Speak has just been launched); 26 member, Anushka Shah and 26’s Founder, John Simmons (writer for business, poet, novelist, Painting Paris is just out).
26 Bridges will be celebrated with a final flourish as we hear from 3 of the pairings as they talk about their journeys across one of London’s 26 bridges. Then we have a surprise: an immersive experience to take you across London’s 27th bridge that was never built – the infamous Garden Bridge. We will all be writing about this on the day.
In contrast, we launch two new projects for 2026. Both come under the working title of ‘The Way We Do It’. Once again, we are collaborating with Eames Fine Art and their rich portfolio of print-makers. We are going to be pairing a 26 writer with one of their print-makers, many of whom work across the UK (as will our writers). The project is focused on bringing to life the unique and intricate process of each print-maker. It is too often an unknown and unexplained craft. We will explain all on the day and unveil the first pairing.
Alongside this will be a halo project around ‘The Way We Do It’. We will be inviting 26 members to feature an artist in their locality to bring to life their process. Here we’re going to expand the range of artistic pursuits: a cheese-maker, ceramicist, bespoke tailor or dressmaker, painter, even a writer! The choice is yours. We’ll explain how it will work and we will feature as many of the written submissions as we can in the newsletter and the 26 Substack.
Finally, we are delighted to welcome the poet, Soledad Santana. She is an alumnus of the Barbican Young Poets programme and contributed to 26 Connections last year. She’s currently studying human rights law at Oxford University. We are thrilled that she can join us to perform some of her poetry.
Alastair Creamer will be hosting the day, getting us to write, to be involved and be part of this great 26 tradition. As always, there will be publications on sale from all of our guests. These include Mark Noad’s beautiful edition of 26 Connections and the volume of poetry published by Flipped Eye that came out of the collaborative project between writers from 26 and the Barbican Young Poets headed by Jacob Sam-La Rose.
Tickets are on sale now. The last two Wordstocks have sold out and as the intimate Library in Conway Hall can only seat 50, it might be wise to book your places soon!