Canterbury Children's Literature Festival
Schools Programme
In 2025, our first festival ran a one day schools programme. In 2026, our schools programme is taking place over a week, from Monday 6th - Friday 10th July. Explore the full Schools Programme below!
We are currently fundraising to bring incredible authors, illustrators and story creatives to Canterbury, and bring them, entirely free of charge, to run events in local primary and secondary schools.
We want you to be part of it.
Our festival exists to help support schools and educators in combating the lowest levels of reading enjoyment ever recorded, through helping to create opportunities for young people to engage with stories in different, less conventional ways, and experience the opportunities to ask their own questions and be creative in their own ways.
To do this, we need your schools support!
You can be part of helping to fundraise for our schools programme. We have a page of resources to help with ideas and are happy to discuss other thoughts you may have.
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Go Wild with Stories Writing Competition
The theme for the 2026 Writing Competition will be 'Go Wild with Stories', which can be interpreted through the medium of nature, or to mean
wild' as in how outside of the box an idea can be.
This year prizes will be awarded in the categories of written stories, comics & illustrated stories and poetry, each in a 5 - 11 age range and a 12 - 16 age range. The winning entries will form a story trail at one of our festival venues in July.
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2026 Free Schools Programme
Please note, due to funding restrictions, this programme is currently only available to schools in the Canterbury District
Monday 6th July
Improvised Poetry with Jonathan Sellars
The session brings poetry to life with a fully immersive experience. Children will have the chance to listen to, act out, write, and perform poems. It's incredibly fun and designed to get imaginations turned up to eleven.
Recommended for Year 2 upwards. Booking is first come, first served. Morning & afternoon slots available.
Creating Comics with James Turner
Creator of the award winning Star Cat graphic novel series, James will take you through how to come up with your own characters, and how to bring those characters to life in a silly adventure. You'll learn all the secrets of making great comics, from character design to speech bubbles, and have a lot of fun along the way!
Recommended for Years 7 - 9. Booking is first come, first served. Afternoon slot available.
Tuesday 7th July
Time Travel Adventure with Claire Linney
An interactive session that introduces Claire's love of Black British history and inspiration for writing Time Tub Travellers. Then there is a time travelling trip to Tudor London and the Victorian Circus to look at the different Black British historical figures that are brought to life in her books. She discusses time travel and time machines before finishing with a reading and time for lots of questions.
Recommended for Year 2 upwards.
The Story Network - Multi Schools Collaboration with our Headline Sponsor, the University of Kent
We are thrilled to bringing over 100 KS3 students to the University of Kent campus for a fun-filled day experiencing what it's like to be an author, a graphic novelist, a songwriter and lots of other amazing things you can do with literacy!
Young people who are part of the University's current partnership programmes will have the chance to meet and experience workshops with some fantastic authors, in a day packed with creativity, discussion and fun.
Wednesday 8th July
How to Write a Robbery with Eve Wersocki Morris
A fun and interactive workshop for aspiring authors and illustrators who love mystery, adventure and baddies! Put on your sneaky shoes, create a jewel thief and plan a heist with bestselling writer Eve Wersocki-Morris, author of Clem Fatale Has Been Betrayed – an adventure comedy about jewel thieves set in 1950s London. Eve is dyslexic so no one needs to worry about perfect spelling and grammar – this workshop is all about ideas and imagination!
Perfect for Years 3 - 6 and even has hats!
Ten Steps to Us Writing Workshops with Attiya Khan
Encourage the budding writers in your school in these writing workshops with Kent based author Attiya Khan, whose novel Ten Steps to Us explores themes of bullying, friendship and interracial love stories. In these workshops, Attiya will explore various themes and use writing prompts to encourage young people to create their own stories, using their own experiences to explore representation and creativity.
Perfect for Years 7 -9
Felicity Epps
Broadstairs-based Felicity Epps published her debut novel for young adults, A Grave Inheritance, in July last year - the first in a supernatural murder mystery series called the Society of Free Spirits published by Hachette. In this School Workshop, we will learn how to craft our own gothic murder mysteries, reveal hidden clues and create our own characters... or suspects! With the added atmosphere of Victorian England, students can fill out police reports and witness statements to build their own investigation. We will think about plot twists and how to create red herrings for the reader - and whether a ghost might haunt the crime scene!
Perfect for Years 7 -9
Thursday 9th July
Lucy Strange
It’s the night of Sir Percy’s midsummer costume party, and Mulberry Hall has been turned into an enchanting wonderland. But the evening takes a dark turn when grumpy guest Magnus Cooper is mysteriously poisoned!
In these very special Canterbury Children's Literature Festival events, bestselling author Lucy Strange will be sharing some of her secrets as a writer and spilling the beans on why murder mysteries are so brilliant to read! Children will be invited to join the young sleuths in Lucy's brand new story - pondering this perplexing crime, and plotting a cosy mystery of their very own!
Suitable for Years 4,5 & 6
Climate Fiction & Manifesto Poetry with Antonia Maxwell
How can climate fiction help us imagine and navigate towards a better future? In this creative writing workshop, we will discuss what climate fiction (cli-fi) is and how writers use storytelling to think about climate change, and the importance of hope in such stories. We will explore the idea of manifesting change, and discuss what a manifesto is. Students will write their own individual manifesto poems, based on places and things that give them joy, and using powerful repeating phrases such as 'I will...', 'I choose...' and 'I promise...' The session encourages hopeful thinking, creativity and reflection, with a focus on how small actions and strong voices can translate into action for the future.
Suitable for KS3
My Amazing Brain: A Drawing Adventure with Emily Snape
Did you know your brain helps you imagine, create, and solve puzzles every day? This fun and creative workshop will explore how amazing and unique our brains are. Through guided drawing activities, children will bring their ideas to life while exploring how their brains help them learn, feel, and think. A relaxed, hands-on session perfect for curious young minds.
Suitable for Reception - Year 2
Friday 10th July
My Amazing Brain: A Drawing Adventure with Emily Snape
Did you know your brain helps you imagine, create, and solve puzzles every day? This fun and creative workshop will explore how amazing and unique our brains are. Through guided drawing activities, children will bring their ideas to life while exploring how their brains help them learn, feel, and think. A relaxed, hands-on session perfect for curious young minds.
Suitable for Reception - Year 2
Isla and the Sky with Greg Stobbs
An interactive event exploring body language and feelings throughout artwork & stories
The event will begin with street artwork and illustration, and follows the story through exploring feelings with interactive exercises and crafts. There will be storytime and a chance for children to ask questions about feelings, being an artist, telling stories or whatever questions they have!
Suitable for Reception - Year 3
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Mindful Storytelling with Mark Westmoquette
Explore stories and the world around us with author, astrophysicist and mindfulness teacher Mark Westmoquette.
This session offers a mix of hands-on activities, relaxing mindful moments and readings from the book, including:
- feeling our planet through our sense of weight and gravity
- exploring the light and warmth of the sun, leading to understanding about how we receive the Sun’s energy
- reading the Aztec story/myth of 'Nanahuatzin Became the Sun, Tecciztecatl Became the Moon'
- discussing how we can send wishes of love and kindness to others on a beam of sunlight or moonlight
Suitable for Reception - Year 3
Bigg School with Lisa Williamson
Join bestselling author Lisa Williamson as she introduces the brilliant cast of her Bigg School series and shares hilariously relatable tales from her own school days as well as behind-the-scenes inspiration from the books that capture the highs and lows of starting Year 7.
Suitable for Year 7 & 8