Artful Scribe brings Litfest26 to Southampton’s Mayflower Studios next month.
The event will offer a weekend of stimulating talks, powerful readings, inspiring workshops and three showcase performances, featuring local, regional and national voices.
This year’s theme, Acts of Resistance, is a provocation, encouraging people to think differently and express themselves creatively at a time when it seems more important than ever to demonstrate the power of the pen (or keyboard) to encourage hearts and minds towards social, political and environmental change.
The line-up draws upon thought-leaders, academics, poets and performers whose work resonates with this year’s festival theme and is priced accordingly, with the majority of events priced as Pay What You Can Afford, being mindful of these tight times when budgets may be restricted.
Matt West, the Artistic Director for ArtfulScribe and also the curator for this year’s LitFest26: Acts of Resistance, said: “For me, an act of resistance can be as simple as a writer making a mark on a page. What wasn’t now is. In place of nothing, something. It is something for a person to speak their truth, to say what’s important to them, in their particular lives, at this particular time. Too often, people are silenced and feel unable to speak about things that really matter.
“The keynote sets the tone for this year’s festival, when University of Southampton’s Stephanie Jones, Toby Litt, and Dina Lupin speak about their lives and work presenting views on intellectual protest, getting arrested, and making work that changes laws. This talk is followed by performance and reading from Louise Fazackerley and Amber Massie-Blomfield. Both will also be in conversation with Toby Litt.
“Amber’s work really excites me. Her book, Acts of Resistance: The Power of Art to Create a Better World, is the inspiration behind this year’s festival, looking at ways in which art has subverted the status quo. There’s a particular story about two women in Jersey during the Second World War, living under occupation, with German officers having taken up residence in their home. These women create a ‘zine, written as if from a German soldier, voicing dissent about being away from their loved ones, in a place that doesn’t want them, and encouraging insurgence. And all this, while those German officers are within touching distance. I love that.
“Louise Fazackerley has been on my radar for about ten years and is one of northern England’s strongest female voices on the spoken word scene. She’s a master of the art and recently went viral with her poem ‘I want my country back’, offering a political point of view around young identity and responding to topical currents of these times. Louise is running a ‘Voice as Resistance’ workshop on Saturday morning, and poet Ellora Sutton will also be offering a workshop on Poems as Possibility, too.
“There’s a poetry showcase, a talk on poetry and publishing, and an event, Sounds of the Solent, bringing together writers from Bournemouth, Portsmouth, The Isle of Wight, Winchester, and, of course, Southampton, each with their own particular point of view to share, offering a passionate take on the world. The event will be headlined by Jonny Fluffypunk, the super-soft anarchist. He’s worth his weight in fluff, any day.
“We love diversity at ArtfulScribe and are delighted to team up with Art Asia for a Sunday morning feature, Mystical Melodies, celebrating the Bauls of Bengal with Papia Ghosal, transcending borders of faith and time, and we’ll round the festival off with our annual community showcase.”
It is a programme with something for everyone, all taking place at Mayflower Studios in Southampton from 13th – 15th March.
For more information, visit mayflower.org.uk/whats-on/artfulscribe-litfest-2026
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