Smithdown Litfest will be all year round from 2026, launching with a Liverpool legend

Liverpool’s popular Smithdown Litfest will become a year-round festival from 2026, and it’s launching with one of the city’s best-loved writers.

Roger McGough, one of the famous Mersey Poets alongside Adrien Henri and Brian Patten, will present An Evening With in January, the first event in what will be a regular programme throughout the year.

The festival, which celebrates its 10^th anniversary in 2026, has gained a national reputation among authors and publishers since it launched.

Names like Chris Tarrant, Michael Palin, Vera creator Ann Cleeves and Jimmy MxGovern have all been involved in previous years.

Now Ian Skillicorn, who founded Smithdown Litfest, says it feels like the right time to expand it from its usual September dates to a format that makes it more easily accessible for guests and audiences.

He explains:

“Over the years there have been authors who I’ve approached who wanted to take part but just couldn’t do the dates so, although it’s great to have a lot of events together, it also means that if people can’t make a particular date you’ve lost them.

“We wanted to have more flexibility to give authors the opportunity to come when it suits them, maybe when it’s part of a book tour or if they have a book launching at a particular time of the year. That way we can work around their diaries which gives us more options to get more great guests.”

Ian says he’s planning to have at least one Smithdown Litfest event a season, and although the timing of the festival will change, everything else will remain familiar.

“Over the last couple of years it feels like Smithdown Litfest has really started to settle into people’s consciousness. We’ve got an established festival, and we’ve got a good reputation so it makes sense to keep the name.

“We’ll launch in January, there’ll be one around March, one early summer, and one in September to coincide with the actual 10^th anniversary.

“We’ll have the same number of events but spread out rather than condensed into one week, and we can use the same venues we’ve always used.

“Every event we do will be part of Smithdown Litfest so we’ll become Liverpool’s year-round literary festival, making Smithdown the home of great stories throughout the year.”

Ian says he’s thrilled to be launching with An Evening with Roger McGough on Saturday January 24. It will be a joint event with JMU’s Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History, which has been a long-time supporter of the festival.

“Roger McGough is a national legend but obviously locally he’s so fondly thought of, people in Liverpool do very much see him as one of their own.

“It’s just a fantastic way to start, and I know people are very excited about welcoming him back to the city.”

Roger, who’s now 88, will be on stage at Ullet Road Unitarian Church, entertaining the audience with his poems and readings, and maybe a few personal recollections. Pritchard’s bookshop in Crosby will be there too, so there will also be a chance to have books signed afterwards.

“This is a rare opportunity for a Liverpool audience to see him performing in his home city,” adds Ian.

“I’ve never personally seen him live but since we knew he was going to do this event I’ve spoken to people who have and they keep saying how great he is, and how nice he was when they met him, so there’s definitely going to be a lot of love in the room for him.”