About the Festival

The World's Only Festival of Biography and Memoir

A festival with a truly unique focus – celebrating life stories - the Boswell Book Festival is an established favourite on the UK cultural arts scene. It annually attracts the very best of today’s authors, historians, journalists and well-known public figures, who come to speak with passion and authority about their lives, and others.

Previous years have included Dame Judi Dench, Susan Calman, Sally Magnusson, Anthony Horowitz, Alfie Boe, Amanda Owen, Lady Anne Glenconner, Neil Oliver, Frank Skinner, Andrew O’Hagan, Rupert Everett, James Naughtie, Michael Morpurgo, Jung Chang and Pam Ayres, to name a few.

Explore this year’s festival programme

Run over three days, at the heart of the festival is a programme of inspirational biographies and memoirs taken from the lives of people both past and present. These stories are all told through a combination of author talks, debates, workshops and media including plays, film, poetry and music.

In between events, you can meet your favourite authors at book signings, soak up the atmosphere in our Festival Café, browse the onsite bookshop and enjoy the wonderful grounds and amenities of Dumfries House Estate. Most of the events from our main festival venues are live streamed, and recorded, so you can also catch up from the comfort of your own home.

Along with the main festival we also run a hugely popular Children’s Festival, with storytelling talks and immersive activities, offering a brilliant, family friendly day out.