Expect author events, music gigs and children’s activities in April 2026.
The Heath Bookshop Literature and Music Festival, in partnership with How Brave is the Wren and the Hare & Hounds, will return from 15th–19th April 2026. The biannual festival is supported by National Lottery Project Grants funding through Arts Council England.
Based in Kings Heath, Birmingham, the Festival is a celebration of the relationship between literature and music and will feature artists across both genres. With solo acts, author events, specially commissioned performance pieces, children’s activities and music gigs, this diverse festival will showcase a host of talented artists.
New commissions for The Heath Bookshop Literature and Music Festival 2026 edition include, Grief is the thing with feathers (Saturday 18th April), a radical new dance adaptation of Max Porter’s award-winning novel from Beyond Words dance-theatre company which will be followed by an ‘in conversation’ with Max Porter. This will be the first time the author will have been present for this show, which has been in development for the last couple of years.
Voices in the Making: Stories that Shape Us (Sunday 19th April) will present a powerful afternoon of poetry, storytelling and performance led by Ayan Aden, Birmingham’s Poet Laureate. This specially commissioned show will see Ayan deliver creative workshops with young people and welcome guest performers to a special event celebrating the act of harnessing our voices – using spoken word and storytelling as tools for empowerment, healing and connection.
Carnival of the Animals with Sennet Brass (Saturday 18th April) will see the quintet joined by children who have created masks and instruments through workshops with How Brave Is The Wren. Together, they will bring to life Michael Morpurgo’s collection of animal poems. This will
be an exciting music event for all ages to either watch or participant!
The children’s programme, curated by Jenny Moore at How Brave Is The Wren, will include school visits, workshops, story times and author events such as Thiago de Moraes with Mighty Myths, a fun-packed introduction to the magnificent myths and legends of the world.
Plus, the first ever The Heath Bookshop Literature and Music Festival Open Mic Competition celebrating creativity, connection and performance with the final taking place at the Hare & Hounds with judges including Casey Bailey and Adele Oliver (Sunday 19th April).
The Open Mic Competition opens on 19th December 2025, keep an eye on social media for all the details, the deadline for entrants is 31st January 2026.
Music events will include a DJ set from former drummer of legendary band The Smiths, Mike Joyce, at the Hare and Hounds. Mike will also be in conversation in an author event talking about his memoir, The Drums.
In addition, expect in conversation events with music writers and musicians like Helen O’Hara (who played the iconic violin part on Come On Eileen with Dexys Midnight Runners), Lawrence – the greatest pop star you’ve never heard of (standard Birmingham) as well as musicians on the streets of Kings Heath including Birmingham Drum Battery.
Catherine and Claire, co-owners of The Heath Bookshop said: “We are so excited to be finalising the programme for the second biannual The Heath Bookshop Literature and Music Festival!
We’ve been having fantastic conversations with talented artists based locally, in the Midlands and further afield and we think, hope, we will offer something for all you music and book lovers next April. We’ve new commissions from Ayan Aden, Birmingham’s very own Poet Laureate, we will be welcoming authors we’ve admired for a long time like Max Porter and be encouraging the next big thing in spoken word take centre stage with our Open Mic Competition.”
Catherine and Claire added: “We are also thrilled to be welcoming back so many authors who we’ve worked with over years on book-ish events as part of the Festival and as part of our regular programme including Robin Ince, Mike Gayle, Catherine O’Flynn, Liz Berry and Barbara Havelocke and that’s just to name a few!”
Returning author and friend of independent bookshops everywhere Robin Ince said: “I love the adventure of every indie – each one is like walking into the minds of those who run it – each one is a book I’ve never seen before – a local poet, a forgotten author – and The Heath Bookshop is a classic example of passion and curiosity.”
The full programme will continue to take shape over the coming months. Keep your eyes peeled on @theheathbookshop on Facebook and Instagram as well as theheathbookshop.co.uk and sign up to join the mailing list or buy tickets.
In order to make the festival as accessible as possible, many of the events are low cost and many of the events will be BSL signed, details will be included on the programme.
