ReadFest 2026: The Little Feast of Stories with ByTheBook

A creative workshop exploring food, story & belonging, encouraging open writing and sharing and guiding participants to draft a short piece.
About this Event

Attendees will work towards developing a short story based around the themes of food and community. The workshop will champion diversity and pay attention to the importance of nourishment, both physical and emotional, across boundaries and borders.

For many people, food is the language of love and caring; this session is designed to enable participants to articulate their own memories or desires around what this means.

By the end of the session, attendees will have experienced the pleasure of sharing their words in a life-affirming community of fellow writers, and will go away with the first draft of a story that has been part of the feast.

If you have any accessibility requirements, please directly get in touch with us at [email protected]

Booking is essential and you will be asked to present your booking confirmation upon arrival.

Pen to Print and our partners reserve the right to remove participants who are disruptive to a session.

NB: May feature content that some people may find upsetting, uses language or depicts scenes reflecting attitudes that are no longer seen as acceptable.

Pen to Print shall not be liable to attendees for any injury, loss or damage of or to personal equipment belonging to the attendees or any indirect or consequential loss or damage whatsoever arising out of the attendance of the event

Pen to Print reserves the right to cancel, delay or postpone the event for any reason, including adverse weather conditions, an emergency situation or unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances out of its reasonable control. In such cases, the event organiser will endeavour to inform participants as quickly as is possible.

Barking and Dagenham Libraries and Pen to Print are proud to present the fifteenth annual literary festival, running from Saturday 12 September to Saturday 19 September.

This year’s festival offers a vibrant mix of in‑person, online and hybrid events, celebrating the power of storytelling and the joy of reading, as part of our contribution to the National Year of Reading.

This festival is proudly supported by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and Arts Council England, funded by the UK Government.

The National Year of Reading 2026 is a UK-wide campaign designed to inspire people to make reading a regular part of their lives.

We all understand the benefits of reading and how it expands our minds, builds confidence and fuels creativity, yet fewer people are doing it. With growing distractions and limited time, reading for pleasure is declining across many groups.

This national campaign aims to change this by reconnecting reading with everyday culture. It is not about guilt or obligation, it is about showing that stories, ideas and imagination have a place in everyone’s daily life. Click here to find out more!