Andrew Davies at literary festivals
Last checked: 28 October 2026
If you love watching a book become television, Andrew Davies offers a festival subject with plenty to talk about on the journey home. His work includes adaptations of Austen, Dickens and Tolstoy as well as original scripts and novels. The memoir conversations in his 2026 programme put the writer behind those familiar scenes in the foreground: the decisions, collaborations and setbacks of a working life in scripts.
Quick facts
- Best known for
- Literary screen adaptations including Pride and Prejudice
- Genre or subject
- Screenwriting, adaptation, novels and memoir
- Latest book
- An Unsuitable Boy: A Life in Scripts (2026)
- 2026 festivals
- Cheltenham Literature Festival, Ilkley Literature Festival
About Andrew Davies
Davies is a screenwriter, novelist and former academic. His adaptations include Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, War and Peace and Bleak House, alongside House of Cards and Bridget Jones’s Diary. For a festival audience, those titles provide several entrances. One reader may come with a treasured novel in mind; another may know the screen version first and want to understand how its shape emerged.
His writing also includes original television, among it A Very Peculiar Practice, Game On and Filthy Rich. That work sits beside the adaptations, rather than belonging to a career concerned only with turning established novels into scripts. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has won BAFTA and Emmy awards. The interest for a reader is the range of writing that has occupied the same working life.
An Unsuitable Boy: A Life in Scripts, published on 20 September 2026, draws on correspondence, diaries and unpublished archive material. Its writing subjects include adaptation, collaboration, writer’s block and theatre work. The book moves through BBC boardrooms and Broadway, with recollections of work involving Robert Altman. It offers the memoir reader the working processes behind productions, not just a list of titles.
His fiction gives another way to encounter the writing. The novels and stories below involve uneasy relationships, embarrassment, danger and people whose settled lives are disturbed. They can be read as books in their own right, without treating them as companions to a television series. For someone who knows the adaptations well, trying a piece of his own fiction before a talk can open up a different set of questions.
Where to start with their books
An Unsuitable Boy: A Life in Scripts
Correspondence, diaries and archive material underpin this account of a career in writing. It is the closest reading match for the memoir events, with adaptation, theatre work and collaboration among its subjects. Choose it if your interest lies in how a production gets written and how a writer keeps working through difficulties.
Getting Hurt
Charlie Cross, a well-off divorced lawyer, meets Viola at a drinking club and tells the story of the destructive affair that follows. This is an option for readers interested in adult black comedy and an uncomfortable narrator. It takes you into Davies’s own fiction, with a relationship at its centre instead of a familiar adapted classic.
Dirty Faxes
These stories let ordinary situations become embarrassing or disturbing: a professor unsettled by an offer from his cleaner, a writer besieged by obscene faxes and encounters on a train. A collection can be a manageable choice before travelling. Try it if you prefer several short pieces and shifting situations to committing to a single novel.
B Monkey
Beatrice has left drugs and danger behind for a job and a relationship, but her earlier life keeps intruding. Alan cannot fully understand the appeal of the world she has tried to escape. Choose this for a story about the pull of a former identity and the uncertainty it brings into an apparently settled present.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
2026
| Festival | Date | Event and venue | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ilkley Literature Festival | 2026 programme | Andrew Davies in the 2026 programme | Official programme |
| Cheltenham Literature Festival | Andrew Davies: A Life in Scripts Garden Theatre | Official programme |
What their events are like
These were opportunities to hear about a writing career across forms. If the adaptation is what draws you, choose one scene or one change from a book that you would enjoy thinking about further. A memoir event can also appeal to a reader interested in the practical working life behind a production.
Where to see them next
Stratford Literary Festival’s 2026 programme included Andrew Davies: An Unsuitable Boy: A Life in Scripts, 31 October 2026. 2026 event details.
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
For an adaptation-focused trip, agree on one book and screen version with your companion before travelling. You could compare a scene on the train, leaving each other room to prefer different choices. It gives the visit a focus without turning a leisure day into a revision exercise.
For a future Stratford conversation, use the named venue in your travel plan rather than heading for a theatre because you associate the subject with the stage. Check your last connection after the event, and choose an overnight stay if that makes the evening more comfortable. For any access requirements, contact the box office about this room and session; a familiar town does not tell you what facilities a particular event will have.
- Cheltenham Literature Festival: festival guide · Where to stay · 2027 programme
- Ilkley Literature Festival: festival guide · Where to stay · 2027 programme
Read more
Explore Andrew Davies’s official writing information and the publisher’s author page.
Authors you might also like
Michael Morpurgo
For another conversation about stories whose lives extend from the page into performance.
Mark Haddon
A novelist to explore if you enjoy thinking about how a story reaches different audiences.
Celia Imrie
Another Stratford autumn speaker whose new book looks back on a working creative life.
Your questions about Andrew Davies
What is Andrew Davies best known for?
His screen adaptations include Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, War and Peace and Bleak House. He also writes original scripts and fiction. If a favourite adaptation is your starting point, a memoir conversation gives you a chance to hear about the writing life behind it.
When was his Stratford appearance?
Use the festival links on Andrew Davies’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
Do I need to read his memoir first?
You can read it before a conversation if the working life of a screenwriter interests you, but it need not become homework. A favourite adaptation can be enough of a starting point. The reading suggestions give other routes into his own fiction.
Which festivals featured his memoir conversations?
The 2026 programmes featured Andrew Davies at Cheltenham Literature Festival, Ilkley Literature Festival; follow those guides for event information and practical visit details.
Can I ask about a scene from a television adaptation?
If a future event includes audience questions, keep yours short and about one choice in the writing. A scene you admire can be a good starting point. Check the session format before assuming there will be an audience discussion or signing afterwards.
Sources
- Ilkley Literature Festival: Andrew Davies in the 2026 programme
- Cheltenham Literature Festival: Andrew Davies: A Life in Scripts
- Andrew Davies: official website
- Andrew Davies: official publisher information
- Andrew Davies: official book and event information
- Andrew Davies: official book and event information
- Andrew Davies: official book and event information
- Andrew Davies: official book and event information
- Andrew Davies: official book and event information
- Andrew Davies: official book and event information
- Andrew Davies: official book and event information
- Andrew Davies: official book and event information