Sebastian Faulks’s novels give readers intimate lives set against a much larger history. A festival conversation offers a chance to hear the writer behind those people and to follow him into a new book. His autumn visits suited readers returning through an old favourite as well as those beginning with the latest novel.
Faulks’s professional career includes journalism, fiction and non-fiction. He worked as a journalist for fourteen years before becoming a full-time writer in 1991. The novels range across historical settings, narrative voices and subjects, so a reader can find more than one kind of writing behind the familiar name.
His writing brought him the British Book Awards’ Author of the Year award in 1995. Alongside the historical novels, his publisher includes Engleby and the James Bond novel Devil May Care. That range is a reminder that the next book you choose does not have to resemble the one through which you first met him.
His latest novel was published in Britain in September 2026. Penguin places its story in the years following the Second World War. That new work gave the autumn conversations a fresh point of connection for readers who enjoy seeing how a novelist returns to history with different people and questions.
His official website also carries bookshop evenings and other events. For someone who likes spending an evening listening to a novelist, those can offer further opportunities alongside a literary festival. The reading itself remains the link: a voice you know from the page becomes a writer talking about how the book was made.
Where to start with their books
Birdsong
The novel follows Stephen Wraysford from love in pre-war France into the experience of infantrymen and tunnellers on the Western Front. Start here if the connection between private feeling and the pressure of war is what draws you to Faulks.
Charlotte Gray
A young woman’s search for a missing lover takes her into occupied France during the Second World War. The story explores memory, loss and the danger surrounding her work, continuing the author’s French trilogy in another period.
Human Traces
Two doctors pursue a shared ambition to understand the human mind, taking different approaches to medicine and mental illness. Choose this for a novel in which friendship, ideas and the wish to do good become part of the drama.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
For someone whose reading had stayed with the earlier historical novels, these were opportunities to hear him with a fresh story in circulation. For a reader new to his fiction, they offered an introduction through the current work. Neither listener needed to have the same history with the books to enjoy being in the room.
The appeal of hearing a novelist after reading is often a shift of attention. A scene that felt inevitable on the page was once a choice: where to enter a life, whose voice to use, how close the past should feel. A fan can bring those questions to a conversation without needing to turn the evening into a test of every title.
Where to see them next
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
If you are travelling with a fellow reader, choose one moment from the writing that you would like to talk over afterwards. Your companion may remember a different scene, and that difference can make the visit feel like a shared reading experience.
Keep the rest of the day generous enough to enjoy it. A conversation followed by a meal can be a complete festival outing, especially if you have a train to catch. If taking a book to be signed matters to you, ask the box office about that before planning the journey around it.
Which festivals featured Sebastian Faulks in 2026?
The 2026 programmes featured Sebastian Faulks at Cheltenham Literature Festival, Henley Literary Festival; follow those guides for event information and practical visit details.
Do I need to read the newest novel before going?
You can enjoy meeting an author through a new book or arrive with an earlier favourite in mind. Reading first may give you a scene or question to listen for. Listening first can also be a way to choose what you want to read next.
What kind of books does Sebastian Faulks write?
His work includes historical and literary fiction, journalism and non-fiction, as well as a Bond novel. The suggestions below show three routes through the novels. Choose the people, period or subject that most catches your attention before a festival conversation.
How do I book a ticket to hear him?
Buy from the host festival’s official box office and confirm the venue before travelling. Ask about access needs and any signing plans when you book. Use the guide below to connect the conversation with a base, a meal and the journey home.
