The Graham Greene Birthplace Trust and International Festival
Photograph copyright KJR/WFA not for reproduction
The 2026 Graham Greene International Festival (24-27 September) – THAT’S A WRAP FOLKS UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2027
The Graham Greene International Festival takes place each autumn in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, Greene’s birthplace, as close as possible to his birthday, 2 October (1904). The festival is a warm, friendly and inclusive event spread over four days with an exciting programme of films, talks, walks, tours, meals and socialising — all in the name of celebrating the life and work of Graham Greene, one of England’s greatest ever writers. And do you know we’ve been going 27 years!
The 2026 Festival (24-27 September), our twenty-seventh event, showcased a fantastic array of speakers including best-selling novelist Jo Baker, Robin Ince (for many years co-host of BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage), journalist and cultural commentator Melanie McDonagh, John le Carré biographer Adam Sisman, and espionage expert Robert Verkaik. We also paid due homage to Greene’s The End of the Affair, which celebrated its 75th birthday, or publication anniversary, during the course of the festvial.
News of the 2027 festival will be released around April-time, but for now we will keep the details of 2026 here for visitors to get a flavour of what we are all aboutt.
For queries or questions about the 2026 Festival please email the Festival Director Kevin Ruane at kevin.ruane@canterbury.ac.uk
Graham Greene (1904-1991)
Born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, in 1904, Graham Greene was one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant and influential writers. He published twenty-five novels along with plays, screenplays, travel books, essays, journalism and reviews. William Golding called him ‘the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man’s consciousness and anxiety’, Evelyn Waugh pronounced him ‘the greatest novelist of my generation’, and John le Carré placed him ‘for all time in the top ranks of world literature’.
Many of Greene’s works have also been translated worldwide or adapted into films. The 1949 movie The Third Man, for which Greene wrote the screenplay, has been judged to be the greatest British film of all time.
The Graham Greene Birthplace Trust
The Trust was set up in 1997 as a charity to celebrate one of Britain’s greatest writers and promote research and interest in his life and work. The Trust is based in Greene’s home town of Berkhamsted and serves as an international hub enabling Greene scholars and academics along with fans and general readers to connect and exchange ideas. This networking is aided by a large and engaged Facebook community. In all its activity, the Trust is privileged to have the backing of Graham Greene’s family. So why not become a Friend of the Trust and as well as promoting Greene enjoy benefits including reduced Festival ticket prices and our quarterly magazine A Sort of Newsletter which is packed with all manner of terrific Greene-ery
Latest Graham Greene news
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That’s a wrap! The 27th Graham Greene International Festival
That’s a wrap! The 27th Graham Greene International Festival
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Shades of Greene (and le Carré) at the Electric Palace, Hastings, 11 October 2026
Shades of Greene (and le Carré) at the Electric Palace, Hastings, 11 October 2026
