Graham Greene
The 26th annual Graham Greene Festival is just seven weeks away – 25th to 28th September.
Have you booked your tickets yet? If not, you can do so without delay by going to our ticketing page.
What’s on?
If you don’t know, here is the full programme:
The Graham Greene International Festival 2025
Programme of Events
Thursday 25 September: Afternoon
Court House, beside St Peter’s Church
2.15 Graham Greene’s Common: A Battlefield Guide (under three miles; includes uphill stretches and WWI trenches) led by Richard Shepherd, with readings from A Sort of Life and The Human Factor. Assemble outside the Court House for introduction. Cars/lifts and stout walking shoes required for the start of the walk at Inns of Court War Memorial, New Road Car Park. If wet, there will be an illustrated talk with readings in the Court House.
Evening
The Town Hall
6.30 Opening Night Supper (Drinks at pay bar from 5.30). Please book online by Monday 15 September at the latest.
The Civic Centre
8.00 Film: Ministry of Fear (Paramount, 1944, 83 minutes), directed by Fritz Lang, starring Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, and Carl Esmond. Paramount snapped up the film rights to Greene’s novel solely on the strength of its title. Introduced by Mike Hill.
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Friday 26 September: Morning
The Town Hall
9.45 England Made Me – the historian and bibliographer Jon Wise will discuss an accomplished but now neglected early novel by Graham Greene.
10.45 Break for tea and coffee
11.15 ‘Our Man in the Oloffson’: Graham Greene in Hotel Haiti – biographer and travel writer Ian Thomson introduces us to the hotel and cultural hub in Port-au-Prince which provided Graham Greene with the setting for The Comedians (1966). This historic building has recently burnt to the ground in gang warfare.
Break for lunch
Afternoon
The Town Hall
2.30 Human and Humane Factors: The Graham Greene Approach to Life – the novelist and literary scholar Randy Boyagoda (University of Toronto) will take us into Greene’s late masterpiece about an honorable traitor.
3.30 Break for tea and coffee
4.00 Reading Graham Greene – acclaimed author, comedian, and broadcaster Armando Iannucci tells us why he is a huge Graham Greene fan.
Evening
The Civic Centre
8.00 Film: Brighton Rock (BBC Films, 2011, 107 minutes), the second cinematic adaptation of one of Greene’s greatest works, this film is set in the 1960s. It is directed by Rowan Joffe, and stars Helen Mirren, Sam Riley, Andrea Riseborough, and John Hurt. Introduced by Mike Hill.
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Saturday 27 September
Morning
Deans’ Hall, Berkhamsted School (Castle Street)
9.45 Who Killed Kolly Kibber: A Deep Dive into the Difficulty of Adapting Brighton Rock – the novelist and film scholar Shirley Day will contrast Greene’s original, the theatrical adaptation, and two distinct film versions to reveal why Brighton Rock continues to fascinate and frustrate those who attempt to bring it to life.
10.45 Break for tea and coffee
11.15 ‘Dear heart’: The Graham Greene-Catherine Walston Correspondence, 1947-1978 — the historian Kevin Ruane (next year’s Festival director!) will discuss his vast project of editing the largest and most revealing collection of Greene’s correspondence.
Break for lunch
Afternoon
Deans’ Hall, Berkhamsted School (Castle Street)
2.30 Graham Greene’s Achill: A Record of Love – the oral historian Angela Maye-Banbury will create a picture of the island where Graham Greene and Catherine Walston spent some of their happiest times.
3.30 Break for tea and coffee
4.00 ‘My Best Entertainment’: The Ministry of Fear – Creina Mansfield and Mike Hill discuss the extraordinary story of Nazi spies and a mysterious cake, which Greene wrote while stationed in Sierra Leone.
5.15 The Birthday Toast: we raise a glass with Jonathan Bourget in honour of his grandfather’s birthday.
Evening
Old Hall, Berkhamsted School (Castle Street)
8.00 Festival Dinner: three courses with wine and coffee: vegan/vegetarian option. Please book online by Monday 15 September at the latest.
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Sunday 28 September: Morning
Old Hall and Careers Centre, Berkhamsted School (Castle Street)
9.00 A Tour of the School Archives, including a look at the Exhibition Room, the green baize door, Old Hall and the School Chapel. (Meet outside Old Hall.)
10.00 If Greene hadn’t made that mistake… – the surgeon and literary scholar Ramón Rami-Porta considers what Greene’s life and career might have been had he never become a Catholic.
11.00 Break for tea and coffee
11.30 Female Aspects of The Third Man – the film scholar Brigitte Timmermann opens up a seldom-discussed issue in relation to the production of one of the world’s greatest films.
Lunch
Old Hall, Berkhamsted School (Castle Street)
1.00 Farewell Lunch: two-course cold buffet, wine and coffee; vegan/vegetarian option. Please book by Monday 15 September at the latest.
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