The Lake District Book Festival is a new annual literary celebration of the written and spoken word, the inaugural event taking place at Cartmel Racecourse from 12th-14th June 2026.
“Bringing the Lakes to the world and the world to the Lakes”, the Festival will include an appearance by thriller writer and Cumberland Libraries Ambassador M.W. Craven, chatting about his latest thriller, The Final Vow, published last year, and available now in paperback.
His latest book, James Bond and the Secret Agent Academy, commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications, is out in June, too.
Any misanthropes from the far-north of England in the house? Take a bow, Washington Poe, Mike Craven’s best-selling Cumbrian detective. Poe cut his teeth on the mean streets of Carlisle’s Botchergate, thinks nothing of biffing adversaries with a halibut and has a good range of dislikes: self-checkouts, raisins masquerading as chocolate chips, the phrase “wild swimming.”
Now a sniper is on the loose and gamers turn nasty in fancy-dress – sorry, costume – while Poe’s sidekick, the cognitively unimprovable Tilly Bradshaw, crunches clues and a climax approaches on fearsome Shap Fell.
Multi-award-winning author M.W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a social work degree. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief officer, he became a full-time author.
He was an instant Sunday Times bestseller and, for his Cumbria-set Washington Poe series, a recipient of the 2019 Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger, the 2022 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023. The series has now been translated into twenty-nine languages.
Mike Craven is also author of James Bond and the Secret Agent Academy, due for release in June from Ian Fleming Publications, a new adventure where the fictional spy trains 12 to 13-year-olds to be 00 agents.
Talking to the BBC last year, Craven said he had already been piled on by Bond “purists” telling him to stay true to the lore in James Bond and the Secret Agent Academy, which is expected to be published next summer.
“The legacy of this character is just astonishing,” he said. “It’s one that you can’t mess with – he’s part of our national identity.”
Braving the elements with Craven at the Festival event will be fellow-Cumbrian Tom Speight. Tickets are available here.
Other announced guests of this new Festival include Lancastrians Jane Horrocks and Christine Cort, were born ten miles apart when Cartmel was part of Lancashire-over-the-Sands; Booker Prize nominee Sarah Hall, author of the much-praised Helm; Lancaster University’s Sophie-Thérèse Ambler, medievalist extraordinaire, and more, with further guests to be announced.
Cumberland Libraries Ambassador
Last week, Cumberland Council announced Mike has been appointed as the Cumberland Libraries Ambassador for 2026 as part of the UK wide movement, The National Year of Reading.
The National Year of Reading 2026 marks one of the most ambitious literacy campaigns in a generation, encouraging people everywhere to (re)discover the joy of reading.
As Cumberland Libraries Ambassador, Mike will work closely with libraries across the county throughout the year, hosting events and supporting initiatives that encourage people to read more – whether seasoned readers or those finding their way back to books.
“As a long-time library user, I’m thrilled to be supporting the National Year of Reading as the Cumberland Libraries Reading Ambassador,” he says. “Reading for pleasure, at any age, is so important to our understanding of the world, our community and each other.”
• The Lake District Book Festival “Bringing the world to the Lakes & the Lakes to the world” 12th – 14th June, 2026, Cartmel Racecourse | Web: lakedistrictbookfestival.co.uk | Facebook
• M.W. Craven is online at mwcraven.com
• Bookends is Carlisle’s locally owned, independent bookshop and M.W. Craven encourages his fans to support it | Web: bookscumbria.com/about | Or Click Here to go directly to books by M. W. Craven
“It is a fascinating shop, with multiple floors and rooms full of every genre of book you can imagine, old and new,” he says. “They also have a fabulous dog friendly café serving the most amazing cakes, and a garden for you to enjoy them in. Bookends have always been very supportive, hosting events and stocking my books, and here you will always be able to purchase or order a signed and/or dedicated M. W. Craven novel.”
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Books, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds
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