Wordsworth Grasmere

01/09/2026

Tonight! Will we see you there? Tickets: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/simon-armitage-2026/

The cut-off for online bookings is 5pm; tickets available on the door.

Just one week to go!

📚Simon Armitage: An Evening in Grasmere🌙

📅Tuesday 1 September, 7.30pm at The Daffodil Hotel & Spa

Tickets: £20

Join Poet Laureate Simon Armitage for an unmissable poetry reading in Grasmere. The event will take place at the Daffodil Hotel – on the shore of Grasmere lake and only a short walk from Dove Cottage, where former Poet Laureate William Wordsworth wrote some of his greatest poetry.

Simon Armitage is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. A recipient of numerous prizes and awards, his collections include Magnetic Field (2020), Never Good with Horses (2023), Blossomise (2024) and Dwell (2025).

Copies of Simon Armitage’s books will be on sale (cash and card) with a book signing following the reading. Drinks will be available from the Lobby Bar.

Book now: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/simon-armitage-2026/

01/09/2026

After a summer of Gothic heroines, we now open the next volume of our year-long Gothic events programme…

VOLUME II: MONSTERS
September-October 2026

✨After Hours at Dove Cottage: Gothic Monsters✨
📆Thursday 24 September, 22 October, 29 October, 6.30-8pm, £30pp
Discover the origins of modern horror and fantasy fiction in this bewitching storytelling event. This autumn the theme is monsters: the human and inhuman monsters of Gothic horror, with a focus on those found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and The Last Man and the works that inspired them.
🎫12 places available each night: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/gothic-monsters/

✨Gothic Monsters: A Loose Leaf Poetry Workshop✨
📆Saturday 19 September, 2.30-3.30pm, £7pp
This relaxed creative writing workshop explores the monstrous characters and settings found in iconic Gothic works such as Frankenstein and Dracula, and considers the ways in which Gothic writers used monsters as a lens through which to examine human nature.
🎫12 places available: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/gothic-monsters-workshop/

✨Twilight Tales at Dove Cottage✨
📆21, 26 & 27 October, 4-5.30pm, £10 child, £5 adult
Are you ready for a spooky Halloween? Join us for hot chocolate, gingerbread, and Halloween crafts in our cosy Learning Space. Children will have fun dressing up in Georgian costumes while learning about the Wordsworths and hearing some of their writing. At twilight we’ll all head over to Dove Cottage and listen to some spooky Cumbrian stories. For families with children aged 5+ (younger siblings can also be booked onto this session).
🎫https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/twilight-tales-2026/

🎃And look out for announcements about our Halloween Late event...

26/08/2026

📜 We've just welcomed into the collection three handwritten letters by William Wordsworth!

Recently acquired at Christie's auction in London, these fascinating letters offer new insight into the poet's life, family and political views.

🎥In this video, our Curator takes a closer look at what these letters can tell us, and why they matter.

Purchased with the generous support of Friends of the Nations' Libraries and a private supporter, these letters will eventually go on display at Wordsworth Grasmere.

25/08/2026

We are truly delighted to welcome three newly-arrived manuscript letters, written jointly by William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth and Sara Hutchinson, to our collection here at Grasmere.
ITV Border and Fiona Marley Paterson ITV Border joined us to take a closer look:
https://www.itv.com/watch/news/newly-acquired-letters-shed-fresh-light-on-life-and-politics-of-poet-william-wordsworth/200br4g

Our very grateful thanks go to the Friends of the Nations' Libraries, and a private supporter, for making this wonderful acquisition possible.

25/08/2026

Just one week to go!

📚Simon Armitage: An Evening in Grasmere🌙

📅Tuesday 1 September, 7.30pm at The Daffodil Hotel & Spa

Tickets: £20

Join Poet Laureate Simon Armitage for an unmissable poetry reading in Grasmere. The event will take place at the Daffodil Hotel – on the shore of Grasmere lake and only a short walk from Dove Cottage, where former Poet Laureate William Wordsworth wrote some of his greatest poetry.

Simon Armitage is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. A recipient of numerous prizes and awards, his collections include Magnetic Field (2020), Never Good with Horses (2023), Blossomise (2024) and Dwell (2025).

Copies of Simon Armitage’s books will be on sale (cash and card) with a book signing following the reading. Drinks will be available from the Lobby Bar.

Book now: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/simon-armitage-2026/

21/08/2026

⚡️After Hours at Dove Cottage: Gothic Monsters 🌙
📆Thursday 24th September, 22nd October & 29th October, 6.30-8pm

‘Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?’
― Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

A spellbinding evening of Gothic tales in candlelit Dove Cottage.

Discover the origins of modern horror and fantasy fiction in this bewitching storytelling event. This time the theme is MONSTERS: the human and inhuman monsters of Gothic horror, with a focus on those found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and The Last Man and the works that inspired them.

The evening begins with a themed tour of Ghost Story! Into the Gothic Imagination. Find out about the monsters and monstrous in the books, manuscripts and artworks in the exhibition, including characters from works by Mary Shelley and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. After exploring the exhibition, gather around the hearth in Dove Cottage for performed readings from some of these terrifying tales.

🎫 This special event is designed for adults, with a total group size of no more than 12 people. Tickets £30, book now: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/gothic-monsters/

20/08/2026

Join the Poetry Business at Wordsworth Grasmere to celebrate the winners of the 2026 International Book & Pamphlet Competition, chosen by Kim Moore. The winners Derval Tubridy and Tom Weir will be reading poems from their prize-winning pamphlets, alongside the competition runners-up David Hale and Ellie Grant.

Free tickets: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/poetry-business-2026/

19/08/2026

This Thursday! There are just 4 tickets left - book here: https://bit.ly/4x9eUYl

Join us for an evening of Gothic heroines, including a special guided tour of 'Ghost Story! Into the Gothic Imagination', and performed readings from Gothic tales in Wordsworth's study in Dove Cottage...and cake and cosy hot drinks to stave off the chill rain and mist coming down from the mountains!

🌙After Hours at Dove Cottage: Gothic Heroines⭐
Thursday 20 August, 6.30-8pm

‘The lady sank, belike through pain,
And Christabel with might and main
Lifted her up, a weary weight,
Over the threshold of the gate.’
― ‘Christabel’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

A spellbinding evening of Gothic tales in candlelit Dove Cottage.

Discover the origins of modern horror and fantasy fiction in this bewitching storytelling event. This time the theme is HEROINES: the ingénues, femme fatales, anti-villains and spirited young women of the early Gothic who inspired the famous heroines in modern pop culture.

The evening begins with a themed tour of Ghost Story! Into the Gothic Imagination. Find out about the iconic heroines in the books, manuscripts and artworks in the exhibition, including characters from works by Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Ann Radcliffe and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. After exploring the exhibition, gather around the hearth in Dove Cottage for performed readings from some of these spellbinding tales.

This special event is designed for adults, with a total group size of no more than 12 people. Book now: https://bit.ly/4x9eUYl

19/08/2026

🌞Make and Play: Fairytales
📆Tuesday 25 August, 10.30am-12.30pm
🎫Free event, no need to book just turn up! For families with children of all ages

Drop into our Learning Space for summer holiday Make and Play activities.

Explore the enchanted woods with William and Dorothy Wordsworth and get involved with crafts, printing and creative writing. Make a treasure map, build a pop-up world, tell a story with shadow puppets, or build your own fairy wings. Talking animals and jolly monsters guaranteed, perfect porridge not included!

17/08/2026

Just 5 tickets left!

⭐After Hours at Dove Cottage: Gothic Heroines⭐
Thursday 20 August, 6.30-8pm

A spellbinding evening of Gothic tales in candlelit Dove Cottage.

Discover the origins of modern horror and fantasy fiction in this bewitching storytelling event. This time the theme is HEROINES: the ingénues, femme fatales, anti-villains and spirited young women of the early Gothic who inspired the famous heroines in modern pop culture.

The evening begins with a themed tour of Ghost Story! Into the Gothic Imagination. Find out about the iconic heroines in the books, manuscripts and artworks in the exhibition, including characters from works by Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Ann Radcliffe and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. After exploring the exhibition, gather around the hearth in Dove Cottage for performed readings from some of these spellbinding tales.

This special event is designed for adults, with a total group size of no more than 12 people. Book now: https://bit.ly/4x9eUYl

Image: Frontispiece by unknown artist for The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, 4th edition, 1799