Guest Panel Kicks Off Carnival

The 2026 Carnival of Words kicked off on Wednesday 18th March with a fantastic night featuring a guest panel and a great audience of over 60 attendees.

The guest panel of Simon McCleave,  Alis Hawkins & Conrad Jones discussed how they create a watertight
plot, plant subtle red flags, and place subtle “red herrings” to ensure the ending is both surprising and
inevitable.

Following this thriller theme, the winner of the 2026 Murder Mystery Competition, judged by author Simon McCleave, was announced to be Vivien Smith and her script will be performed at the Carnival.  Fiona Knowles-Holland was the runner up.

Further Carnival events begin on 24th April and run until the 1st May, featuring a range of events such as writing workshops, author talks, and poetry performances. The 2026 Carnival includes events specifically related to and celebrating 1876, such as Dylan Hughes’ talk on Taliesin o Eifion and the Black Chair at the Eisteddfod of Wrecsam 1876 (28th April, 2pm) and an hour of excerpt performances and the return of the much-loved Readathon quiz as part of ‘Bookylicious World 1876’ (30th April, 2pm). Follow this link to buy tickets.