Festival Finale: Billy Childish

Artist. Musician. Poet. Novelist. Painter. Printmaker. Punk. Expelled from school at 15 and told his dyslexia would hold him back, Billy Childish has become one of Britain’s most uncompromising and influential creative voices.
For more than four decades, the Kent-born artist has forged his own path, producing more than a hundred books, hundreds of albums and thousands of paintings while refusing to compromise his artistic vision.
Joining us for this special festival finale, Childish discusses his latest memoir, Poets Piss in Sinks, alongside a lifetime of making and the ideas that continue to drive him. Spanning art, writing, music, class, creativity and the importance of staying true to yourself, this promises to be a rare and wide-ranging conversation with one of Kent’s great cultural originals.
Provocative, generous and impossible to categorise, Billy Childish is the perfect artist with whom to close this year’s Folkestone Book Festival.
Folkestone Book Festival is our annual celebration of stories, ideas and conversation by the sea. Curated by novelist Sophie Haydock (The Flames, Madame Matisse), this year’s festival brings together more than 60 events across two weeks, welcoming world-class writers, thinkers and storytellers to Folkestone.
Discover another event, browse the bookshop, explore Folkestone’s vibrant arts scene, independent cafés, bars and galleries, and share the experience with a friend. The best festivals are as much about the conversations between events as those on stage.
The Festival is part of Folkestone is a Library, our ambitious town-wide celebration of reading, writing and storytelling, helping make Folkestone one of the UK’s most exciting literary destinations.
We believe great conversations should be for everyone, which is why every event includes a £5 Cost of Living Ticket, available with no questions asked.
Please help us spread the word. Together, we’re building a thriving community of readers, writers and curious minds.
Folkestone Book Festival is proudly supported by Eurotunnel, Canterbury Christ Church University, Holiday Extras, and the Friends of Folkestone Book Festival. Creative Folkestone is supported by Arts Council England, Folkestone & Hythe District Council and Saga. Founding Funder The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust.