Primadonna is even more than a beautiful retreat-festival for writers and book-lovers. It is a charity, rooted in Suffolk but with national reach, that aims to create ‘the world as it could be, for one weekend’: somewhere to be part of a community, to escape the everyday, and to imagine better worlds.

Our female-led literary festival is for the curious and the open-minded. We are writers and readers, rebels and restless, feminists, thinkers and dreamers. Our empowered community is for people of all genders and backgrounds and people with both seen and unseen disabilities. Primadonna’s packed festival programme promotes inclusivity and our stellar line-up proudly demonstrates diversity. Our lineup offers something for everyone: alongside our ‘Books and Big Ideas’ programme, we have live music, comedy, food, drink, DJs and therapies alongside three days of workshops to nourish the mind, body and soul.

We are proud of our work opening up access to the publishing industry. We support creative careers for those that are under-represented in the arts: 50% of our artists have never been programmed at a festival before. The Primadonna Prize is the first known grammar-blind literary prize in the UK. Away from the festival, we work with schools, young people and emerging writers to support a more representative, inclusive and imaginative literary arena; to empower, to instil creative confidence, and to strengthen community; and to stand up for untold stories.