Raising Spirits under the Setting Sun: A Halloween Literary Walk

Submissions close: 16 October 2026

In myth and legend – and sometimes in reality too – ancient or mysterious things start to emerge as the sun begins to set. Even in the newest, most modern places, spirits lurk under the surface: our city may be shiny and modern, but the land on which it stands is as old as the planet itself.

As October meets November, it’s not just Halloween that gets celebrated, along with its familiars (if the witches will pardon the use of the word) of pumpkin lanterns, tricks, treats, and shrieking ghosts. We also enter Allhallowtide – a time dedicated to remembering saints, martyrs and the departed true and faithful - and Samhain, a pagan festival of bonfires to ward off ghosts and evil spirits. Secular or sacred, this is a time for evoking the dead while carving pumpkins or eating commemorative picnics at the graves of the lost.

Write for us
For this special literary walk in partnership with Milton Keynes City Council's Look Again project, we’ll be visiting some of public art pieces of Central Milton Keynes and Campbell Park, and we’re inviting local writers to send us their poems and short stories on a suitable spooky, paranormal, spirit-invoking theme that are inspired by one of the following titles (click the names to read more about each artwork):

• The Labyrinth
• Chain Reaction
• The Cave
• The Beacon (Light Pyramid)
• Circle Dance
• The Head
• Dangerous Liaisons​

Submit your writing through our online form by 16 October, and we’ll let selected authors know by 23 October. Pieces will be read on the day at the site of the artwork whose name has inspired them.

Selected submissions may also be considered for inclusion in the Festival's Raising Voices StoryMap, curating poems, short stories and creative non-fiction inspired by specific places in the city.

Walk with us
Join us on 1 November at 3.00pm at the Milton Keynes Rose, Campbell Park, and we’ll lead you all on a literary walk with a difference, when you can hear original local writing to leave your spirits shaken and stirred.

​Please bear in mind that you will be on public footpaths outdoors, and that suitable clothing and footwear should be worn. Please also note that some parts of the route include quite steep upward and downward slopes.

About MK Lit Fest

Milton Keynes Literary Festival (MK Lit Fest) began in 2017, since when over 250 authors - ranging from international bestsellers to debut novelists, and including all kinds of fiction and non-fiction - have appeared at our in-person and online events. We also host children's events, literary walks, writing workshops, submission-based events for local writers, an annual writing competition and anthology, and more. 

More about MK Lit Fest

• Web: https://www.mklitfest.org/