Launched in the Autumn of 2025, Silent Book Club Specials are a ticketed Silent Book Club experience that feature light catering, literary activities & performances, and gifts for attendees.
Silent Book Club Specials are run by Exeter UNESCO City of Literature and take place quarterly across Exeter and Devon.
These events are Pay What You Can Afford.
Silent Book Club Special
Looking for our monthly free-to-attend Silent Book Club sessions in Exeter? Head here »
What do we mean by Pay What You Can Afford
At Exeter City of Literature, we know that everyone’s financial situation is different, and we want our events to be open to as many people as possible. By purchasing a higher tier of ticket, you're choosing what the event is worth to you and opening the door for people to experience an evening of culture that they might otherwise be excluded from.
Choosing to give a little extra when you can is a powerful act: it sustains Exeter’s cultural life, ensures wider access, and is that much more meaningful because you helped another person share in this experience.
Exeter City of Literature is a registered charity (1196686).
Where your money goes
Every ticket purchased above the minimum price helps us:
Keep our events free or Pay What You Can Afford so more people can take part
Stock our Book Fairies and Book Nooks in Warm Spaces with free books
Provide National Book Tokens for low-income members of Silent Book Club
Support new projects that bring literature and culture to all of us, making our communities and neighbourhoods more vibrant, fun, and inclusive
Your choice makes a real difference—not just to you, but to your whole community.
Valentine’s Special
Wednesday 11th February 2026 | The Devon and Exeter Institution
An atmospheric, after-hours evening in the historic Devon and Exeter Institution, tucked away on Cathedral Close in Exeter.
Our Valentine’s Day celebration was held at the Devon and Exeter institution and featured:
A goody bag of a Penguin book, a Silent Book Club Exeter enamel pin, and a self- care treat provided by Lush Exeter
Themed cakes made by The Cakery
Romance-themed writing taster workshops with Raw Writing
Halloween Special
Wednesday 29th October 2025 | St Nicholas Priory
Exeter was recently crowned the most haunted city in the UK… and this Halloween, you’re invited to settle in with your book inside its oldest (and most haunted?) building at St Nicholas Priory.
Our first Silent Book Club Special was held at St Nicholas Priory and featured:
Free horror books from Penguin
Themed cakes made by The Cakery
A post-reading storytelling segment from Tom Cox and Ben Tallamy
About Silent Book Club
Silent Book Club started in San Francisco in 2012 with a couple of friends—Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich—reading in companionable silence at their neighbourhood bar.
At Silent Book Club, there's no assigned reading. All readers are welcome—ebooks, audiobooks, textbooks, comic books... it's BYOBook.
Silent Book Club is about community. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can join or launch a chapter.
