Travel uncertainty and spiralling costs have led to the shelving of this year's Alderney Literary Festival.
For more than a decade, authors have travelled to Alderney to speak about their work.
But now the organisers have announced that the 2026 edition has been cancelled.
They say a lack of frequent, reliable and affordable airlinks means they physically cannot bring the talent and the audiences to the island.
Festival founder Isabel Picornell says it was a difficult decision:
"The fact is, we simply cannot get the people we need to get over.
"We bring in ten authors, some of them bring their partners, and on top of that, 80% of our audience comes from off-island, and given the current air services, we simply can't make it work.
"We've been running since 2014, and in the last five years, costs have just jumped up.
"Three-quarters of our cost is flights and accommodation.
"We have offers of sponsorship from businesses in the Channel Islands, but for the size of the festival, the costs cannot be justified."
Isabel anticipates that work to improve the surface of Aldenrey's airport runway will make connectivity worse, so the future of the festival is unknown.
She says the island's economy will feel the effect of the cancellation as the festival bolsters tourist numbers:
"When the festival happens, you can't get a hotel room because they're fully booked, you can't get on a flight because they're fully booked, and the restaurants are fully booked.
"It's only for three or four days, but that is an important source of income that will no longer be coming in."
For now, Isabel says The Literary Trust will focus on organising more single-author events.
Biographer Andrew Lownie is due to visit in May to launch the updated edition of his biography of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
Isabel is adamant that world-class authors want to come to Aldnery to speak, and she hopes the festival will return one day.
We have approached Aurigny for comment.
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