The STRATFORD Literary Festival’s autumn weekend will be the biggest yet.
With nearly 40 events between October 25 and 27, the program includes historians, award-winning fiction, celebrity biographies and workshops.
TV dogfather Graeme Hall leads a lineup that also includes acclaimed actress Dame Harriet Walter, BBC One show presenters Vanessa Feltz, Ashley John-Baptiste and Adrian Chiles, and Gardeners’ World expert Carol Klein.
Strictly judge Anton Du Beke will launch his latest novel, as will former vicar, presenter and novelist Richard Coles. Times columnist Huge Rifkind will also launch his debut novel, and host events with psychologist Josh Cohen and presenter/comedian Danny Wallace, who will tackle online trolling and conspiracy theories.
Leading experts include government statistician Sir David Spiegelhalter and historians Sonia Purnell, Ben Macintyre and Jonathan Dimbleby, who cover socialite Pamela Harriman, the siege of the Iranian embassy and Stalin’s influence on the end of World War II. Moving war stories are also told by Roxanne de Bastion and Julian Borger, whose families went to extraordinary lengths to save their children.
The political talks will be led by Jess Phillips MP, Conservative peer Baroness Warsi and former BBC Moscow correspondent Sarah Rainsford, who gives a very personal account of her expulsion from Russia in 2021.
The festival will feature a special recording of Loose Ends on BBC Radio 4, conducted by Stuart Maconie, and comedy from Friday Night Dinner creator Robert Popper and writer Ysenda Maxtone Graham, who looks at the little things in life that drive us mad.
There are also workshops offering writing support and career advice – no matter where you are on your journey. The Booklovers’ Wine Tasting will again sample wines from areas featured in great books, and Shakespeare’s themes and the influence of queer culture on his writing will be explored in sessions with Darren Freebury-Jones and Will Tosh.
Great fiction will be celebrated with an event on the rise of the Irish novel featuring award-winning authors Donal Ryan and Ruth Gilligan, and the 70th anniversary of Dylan Thomas’ classic Under Milk Wood will be marked with a radio play directed by Brendan O’Hea, Director of Shakespeare’s Globe and RSC.
Events for families include the chance to create sound effects for a cartoon with The Enchanted Cinema and hear the debut story about Bartie Bristle from BBC Repair Shop bear ladies Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch. The McLeod brothers add even more fun with The Cauldron of Chaos with Knight Sir Louis and Becci Smith leads a Halloween craft workshop.
The fall series kicks off on October 8 with two bonus events featuring historian Dan Snow, who studies the history of England, and bestselling American author Jodi Picoult, whose latest book, By Any Other Name, examines the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays.
For further details visit stratlitfest.co.uk.
