• Women Take to the BBC

    Four of our fascinating female speakers who are appearing at this year’s Festival are currently featured on BBC Radio Sounds. Catch novelist Louisa Young in Radio 3’s Private Passions – available until 15 October – where you clan listen to her tracklist of music. Family is at the heart of her work, and her first…

  • Repertoire Of Rice

    Foodies will get the chance to explore delicious rice-based recipes with Malaysian-born chef Ping Coombes at the Festival’s Saturday morning cookery slot. In her new book called simply Rice, Ping – who is a TV MasterChef Champion of Champions, and who now lives locally – sets rice at the heart of the table with dishes…

  • Andrea On Award List

    Multi award-winning Andrea Wulf is now on the shortlist for the Baillie Gifford 2026 Prize, joining five other authors in line for the top prize of £50,000. Andrea was previously longlisted for the award in 2008 and has now received a second recognition for The Traveller. This is a biography which traces the life of…

  • Curiosity of the Mind

    More than a quarter of young people in the UK now suffer a mental disorder, while one in four adults are prescribed psychiatric medication. But Gavin Francis, a doctor and award-winning writer, says the huge expansion in mental health labelling reveals nothing of the experience of those seeking help. In The Unfragile Mind: Making Sense…

  • A Call To Action

    We live in an age of extremes with populist leaders setting the agenda and autocracies on the march. Meanwhile the liberal establishment is a bewildered blob, devoid of new ideas or fresh solutions. So says global business columnist Adrian Wooldridge who has issued a powerful call to action in his latest book Centrists of the…

  • Feats Of Memory

    Memoirist Blake Morrison, an enthusiastic lifelong reader of other people’s lives, brings a delightful compendium of musings of narrative non-fiction to the Festival. His latest book On Memoir: An A-Z of Life Writing is a treasure trove of thoughtful literary exploration and amusing observations. From AI to ethics, politics to sex, he explores the challenges…

  • Benefits Of Reading

    It’s official. Reading is good for you according to a study published on a recent front page of The Times (15 Sept). Researchers at the University of Cambridge have said that regardless of  “what or how we read”, sitting down with a book is linked to improved health and problem solving. The report, published in…

  • Advice on Allergies

    Hayfever may be on the wane with the end of summer, but allergies are on the rise worldwide, and one in three UK adults experiences allergic reactions at some point during their lifetime. Broadcaster and author Rebecca Seal offers some welcome relief in her book Irritated: The Allergy Epidemic and What We Can Do About…

  • A Golden Success

    Best-selling author Louisa Young continues her aunt Elizabeth Jane Howard’s much-loved Cazalet Chronicles in her new novel published this month (3 Sept) and already receiving rave reviews. The Golden Hours continues three decades of the Cazalet family saga, now moved to the early 1960s, where a new generation of Cazalets is growing up in a…

  • A new Normal

    Comedian and poet Henry Normal is appearing at the Festival ahead of recording a new series for BBC Radio 4 where he has written and performed several shows in which he uses poetry, storytelling and comedy to explore life’s big questions. Co-writer of the award-winning Mrs Merton Show and of the BAFTA-winning Paul and Pauline…