7–16 October 2022 Box Office 01242 #CheltLitFestcheltenhamfestivals.com850270 Free – suggested donation of £2
Caroline Hutton Chair, The Times and The Sunday Times Literature Festival Greats
Read the World LT01: The Read The World Interview: Nanjala Nyabola LR70: Mieko Kawakami LR55: Karl Ove Knausgaard LC12 Conversations Without Borders: The Lines That Divide Us LR34: Grave New World: Dystopias Around the Globe Family Events LF07: Joseph Coelho: Meet the Laureate LF80: Oliver Jeffers: Meanwhile Back on Earth LF79: Greg Jenner: You Are History LF84: Rosie Jones: The Amazing Edie Eckhart LF61: Onjali Q. Raúf: Hope on the Horizon Unique Experiences LD02: Literature’s Worst Agony Aunt LP10: Fantastic Racket LD04: City Lights San Francisco: Books, Beats and Bold Ideas LDF20: An Evening of Sondheim LN09: Wild: Songs and Stories from Medieval Britain Bright New Voices LR05, LF05: Debuts and Cocktails, Debuts and Mocktails LC28: Fix the System, Not the Women LR58: Roddy Doyle’s Next Generation Irish LR06:WritersNewBlood: Crime and Thriller Writers to Watch LR07, LR08, LR09, LR71: Proof Parties A Great Night Out LR66: Dear Dolly LE38: Rylan LP14: Theories By T’s Ultimate Marvel Quiz LDF28: The Big BBC Quiz Night LE19: Bono CONTENTS THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS Title MajorPrincipalPartnersPartnersPartners Pages 4-5 Festival Village Site & Venue Map Pages 6-9 Food and Drink, Free Activities, ReadPagesBookshops10-11theWorld Pages 12-14 Guest Curators, Voicebox Page 15 Lit Crawl 2022 Pages MakeLearning16-19andParticipation,aDifference Pages 22-91 Festival Programme: Daily Event Planners Pages PartnersIndex,PagesPatrons,92-97Acknowledgements98-103BookingInformation,andSponsors WELCOME I am delighted and proud to welcome you to The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival 2022.
LR10: Ian McEwan LR12: Celeste Ng LR27: Elizabeth Strout LR29: The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence: Stephen King LR35: The 2022 Booker Prize Shortlist 02 03
Need help deciding? We’ve picked some events not to miss at this year’s Festival. Discover the full programme from page 22 and find out how to book on page 102. Fiction
Deepest thanks to everyone involved who makes each day at the festival unique: our fantastic participants, the dedicated Festival team, our loyal Partners and supporters and you, our amazing audience. Have a wonderful time!
This year we are also privileged to present a series of events co-curated with The International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv, marking the importance of culture in dark times as part of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture.
Cheltenham
As we emerge from a hugely challenging time in our collective experience, the Festival provides us with a joyous opportunity to celebrate the enduring magic of the written and spoken word. The programme is packed with hundreds of events for all interests and ages, within a short stroll of each other on our vibrant site in this beautiful spa town – and many of the events are free. Within these pages you will find conversations with your literary heroes, thought-provoking discussions, new writers to discover, delicious dinners, raucous nights out and much more.
Come along to book signings with your favourite authors and celebrities or lose yourself among the bookshelves. See page 7 for more.
Relax and refuel with snacks and drinks in the Feast Café or grab some treats from our street food traders.
VOICEBOX is home to free, pop-up events that celebrate the best and brightest young talent. From short talks and spoken word to workshops and music, add your voice to the conversation as we turn up the volume on today’s hottest topics.
Get creative in our free drop-in arts and crafts sessions.
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Roll up for some tree-mendously fun activities! Get crafty with our nature practitioners and find out about the importance of woods and trees.
Picnic Area
Tuck into a draw-along session with your picnic lunch.
Step into a world of stories and be whisked away on an imaginative adventure.
The Wild Wood Info Point
Story Shack
Woodland Trust
MONTPELLIERWALK MONTPELLIER SPA ROAD MONTPELLIER TERRACE WaterstonesBookshop The Times and The Sunday Times Forum VIP Lounge in partnership with Cunard The Hive The Den TheTheatreGarden FeastGallerCaféyEntrancMaine Story Shack PlaygroundCafé Skate Park Festival Bar StreetFood Buggy Park FirstAid WaterstonesChildren’sBookshop The Huddle Picnic AreaThe Wild Wood Info Point supported by GCHQ and Pu n Box O ce and Info Point Too Far Media VOICEBOX The Wild Wood StandBand WoodlandTrust The Da odil Cheltenham Town Hall and Pillar Room Queens Hotel, Lit Crawl ...around town Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Parabola Arts Centre and Hotel du Vin unisex toilets FESTIVAL VILLAGE Montpellier GL50Cheltenham,Gardens,1UL Site open from Friday 7 October, Free10amentry The Times & The Sunday Times Pick up your free copy of The Times and The Sunday Times each weekend from various locations across the Festival site. Other Venues Cheltenham Town Hall GL50 1QA Incl. Baillie Gifford Stage, Pillar Room, Waterstones Bookshop and Festival Box Office. 0.3 miles / 5 minute walk Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Parabola Arts Centre GL50 3AA 0.2 miles / 3 minute walk Hotel du Vin GL50 3AH 0.3 miles / 5 minute walk Queens Hotel GL50 1NN 0.1 miles / 2 minute walk The Daffodil GL50 2AE 0.3 miles / 5 minute walk
Food & Drink
The Huddle
VOICEBOX
BookshopWaterstones
The Wild Wood
See page 8 for more details.
Can you think like a spy? Then we have a top-secret challenge for you!
The Den
The Week Junior Global News Trail
Curious kids will love this trail, featuring fascinating stories, inspiring people and amazing pictures.
Whether you’re after stimulating talks during the day, or entertainment in the evening, visit The Huddle stage in our Feast Cafe for a host of free events celebrating writing from close to home and around the globe.
BookshopWaterstones
Situated at the heart of the Festival Village and with the very best selection of new books alongside classics and bestsellers, our Waterstones Bookshop is curated especially for this year’s Festival and the visiting writers. Browse the bookshelves between your Festival events, meet your favourite authors and celebrities and get your books signed.
Food and Drink
You can also find us in Cheltenham Town Hall’s Drawing Room, where we invite you to browse the selection of Festival titles or have your book signed after events in Cheltenham Town Hall and in the Pillar Room.
The Daffodil
A hidden gem tucked away inside an Art Deco former cinema, this venue is home to some of our most scintillating events. Go on culinary adventures around the globe, discuss current affairs with The Times journalists over breakfast or have a grand night out over delicious dinners with some of Britain’s best chefs.
BookshopChildren’sWaterstones
Waterstones Bookshop in Cheltenham Town Hall
Street food traders
Whether you fancy a quick bite from our street food traders to refuel in between Festival events, want to tuck into a three-course meal cooked by renowned chefs in one of our delectable food events or enjoy a picnic with your family on our Festival site, we’ve got you covered.
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At the heart of the Festival, enjoy a selection of hot and cold food, pastries, cakes and more. A great place for your morning coffee with the newspaper, afternoon tea or a relaxed drink to round off your Festival experience. Continue the discussions from our events and enjoy free pop-up performances in The Huddle (more on page 9).
Feast Café and Festival Bar
Meet your favourite authors, get your books signed and browse the bookshelves for the latest releases and firm favourites. If you’re not sure what to try next, ask the booksellers for their top recommendations.
IS PROUD TO SUPPORT
All around our vibrant Festival Village you will find delicious treats and tasty snacks from across the world brought to you by a range of food traders. Soak up the Festival atmosphere and have a picnic underneath our canopy, no matter what the weather.
Join in with our storytelling bees for some silly sketches, catchy songs and plenty of fun as they continue their mission for world pollination!
Tuck into a ofdraw-alongHalloween-inspiredsessionwithchampiondrawing, Shoo Rayner, award-winning YouTuber and book illustrator.
Shiver your timbers, hoist the sails and join our swashbuckling pirate crew on a mission to locate the hidden treasure.
Roll up for some tree-mendously fun activities! Get crafty with our nature practitioners and find out about the importance of woods and trees.
Picnic Area
Team up with your friends and family and discover how bringing together a mix of minds can solve anything, with our friends from GCHQ.
The Wild Wood Info Point
Can you think like a spy? Then we have a top-secret challenge for you…We need you to use codebreaking skills, solve mind-boggling puzzles and riddles, and overcome tricksy brainteasers.
The Wild Wood Open for families 10am–4pm on weekends only
Buzzing Bees
Curious kids will love The Week Junior Global News Trail, featuring fascinating stories, inspiring people and amazing pictures. Complete the news quiz for a free copy of the multi award-winning The Week Junior magazine.
Free activities in the Festival Village
The Huddle
Whether you’re after stimulating talks during the day or fancy great entertainment and music in the evening, visit The Huddle in our Feast Café for a host of free events celebrating writing from close to home and around the globe.
A Very IntroductionShort to…
VOICEBOX
VOICEBOX is home to free, pop-up events that celebrate the best and brightest young talent. From short talks and spoken word to workshops and music, add your voice to the conversation as we turn up the volume on today’s hottest topics.
The CrosswordTimes
Get creative in our free drop-in arts and crafts sessions. From art master disguises with illustrator, author and comedian Olaf Falafel, to hats and puppets with artist Debbie Kersley and crowns and superhero masks with Wonderbly. There’s always oodles to do in The Den.
Step into a world of stories and be whisked away on an imaginative adventure. Meet storytellers Anna Conomos and Tom the Tale Teller, enjoy special guest appearances from four international authors and pop along for Penguin Tales.
Story Shack
The Week Junior Global News Trail
The Den
As well as our packed programme of events, there’s plenty more to discover on site – for FREE!
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Big topics, short talks. Join experts for bite-size intros to mind-expanding subjects.
Settle in as The Times Crossword Editor Richard Rogan takes you through the mysteries of the day’s crossword puzzles with a helping hand or a tantalising hint where needed.
Pirate Pandemonium
‘I’m really excited to be returning to Cheltenham for some more literary exploring this year. The universal appeal of storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have to bring people together and celebrate our common humanity. What better place to revel in it than at the world’s oldest Literature Festival?’
Bestselling author Ann Morgan is a writer, editor and fellow of the Royal Literary Fund. Ann is the author of Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer based on her year-long journey through a book from every country. Her debut novel Beside Myself was published by Bloomsbury in 2016 and has since been translated into eight other languages.
Rooted proudly in the local community since 1949, we’ve brought the world to Cheltenham for 73 years. Celebrating our 70th anniversary edition in 2019 was a reminder of the incredible people we’ve welcomed to our stages over the last seven decades, and the network of literature festivals that continues to develop since we led the way as the world’s first.
We’re proud to be part of the British Council’s UK/ Ukraine Season of Culture and to host a strand of events curated by The International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv, a powerful reminder of the importance of partnership in turbulent times and the light culture can shine.
Elsewhere in the programme, talented authors from the USA, the Netherlands, Japan, Iceland, Colombia, France, Djibouti, the UAE, Spain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and more join our best homegrown talent in a range of fascinating discussions, and we’re grateful to all the partners who have made these collaborations possible.
Whichever part you join us for – and wherever it takes you – you’re welcome here.
Ann Morgan
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Connection is what makes festivals like this so powerful. Whether it’s the right book reaching a reader when they need it most, a speaker’s words bringing fresh perspectives to audience members young and old, or just the sheer pleasure of being together, the Festival creates boundless possibilities for powerful and longlasting connections.
Lyndsey Fineran Programme CommissionsandManager
Our ‘Read the World’ theme takes these possibilities to an international scale and this year’s programme is your passport to a world of ideas. Within these pages lie some of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers, the most exciting new writing talent from across the globe and a host of experts ready to show you worlds beyond your own.
The programme you see here is the result of many vital connections behind the scenes too. Our valued relationships with literary experts, think tanks, world-class journalists, guest curators and industryleading prizes continues and we have a host of new collaborations with international literature festivals, embassies and partners which have brought fascinating new dimensions to the programme.
You’ll detect a decidedly global flavour to many of our programme strands across art, travel, psychology, history, classic literature and The Daffodil’s dining events. Meanwhile The Week Junior is on hand to make world affairs accessible to young minds, and don’t miss our free events for young people and adults in The Huddle, the Story Shack, VOICEBOX and Lit Crawl programmes.
Welcome to the 2022 Festival programme –a bold, innovative and exciting 10 days of bookish events, from big nights out to cosy conversations and timely discussions. We can’t wait to see you in October.
Nicola Tuxworth Head of Programming
Support from the British Council in collaboration with The Norwegian Embassy and NORLA has enabled us to work closely with Norway’s leading literature festival in Lillehammer to bring you their finest novelists, travel writers and philosophers.
Read the World
Our Literary Explorer in Residence Ann Morgan is back for another year of literary discoveries and celebrating the translators who bring universal stories to our bookshelves. Our popular Conversations Without Borders returns to dissect big topics as part of our world-class current affairs programme.
‘We have a tendency, as cultural critics, to draw very harsh lines between the arts. Literature, music, cinema – they’re treated as entirely different kingdoms, different planets even. But no matter the discipline, we’re all part of the same collective struggle to express the inexpressible. And as a professional critic and amateur bibliophile, I’m thrilled by the opportunity to break a few of those barriers down and explore the rich relationship between writing and filmmaking at Cheltenham Literature Festival.’
Running since 2011, The International Book Arsenal Festival brings together literature and culture to create innovative experiences and reflect social issues. In its 10+ years it has welcomed some of the greatest Ukrainian writers including Yuriy Andrukhovych, Serhiy Zhadan, Oksana Zabuzhko and Andrey Kurkov as well as over 500 international authors from more than 50 countries. Every year more than 150 Ukrainian publishers gather there to present their publications.
Inua Ellams
Justin Webb is the longest serving presenter of BBC Radio 4’s flagship news and current affairs programme Today. He joined the BBC in 1984 as a trainee, and has reported from around the world, as a war correspondent in the Gulf and in Bosnia, on the break-up of the former Soviet Union and the first democratic elections in South Africa. He was Europe Correspondent when the Euro was introduced, and for eight years he was the chief correspondent in Washington DC. Among his awards is Political Journalist of the Year, which he won for his coverage of the Obama presidential campaign. He is a regular columnist in The Times and for the Unherd website. He lives with his family in South London.
Inua Ellams is a Nigerian poet, playwright, performer, graphic artist and designer and founder of: The Midnight Run and The Rhythm and Poetry Party (The R.A.P Party) which celebrates poetry and hip hop, and poetry and film. Identity, displacement and destiny are reoccurring themes in his work, where he tries to mix the old with the new, combining traditional African oral storytelling with contemporary poetics.
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Justin Webb
The Festival,BookInternationalArsenalKyiv
‘In 2022 when we have cancelled the International Book Arsenal Festival in Kyiv because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, it’s extremely important and a matter of honour for us to have our special Ukrainian program in Cheltenham. To give voice to Ukrainian authors, public intellectuals, artists, to speak loudly from the platform of one of the best literary festivals in the world about our literature and about who we are, where we are and how we struggle for our common human values.’ Curators Oksana Schur and Yuliia Kozlovets
‘It’s truly an honor to serve as a Guest Curator at Cheltenham. At a time when our world feels increasingly fractured and discordant, gatherings like this are a much-needed haven, providing space for learning, exchanging ideas, and deeper connection. I’m thrilled to be returning to such a wonderful Festival and excited to bring new voices to the thoughtful conversations that happen here.’
Katy Hessel
Celeste
Clarisse Loughrey
Celeste Ng
Multi-award-winning children’s magazine, The Week Junior has a simple agenda: to feed curiosity and help young people make sense of the world. Every issue is packed with news, science, animals, nature, sports, entertainment, and puzzles. Readers are encouraged to explore ideas and empowered to form and voice their own opinions.
‘Cheltenham Literature Festival is by far one of the dopest atmospheres in which to discuss, digest and deepen our appreciation of all in the literary arts, and it is a special pleasure of mine to be sharing work, and curating some events this year.’
Her new novel Our Missing Hearts will publish in October.
Clarisse Loughrey is the chief film critic for The Independent and co-host of the Fade to Black and Big Screen Book Club podcasts. She’s also worked in the past with the BBC, BAFTA, and Sky. Clarisse will curate the Festival’s very first film strand to be shown at Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre and VOICEBOX’s first film night.
Celeste Ng is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and her work has been published in over thirty languages.
‘I am delighted to be working with the Festival team as a Guest Curator this year. I will be exploring the themes in my memoir, The Gift of a Radio and looking back at the Seventies – one of the strangest decades in our recent history. Throughout my broadcasting career I have had a long fascination with America where I spent many happy years as the BBC’s North America Editor. As the US midterm elections approach, I want to explore some of the social forces at work in this increasingly divided nation.’
Guest Curators
…gatherings like this are a much-needed haven, providing space for learning, exchanging ideas, and deeper connection.
Ng
‘I am looking forward to returning to Cheltenham this year to coincide with the launch of my new book, The Story of Art Without Men In line with my book’s theme, I will be hosting talks on some of the greatest female titans in history – from mythological and biblical heroines to the women artists who triumphed in the Baroque, and a discussion on how fiction authors are incorporating art. will also be in conversation with one of my favourite authors on my debut book.’
[The Festival] is by far one of the dopest atmospheres in which to discuss, digest and deepen our appreciation of all in the literary arts…
KesnerKieranPhoto:
‘Our family and school events at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival will answer some of our audience’s burning questions, help them identify fake news and share some of the skills that are used to create the magazine each week. Children will also have a chance to meet members of the editorial team and hear from some amazing young people whose words have the power to create positive change.’
Inua Ellams
Our Guest Curators are a unique and treasured part of the festival team each year – bringing fascinating insights, new perspectives and inspiring energy to the programme.
Katy Hessel is an art historian, curator, and broadcaster whose commitment to foregrounding women artists has allowed her to become one of the most exciting voices in the art world today. She has attracted a global following, bringing new audiences to art through her @thegreatwomenartists Instagram and The Great Women Artists Podcast. Her debut book The Story of Art Without Men will be published in the UK in September 2022 and in the US in March 2023.
The Week Junior
The Lit Crawl is back to take over the streets of Cheltenham for a fast-paced evening of pop-up events and quirky happenings – all completely FREE thanks to our association with Cheltenham BID.
Voicebox Ad
Friday 7th, from 3.30pm @Waterstones,MonksPromenade
Lit Crawl Returns…
Saturday 8 October, 5pm–late
@VOICEBOX_ @VOICEBOX_
Through VOICEBOX, it’s time for your voice to be heard. Stay tuned for the VOICEBOX programme announcement coming in September, and look out for the VOICEBOX Zine for more details.
in pop-up performances from the biggest names and rising stars, be part of the conversation as we create change from the ground up, and help us turn up the volume on the issues you care about.
…around town in association with Cheltenham BID
FREE No ticket required
VOICEBOX is back for its second year, sharing the best and brightest young talent in a vibrant series of free events.
FREE No ticket required
Look out for our …around town flyer or visit cheltenhamfestivals.com/around-town for all participating venues and programme.
From short talks, chats and debates about today’s hottest and most important issues, to group artworks, music and spoken word, VOICEBOX is home to unmissable experiences and one-off moments. Get creative with a drop-in workshop, share your ideas for the future of mental health, step up to the mic to speak your words, or immerse yourself in an intimate DJ Delightset.
Lydia
Watch as bestselling children’s author and illustrator Lydia Monks (What the Ladybird Heard decorates a shop window with artwork inspired by her new book Adoette
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Created in San Francisco in 2004 and now in Boston, Brooklyn, Portland, Chicago, New Zealand and beyond, Lit Crawl blends a bar crawl with bookish content – a riotous evening of the written and spoken word staged in surprising locations. Drop in for one session or crawl your way through the whole evening of events. This is literature done differently. Join us and get drunk on words.
Battle of the Books
Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils
At VOICEBOX, join us for a free event celebrating Words that Burn 2.0, the second iteration of Amnesty UK’s human rights and poetry project which launched in Gloucestershire in 2019 before rolling out nationwide. Check out the VOICEBOX zine for more information.
Beyond Words
Join us at VOICEBOX for a free event launching an exciting creative writing for wellbeing resource for young people and their teachers. This new resource has been created by writer and poet Caleb Parkin in consultation with previous students from our Beyond Words project (2015-2021). Check out the VOICEBOX zine for more information.
Year-round programmes
RTRP is a UK network of teachers’ book groups who read high-quality, diverse children’s literature. The programme is designed to ignite a love of reading for pleasure in teachers and their pupils and is delivered in partnership with Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, National Literacy Trust, National Centre for Writing, Bradford Literature Festival, Wigtown Festival Company, The Reader, KEAP, The Story Museum, English and Media Centre, Books Council of Wales, Peters and Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books.
For more information, check out our Literature for Schools programme literature-for-schoolslearning-participation/cheltenhamfestivals.com/at:
Gloucestershire Secondary Schools will be taking to the stage for a lively debate where they will be championing the book they feel builds the most empathy with a culture other than their own, hosted by author, Julian Sedgwick
Words that Burn
The Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils Conference will take place on Tuesday 11 October. Designed for KS2 and KS3 practitioners, this day of keynotes and workshops from authors and literacy experts offers a holistic approach to reading for pleasure.
Damon Galgut, 2021 Booker Prize Winner
The David Vaisey prize will be awarded at this year’s Festival on Sunday 9 October by Damon Galgut. The £5,000 prize is for a Gloucestershire library that has increased the reading of books for all ages through an outstanding initiative. It is the sixth year of this special prize which celebrates the vital role of libraries in society.
theEducatorsandSchoolsWelcomingHometoFestival
The 2022VaiseyDavidPrize
Find out more at: cheltenhamfestivals.com/rtrp
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We can’t wait to welcome over 9,000 pupils to the Festival Village, for inspirational explorations of the written and spoken word. This year’s writers, illustrators and industry professionals include Emma Carroll, Joseph Coelho, Lydia Monks, Pooja Puri, S F Said, Yomi Sode and Nick Sharratt .
Learning Participationand
I have been using public libraries since I was a child, and I know what a rich resource and a place of refuge and reflection they are for many.
Damon Galgut won the 2021 Booker prize with his book The Promise, a majestic and heart-stopping exploration of forsaken promises in post-apartheid South Africa.
Battle of the Books is delivered in partnership with Gloucestershire Library Services for Education.
Debuts and
✓ 50% discount on walk up tickets one hour before the event and conditions cheltenhamfestivals.com/patrons-and-members-terms-and-conditions
The Desmond Elliott Prize
Safeguard the future of Cheltenham Festivals. Please consider a gift in your will
event. Scan me to get regular updates about how you can get involved 1918
VOICEBOX
Proof Parties
book chat with
the year’s best first novels, showcased as part of our big opening night. Alternatively, join
Debuts
A diverse programme of events across Cheltenham town centre showcasing authors, performers, poets and comedians in exciting formats and spaces.
Write Now
SILVER £50 per year
novelists in
Lit
One Membership supporting four extraordinary Festivals. Becoming a Member is a great way to support Cheltenham Festivals.
✓ Priority booking
Buy up to two full price tickets per event during priority booking.
Our Patrons and Members are the first to hear about our programmes and enjoy priority booking. By becoming a member you’ll be supporting our vision for a world in which everyone can explore and create culture.
The most prestigious prize for debut novelists, don’t miss The Desmond Elliott Prize 2022 winner and shortlisted authors appearing in events.
GOLD £75 per year
16–25 Free
A gift in your will is a wonderful way to leave your mark on a cause you feel passionately about. By remembering Cheltenham Festivals in your will, you can help to ensure that future generations are as inspired by the Festivals as you are today. Once you’ve looked after those closest to you, please consider leaving a gift in your will to Cheltenham Festivals. Even a small amount, like a 1% share of your estate, can make a big difference. Every year our charity relies on the generosity of our audiences, supporters and sponsors to enable us to craft our richly diverse programmes to bring the best from the worlds of jazz, science, music and literature. All you need to include us in your will is our charity name, Cheltenham Festivals, and our registered charity number, 251765. To talk in confidence about gifts in wills, please contact fundraising@cheltenhamfestivals.com
‘I see Cheltenham Festivals as the jewel in Cheltenham’s crown. In their diversity they offer so much in the way of discovery and delight and bring people from all over the world to enjoy what Cheltenham has to offer.’
A Legacy Pledger
cheltenhamfestivals.com/membership Terms
Spotlight is Cheltenham Festivals’ year-round talent development programme. It offers a wide range of opportunities for all ages to engage with literature and provides an invaluable platform for up-and-coming talent, supporting writers and performers throughout their career.
The creative writing project for talented young writers aged 16–19 in Gloucestershire. Students are supported through mentoring, workshops and networking opportunities. Check out the VOICEBOX zine for more information.
apply –see
VOICEBOX is home to free, pop-up events that celebrate the best and brightest young talent, giving platform to local and national writers, artists and creatives. Crawl
✓ Priority booking ✓ Discounted tickets
✓ Priority booking ✓ Discounted tickets
Buy up to four tickets per event during priority booking (one discounted, three at full price).
Introducing upcoming novelists before they’re even published, with Cheltenham audiences being among the first to take away their novels in proof form.
Cocktailsand
Our pick of our YA our Mocktails
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Join online today and enjoy:
Help us to continue collaborating to create experiences which bring joy, spark curiosity, connect communities and inspire change.
BRONZE £25 per year
LIGHT
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THE YEARSFIRST 200 Subscribe today thesundaytimes.co.ukat speakers.SmartListentothefree,liveradiostationfromTheTimesforintelligentconversationandexpertanalysis.JustaskyoursmartspeakertoplayTimesRadio..
4–5pm LL32
2.15–3.15pm
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
The Garden Theatre £10
12–1pm
Max Hastings ( Abyss) and book critic, The Sunday Times reflects on the most perilous event in modern history, when the United States and Soviet Union brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Could it happen again? Only by fearing the worst, Max argues, can our leaders hope to secure the survival of the planet.
Trends are constantly changing and it can be overwhelming for your wallet and your wardrobe. Fashion Director at The Times, Anna Murphy is here to help. Looking at her favourite trends from the season’s catwalks, Anna reveals how you can make them work for you. Take away plenty of top styling tricks as Anna shares some easy ways to upgrade your autumn look.
Expedition-leader Belinda Kirk (The Adventure Revolution) has spent 25 years seeing adventure change people: turning the timid into the confident, the addicted into the recovering, and the lost into the intentionally wandering. Growing up in his small hometown, Mark Vanhoenacker (Imagine a City: A Pilot Sees the World ) would spin the globe and dream of distant cities where he could be anyone – perhaps even himself. He’s now spent almost two decades as a commercial airline pilot touching down in the cities he imagined as a child. They discuss the transformational power of travel and adventure with Caroline Eden
Joining us via live link direct from Lviv, neurosurgeon and pioneer of neurosurgical advances in Ukraine, Henry Marsh* speaks with Clare Clark about his lifesaving frontline work and how he was unprepared for the impacts of his recent cancer diagnosis. They discuss his fascinating career and brand-new book And Finally
2–3pm LL31
The 60MissileCubanCrisis:YearsOn
LX07
Dress to be Seen with Anna Murphy
For the 8th year running, BBC Radio 4 Broadcasting House regulars Peter Hennessy* and John Sergeant join host Paddy O’Connell to look at this year in politics, reflect on the historical parallels of today and use their experience, wit and wisdom to map the twists and turns ahead.
LN01
From smartphones to smart speakers, we can’t avoid technology. But for Anne-Marie Imafidon (She’s In CTRL), it’s time women were part of the conversation. Anne-Marie shows us that we have more agency than we think using stories from her own life and fellow pioneers who have transformed tech against the odds.
4.30–5.30pm LG03
1.45–2.45pm LH03
LA05
Raynor Winn, bestselling author of The Salt Path, The Wild Silence and now Landlines, talks to Sophie Raworth about her most ambitious walk to date with her terminally ill husband Moth – an epic journey from north-west Scotland to their home in Cornwall. Raynor reveals how together, they placed their faith in the healing power of nature.
The Hive £10
Autumn Style with MurphyAnna
1.30–2.30pm GeneralsElection
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
4–5pm
Kamila Shamsie’s previous novel Home Fire won the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Touted as a book of the year, her new novel Best of Friends is an epic story of childhood friendship beginning in 1980s Karachi and spanning decades and continents to explore power, bonds and the personal vs political. Chaired by Clare Clark
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £16
3.30–4.30pm LR02
cheltenhamfestivals.com FRIDAY 7 OCTOBERFRIDAY 7 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 2322
LC05 The
11.30am–12.30pm
Kamila Shamsie
4–5pm LE40
Meet the women who changed the rules of war reporting forever during WWII. Together, author Judith Mackrell (Going with the Boys) and curator and writer Ami Bouhassane (Lee Miller: Fashion in Wartime Britain) celebrate the courageous cast of women journalists who risked their lives to report on the conflict, mixing with artists and politicians from Picasso to Churchill while chasing sources and narrowly avoiding gunfire. Ami talks about her grandmother, photographer, war correspondent and Vogue model Lee Miller, whose photographs are recognised as some of the most powerful of her time. Chaired by Rosie Goldsmith
*This participant will appear digitally.
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
TakeWomenImafidon:Anne-MarieHowCanBackTech
Throughout history and across cultures nature has been believed to be sacred, with our God or gods playing an important role. Karen Armstrong shares some practical ways we can reconnect with nature and rekindle our sense of what sacred means to us.
We might not want to admit it, but our clothes reveal a lot about us. Fashion Director at The Times Anna Murphy and personal stylist and body shape guru Anna Berkley are here to help you look and feel great. In this interactive styling session, they share how to build a wardrobe that feels like you
The Garden Theatre £10
When you’ve spent a lifetime on the frontline of life and death, how do you begin to contemplate your own?
Going with the Boys: Women on the Front Line
LT08
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Actor and food lover Stanley Tucci reflects with journalist and foodie Alex Clark on how food intersects with life as described in anecdotes from his book Taste From growing up in New York, falling in love and filming foodie films, to his fabulous lockdown cocktail videos, Tucci gives us a flavour of his colourful life.
Henry Marsh: And Finally
Raynor WalkingWinn:toLive
Hotel du Vin £20
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Stanley Tucci
2–3pm LX04
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Ticket includes a glass of fizz.
SacredArmstrong:KarenNature
Hotel du Vin £20
Ticket includes a glass of fizz.
The Power of Travel
Burning Eye Books Poetry Party
Poetry
6.45–7.45pm LR05
Debuts Cocktailsand
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
Jeremy Hunt
Many of today’s biggest names in literature appeared at Cheltenham with their very first books. It’s time to meet the next generation. The Festival’s Programme and Commissions Manager Lyndsey Fineran talks to three hand-picked debut novelists we think are ones to watch: Tom Watson (Metronome), the winner of The 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize Maddie Mortimer (Maps of our Spectacular Bodies) and Onyi Nwabineli (Someday, Maybe).
4.30–5.30pm LP28
The Garden Theatre £12
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
We often see that the most successful people are those who demonstrate resilience and can bounce back from failure. In Fortitude, Bruce Daisley, host of top business podcast Eat Sleep Work Repeat, explores how strength of mind is key to success and shows us how to develop tenacity and inner courage to overcome life’s setbacks. In conversation with a special guest to be announced, he talks to Sophie Raworth about how to find your motivation, improve your performance and adopt a champion’s mindset at the highest level or in your day-to-day life.
Balancing Risk
The Garden Theatre £10
9.30–11pm
Mistakes happen, but nobody deserves to become a statistic in an NHS hospital. That’s why we need to aim for zero. Jeremy Hunt ( Zero) examines the increasing conflict between public pride in the NHS and the mounting pressure on its services. In conversation with Isabel Hardman, the longest-serving Health Secretary in history sets out his manifesto to transform the great British institution.
Ticket includes a cocktail on arrival.
Mel C: Who I Am
TroubledforTimes
Singer-songwriter Melanie Chisholm (also known as Sporty Spice) chats to Cathy Newman in a live broadcast for her Times Radio show, The Ladder Mel C reveals all about the good and bad times of her fame and life with The Spice Girls in her longawaited memoir Who I Am: My Story This event includes live captioning.
6.30–7.30pm LQ04
5.45–6.45pm LN02
Wild: Songs and Stories from Medieval Britain
FRIDAY 7 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 24 25
LQ03
Fresh from hearing tales from early medieval Britain, join author and linocut artist Amy Jeffs (
8–9pm LN09
Celebrating 10 years of slam, stand up, performance and spoken word poetry publishing, Bristol-based indie press Burning Eye are throwing a major poetry party to mark the occasion. Burning Eye founder Clive Birnie and editor Bridget Hart host the top-selling Burning Eye poet Harry Baker (Unashamed ), YouTuber and poet Leena Norms (Bargain Bin Rom-Com), powerhouse performer Muneera Pilgrim (That Day She’ll Proclaim Her Chronicles) and award-winning German/Swiss poet Nora Gomringer (The Trilogy of Surfaces and Invisibilities) in an energetic night of the very best of Burning Eye.
6.15–7.15pm LE20
8.30–9.30pm LR27
A Night of Nordic Noir
Adventurer and mountaineer Leo Houlding (Closer to the Edge) has made headlines for his daring family expeditions; he scaled an 11,000ft Alpine peak when his children were just 3 and 7 years old. Poet Helen Mort ( A Line Above the Sky) has always been drawn to the thrill of climbing, but becoming a mother caused her to re-examine her relationship with the natural world and herself, and the way risk-taking women are viewed by society. They reflect on finding freedom in pushing their limits and on the joy and fearfulness of sharing the mountains with your children.
Known for her meticulous portraits of community life in small-town New England, Elizabeth Strout is one of America’s finest living novelists. Clare Clark joins the Pulitzer Prize-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Olive Kittridge author in conversation about her new novel, Lucy by the Sea which sees the indomitable Lucy Barton uprooted from her life in NYC to spend lockdown with her ex-husband on the coast of Maine.
8.30–9.30pm
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Unlock Your Winning Mindset
As Old as the Hills:
Amy Jeffs Wild ) returns to Cheltenham with fresh retellings of medieval texts, blending Old English elegies, the englynion and immrama of the Celtic world with reflections of her travels through fen and forest. In Mischief Acts Zoe Gilbert weaves the story of the near-forgotten Great North Wood – that once stretched across today’s south London – with the legend of Herne the Hunter, and mourns the wild spaces swallowed by the city. They talk to Horatio Clare about how our connection to nature links us through the centuries to these ancient stories.
LP09
Whether we’re experiencing a time of intense personal change or uncertainty around our future in a time of global turbulence, poetry can often help us make sense of difficult times. Poet, conflict mediator and poetry podcaster Pádraig Ó Tuama (Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World ), Founder of National Poetry Day and the Forward Prizes William Sieghart (The Poetry Pharmacy and the new Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho (Blow a Kiss, Catch a Kiss: Poems to Share with Little Ones) join Hannah MacInnes to discuss poetry’s power and share the pieces that help them navigate troubled times.
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
Myth and Landscape
Town Hall, Pillar Room £12
Wild ) as she takes us on a musical journey into wild landscapes, with new tracks inspired by Old English and Middle Welsh literature. Join Amy and her band for a rich hour of music, storytelling and art, as they conjure up an atmospheric world of whales, wolves, caves, cuckoos and reeds.
Elizabeth Strout
cheltenhamfestivals.com FRIDAY 7 OCTOBER
8.45–9.45pm LR49
As the nights draw in, three of the best Nordic crime and thriller writers share their new dark reads for dark evenings. Internationally bestselling Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (The Fallout), new Norwegian crime writing star Silje Ulstein (Reptile Memoirs) and ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ Finnish author Antti Tuomainen (The Moose Paradox) join European crime fiction expert Barry Forshaw (Nordic Noir) to present their new books and explore this ever-popular genre.
The Hive £10
6.30–7.30pm LC32
The Hive £12
drawing workshop.
,
Book Vlogger of the Year Leena Norms presents three 2022 YA debut novelists whose books are inspired by their passions and pop culture: Lewis Hancox (film maker) Welcome to St Hell Morgan Owen (gamer) The Girl with No Soul and Christine Pillainayagam (songwriter) Ellie Pillai is Brown Join this talented trio for an hour of bookish chat and find out what appeals to them about writing for young adults, the creative process and their paths to being published. Bring along your questions for a Q&A with the panel. manga Tsunami Girl by Julian Sedgwick, Chie Kutsuwada for an interactive Learn about the history of and why it’s so unique before you have a go at creating your own mangainspired character in a step-by-step session with Chie.
FRIDAY 7 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 DAY PLANNER cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER ADULTSYOUNG 3–4pm LF05 Debuts MocktailsandYA Town Hall, Pillar Room £10 Ticket Includes a Mocktail
1.30–2.30pm LF52 Strange Things The Hive £7 Ghosts, witches and strange happenings; three YA authors, Rachel Burge (Waking the Witch), Yvette Fielding (The Ghost Hunter Chronicles) and J P Rose (The Haunting of Tyrese Walker) talk to author Holly Race (City of Nightmares) about their strange experiences, spine tingling novels, the supernatural genre in film, TV and books and why we love to be scared. 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The HotelHiveduVin LX07 Henry Marsh: And Finally LA05 Going with the theWomenBoys:onFrontLine LH03 The 60MissileCubanCrisis:YearsOn LN01 Raynor toWalkingWinn:Live LC05 The GeneralsElection LX04 BackCanHowImafidon:Anne-MarieWomenTakeTech LL31 Autumn Style with MurphyAnna LE40 TucciStanley LG03 NatureSacredArmstrong:Karen LP28 Poetry TimesTroubledfor LT08 The Power of Travel LR02 ShamsieKamila LL32 Dress to be MurphywithSeenAnna LN02 As Old as the LandscapeMythHills:and LE20 Mel C: Who Am LQ04 RiskBalancing LC32 Jeremy Hunt LR05 Debuts Cocktailsand LN09 Wild: Songs and BritainfromStoriesMedieval LQ03 Unlock MindsetWinningYour LR49 A Night of Nordic Noir LR27 StroutElizabeth LP09 Burning Eye Books Poetry Party 2726
artist and illustrator of
1–2pm LF34 Queer Up: Love, Life and Mental Health Town Hall, Pillar Room £7 Award-winning podcaster Alexis Caught, (Queer Up: An Uplifting Guide to LGBTQ+ Love, Life and Mental Health), actress and activist Charlie Craggs and Clinical Director Sarah Kendrick from mental health charity Shout join us for an open, helpful and heart-warming conversation for young people who are queer or questioning, and their allies. Sex educator and TikToker Milly Evans (Honest) guides our panel through an inclusive account of what it means to grow up queer; from questioning and pride to relationships and allyship, plus tips for maintaining good mental health. Bring along your questions for the panel. 10–11.30am LF51 12.15–1.45pm LF55 KutsuwadawithWorkshopMangaChie Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £7 Join Japanese
manga
The Daffodil Restaurant £25
The
11am–12pm LL21 Life
10–11am LR10 McEwan
What are our top politicians really like? Michael Cockerell is the man to ask. The veteran broadcaster and documentary maker has filmed all the past 10 prime ministers and enjoyed unrivalled behind-the-scenes access across Westminster and Whitehall. He shares his illuminating and often hilarious stories with Times Radio host Matt Chorley Needed Garden Theatre £12
This event will be interpreted in British Sign Language (BSL).
for a family
Hot Book10thKey’sBirthdayBash
Ian
The Hive £7
OurUnmaskingLeaders
5.15–6.15pm LF35
books. This is
books? Still waiting for your letter from Hogwarts? Join
Author and self-confessed trash merchant Caroline O’Donoghue hosts a live episode of her hit podcast Sentimental Garbage, about the culture we love that society can sometimes make us feel ashamed of. Formerly a chick-lit podcast, sometimes a Sex and the City podcast... Caroline and her guests don’t know the most, but they definitely feel the most. Joining Caroline is special guest Siobhán McSweeney, star of Derry Girls and host of The Great Pottery Throw Down Bring your gang for a weekend brunch and listen in as they chat about their favourite slice of pop culture.
£10
GarbageSentimental
Town Hall, Pillar Room £7
Part of New Dutch Writing supported by:
SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER
Emma MaryMeets...FreudBerry
When you feel like you’re living at 100mph, how do you slow things down? Ten years ago, Paula Sutton (Hill House Living) exchanged her London life for a slower pace of countryside living in Norfolk. She is joined by Miranda Keeling (The Year Stopped To Notice), someone who makes a conscious effort to the Harry Potter Fleurble Laffalot friendly K Rowling’s much loved a funny, silly event for anyone who has ever wanted to explore the magical world of Harry Potter books!
12.15–1.15pm LD11 Words You Didn’t Know You
Lose yourself in a broken, future England where gunfights and monsters collide with international bestselling author Jonathan Stroud (The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne and Lockwood & Co). Discover how this award-winning author sculpts his landscapes and daring characters and transforms his middle-of-the-night scribbles into scenes, chapters, plot twists and spine-tingling monsters. 12.15–1.15pm
Queen of Countdown’s Dictionary Corner Susie Dent ( An Emotional Dictionary) and Celebs Go Dating presenter and author Tom Read Wilson (On the Tip of My Tongue) reveal the vocabulary you need to navigate every situation in modern life. From the distress of a bad haircut (age-otori) to the shock of jumping into icy water (curglaff) or trying to tell your mother you love her, there is a word for it and Susie and Tom are going to help you find it. Chaired by Tim Hubbard in Hall, Pillar Room
3–4pm LF31
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
journey through J
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The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £16
Party on down to celebrate 10 years of Hot Key books, one of the top book publishers for teens and YA. Online creator @Booksandquills Sanne Vliegenthart (Book Club Journal chats with Hot Key Publisher Emma Matthewson and three of their amazing authors Rebecca Barrow Bad Things Happen Here), Alexandra Christo (To Kill A Kingdom/Princess of Souls) and Ciannon Smart (Witches Steeped in Gold/Empress Crowned in Red ) about their books, the YA community, the impact of TikTok and how to get your writing published. Look out for a special guest appearance and pick up your very own party bag.
9.30–11am LDF06
Ticket includes brunch.
10.30–11.30am LC35
Spanning the Suez and Cuban Missile Crises, the Chernobyl disaster and the Berlin Wall’s fall through to our modern era marked by pandemics and the climate crisis, master storyteller Ian McEwan’s new novel Lessons is a chronicle for our times that asks powerful questions about how global events shape our lives. He talks to Hannah MacInnes This event includes live captioning.
document the magic and beauty of ordinary life, and Sophie Howarth (The Mindful Photographer), whose book encourages slow creative practice; an antidote to Instagram culture. Together they discuss how we can take action to slow down and the benefits of appreciating the world around us. Chaired by Sam Baker SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER 2–3pm LF12 Twin Crowns: Writing Fantasy Rom Coms with your Best Friend Town Hall, Pillar Room £7 YA superstars, best friends, sisters-in-law and authors Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber share their first young adult book written together, Twin Crowns. Twins Wren and Rose star in this high-stakes fantasy rom-com about two sisters separated at birth and vying for the crown – the most addictive read this year. Catherine and Katherine talk all things fantasy and romance and share their top co-writing tips in this unmissable event. 12.15–1.15pm LF85 The HarryWorldMagicalofPotter The Garden Theatre £7 Are you a fan of
LE11
the Slow Lane Town
Emma Freud meets national treasure and enduringly popular cook Mary Berry as she shares her passion for food, flavour and life itself. Mary gives a taste of some of the 120 delicious recipes featured in her book Love to Cook which accompanies her TV show of the same name.
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
6.30–7.45
Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules (Home Food ) lived in Cyprus and Italy before arriving in the UK. However, her eastern European childhood remains her most powerful inspiration and she is passionate about championing her homeland’s rich culinary culture. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Olia co-founded #CookForUkraine to raise awareness of the crisis and share the beauty of her country, its people, food, poetry and art. She talks to writer and critic Caroline Eden about how food connects us, and how we are formed by the places we call home.
Her ForgottenStory: Women of History
Laurence LlewelynBowen: More!
4.30–5.30pm LM05
Joining an elite list of winners that includes Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Harold Pinter, Margaret Atwood, Anne Tyler, Ian McEwan, John Le Carre, Kazuo Ishiguro, Edna O’Brien and Elena Ferrante, we are thrilled that the recipient of The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence 2022 is Stephen King* The author of more than 50 books, all of them worldwide bestsellers, and with many adapted into some of our biggest films (among them The Shawshank Redemption, It and The Shining), in a rare interview the legendary storyteller speaks to Mark Lawson from his home in the US to accept the award and reflect on a remarkable creative life. Copies of Stephen’s new novel Fairy Tale will be available for sale after the event.
1–3pm LDF13
*This participant will appear digitally.30 31
Hotel du Vin £12
2–3pm LL15
2.15–3.15pm LT05
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
Gripping, darkly funny and uniquely insightful, BBC radio presenter Justin Webb’s candid memoir, The Gift of a Radio, is an unflinching account of family dysfunction and education in a Quaker boarding school and an eye-opening portrait of 1970s Britain. He joins us in conversation with his colleague and friend Nick Robinson
Chaired by Julia Wheeler
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Marina Hyde: What Happened?!Just
Justin Webb: My WrecksandChildhoodOtherTrain
Hotel du Vin £20
Drawing on years of clinical experience, psychologist Michaela Dunbar (You’ve Got This) and psychologist and TikTok sensation Julie Smith (Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?) share the skills required to get through life’s ups and downs. With top tips straight from the therapist’s toolkit, they discuss practical solutions for everything from managing anxiety and battling low mood to boosting motivation. With quick and easy fixes, they show you how to transform your anxious thoughts and emotions into positive actions, free yourself from the traps of overthinking and confidently step into a life you love.
Ever wanted to learn piano, go wild swimming or pick up a camera? Hobbies are in. Co-founder of Black Girls Knitting Club Sicgmone Kludje (Conscious Crafts: Knitting) and avid baker Kitty Tait (Breadsong) talk to Julia Leonard about what their hobbies mean to them, the positive impact they can have on happiness and wellbeing and how we can build them into our busy lives.
Living Your Best Life
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
The Times
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
The Sunday Times Award for Excellence:LiteraryStephen King
Changing Rooms most flamboyant designer, Laurence LlewelynBowen has spent his entire career encouraging people to reject decorative modesty. Laurence will be talking about his new book, More More More which celebrates exuberance, lavish living, and individuality. Be prepared to be dazzled, especially when Laurence shares some audience photos of their own house interiors!
The Garden Theatre £12
Does Your Life Need a Hobby?
pm LR29
Damon Galgut: The Promise Parabola Arts Centre £12
With the rising popularity of house plants, our flowery friends have become permanent additions to our households. Plant bloggers Sarah Gerrard-Jones (The Plant Rescuer) and Michael Perry – aka Mr. Plant Geek Hortus Curious) – have amassed thousands of followers on Instagram, sharing their green-fingered wisdom with fellow plant parents. If your Monstera is molting or your Pothos is looking peaky, Sarah and Michael have the answer. They join Julia Leonard to discuss our favourite plants as well as the lesser-known hidden gems. Sarah and Michael also share their top tips to make your own jungles thrive.
Cheltenham boy Geoff Dyer makes his Festival return with The Last Days of Roger Federer He talks to Michael Kelleher about how his own experience of late middle age prompted him to revisit the cultural icons that have mattered most to him – among them Bob Dylan, Nietzche, Turner, Kerouac, and of course, Roger Federer – and examine how their final chapters compare.
12.30–1.30pm LA02
From Paint to Page: Art in Fiction
Hortus PlantsYourGettingCurious:toKnowHouse
2.30–3.30pm LQ06
Public levels of trust in our MPs are at an alltime low. Operating from a crumbling Gothic Palace, with baffling rituals and procedures, and dogged by repeated scandals, there is a perception that most MPs are “in it for themselves”. How should we reform parliament to ensure that our MPs are a dynamic, effective and representative group?
4–5pm LL03
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
2.30–3.45pm LC01
5–6pm LA03
6–7pm LR22
SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER
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From the warrior queens who held their own against male crusaders in the ruthless arena of the Middle East, to Artemisia Gentileschi, the greatest female artist of the baroque age whose paintings were a war cry for the oppressed women of her time, we bring some of history’s most trailblazing women into focus. Historian Katherine Pangonis (Queens of Jerusalem) and curator and art historian Katy Hessel (The Story of Art Without Men) share their guide to the extraordinary women whose genius has for too long been overlooked.
6.30–7.30pm LC23
Ticket includes a glass of fizz.
Join Times Radio presenter John Pienaar, journalist Isabel Hardman (Why We Get the Wrong Politicians) documentary maker Michael Cockerell (Unmasking Our Leaders) Labour councillor and activist Ali Milani (The Unlikely Candidate) and the Institute for Government’s Hannah White (Held in Contempt) for this timely discussion.
The Garden Theatre £12
The Daffodil Restaurant £35
Guest Curator Katy Hessel (The Story of Art Without Men) delves into three debut novels inspired by the art world. Sophie Haydock ’s The Flames, which paints a vivid portrait of the fierce and passionate muses of Egon Schiele against the backdrop of Fin-de-siècle Vienna; James Cahill ’s Tiepolo Blue which follows a repressed art historian’s journey from Cambridge into the anarchic ‘90s British art scene; and Chloe Ashby’s blistering Wet Paint, centred around the rudderless, twentysomething Eve and her connection with Manet’s painting A Bar at the FoliesBergere in an examination of the male gaze in art and life.
Damon Galgut’s 2021 Booker Prizewinning novel The Promise which charts the crash and burn of a white farming family over four decades was hailed by the judges as ‘a spectacular demonstration of how the novel can make us see and think afresh’. He joins William Atkins to discuss the novel and his wider career.
Spectacularly funny Guardian columnist Marina Hyde slashes her way through the hellscape of post-referendum politics, where the chaos never stops. Clamber aboard as we relive every inspirational moment of magic, from the Cameron, May and Johnson eras, to Trumpian WTF-ery and celebrity twattery. It’s the full state banquet of crazy – and you’re most cordially invited. Chaired by Raven Smith
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Ticket includes a two-course lunch and a glass of wine .
5–6pm LE48
Geoff Dyer
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £14
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
How does it feel to take a leap into the literary unknown? Or to tackle a classic work you have always intended to read but somehow never got round to? In this annual event, now a Festival favourite, our host Marcus Brigstocke takes Geoff Dyer (The Last Days of Roger Federer), Guardian columnist Marina Hyde What Just Happened?! and Times columnist James Marriott out of their bookish comfort zones as they discuss their own reading preferences and the book they have never read… until now.
The Daffodil Restaurant £65
Town Hall, Pillar Room £12
This will be a relaxed performance.
10.15–11.15am LF25
One of the most exciting travel writers of her generation, Norwegian anthropologist Erika Fatland’s previous book The Border – an odyssey along Russia’s immense border –received enormous praise. She returns with High, another ambitious travelogue which journeys 2,000km through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and China to document the lives and cultures of The Himalayas. Chaired by Julia Wheeler
Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 4+
Ticket includes a three-course dinner and a drink on arrival.
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
The groundbreaking first Black editor-inchief of Vogue reflects on his story with writer Afua Hirsch From working-class outsider to the apex of the fashion industry, always championing inclusion and representation in the worlds of design and photography, Edward Enninful ( A Visible Man) has cemented his status as one of the world’s most important change-makers. And he’s just getting started. This event includes live captioning.
Brigstocke’sMarcus I’ve
Nicholas Jubber and Amy Jeffs (Wild) delve into the surprising origins of some of our most beloved folk and fairy tales, including the people who told and re-shaped them and the landscapes that forged them. Journeying from the steaming cities of Italy, through the Black Forest into the tundra of Siberia and across the snowy fells of Lapland, they explore how a melting pot of languages and cultures resulted in the stories that have fed our imaginations down the centuries. Chaired by Andy Rea
Deadpan American comedian Rich Hall sits down with Alex Clark as he recounts stories from his eventful professional and personal lives as told in his honest and hilarious book Nailing It This event includes live captioning.
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £7 Ages 5+
The Hive £10
10–11am LF74
Stephen King Made Me
8.45–9.45pm LD06
Erika Fatland: A JourneyHimalayan
Town Hall, Pillar Room £12
7–10.30pm LDF20
LF30
An Evening of Sondheim
The Fairy Tellers
Lydia AdoetteMonks:
TV star and language-lover Tom Read Wilson and illustrator Ian Morris explore the funniest, strangest and silliest stories behind the words we use today. From Aardvark to Zombie, why are things called what they are? Tom presents his new book Every Word Tells a Story, accompanied by live drawing from Ian, and followed by creative writing fun where you’ll turn language-detective, crafting stories and completing creative activities using words from throughout history.
7–8pm LT06
Never Read...
Raven Smith (Raven Smith’s Men) has been trying to distil what it is about men that has kept him intrigued his whole life. It boils down to three things. Firstly, he loves them. Secondly, he can see how endlessly problematic they are. Thirdly, both these things converge in his own sense of self and his own masculinity. This conversation will not shy away from difficult truths and also make you laugh a huge amount.
Rich Hall
Back to the 70s
The Hive £10
Tom aWordWilson:ReadEveryTellsStory
Robin ActivityUnladylikeMinistryStevens:of
The Garden Theatre £7 Ages 8+
Fresh from hearing from the man himself, we bring together a stellar cohort of crime, horror and thriller writers John Connolly (The Furies) Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (The Fallout) and Catriona Ward (Sundial). For each of them, Stephen King has been a key source of influence and inspiration. Together with Leah Davis they reflect on the insights shared by King in his interview and discuss his immeasurable impact on the next generation of genre writers.
9.15–10.15pm LH17
A towering figure in 20th century musical theatre, Stephen Sondheim changed the nature of theatrical storytelling. From West Side Story to Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd, Sondheim approached song writing as an artform, calling himself a “playwright in song”. Celebrate the craft and legacy of the man whose influence has ricocheted through American culture from the 1950s to present day with musicologist Stephen Banfield and actress Ellie Nunn, who performs a repertoire of Sondheim songs.
FAMILYEVENTS10–11am
The Garden Theatre £10
9–10pm LE22
Step back in time to (possibly) one of the strangest decades ever – the 70s. In a time of David Bowie, punk rock, free contraception and the Troubles, look back at one of the most controversial and divisive decades in recent history. Guest Curator Justin Webb (The Gift of a Radio) joins author and former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson (One of Our Ministers Is Missing) and social historian Ysenda Maxtone Graham (British Summer Time Begins) to discuss the huge cultural and societal shifts that happened during the wornout, run-down Britain of the 70s.
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The event finishes with a Marv-ellous quiz.
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
The Modern Man
8.30–9.30pm LR45
7–8pm LL11
9–10pm LL33
It’s not just people that live on your street; there are animals, plants and trees too. In her new book Adoette, author and illustrator Lydia Monks (What the Ladybird Heard ) tells the tale of a tree that became the beating heart of a community until one day, people decided it would be best if she would go. An interactive session with drawalongs, readings and games celebrating the natural world on our doorsteps.
This event will be interpreted in British Sign Language (BSL).
Alex Falase-Koya and Paula Bowles: Marv the Superhero
Join Robin Stevens, author of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prizewinning and bestselling Murder Most Unladylike series to find out about her brand-new series Ministry of Unladylike Activity. Robin will share her tips and tricks on how to write the perfect murder mystery and the inspiration behind her new team of detectives. You will also get the chance to put your own sleuthing skills to the test and ask your burning questions, like any good detective.
The Hive £7 Ages 8+
SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270
10–11am LF02
with Justin Webb
cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER
Edward Enninful: In Vogue
Suit Up. Step Up. It’s time to become a hero. Join author Alex Falase-Koya and illustrator Paula Bowles for a super-powered, super-fun introduction to Marv – the newest superhero in town. Learn all about Marv’s supersuit, powered by kindness and imagination and help Alex and Paula to design a brand-new supersuit with superpowers.
7–8pm LD09
11.45am–12.30pm LF11
Gabby Dawnay and Alex Barrow:
This will be a relaxed performance.
1–2pm LF04
Fact or Fake?
Ages 9+
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The News:
The Hive £7 Ages 11+
DesignersYoungWorkshop:BAFTAGame
If I had a vampire bat
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £7 Ages 4+
LF50
12–1pm
Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 9+
Are you a fan of Norse myths? Have you ever wondered what Loki – the mischievous shapeshifter and cunning trickster god –would be like if they were banished to Earth in the form of an eleven-year-old? Well look no further! Join author and Norse myth super fan Louie Stowell ( A Bad God’s Guide to Taking the Blame) and discover fun tips on comic-style drawing, acting like a god, cool facts about Norse gods and pranking like Loki!
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel Child £10, Adult FREE Ages 10+
2–3pm
The Hive £7 Ages 3+
Imagine if your pet was a vampire bat. What would it look like? Join author and illustrator Gabby Dawnay and Alex Barrow for a spooktacular afternoon and enjoy quick-drawing and more fun activities as they reveal If I had a vampire bat, the latest adventure in the hugely popular If I had… series as featured on CBeebies Bedtime Stories
2–3pm LF49 4–5pm
Debuts
The Week Junior’s editor Vanessa Harriss and art director Dave Kelsall are joined by journalist and television presenter Nick Sheridan (Breaking News) to reveal how to write the perfect news report, what goes into creating a front cover and why it’s important to be able to distinguish between true stories and fake news. If you want to know more about making magazines and develop the skills to spot misinformation, this is an event you won’t want to miss.
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10 Ages Ticket14+Includes a mocktail.
Town Hall, Pillar Room £7
Author Rashmi Sirdeshpande and illustrator Diane Ewen celebrate the power of maths, reading, drawing and imagination in this high energy family event featuring super silly stories and dinosaur drawing activities.
Ghosts, witches and strange happenings; three YA authors, Rachel Burge (Waking the Witch), Yvette Fielding (The Ghost Hunter Chronicles) and J P Rose (The Haunting of Tyrese Walker) talk to author Holly Race (City of Nightmares) about their strange experiences, spine tingling novels, the supernatural genre in film, TV and books and why we love to be scared.
LF07
cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER 1.30–2.30pm LF52 Strange Things
3–4pm LF05 MocktailsandYA
Joseph Coelho: Meet Laureatethe
Only one accompanying adult per child.
Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 6+
What would happen if you showed a T.rex a book? Or if a stegosaurus knew how to do sums? Or if a diplodocus could draw? Could they learn to code, to invent, to fly to the moon?
Want to create your own game? BAFTA has created ‘Young Game Designers’ to inspire and support young people to develop their own ideas. Join YGD Mentor Award winner, Richard Harris, for a hands-on workshop using the YGD idea generator to refine your concept for a game and think about what genre, rules, environment and goals will engage your player.
Come and see award-winning performance poet Joseph Coelho in his first ever Festival appearance as the Waterstones Children’s Laureate. He’s pledged to celebrate the power of poetry by showing how much fun words can be and how we can all be poets. Be inspired and create your own poem to take home and treasure.
DrawDiplodocusNeverEwen:andSirdeshpandeRashmiDianeLeta
We welcome this year’s winners of the BAFTA Young Presenters competition Maryam and Jeriah to introduce some of our events. Look out for them at the Festival. SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 12–1pm LF22 Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good
LF45
This will be a relaxed performance.
Book Vlogger of the Year Leena Norms presents three 2022 YA debut novelists whose books are inspired by their passions and pop culture: Lewis Hancox (film maker) Welcome to St Hell, Morgan Owen (gamer) The Girl with No Soul and Christine Pillainayagam (songwriter) Ellie Pillai is Brown. Join this talented trio for an hour of bookish chat and find out what appeals to them about writing for young adults, the creative process and their paths to being published. Bring along your questions for a Q&A with the panel.
The Garden Theatre £7
Parabola Arts Centre
4.30–5.30pm
LF80
Ages 8+
International artist Oliver Jeffers (Here We Are) and astrophysicist Stephen Smartt have created Our Place in Space, an epic scale model of the solar system which inspired Oliver’s new picture book, Meanwhile Back on Earth – a story that explores the universe. Go on a journey through space and time with Oliver and Stephen. Hosted by Julia Wheeler.
36 37
Oliver onMeanwhileJeffers:BackEarth
Can you imagine making friends with a polar bear or a grey whale? Are you passionate about protecting our planet? Hannah Gold’s unforgettable adventures celebrate the love between children and nature and show that no one is too young or insignificant to make a difference. Prepare to be inspired by tales of April and Bear from The Last Bear (winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2022 and Blue Peter Book Award 2022) and Rio and White Beak in Hannah’s new novel The Lost Whale
£7 Ages 8+
cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER DAY PLANNER 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum LE22 Rich Hall The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The Hive The ParabolaHotelDaffodilduVinArts Centre Regency Suite, Queens Hotel Adult Familyeventsevents LR10 Ian McEwan LE11 Emma BerryMeets...FreudMary LE48 Bowen:Llewelyn-LaurenceMore! LC01 The Times WeGetMembers:DishonourableDebateDoWethePoliticiansDeserve? LL11 Enninful:Edward In Vogue LF25 Robin ActivityUnladylikeMinistryStevens:of LD11 Words You Didn’t Know You Needed LT05 Geoff Dyer LF80 Oliver EarthBackMeanwhileJeffers:on LC23 Marina Hyde: What Happened?!Just LD06 Read...I’veBrigstocke’sMarcusNever LC35 OurUnmaskingLeaders LA02 From Paint to Page: Art in Fiction LQ06 Living Your Best Life LM05 Justin Webb: My TrainandChildhoodOtherWrecks LR29 The Sunday Times Award for StephenExcellence:LiteraryKing LF04 The News: Fact or Fake? LL21 Life in the Slow Lane LF05 Debuts MocktailsandYA LA03 Her HistoryWomenForgottenStory:of LR45 Stephen King Made Me Write This LL33 The ManModern LD09 The TellersFairy LF74 Tom StoryWordWilson:ReadEveryTellsa LF11 DrawDiplodocusNeverSirdeshpandi:RashmiTeachato LF52 ThingsStrange LF43 Lu LittlestHindley:andFraserKateTheYak LF83 Small People, Big BenjaminPlans: Dean and JacksonSharna LT06 Erika Fatland: A JourneyHimalayan LH17 Back to the 70s JustinwithWebb LDF06 GarbageSentimental LDF13 Olia Hercules: Flavours of Ukraine LDF20 An Evening of Sondheim LL15 Hortus HouseKnowGettingCurious:toYourPlants LL03 Does Your Life Need a Hobby? LF02 Lydia AdoetteMonks: LF30 Alex SuperheroMarvPaulaKoyaFalase-andBowles:the LF22 Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to GoodBeing LF45 DawnayGabby and Alex Barrow: If Had Vampirea Bat LF07 Coelho:Joseph Meet the Laureate LF49 DesignersYoungWorkshop:BAFTAGame LF58 Hannah Gold: The WhaleLost LF50 DesignersYoungWorkshop:BAFTAGame LR22 Galgut:Damon PromiseThe SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 5–6pm LF83 Small People, Big BenjaminPlans: Dean and JacksonSharna The Hive £7 Ages 8+ Whether it’s putting on a Pride parade, uncovering a mystery or creating a club to change the world, the characters in Benjamin Dean’s The Secret Sunshine Project and Sharna Jackson’s The Good Turn can do it. Find out how as our authors chat with Anna James (Pages & Co), and bring along your suggestions for a community project or club too. 3.30–4.15pm LF43 Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley: The Littlest Yak The Hive £7 Ages 3+ This will be a relaxed performance. Journey to the top of a snowy mountain to meet a herd full of huddling yaks and Gertie, the littlest yak of them all. Join award-winning picture book creators of The Littlest Yak, author Lu Fraser and illustrator Kate Hindley for a YAKtastic event. Get kids moving and shaking with yak fact games, readings and live drawings. 4–5pm LF58 Hannah Gold: The Lost Whale
Ulysses at 100
Does stress make hair go grey? Is it too late to start a skincare routine? Which products are really worth your money? panel of top industry experts offer straight-talking, reliable advice for looking after your face, skin and hair at every age. The Sunday Times Style Beauty Director Sarah Jossel is joined Consultant Dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth and celebrity make-up artist Ruby Hammer for a session where no beauty question is off-limits. the beguiling Sofonisba the Renaissance the the 2020s, Festival Hessel into the stories of female creativity that the story of with (The House of Fortune
Restaurant £25 Ticket includes brunch.
dazzling
Charlie Mackesy The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14 British artist, illustrator and author Charlie Mackesy talks to Emma Freud about the
Brigstocke The Times and Sunday Times Forum £12 It’s back! Marcus Brigstocke convenes a panel of special guests to review the week’s big news stories as told by the Sunday papers. Join Times Radio’s Matt Chorley, the author and podcaster Caroline O’Donoghue and the former Home Secretary and bestselling author Alan Johnson (One of Our Ministers is Missing) as they bash through the broadsheets and tear through the tabloids, picking out the topical, the weird and the wonderful. 12–1pm LK03 A Pittville Promenade Off-site walk. Meet at Pittville Pump Room. FREE Enjoy a leisurely stroll around Pittville Park with author Natasha Goodfellow ( A Cotswold Garden Companion). Learn all about its mysterious regency history and beautiful design, as well as its links with other gardens in the Cotswolds. Come away armed with facts on Cheltenham’s leading green space and a hunger for more garden visits. 1–3.30pm LDF09 Sunday
Meet Editorsthe Baillie Freud Meets... four unlikely friends of his beloved book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, who through their celebration of kindness and compassion have captured the hearts of millions. He introduces The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse: The Animated Story, accompanying the highly anticipated short film that will bring to life Charlie’s distinctive illustrations in full colour with hand-drawn traditional animation. This event includes live captioning.
art historian, founder @greatwomenartistsof and
12.30–1.30pm LD15
SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER 9.30–11am LDF05
art
Guest Curator Katy
Gifford Stage £12 As The Sunday Times celebrates its 200th anniversary, we join current Editor Emma Tucker and former editors John Witherow (now of The Times) and broadcaster Andrew Neil to reflect on the highs and lows of life in the hotseat of one of the most widely read Sunday newspapers. Together the trio look at the challenges and opportunities ahead and the biggest, most controversial stories of their long careers at the paper. 10–11am LA13 Emma
have shaped
The Daffodil Restaurant £35
women artists defining
Loosely based on Homer’s The Odyssey and following ordinary Dubliner Leopold Bloom on a single day in the city, James Joyce’s modernist masterpiece has been delighting, challenging – and occasionally baffling – readers for 100 years. The Booker Prize-winning novelist Anne Enright ( Actress), Ireland’s ambassador to the United States Daniel Mulhall (Ulysses: A Reader’s Odyssey) and author of The Butcher Boy and Poguemahone Patrick McCabe join Daniel Hahn to offer their expert thoughts and illuminating insights on Joyce’s landmark work.
The
by
delves
12–1pm LC04 The Times Live The Garden Theatre £12 Join columnist Danny Finkelstein and senior journalists Alice Thomson, Michael Binyon and Oliver Kamm as they debate the hot topics of the day, and the subjects of the famous leading articles for Monday’s edition of The Times 11am–12pm LA01 The Story of Art MenWithout Town Hall, Pillar Room £10 From
Ticket includes a two-course lunch and a glass of wine.
The hugely popular BBC Radio 4 Today presenter, journalist and former BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson chats with Hannah MacInnes over a delicious Sunday lunch, sharing hilarious stories from his fascinating career and giving us an insider’s view of what’s really going on in British politics.
12.15–1.15pm LC43
). 10.30–11.30am LC09
Our
The Sunday Papers with Marcus Lunch with RobinsonNick
to
3938
Town Hall,
author Jessie Burton
Anguissola of
The BrunchDirector’sBeauty Daffodil
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
Brian Klaas (Corruptible draws on interviews with presidents, philanthropists, rebels, cultists and dictators to challenge our basic assumptions about becoming a leader. Together they explore power’s intoxicating lure and how it changes people.
7–8pm LC07
The Garden Theatre £12
2.30–3.45pm LC02
5–6pm LA14
Everyday Sexism Project founder Laura Bates (Fix the System, Not the Women), founder of Everyone’s Invited Soma Sara Everyone’s Invited ) and Women’s Equality Party leader Mandu Reid examine the institutional prejudices and systemic problems we need to evolve to create positive change. The event is opened with a powerful performance from #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize-winning poet Monika Radojevic (Teeth in the Back of My Neck). Chaired by Abigail Bergstrom What a Shame).
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
With his approval ratings plunging, and Congress poised on a knife-edge, can Joe Biden save his presidency? Who could be the next President? Just weeks before the crucial November midterm elections, our panel assesses the turbulent first years of the Biden presidency and looks at the electoral prospects for the Democrat and Republican parties, with American voters more divided than ever. Joining US-based Sarah Baxter, American diarist, The Sunday Times will be colleagues, Special Correspondent Josh Glancy the former US West Coast bureau chief Ben Hoyle and the head of the Chatham House Americas programme Leslie Vinjamuri
Fix the System, Not the Women
The Pull of Power
Celebrate with… Alan Johnson Hotel du Vin £30
6–7pm LD05
4.45–5.45pm LH12
In Search AmericaBlue-Collarof
4.30–5.30pm LD02
Davina McCall seeks the truth about menopause in conversation with Dr Naomi Potter and author Christie Watson (Quilt On Fire). Why do so many women approach it with shame, fear, misinformation or silence? Find out who has the correct information and where we can get it, helping you make an informed decision about your life and your body and start plotting a positive roadmap to your second spring.
4–5pm LU03
After the upheavals of the Trump presidency and the trauma of the pandemic, connecting with workingclass or “blue collar” voters is a key priority for the Republican and Democrat parties in an increasingly divided and disillusioned America. Justin Webb talks to Professor of Global Politics at University College London Brian Klaas (Corruptible) and Leslie Vinjamuri, head of the Americas programme at Chatham House about the real concerns and motivations of this group, posing the question: is the American dream becoming more and more out of reach for working class Americans?
The Lion House takes us on an intoxicating journey through the Ottomans’ golden age, charting Suleyman the Magnificent’s rise to become the most feared and powerful man of the 16th century; a story of power at its most glittering, personal and perilous.
On the Road, Kerouac’s exuberant paean to open-mindedness, wanderlust and the thrill of the open road broke the mould of American literature and inspired a generation of young readers looking for excitement and escape. Yet the author himself died as an alcoholic recluse just 12 years after its publication and his other novels, including The Dharma Bums, Lonesome Traveller and The Subterraneans, saw more mixed success. In the centenary year of his birth, A M Homes, Geoff Dyer and Scarlett Sabet discuss his life and legacy with Daniel Hahn
AgonyWorstLiterature’sAunt
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £14
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Ticket includes fizz and nibbles.
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
Still Roadworthy?
Town Hall, Pillar Room £12
SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER
CelebratingForever:Dots Yayoi Kusama
Political scientist and creator of the awardwinning Power Corrupts podcast
Putin’s Russian Empire
The President?AJoeTimesSundayDebate:Biden:One-Term
Kerouac at 100:
Former politician, memoirist and novelist Alan Johnson (One of Our Ministers is Missing) looks back at This Boy, a moving memoir of his childhood that propelled him into the bestseller lists. We crack open the bubbly and sit down with Alan as he reflects on his writing life. Chaired by Georgina Godwin
The Garden Theatre £10
Davina McCall and Naomi Potter: Menopausing
4–5pm LC28
Journalist Christopher de Bellaigue’s
Polka
Well-known for her mirrored infinity rooms, painted pumpkins and polka dots, the nine decades of Yayoi Kusama’s life have taken her from rural Japan to the New York art scene to contemporary Tokyo, in a career that has seen her continually reinvent her style. Assistant Curator at Tate Modern Katy Wan, independent curator Mika Yoshitake* (Yayoi Kusama: Cosmic Nature) and author and arts journalist Chloe Ashby (Wet Paint) celebrate the extraordinary life and work of Japan’s most prominent contemporary artist, who has transcended the art world to become an icon of modern popular culture. Chaired by Sharna Jackson
ThompsonSteve and Hana andBrown:Walker-SportSacrifice
6.30–7.30pm LL02
Too often, we blame women. For walking home alone at night. For not demanding a seat at the table. But this distracts us from the real problem: the failings and biases of a society not built for women.
How did the crisis in Ukraine come about? Historian Orlando Figes (The Story of Russia) explores the themes and ideologies that have guided Russia’s actions throughout its history. Jade McGlynn, specialist in Russian memory and foreign policy, explores how Russians understand and engage with their history, and how their government politicises this. Recently retired Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Richard Shirreff forecast the invasion in his thriller, War With Russia. Together they explore the Russian psyche and how the West’s failure to learn from history – and take action against Russian aggression at pivotal moments during Putin’s presidency – have led to this moment. Chaired by Allan Mallinson
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
In 2003, England won the Rugby World Cup. Steve Thompson (Unforgettable) was at the heart of the match, and at the heart of the scrum. Years of sustaining hurt and injury have taken their toll and Steve has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. Hana Walker-Brown A Delicate Game investigates the truth about concussion in sports like rugby, from what attracts young men to dangerous sports, to the scientists searching for answers and the families like Steve’s living with the consequences. They are joined by presenter Max Whittle in a conversation that will change the way you think about sport.
Introduced by The Sunday Times Editor Emma Tucker This event includes live captioning.
Books can be wonderful sources of wisdom and guidance, but which bookish character would you least want steering your moral compass? Career advice from Patrick Bateman? Childcare tips from Miss Trunchbull? How to keep a cool head with Jack Torrence? How to brighten your outlook with Eeyore? After the storming success of ‘Heathcliff vs Darcy: Who’s the Bigger Sh*t?’, ‘They F*ck You Up Your Mum and Dad: Literature’s Worst Parents’ and ‘Literary Top Trumps: Who Would Do a Better Job in The White House?’, reigning champion Caroline O’Donoghue, Sebastian Faulks, and Clare Clark join Caroline Hutton in another bookish battle.
4140
£10
Parabola Arts Centre £10
participant will appear digitally.
*This
4–5pm LR74
2.30–3.30pm LH06
Kit Heyam (Before We Were Trans tells the stories of people across the globe –from Renaissance Venice to 17th century Angola, from Edo Japan to First World War internment camps – whose experience of gender has been transgressive. Writer and performer Travis Alabanza (None of the Above) reflects on their experiences as a Black, mixed race, non-binary person and explores what it means to live outside the boundaries imposed on us by society. In conversation with Abigail Bergstrom What a Shame) they celebrate gender in all its fluidity, ambiguity and complexity.
One of America’s leading writers and author of the Women’s Prize-winning May We Be Forgiven returns with her first novel in a decade. Immersed in modern American politics, The Unfolding is a darkly humorous, state-of-the-nation novel that has been described by Salman Rushdie as ‘terrifyingly close to the unfunny truth’. She talks to Clare Clark
Angela Hartnett (The Weekend Cook) knows the secrets to throwing the most relaxed and enjoyable dinners for friends and family – sometimes mad, but always magical evenings that people talk about for months afterwards. She is known for her restaurant empire – including Italianinspired Murano, her Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant – but her kitchen suppers are a far cry from the high-octane stress of a professional kitchen. She chats to Julia Leonard about how to enjoy hosting dinner parties without breaking a sweat.
7–8pm LH07
8–9pm LL19
Founded in 1953 by poet and activist Lawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights San Francisco was a key early meeting place for the Beat Generation writers of the 1950s and 60s. The publication of Allen Ginsberg’s convention-busting Howl propelled the bookshop and its publishing arm to global attention, and it’s been regarded as an epicentre of progressive thought and a key destination for literary pilgrims ever since. Publisher and CEO Elaine Katzenberger* and head book buyer Paul Yamazaki* talk to Georgina Godwin about life at the helm of one of the world’s landmark bookshops.
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Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
The Garden Theatre £12
8.30–9.30pm LC48
Town Hall, Pillar Room £12
Ticket includes a three-course dinner and a drink on arrival.
Gender: Beyond the Binary
Across the world, people of all ages are doing fascinating, creative, messy things with gender, part of a rich trans history.
In a heartwarming and honest chat, good friends Angela Scanlon (Joyrider) and Vicky Pattinson (The Secret To Happy) talk about learning from mistakes, overcoming challenges, and harnessing gratitude. Using their own experiences, they share top tips for embracing your own happiness and living life to the full. Chaired by presenter Leah Davis
The Daffodil Restaurant £55
Angela Scanlon and Pattinson’sVicky Guide to Happiness
7–9.30pm LDF21
*This
A M Homes
9–10 pm LR26
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
9–10pm LD04
Angela KitchenHartnett’sSupper
City Lights San andBooks,Francisco:BeatsBoldIdeas
participant will appear digitally. SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270
cheltenhamfestivals.com SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER 9.15–10.15pm LX05 Into ExploringDarkness:the our Dreams Nightmaresand The Hive £10 Ever since she was a child, sleep historian Alice Vernon (Night Terrors) has slept strangely. Drawing on scientific, historical and literary sources, as well as her own experiences, Vernon will explore the history of our relationship with bad dreams. Join her to understand a little more about your own sleep and how you might be able to dispel your sleep demons and monsters in the closet. 9–10pm LR66 Dear Dolly The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £30 Ticket includes a signed copy of Dear Dolly RRP £16.99 The bestselling and beloved author of Everything I Know about Love and Ghosts discusses some of her favourite Dear Dolly agony aunt letters from her column in The Sunday Times Style. Warm, witty and empathetic, Dolly Alderton talks friendships and families, break-ups and body issues. This event includes live captioning. 7–8.15pm LK02 Gloucestershire Writers’ Network Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £10 Gloucestershire Writers’ Network competition winners present their work inspired by the theme ‘Voices’. Competition judges, poet Adam Horovitz and author Kate Frost, read a selection of their work. 7.15–8.15pm LR41 The Art of Reviewing The Hive £10 As The Sunday Times marks its 200th anniversary, we take a look at its book pages through the decades. Former Literary Editor, The Sunday Times, John Walsh (Circus of Dreams: Adventures in the 1980s Literary World ) along with The Sunday Times Chief Fiction Reviewer Peter Kemp and literary Critic Johanna Thomas-Corr join The Sunday Times Literary Editor Andrew Holgate to discuss the art of book reviewing and the life of a critic, offer some dos and don’ts to budding reviewers and give a glimpse behind the reviews that have helped shape two centuries of literary discourse.
PJ TheO’Rourke:FunnyStuff
Parabola Arts Centre £10
The much-missed satirist P. J. O’Rourke was the funniest writer of his generation, and one of the most prolific. On the sixth anniversary of his last visit to Cheltenham, we celebrate his life and work, marking the publication of The Funny Stuff his most quotable material on everything from Agriculture to Xenophobia. Joining Julia Wheeler on stage is PJ fan, and The Times Literary Editor Robbie Millen, while his great friends of 40 years, publisher Morgan Entrekin* and the former Rolling Stone Editor Terry McDonell* are down the line from the US for this poignant, hilarious tribute to the great man. Introduced by the Festival’s Head of Programming Nicola Tuxworth
10–11.30am LF51 12.15–1.45pm LF55
Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 6+
12pm–1pm LF19
1–2pm LF34
£7 Ages 9+
Rosie Jones: The EdieAmazingEckhart
EVENTSFAMILY
44 45
Join Japanese manga artist and illustrator of Tsunami Girl by Julian Sedgwick, Chie Kutsuwada, for an interactive drawing workshop. Learn about the history of manga and why it’s so unique, before you have a go at creating your own manga-inspired character in a step-by-step session with Chie.
LF09
Queer Up: Love, Life MentalandHealth
Award winning-podcaster Alexis Caught, (Queer Up: An Uplifting Guide to LGBTQ+ Love, Life and Mental Health), actress and activist Charlie Craggs and Clinical Director Sarah Kendrick from mental health charity Shout, join us for an open, helpful and heart-warming conversation for young people who are queer or questioning, and their allies. Sex educator and TikToker Milly
Beano Show
SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270
Parabola Arts Centre
cheltenhamfestivals.com SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER 11.30am–12.30pm LF28 Game WordsPlayingOn:with The Hive £7 Ages 9+
Video game writer and children’s author Sharna Jackson (The Good Turn) chats with gaming authors Jennifer Bell (Legendarium), Taran Matharu (Contender/ Summoner) and Matt Plampin (Swift and Hawk) about their love of video games and how their passion has influenced their storytelling, from world building and plot to characters. Bring your gaming and writing questions along to ask the panel.
The Hive £7 Ages 3+
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £10
Emma Carroll and StrikesMatchChild:LaurenTheLittleGirlBack
Ages 14+
Ages 12+
Comedian Rosie Jones introduces The Amazing Edie Eckhart, a sparky character navigating the perils of starting secondary school. Edie has cerebral palsy and is thrown straight into school life as she auditions for the lead role in the school play. Rosie talks to Jenny Pearson (Grandpa Frank’s Great Big Bucket List) about her inspiration behind Edie’s uplifting and unique story and encourages children to write their own stories from their experiences.
‘Queen of Historical Fiction’ Emma Carroll and writer and artist Lauren Child join forces for their first collaboration, The Little Match Girl Strikes Back – a powerful feminist retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale inspired by a Victorian match factory strike. Together the awardwinning duo have reimagined the unnamed Match Girl into someone with her own name, talents, hopes and dreams. Find out how and see the sketches and ideas influenced by real Victorian photographs as they talk with author Anna James (Pages & Co).
KutsuwadawithWorkshopMangaChie
The Garden Theatre
Town Hall, Pillar Room £7
Calling all mischief makers – get ready for big LOLZ in this interactive show hosted by Beano editors Mike Stirling and Craig Graham, creators of Beano’s brand-new book, Dennis & Gnasher: Attack of the Evil Veg. Create your own personal Manual of Mischief, along with hilarious tips from Dennis, Gnasher, Minnie and friends. Let the mayhem commence!
Join Pantomime dame Mama G as they share magical stories about everyone’s favourite elephant, Elmer. From Elmer the Patchwork Elephant to Elmer and the Gift by David McKee celebrate the power of being yourself and expect a special appearance from Elmer too.
10–11am LF84
2–3pm LF79
LF73 Aardman:
War Horse: The MorpurgowithConcertMichael
£7 Ages
The Garden Theatre
bright and fierce,
The
£7 Ages 3+
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel
Step aboard The Dream Train for an imaginative journey into dreamland with picture book author and poet Sean Taylor as he performs bedtime poetry from the funny to the gentle, from the surprising to the lyrical, perfect for sharing while tucked up in bed. Join in with the rhythm and rhymes and craft activity.
2.45–3.30pm
1.15–2.15pm Robin Robin Hive 6+
£7 Ages 10+
When a young robin raised by a family of burglar mice meets a materialistic magpie, they set off on an adventure to steal a wish-granting Chrimcross Star to make their dreams come true. Go behind the scenes of the Oscar®-nominated Netflix film Robin Robin with creators Dan Ojari and Mikey Please Discover how the story came to life, from the initial idea to its creation at the world-famous animation studio, Aardman.
SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270
2–3pm LF14
Parabola Arts Centre
In this extra-special concert, join us to celebrate 40 years of the beloved novel War Horse by author Michael Morpurgo Set in 1914, the book follows the story of a young farm horse taken from the fields of Devon to the Western Front and the people he encounters along the way. Michael Morpurgo retells an abridged version of War Horse accompanied with music and songs from the National Theatre production, performed by actor, folk musician and singer, Ben Murray
Greg Jenner: You HistoryAre
LF72
Thought history was only in museums? Think again. Discover some delightful, daft and downright deadly facts with historian and podcaster Greg Jenner (You Are History) as he shares the fascinating history behind things you use every day, from your alarm clock to your loo.
else can see Albie’s dragons. Or can they? Join award-winning Welsh author Caryl Lewis and meet fire dragons, word dragons, water dragons and more, plus use your imagination to create your own. 3–4pm LF60 FictionFantastic Town Hall, Pillar Room £7 Ages 9+ Unicorns, faeries and superheroes assemble. Three sensational storytellers Peter Bunzl (Magicborn/Cogheart), Tolá Okogwu (Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun) and A F Steadman (Skandar and the Unicorn Thief) talk with author Anna James (Pages & Co) about their action-packed fantasy novels,
This will be a relaxed performance.
3–3.45pm LF39 Caryl Lewis: The Boy DragonsDreamedWho The Hive £7 Ages 5+ Albie dreams about dragons,
£7 Ages 7+
Dive into a futuristic, time-travelling adventure with the ‘Queen of Historical Fiction’ Emma Carroll, award-winning author behind Letters from the Lighthouse and Secrets of a Sun King Explore a future world affected by global warming and discover what happens when Truthwater Lake begins to dry up, water levels drop, and a lost village eerily emerges. Pick up some tips on writing your own stories along the way. some jewelsome softly-scaled no one world building and how their books might be transformed from page to screen.
Sean Taylor: The TrainDream
and whispery. But the only trouble is that
46 47
cheltenhamfestivals.com SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER 4.30–5.30pm LF10 Emma Carroll: The Tale LakeTruthwaterof The Hive £7 Ages 9+
TheCézanne:Father of Modern Art Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
‘Without translation, we would be living in provinces bordering on silence’ George TranslationSteiner.isvital to bringing a world of literature to our bookshelves, but what goes on behind the scenes? In Catching Fire, acclaimed Portuguese, Spanish and French translator Daniel Hahn documents the translation process in real time, capturing both the pleasure and problems of moving a work between languages. He’s joined by fellow translator Frank Wynne (Found in Translation), fresh from judging 137 books in translation for The International Booker Prize – the first time a translator has chaired the jury. They share insights with Clare Clark
The Garden Theatre £10
DivideLinesBorders:WithoutConversationsTheThatUs
Bonnie Garmus burst onto the literary scene earlier this year with her sparky, resolutely feminist story of thinkingandElizabethuncompromisingtheZott,chemistTVchefandherdog,Six-Thirty.
on
1.15–2.15pm LE34
She talks to the broadcaster Sophie Raworth about her quirky and hugely entertaining bestseller.
11.30am–12.30pm LA04
How We Work: Time for a Change Thomas Corr abandoning 9-5 level the a way that boosts both wellbeing and hold to what have gained in a pandemic which has personally and professionally cost us so much? 12–1pm LR36
we
cheltenhamfestivals.com MONDAY 10 OCTOBER 4948
One of the nation’s favourite chefs Jamie Oliver joins broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover in a candid and chatty exchange for a recording of their Radio 4 podcast Fortunately. Oliver talks about his passion for food and his latest book One: Simple One-Pan Wonders which sees him going back to basics with tasty budget-conscious one-pan recipes. This event includes live captioning.
inRead:TimesSundayMustLessonsChemistry
10–11am
of The Sunday Times. By
Town
SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 DAY PLANNER 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The Hive The ParabolaDaffodilArts Centre Hotel du Vin Regency Suite, Queens Hotel Offsite Walk Adult Familyeventsevents LA13 Emma MackesyCharlieMeets...Freud LF84 Rosie Jones: The Amazing Edie Eckhart LC09 Meet Editorsthe LD15 atUlysses100 LF34 Queer Up: Love, Life and HealthMental LF62 Mama G: Elmer StorytellingQueenDrag LF28 Game WordsPlayingOn:with LDF05 The Director’sBeautyBrunch LDF09 Sunday Lunch with Nick Robinson LF09 Emma Carroll and StrikesLittleChild:LaurenTheMatchgirlBack LF51 Manga Workshop with Chie Kutsuwada LC28 Fix System,the Not the Women LA01 The Story of Art MenWithout LC43 The BrigstockeMarcusPapersSundaywith LC04 The Times Live LF73 RobinAardman:Robin LF19 Beano Show LF14 War Horse: The MorpurgowithConcertMichael LK03 A PromenadePittville LR74 Alanwith...CelebrateJohnson LF55 Manga Workshop with Chie Kutsuwada LF72 Sean Taylor: The TrainDream LF79 Greg Jenner: You HistoryAre LH06 The Pull of Power LF60 FictionFantastic LF39 Lewis:Caryl The Boy DragonsDreamedWho LH12 EmpireRussianPutin’s LU03 ThompsonSteve & Hana andBrown:Walker-SportSacrifice LD02 AuntWorstLiterature’sAgony LA14 Polka KusamaYayoiCelebratingForever:Dots LF10 TheCarroll:EmmaTale LakeTruthwaterof LD05 Kerouac at 100: Roadworthy?Still LC07 In Search AmericaBlue-Collarof LL02 McCallDavina and Naomi MenopausingPotter: LH07 BinaryBeyondGender:the LR41 The Art Reviewingof LX05 Into ExploringDarkness:The our Dreams Nightmaresand LDF21 Angela Hartnett’s Kitchen Supper LK02 Writers’GloucestershireNetwork LL19 Angela Scanlon and HappinessGuidePattinson’sVickyto LR66 Dear Dolly LC48 PJ StuffTheO’Rourke:Funny LD04 City Lights San andBooks,Francisco:BeatsBoldIdeas LR26 A M Homes LC02 The President?AJoeTimesSundayDebate:Biden:One-Term 8.30–10am LDF04
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Jamie Oliver
Catching Fire: The Art Translationof
productivity. Can we
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
1.30–2.30pm LC12
From Monet and Matisse to Mondrian and Auerbach, for more than a century Paul Cézanne has held his admirers spellbound. Timothy J. Clark (If These Apples Should Fall) talks to Gavin Plumley ( A Home for All Seasons) about Cézanne’s life and work, reflecting on his enduring legacy as one of the most influential artists in the history of modern painting. LR38
for good, they argue, we can
These days, it’s pretty amazing for a 64-year-old woman to get her first novel published at all, let alone in 35 countries.
playing field and help to create true inclusivity across our society, working in
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £16
The Daffodil Restaurant £25 Ticket includes a continental breakfast. Presenting their inspiring manifesto for fundamental change in the way we work, Helen Beedham (The Future of Time) and Lizzie Penny (Workstyle) join Johanna
The
Can we let go of the lines that divide us? Factors like nationalism have caused these lines to be drawn harder, yet data suggests that the climate crisis will force us to rethink where and how we live, triggering a mass migration event that will reshape the planet’s human geography over the next century. Our Conversations Without Borders series brings the world’s most important issues to the forefront. This year, we examine the very borders that separate our planet. James Crawford (The Edge of the Plain) and Gaia Vince (The Nomad Century) follow the story of borders into our fragile and uncertain future. Chaired by Julia Wheeler
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £16
The Hive £10
Writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg recalls in post-war Cumbria, a vanished world steeped in the old the cusp of From his communityspirited hometown of Wigton to the glories of the Lake District, he celebrates the place that
ways yet on
£12
The Daffodil Restaurant £25 Ticket includes afternoon tea with finger sandwiches and cakes. The BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live presenter, former pop star, legendary Strictly contestant and Britain’s favourite vicar, until his recent retirement, introduces Murder Before Evensong, the first novel in his Canon Clement Mystery series. Over a delicious afternoon tea, Richard chats to Tim Hubbard about his twisty whodunnit, and about moving on to
4–5pm LC31
Can SaveEconomicsthePlanet?
formed him in conversation with his daughter, Marie-Elsa Bragg (Sleeping Letters) 3.30–5pm LDF16
The PartyBooksPhoenixProof
The Garden Theatre
James Joyce’s Ulysses is regularly cited by writers and readers as a life-changing novel, and frequently tops lists of the best-ever books. In the centenary year of Joyce’s landmark work, The Sunday Times have tasked writers and critics with selecting the 50 best novels to appear since. Clear your reading list and join Booker Prize-winning novelist Anne Enright, literary critic Johanna Thomas-Corr and acclaimed author Diana Evans with Chief Fiction reviewer Peter Kemp for the ultimate autumn reading recommendation session.
2–3pm LQ12
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Richard Coles: Murder EvensongBefore the next chapter in his life.
The Long Search for Home: Writing the Refugee Experience
The Hive £10
Brilliantly original, Sally Bayley’s memoirs Girl with Dove and No Boys Play Here tell of her escape from a chaotic, deprived childhood into a world of books.
The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy
Star of the BBC show The Repair Shop Jay Blades looks back on his difficult childhood and adolescence which he details in his book Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped me Repair My Life. He talks about the struggles he endured, the enduring popularity of The Repair Shop and how he believes anything can be mended, including people. This event includes live captioning.
At its height, the Ottoman Empire spread from Yemen to the gates of Vienna. 100 years after its dissolution, Middle East cultural expert Diana Darke unravels its complex legacy, from its architecture and scientific innovations to its literary and musical traditions. She brings five centuries of Ottoman culture to life through manuscripts, miniatures, paintings and photographs.
4–5pm LR57
Eight years after her million-selling debut novel The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton returns to the golden city of Amsterdam with a beguiling sequel full of pitch-perfect historical detail, and a tender portrayal of female friendship at its heart. She joins us in conversation with Sam Baker
growing up
people and
change.
Phoenix is a new literary imprint for stories that make their mark, publishing fiction and memoir that combine brilliant writing with a broad appeal. Join publisher Francesca Main for a sneak preview of three 2023 novels: bestselling Longbourn author Jo Baker’s The Midnight News, a mystery and love story set at The Blitz’s height; Russell Franklin’s The Broken Places, a portrait of Hemingway’s favourite child who was born a boy and died a woman, and Margaret Meyer’s 1645 East Anglia-set The Witching Tide which tells the story of a mute midwife harbouring a secret and a witch-hunt that tears a community apart.
Jay Blades
Melvyn Bragg: Back in the Day
2–3pm LR71
evoking
The Baillie Gifford Prize rewards excellence in non-fiction writing, bringing world-class books across the fields of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts to readers. In this special event, Chair of Judges Caroline Sanderson, judge Samanth Subramanian and The Sunday Times Literary Editor and 2021 Chair of Judges Andrew Holgate join Prize Director Toby Mundy to discuss their year in non-fiction reading, share insights from the judging process, and exclusively announce the books shortlisted for the 2022 prize.
6.30–7.30pm LH13
Ticket includes refreshments and a goody bag of limited edition proofs.
LM02
2–3pm LR40
3.30–4.30pm LE09
4–5pm LM06
The Garden Theatre £10
Is the key to tackling the climate crisis a greener approach to economics? Economists are modelling strategies that will enable both our planet and our global economies to thrive, while business leaders are transforming their sectors to put sustainability at their core. As individuals, choosing to go green on our pension investments could have a far greater impact than giving up flying or becoming vegan. Doughnut Economics Action Lab’s Erinch Sahan, Financial Times editor-atlarge and author Gillian Tett (Anthro Vision) and financial markets and sustainability specialist Siobhan Cleary explore the power of economics when it comes to saving the planet on an individual, local and global scale. Chaired by Oliver Balch
The Garden Theatre £10
The Best Stories are True: The Year in Non-Fiction
50 51
6–7pm LC22
The Times and Sunday Times Forum £14
People have always been seduced by radical beliefs, but what is it that makes an extremist? Bexy Cameron (Cult Following) was born into the Children of God, one of the world’s most notorious cults. She escaped aged 15, leaving behind her parents and 11 siblings. In Far Out Charlotte McDonald-Gibson sets out to understand what drives people to the very fringes of society – and what can pull them back again. Together, they delve into the world of extremism and redemption.
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Set on the wild Welsh coast, the English-language debut from two-time Wales Book of the Year winner Caryl Lewis Drift is a tender and unusual love story between an incarcerated Syrian mapmaker and an isolated Welsh woman thrown together by a violent storm. Dutch author of Iraqi descent Rodaan Al Galidi’s novel The Leash and the Ball draws on the author’s own experience of nine years in an asylum centre in the Netherlands. Together they talk to Literary Explorer in Residence Ann Morgan about their powerful language-spanning novels that explore the meaning and search for home. Part of New Dutch Writing supported by:
On the withEncountersFringes:Extremists
MONDAY 10 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com MONDAY 10 OCTOBER 3.30–4.30pm LR56 The 50 Best Novels UlyssesSince
The Books That Brought Me Up
Mark Hodkinson (No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy) recalls a working-class childhood in Rochdale during the 1970s and 80s, growing up in a family that didn’t see the point of reading. Kit de Waal (Without Warning & Only Sometimes) came to reading later in life; the only book in her childhood home was the Bible. They chat to Lyndsey Fineran about discovering books, the power of the literary imagination and the transformative impact of reading.
Jessie Burton: The House of Fortune
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
2–3pm
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £14
LDF22
From the Front Line
LX06 The Future 12(pleaseRevisitedProfessionsofseeWedOctfordetails) 52 53
8.30–9.45pm
8.30–9.30pm LR54
7.30–10pm
6.30–7.30pm LH09
From homegrown supper club to global phenomenon, Asma Khan and her all-female kitchen team at Darjeeling Express thrill diners with dishes that honour her Mughlai ancestry. Asma joins us to chat about her new book Ammu, a tribute to her mother’s simple home cooking from her kitchen in Calcutta and an exploration of the inextricable link between food and love. Join Asma for a delicious supper with Indian food sure to nourish your soul.
Known for her award-winning television writing including Gavin and Stacey and Stella, Ruth Jones has gone on to receive similar acclaim for her fiction, with both of her novels becoming Sunday Times bestsellers. Her new novel, Love Untold is a joy-filled, life-affirming novel about the complex bond between mothers and daughters. She talks to Julia Wheeler about her lauded writing career across page and screen.
Supper Club with KhanAsma
Ruth Jones
In June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor to prepare it for handing back to China. Over the next five years he kept a diary, recording his insights into negotiating with the Chinese government and how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were (belatedly) strengthened. Hong Kong democratic activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Nathan Law (Freedom) has experienced first-hand the shocking speed with which our freedom can be taken away from us. In conversation with Peter Frankopan they analyse what has happened in Hong Kong since the handover and reflect on managing and maintaining our relationship with China.
As the characters of Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses get up and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man killed or left for dead. Written with the pace of a thriller and the heart of a love story, it’s been described by Nick Hornby as ‘beautiful, devastating.’ In Jan Carson’s The Raptures when several children from the same village start succumbing to a mysterious illness, the quest to discover why has devastating and extraordinary consequences. They talk to Sunday Times Assistant Books Editor Laura Hackett about their powerful books.
LK04
The Hong Kong Diaries
Stroud
The Hive £10
8–9.15pm LC33
MONDAY 10 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270
Celebrate writing by new and established authors from throughout Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire. Based on Stroud Short Stories’ new anthology covering its events from the last four years, organiser/ editor John Holland has selected his favourite seven stories to be performed for you by their authors. Expect the funky, the funny and, of course, the unexpected.
The Daffodil Restaurant £55
Since war broke out in Ukraine, The Sunday Times chief foreign correspondent, Christina Lamb (The Prince Rupert Hotel for the Homeless), Louise Callaghan, middle east correspondent, The Sunday Times and Catherine Philp diplomatic correspondent, The Times worked tirelessly on the ground, bearing witness to the suffering of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. They share an insight into the vital role of front-line journalism in recording the human stories behind the conflict, giving voice to the voiceless and bringing clarity to the abundance of information available online.
Ticket includes a three-course dinner and a drink on arrival.
cheltenhamfestivals.com MONDAY 10 OCTOBER DAY PLANNER 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The Hive The RegencyDaffodilSuite, Queens Hotel LE34 OliverJamie LR38 The ChemistryLessonsMustTimesSundayRead:In LDF04 How We Work: Time for a Change LE09 Jay Blades LM02 inBragg:MelvynBacktheDay LC31 Planet?SaveEconomicsCanthe LA04 TheCézanne:Father of Modern Art LR36 TranslationArtFire:CatchingTheof LM06 The MeThatBooksBroughtUp LQ12 On ExtremistswithEncountersFringes:the LC12 DivideLinesBorders:WithoutConversationsTheThatUs LR40 The ExperiencetheHome:SearchLongforWritingRefugee LR71 The PartyBooksPhoenixProof LR56 The 50 Best Novels UlyssesSince LR57 Burton:Jessie The House Fortuneof LDF16 Richard Coles: Murder EvensongBefore LH13 LegacyAOttomans:TheCultural LH09 The DiariesKongHong LC22 The FictionYearTrue:StoriesBestareTheinNonLC33 From the Front Line LR54 JonesRuth LR17 IrelandNorthernFictionTimes:Troubledfrom LK04 Stroud HitsGreatestStories:Short LDF22 Supper Club with Asma Khan 8–9pm LR17 Troubled Times: Fiction NorthernfromIreland Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
GreatestStories:ShortHits
Chaired by Manveen Rana
Chaired by Julia Leonard
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Ukraine Day
Peter Hennessy* sets out a compelling case for ‘a new Beveridge’ to build a consensus for post-Covid Britain. Joined in this fascinating discussion by his friend James Naughtie, he explores the ‘duty of care’ the state owes to its citizens and what it has meant in Britain historically. As well as looking back to the groundbreaking post-war Beveridge Report, which laid the foundations for the modern welfare state and promised to tackle “want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness”.
War has come to the idyllic town of Rondo. Can three gentle but brave friends stop War’s destruction and save their beloved home? Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv, a husband-and-wife creative duo from Ukraine, created How War Changed Rondo as a tribute to peace, resistance and hope. Join them for a storytelling session followed by an art workshop where you’ll help create a canvas inspired by themes from the book. of Love and Hate
Guest Curator Clarisse Loughrey is joined by Ukrainian filmmaker Natalia Vorozhbit for an introductory conversation ahead of the first UK screening of the producer’s cut of her award-winning film Bad Roads (2020). Set along the roads of Donbas, the film portrays diverse human responses that empower survival through the chaos of war. In this world, where tomorrow may never come, not everyone is defenceless and miserable - and even the most innocent victims may have their turn at taking charge. as well as tastily.
£10
£7 Family event. Ages 6+.
£12
When war arrives in your city, destroying your home, scattering your loved ones, and drafting your relatives and friends to fight, what do you do? Poet Lyuba Yakimchuk ( Apricots of Donbas) remained in Kyiv through some of the darkest days of the war, then travelled to different countries to speak up for Ukraine to the media, at literary festivals and on writer’s residencies.
£10
Peter Hennessy and NaughtieJames
The
Oksana Zabuzhko: My Longest Book Tour
Western democracies have faced a decade of political shocks and crises that have blown apart the fault lines in long-established economic and political alliances, from NATO to the European Union. Is the idea of The West as an ideal – a strategically and economically invincible force defending liberal, democratic values – still useful in geo-politics today? And which new allegiances and spheres of influence are being created across the global South? Robin Niblett is joined by Peter Frankopan (The Silk Roads), Helen Thompson (Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century) and Oxford Professor of Indian History Faisal Devji for this wide-ranging discussion. This event includes live captioning.
Thomasina Miers, founder of Wahaca, showcases the dazzling biodiversity within Mexican cooking in Meat-Free Mexican, full of tempting, colourful and joyful recipes inspired by the country’s bounty of ingredients. Over a delicious lunch inspired by the book, she talks to Julia Leonard about her experience of Mexico’s different landscapes, cultures and peoples, and how her passion for the country and its produce informs her thrillingly modern representation of Mexican food in the UK.
Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv: Create a Canvas
When War Comes to Your Home
In the early hours of 24th February 2022, prize-winning Ukrainian novelist Oksana Zabuzhko was on book tour in Poland when she was woken by the news that Russian missiles had struck her home city of Kyiv. In an instant she became an involuntary exile, unable to return home and spent the ensuing months travelling Europe to give powerful interviews on what the West has failed to understand about the Russian-Ukrainian war. In conversation with Rosie Goldsmith she offers unprecedented insights into a moment which may define the future of Europe.
7–8pm LP25 Songs
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
4.15–5.15pm
Beats that bite, rhymes that kill, poetry and music united as a weapon; Russia’s war in Ukraine has changed the lives of every Ukrainian, with many of its musicians and poets using their words and music to fight misinformation and rail against the treatment of their country. Ukrainian poets Grigory Semenchuk and Lyuba Yakimchuk join forces with a Berlin-based musician and producer Yuriy Gurzhy to create and showcase a brutal soundtrack of this year.
TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER 8.30–10am LDF01 Breakfast with The Times: In Search of the Brexit Bounce The Daffodil Restaurant £25 Ticket includes a continental breakfast. The Times columnist Iain Martin The Sunday Times Economics Editor David Smith and Business Correspondent Sabah Meddings look ahead at the prospects for post-Brexit Britain and the changes our new status has brought or will bring. As we deal with soaring inflation, poor productivity, and with many sectors of the economy struggling to emerge from the ravages of the pandemic, are the politicians delivering on their bold promises to control our borders, level up, expand business opportunities and much more besides? 12–1pm LB09 A History of the World ScriptsMysteriousin Town Hall, Pillar Room £10 A code-cracking tour of the globe from the solving of the Rosetta Stone 200 years ago, and beyond. In this exhilarating celebration of human ingenuity and perseverance Silvia Ferrara, a trailblazing Italian scholar, sifts through our cultural and social behaviour in search of the origins of our greatest invention: writing. Chaired by Daniel Hahn 1.30–2.30pm LL22 Hugh WhittingstallFearnleyTown Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £14 In Good Comfort Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall leads us on a journey to tweak our tastebuds and pamper our palates so that we can take as much pleasure - and ultimately more - from dishes that we know will do us good, redefining the way we look at comfort food. He joins Julia Wheeler to chat about his favourite heart-warming comfort dishes and how we can eat more sustainably
London-based historian and writer Olesya Khromeychuk whose brother was killed in Donbas, tells her powerful story in her book The Death of a Soldier Told By His Sister, and uses her role as the Director of the Ukrainian Institute London to explain Ukraine to audiences in the UK and beyond. They will be in conversation with Georgina Godwin
11am–12pm LC10
£10
Is the Age of the West Over? Times and The Sunday Times Forum
The Daffodil Restaurant £35
11.30am–12.30pm LC38
LF56
8.30–11pm LJ01 Ukraine on Screen Everyman Theatre, Studio Theatre £10
12–2pm LDF12
LC42
The 12–1pmHive
FlavoursSeasonal of Mexico
Ticket includes a two-course lunch and a glass of wine.
In this dark chapter for Europe, we are proud to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and host a series of events co-curated with The International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv as part of the British Council’s UK/Ukraine Season of Culture.
2–3pm LR65
cheltenhamfestivals.com TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER *This participant will appear digitally. 5554
4–5pm LR07
LE15
Anton du Beke
2–3pm LR30
Old Rage
4–5pm LR23 Alexander McCall Smith
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
8–10pm LP24 James
2.30–3.30pm
56 57
Is TheThisReal Life…?
secrets and
7.30–8.30pm
Expect some
8–9pm
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Sheila Hancock:
Inside the House of Windsor
Town Hall, Pillar Room £12
The Reads:TimesSundayMustVladimir
TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER
6–7pm LR53
Picking up where The Diana Chronicles left off, The Palace Papers reveals how the royal family reinvented itself after the traumatic years when Diana’s blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet. Tina Brown takes us on a journey showing the Queen’s stoic resolve as she coped with the passing of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother and Prince Philip, and triumphed in her Jubilee years even as the family dramas raged around her. Over afternoon tea, Tina talks to Royal Editor at The Sunday Times, Roya Nikkhah
The Faber Proof Party
The Times and Sunday Times Forum £14
Ticket includes afternoon tea with finger sandwiches and cakes.
3.30–4.30pm
6–7pm LQ07
Why is it some of the most successful adults have been people with the hardest beginnings in life? Is there something to learn from those people, who perhaps have the strongest sense of what matters most? For their acclaimed podcast Past Imperfect, The Times’ columnists Alice Thomson and Rachel Sylvester (What I Wish I’d Known When I Was Young spoke to prime ministers and pioneers, sports stars and Nobel prize-winning scientists, and everyone in between. They share the intimate and fascinating stories that might help us all towards a better understanding of resilience, motivation, perspective and courage. Chaired by Sam Baker
Hubbard
Trespass are left reeling when the partner and father they thought they knew is discovered to be leading a double life. Alice Sherwood’s non-fiction work Authenticity: Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture uncovers fascinating stories of individual imposters, forgers and counterfeiters, as well as entire companies and systems who aren’t what they claim to be. With Julia Wheeler they discuss the thin line between reality and fakery.
Sheila Hancock is one of Britain’s best loved actors. She talks to Sam Baker about why, at 89, having sailed past supposedly disturbing milestones – 50, 70 and even 80 – did she suddenly feel so furious? Shocking diagnoses, Brexit and bereavement seemed to knock her from every quarter. And that was before lockdown. Funny, feisty and honest, she talks about her life as a daughter, a sister, a mother, a widow, an actor and a friend. This event includes live captioning. Walton’s Big Book Quiz
If your past is all a lie, then who are you? Inspired by true accounts of the twisted world of andoperations,undercoverthemotherdaughterof Clare Clark ’s suspensepsychologicalnovel
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
in
The writer and host of BBC Radio 4’s books quiz The Write Stuff and author of The Penguin Books Quiz presents a quiz created exclusively for the Festival. With questions on anything from Dan Brown to Graham Greene, Normal People to Animal Farm, Mr Darcy to Mrs Dalloway, Gangsta Granny to Uncle Vanya, come and pit your literary wits against each other in a fun night of bookish brainteasers, suitable for light and heavy readers alike.
With Bumble, Tinder and Hinge at our fingertips, our modern world promises a new sexual freedom. But too often misinformation and stigma stop us from enjoying it. Why shouldn’t women seek out their own pleasure or have sex for fun? Why are women slut-shamed and men applauded for having multiple partners? Sex educator and TikToker Sophia Smith Galer (Losing It), Sex Guru Oloni (The Big O) and academic Katherine Angel (Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again) join Olivia Petter (Millenial Love) to challenge the status quo and empower people to rewrite their sex lives.Norton
,
Strictly Come Dancing star and entertainer
Again: Love and Dating in the 21st Century
From the publishers of Kazuo Ishiguro, Sally Rooney, T. S. Eliot and Sylvia Plath, Faber is proud to introduce three fiction writers for 2023: Charlotte Vassell ’s The Other Half is a gripping police procedural with all the energy and wit of Knives Out; Dizz Tate’s Brutes follows a gang of thirteenyear-old girls as they discover a dark secret about their Florida town after a friend’s disappearance; and Claire McGlasson’s The Misadventures of Margaret Finch is a historical adventure set in 1930s Blackpool. Chaired by Sarah Shaffi
Life Lessons for Our Younger Selves
LE03
Ticket includes refreshments and a goody bag of limited edition proofs.
The Daffodil Restaurant £25
The Garden Theatre £10
From the decimated communities of Chernobyl and uninhabited Scottish islands to the ghostly industrial neighbourhoods of Detroit, Islands of Abandonment is The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year winner Cal Flyn’s journey through the globe’s most extraordinary abandoned places. She talks to Georgina Godwin about her powerful examination of how nature fights back when humans are gone. ‘Haunting….beautiful, evocative’ The Sunday Times
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
The Garden Theatre £10
She is the most looked-at woman in the world. Author Natasha Solomons (I, Mona Lisa) and art historian and renowned Leonardo da Vinci expert Martin Kemp (Living with Leonardo) trace Mona Lisa’s history over her 500-year existence: from the dazzling Florentine studios to the French courts at Fontainebleau and Versailles, to the heart of the Louvre, where she has encountered the gaze of Picasso amongst many others. Together, they reveal the story behind the painting that changed the course of art history. Chaired by Rosie Goldsmith
Anton du Beke shares his latest novel We’ll Meet Again the fourth in his series set at The Buckingham Hotel in the 1930s. Strictly behindthe-scenes from Anton conversation with Tim
4–5.30pm LDF17
6.15–7.15pm LR19 Graham
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £14
intel
At 73, and with over 100 books to his name, the hugely popular author Alexander McCall Smith shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. This year sees the return of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency in A Song of Comfortable Chairs, a new title in the Isabel Dalhousie series and a short story collection. Suffused with kindness and warmth, his books are perfect for reading in troubled times. We welcome him back to Cheltenham as he talks to Tim Hubbard
Mona Lisa: Behind the Smile
Tables can seat teams of up to 4 people. The bar will be open with prizes awarded to the winners.
‘How on earth will Julia May Jonas better this?’ asked The Sunday Times in their review of Jonas’ provocative debut novel, Vladimir. Jonas joins Clare Clark to discuss her propulsive debut book that explores power, desire and the personal and political minefield of our time.
Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good
LL08
LA15
The Reads:TimesSundayMustIslands of Abandonment
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £16
The Times and Sunday Times Forum £32 Ticket includes a signed copy of Forever Home, RRP £20 Author, TV personality and entertainer Graham Norton talks to Times Radio presenter Mariella Frostrup and explores the inspiration behind his wickedly funny new novel Forever Home, set in his native Ireland. This event is being recorded by Times Radio. This event includes live captioning. 4–5pm LT07
The Garden Theatre £10
In a continent spanning more than 40 nations and a multitude of languages, histories, cultures, which novels – from the classic to contemporary – offer us a clear sense of European identity or outlook? Acclaimed Dutch author of Grand Hotel Europa Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer is joined by academic Alan Bilton to discuss. Chaired by Georgina Godwin
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
OurWhoTheNomads:WanderersShapedWorld
The idea of ‘The Great American Novel’ is widely known, but does such a thing as ‘The Great European Novel’ exist?
DownWriteWorkshop:ItAll
Why do we want to write and what stops us? How do we identify and overcome everything that gets in our way so we can get started?
Part of New Dutch Writing supported by:
The Hague’s Mauritshuis Museum is home to one of the world’s greatest art collections, from Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring to Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson. Since opening its doors 200 years ago it has inspired countless visitors, including writers from Marcel Proust to Donna Tartt. To mark the Mauritshuis’ bicentenary year, we bring together writer and performer Christine Otten writer Tessa Leuwsha and Director of The Mauritshuis Martine Gosselink, contributors to Pen Meets Paint – an anthology of new writing that responds to paintings in the museum – to explore the history of the museum, the complexities of the Netherlands’ colonial past, and to celebrate the magnificent works.
Cutting through the noise and drama from Westminster, Matt Chorley Times Radio presenter and columnist, The Times, brings his mid-morning show live to Cheltenham. He is joined by Lucy Fisher Times Radio’s chief political commentator, and Patrick Maguire, Times Red Box Editor, to lift the lid on who is up, who is down, who is out, and what the next year might hold. Expect witty analysis, intriguing insights, and Matt will round things off by playing his hugely popular quiz, Can You Get To No10? This event includes live captioning.
Chaired by Rosie Goldsmith
Wandering people built the first great stone monuments, tamed the horse and fashioned the composite bow. Lovers of poetry, storytelling and the natural world, multicultural and tolerant of other religions, they brought a glorious cultural flourishing to Eurasia. Journalist Anthony Sattin talks to Nicholas Crane about the nomadic cultures that have shaped modern civilisation and the shifting relations between nomadic and settled people.
12–1pm LD19
11.45am–12.45pm LH05
Victoria’s Restaurant, Queens Hotel £30
TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER DAY PLANNER 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The Hive The RegencyDaffodilSuite, Queens Hotel Everyman Theatre, Studio Theatre Adult Familyeventsevents LDF01 Breakfast with The Times: In Search of the Brexit Bounce LC10 Is the Age of the West Over? LC38 NaughtieandHennessyPeterJames LB09 A History of the World ScriptsMysteriousin LC42 BookMyZabuzhko:OksanaLongestTour LDF12 Seasonal Flavours of Mexico LL22 WhittingstallFearnley-Hugh LR30 Is This The Real Life…? LR65 When YourComesWartoHome LE03 OldHancock:SheilaRage LT07 The AbandonmentIslandsReads:TimesSundayMustof LA15 Mona SmileBehindLisa:the LR23 SmithMcCallAlexander LF56 aLesiv:andRomanyshynRomanaAndriyCreateCanvas LDF17 Inside the House of Windsor LR07 The ProofFaberParty LJ01 Ukraine on screen LR19 NortonGraham LQ07 Life Lessons for SelvesYoungerOur LR53 The VladimirReads:TimesSundayMust LP25 Songs of Love and Hate LL08 Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again: Love and Dating in the 21st Century LE15 Anton du Beke LP24 James Walton’s Big Book Quiz 5958
The
The EuropeanGreat Novel Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Politics Without the ChorleyBitsBoringwithMatt
The
The Garden Theatre £10
Armchair travel has come into its own in recent years and more than ever we have relied on the written word to bring destinations alive. Claire Irvin, head of travel at The Times and The Sunday Times is joined by chief travel writer Chris Haslam, senior content editor Cathy Adams and the Festival’s Literary Explorer in Residence Ann Morgan to talk about their favourite travel books and features, and about their personal experiences of making destinations sing from the page. LA08 DutchTreasuresMauritshuis:oftheGoldenAge
12–1pm LW07
11.30am–12.30pm LC41
Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink (Write It All Down) shows you how to tackle all this and more in this workshop.
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
Books for Thought is a project by EUNIC London and the Institut français du Royaume-Uni, funded by the EUNIC Cluster Fund.
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Part of New Dutch Writing supported by:
2–3pm LT11 Times and The TeamTimesSundayTravel
1.30–2.30pm
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £16
4–5pm LR64
Novelist, biographer, essayist and socialite Nancy is the voice behind the enduring mythology of the Mitford sisters. India Knight (Darling) is joined by Mitford biographer Laura Thompson (Heiresses: the Lives of the Billion Dollar Babies) and longtime fan Rachel Johnson to discuss Nancy’s extraordinary life and work. This event includes live captioning.
Britain is an island ruled by nostalgia. We’ve spent 500 years longing for the good old days – from Margaret Thatcher’s desire for a return to ‘Victorian values’ through to 16th century observers looking back wistfully to a ‘Merry England’ before the upheavals of the Reformation. Historians Hannah Rose Woods (Rule, Nostalgia) and James Hawes (The Shortest History of England ) explore national character, emotion, identity and myth making to explain how Britain’s history has been written, re-written and (rightly or wrongly) remembered. Chaired by Nicholas Crane
The
Mother’sJacobson:HowardBoy
The Borough Press is home to bestselling authors such as Joanna Cannon, Tracy Chevalier, Bridget Collins and Bella Mackie. Now Cheltenham audiences get a first look at its exciting 2023 debuts: Emilia Hart’s Weyward, an enthralling novel of female resilience and the power of the natural world; Krystle Zara Appiah’s Rootless, a poignant examination of a British-Ghanaian marriage in crisis, and Black Girl, No Magic, Kimberly McIntosh’s essays about the realities of navigating today’s complex world as a Black woman. They talk to The Times Assistant Books Editor Susannah Goldsbrough
Booker Prize-winner Howard Jacobson was 40 when his first novel was published. As he turns 80 he looks back at his life, tracing the anxious journey of a writer-in-waiting while grappling with his family history and Jewish identity. With his trademark good humour, he talks to Georgina Godwin
The PressBoroughProofParty
Meet Ireland’s most exciting new writers, selected and hosted by award-winning author Roddy Doyle. He is joined by: Suad Aldarra, author of the powerful memoir about her ten-year search for belonging after leaving Syria, I Don’t Want to Talk About Home; poet and author of the novel Line described as ‘A Grapes of Wrath for the [digital] age’ Niall Bourke and Aingeala Flannery, whose novel The Amusements is a luminous story of small-town communities and roads not taken. Presented in collaboration with Dublin Book Festival.
Maylis Besserie’s novel is a fictional account of the last months of Samuel Beckett’s life spent in a Paris nursing home, Résidence Tiers Temps. Hailed as ‘remarkable’ by John Banville and awarded the prestigious Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman in her native France, she’s touted as a new star of the French literary scene. Yell, Sam is the first in a planned trilogy exploring the links between Ireland and France (to be followed by works focused on W. B. Yeats and Lucian Freud). Together with her acclaimed translator Clíona Ní Ríordáin she speaks to Literature Ireland’s Sinéad Mac Aodha
The Modern Explorer: Benedict Allen and Erling Kagge
The Hive £10
Books for Thought is a project by EUNIC London and the Institut français du RoyaumeUni, funded by the EUNIC Cluster Fund.
3.30–5pm LDF18
Author, poet and hip-hop artist Darren McGarvey and leading barrister Hashi Mohamed confront the widening gap between the richest and poorest in Britain. A recent BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, McGarvey’s The Social Distance Between Us suggests our failure to tackle social inequality is down to proximity: the powerful are too often partitioned from the powerless.
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
The Daffodil Restaurant £25
UsedNotNostalgia:WhatittoBe
What does it mean to be an explorer in the 21st century? Norwegian polar explorer Erling Kagge was the first to surmount the world’s three poles and has received enormous praise for his books on the philosophy of exploration: Silence: In the Age of Noise and Walking: One Step at a Time Benedict Allen’s Explorer sees the world-leading adventurer reflect on what initially prompted him to head for our planet’s farthest reaches and what keeps him exploring 30 years on. Together with adventurer Pip Stewart (who completed a world-first kayak journey and author of Life Lessons from the Amazon) they discuss their drive for discovery and the lessons it taught them. Harris Garden Theatre
6–7pm LR62 Robert
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
6–7pm LC36
6.30–7.30pm
One of the joys of skiing is coming home to a cosy chalet and delicious afternoon tea. Recreate that moment and recall the magic of the mountains as Ingrid Christophersen –author, translator and former member of Great Britain’s alpine ski team – recalls a childhood spent skiing in Norway and shares an eclectic selection of classic ski stories (To Heaven’s Heights). From Knut Hamsun to Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming to Sylvia Plath, hear tales of accidents and avalanches, exploration and espionage, first love and Norwegian knitwear. Ingrid joins Julia Wheeler for a conversation that may well veer off-piste...
The Hive £10
4.15–5.15pm LH08
LR58
Roddy Doyle’s IrishGenerationNextWriters
3.45–4.45pm LA17
3.30–4.30pm LD12
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Master storyteller and bestselling author of 14 books author Robert Harris chats to Georgina Godwin about his spellbinding new historical novel Act of Oblivion which imagines one of the greatest manhunts in history: the search for two Englishmen involved in the killing of King Charles I and the implacable foe on their trail.
2–3pm
Stories from the Slopes: An Après-tea
William Morris is the celebrated leader of the Arts and Crafts movement. His wife Jane, immortalised in the paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, is too often relegated to a footnote. In truth, Jane and William’s creative partnership was the central collaboration of their lives: the homes they made together are exquisite works of art in themselves. Suzanne Fagence-Cooper (How We Might Live) explores the lives and legacies of Jane and William Morris, bringing Jane’s work to the forefront and taking us inside a partnership of unparalleled creative artistry. Chaired by Gavin Plumley ( A Home for All Seasons).
LT14
LM07
WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER
How We Might Live: Jane and William Morris
The Hive £10
The Times and Sunday Times Forum £10
In A Home of One’s Own, Mohamed draws on his own experience of housing insecurity and his professional career as a planning barrister to examine our country’s deepening housing crisis. Together, they explore how we might improve equality and attempt to bring about change. Chaired by Adam Rutherford (Control).
Ticket includes refreshments and a goody bag of limited edition proofs.
6.30–7.30pm
60 61
Nancy Mitford: A Brilliant Life
Ticket includes afternoon tea with a selection of finger sandwiches and cakes.
£12
The InequalityClosingBetweenDistanceUs:theGap
The Garden Theatre £10
Yell, Sam, If You Still Can...: Beckett’s Last Days
4–5pm LR08
Michael Ball
8.30–9.30pm LX06
Acclaimed folk musician Polly Paulusma’s album Invisible Music draws on Carter’s rich folk background and the music that influenced her writing in a special evening of songs and stories.
The Garden Theatre
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Emilie Pine’s courageous essay collection Notes to Self dealt with taboo subjects of addiction, infertility and sexual violence to explore life as a 21st century woman. Her first novel Ruth and Pen tracks two very different Dublin women over the course of one day to explore love, loss and the quiet bravery daily living demands. Abigail Bergstrom’s debut novel What a Shame fizzes with energy and dark humour as its millennial heroine navigates heartbreak and shame after a series of events throws her life off-course. Together with Sam Baker they discuss the powerful - and sometimes painful - process of finding your place in the world.
It’s 25 years since Sam and Sam Clark launched their pioneering restaurant Moro, a creative new approach to the Moorish cuisine of North Africa and Southern Spain. For them it was a venture born of a desire to cook within the Mediterranean tradition, with fresh ingredients and fragrant spices little known in the UK. With Moro Easy the trailblazing chefs share the secrets to bringing their style of bold, flavour-centred cooking into your home, with recipes they developed during lockdown. They chat to Shamil Thakrar co-founder of Dishoom, about embracing the laidback, no-fuss attitude of the countries that have inspired them.
8.30–9.30pm
£12
8–9pm LR52
£55 Ticket includes a three-course dinner and a drink on arrival.
At Home with Moro
LE30
Angela Carter is renowned for her dark, feminist, magical realist storytelling. But her career beginnings as a folk singer in 1960s Bristol are perhaps less well known.
The Dublin-born author of 11 acclaimed novels including The Commitments and The Snapper discusses his most recent writing including his lockdown-inspired short story collection Life without Children and Love, his profound examination of male friendship.
£12 This event will now take place on Monday 10 October at 8.30pm.
7.30–10pm
LDF24
LR73
Musical theatre supremo Michael Ball talks to Tim Hubbard about his dramatic life on and off stage and raises the curtain on his debut novel The Empire The first in a brand-new series, the book tells the story of life at a music hall in North London set in the aftermath of WWI. This event includes live captioning.
8.30–9.30pm
WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER cheltenhamfestivals.com WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER DAY PLANNER 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The Hive The RegencyDaffodilSuite, Queens Hotel Victoria’s Restaurant, Queens Hotel LW07 Write It All Down LC41 WithoutPolitics the Boring Bits with ChorleyMatt LD12 LifeAMitford:NancyBrilliant LH05 Nomads: OurWhoWanderersTheShapedWorld LA08 GoldentheTreasuresMauritshuis:TheofDutchAge LD19 The NovelEuropeanGreat LT11 The Times and The TeamTimesSundayTravel LM07 BoyMother’sJacobson:Howard LR64 Yell, Sam, If You LastBeckett’sCan...:StillDays LH08 UsedNotNostalgia:WhatittoBe LDF18 Stories from the Slopes: An Après-tea LR08 PartyPressBoroughTheProof LR62 HarrisRobert LT14 The ErlingAllenBenedictExplorer:ModernandKagge LR73 Roddy Doyle LC36 The GapInequalityClosingBetweenDistanceUs:the LR58 Doyle’sRoddy IrishGenerationNextWriters LE30 BallMichael LA17 How MorrisWilliamJaneMightWeLive:and LR52 Brave New You: Emilie Pine BergstromAbigailand LP02 Invisible Music: The AngelaInfluencedSongsFolkThatCarter LDF24 At Home with Moro 8.45–9.45pm LP02 Invisible Music: The Folk Songs That AngelaInfluencedCarter The Hive £12
The Daffodil Restaurant
Richard and Daniel Susskind predict the decline of today’s professions and introduce the people and the systems that will replace them. They explore recent advances in the discussion and how in an internet-enhanced society, we will neither need nor want doctors, teachers, accountants, architects, the clergy, consultants, lawyers, and many others, to work as they did in the 20th century.
One of Ireland’s most popular and acclaimed voices, Roddy Doyle, talks to Alex Clark
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage
The Future
DanielRichardRevisited:ProfessionsofandSusskind
Brave New You: Emilie Pine and Abigail Bergstrom
Roddy Doyle
62 63
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
1.30–2.30pm LR39
David Dimbleby: A Broadcasting Life
Price Wars: How Chaotic Markets are Creating a Chaotic World
Ben ColditzMacintyre:
In addition to 25 years at the helm of Question Time, David Dimbleby has anchored nearly every major national event of the last 50 years: from Diana’s funeral to ten successive General Election counts. Now finally ‘off the leash’ he shares his thoughts on monarchy, politics, and the state of Britain with his characteristic wit, clarity and insight. Chaired by Hannah MacInnes This event includes live captioning.
3.30–4.30pm LC21
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
Life doesn’t always turn out the way we first planned, but with the challenges and tribulations we often go through we might have the opportunity to look back and make changes that we want to make. A chance to explore dating again after marriage for example, embrace singlehood or simply get to know yourself again. Rejecting the ‘spinster narrative’, writer Emma John (Self Contained) dissects the ups and downs of this time of life with Radhika Sanghani (Thirty Things I Love About Myself ) and Marijke Schermer (Love, If That’s What It Is).
Part of New Dutch Writing supported by:
The Booker Prize-shortlisted author of the international bestseller Brick Lane returns with her first novel in a decade, Love Marriage Following two different families thrown together by an upcoming marriage, Monica explores the strains that emerge with a warmth and wisdom that’s earned the novel instant bestseller status. Chaired by Alex Clark
Unrest in Hong Kong, tensions with Taiwan, reports of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and the outbreak of a virus that has changed the world: understanding China is more important than ever before. Historian and political scientist Rana Mitter (China’s Good War) joins Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute Kerry Brown (President Xi), Senior Editor for China and Global Affairs at the New Statesman Katie Stallard (Dancing on Bones and Chinese foreign policy expert Yu Jie to take the long view on China, its evolving position in the geopolitical landscape and the outlook for its domestic politics, military strategy and international relations.
The Ways of the Woods
Popular cook and TV presenter Delia Smith turns her attention from the kitchen to the nature of human life in her surprising book You Matter: The Human Solution She explores her theories on humanity and the nature of existence with Cathy Rentzenbrink
THURSDAY 13 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 4–5pm LL01
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
Monica Ali
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
An intrepid team made global headlines when they located Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance more than a century after its crew watched it sink beneath the ice. Marine archaeologist and Director of Exploration Mensun Bound reveals how the infamous ship was rescued from ‘the most hostile sea on Earth’.
4–5pm LA10
6564
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
1.15–2.15pm LC15
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Hunt for EnduranceShackleton’s
£10
Hysterical, behavioural and data scientist Pragya Agarwal reveals the hidden patterns of bias in the way we stereotype emotions, and how these stereotypes have been used throughout history to create a power imbalance between men and women. Together they issue a rallying cry for change.
Historian and columnist, The Times Ben Macintyre reveals the astonishing inside story of the infamous prison –a tale of indomitable human spirit, class conflict, homosexuality, bullying, espionage, insanity, boredom and farce. Introduced by Allan Mallinson
The Garden Theatre £10
cheltenhamfestivals.com THURSDAY 13 OCTOBER
11.30am–12.30pm LN05
12–2pm LDF14
Chaired by Adam Rutherford (Control).
The 20th century was a transformative period in our nation’s history, from the inception of modernism to the devastating impact of two world wars. This shifting picture of Britain is reflected in the art that responds to it; while Vanessa Bell’s Studland Beach dances with modernity, Paul Nash’s surreal works depict the horrors of the trenches, and Martin Parr’s photographs of the 1980s seaside raise controversial questions about class. Lily Le Brun (Looking to Sea) and Frances Spalding (The Real and the Romantic) share a portrait of 20th century Britain through the eyes of its artists with Michael Bird (This is Tomorrow).
3.30–4.30pm LL20
Mansplained Manterrupted...and
Ben Short (Burn) traded a fast-paced life in London for that of a charcoal burner in West Dorset. There he immersed himself in the ancient ways of woods and fire, living in huts and old wagons, hauling water from wells and foraging for supper. Upon her father’s death, Siri Helle (Handmade) inherited the family’s isolated cabin in west Norway and embraced the challenge of learning new crafts. They reflect on choosing a life of manual work, the power and purpose of practical skills and the solace that can be found in the woods. Chaired by John Tucker Ambassador to the Woodland Trust.
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
What caused the wave of chaos that consumed the world in the 2010s? Author and film maker Rupert Russell has travelled to modern apocalypses across five continents. In conversation with Oliver Balch, he discusses his ground-breaking exposé of the power of price shocks, fuelled by banks and hedge funds, to cause riots, revolution, terrorism and global catastrophe.
11am–12pm LM03
Ticket includes a two-course lunch and a glass of wine.
1–2pm LH04
11am–12pm LQ11
We live in an era of breath-taking scientific discovery, but also fake news, conspiracy theories and post-truth rhetoric. Why do we act irrationally or succumb to bad arguments? Rejecting the cynical view that we’re saddled with biases, fallacies and illusions, worldrenowned psychologist Steven Pinker (Rationality) examines how we can harness rational thinking to help us see the world more clearly.
Men are four times more likely to read a book by a man than by a woman. Female US Supreme Court Justices are interrupted four times more often than their male counterparts, 96% of the time by men. Mary Ann Sieghart’s manifesto
4–5pm LT10
BritainPicturing
With a travel writer’s eye and a cook’s nose for a memorable recipe, Eleanor Ford explores how centuries of spice trading and cultural diffusion changed the world’s cuisine. Her recipes follow the trails of ancient maritime trade through Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Iran and the Emirates. With the movement of people along these Spice Routes came the sharing of ideas –including recipes and culinary tips – as well as languages, art, and religion. Over a lunch inspired by her new book, she talks to Shamil Thakrar, co-founder of Dishoom about how spice forged our modern, connected world.
Steven AgeanRationalityPinker:inIrrational
The GettingRefresh:Back to You Hive
The Daffodil Restaurant £35
The
The TrailNutmeg
Delia Smith
The Authority Gap reveals the womenundervaluingsystemicofinsociety.In
China’s Next Decade
2–3pm LQ13
The Hive £10
During WWII, the German army used Colditz Castle to hold the most defiant Allied prisoners, whose ingenious escape attempts became legend.
Pillar Room £10
LH11
The Daffodil Restaurant £65
Since becoming Bake Off winner in 2015 Nadiya Hussain has released several bestselling cookbooks, fronted BBC series, produced children’s books, three novels and a memoir, and even baked the Queen’s 90th birthday cake. Awarded an MBE in 2020, she’s a bona fide national treasure. She returns with Nadiya’s Everyday Baking to show that – however busy you are – there are quick and easy ways to create simple bakes, bursting with flavour, every day of the week. Over a delicious afternoon tea inspired by the book, she chats to Tim Hubbard about her latest projects and what’s in store for the coming year.
Chaired by Hashi Mohamed ( A Home of One’s Wright: The Feel-Good Movie of the Year
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
LR09
“Cool Poems” Patti Smith
“Fierce, wistful, romantic and witty. A sensational hour of poetry.”
66 67
With support from Ollie O’Neill. Introduced by Jean Sprackland Chair, T. S. Eliot Prize 2022, and Michael Sims Prize Director. PlacesImpossibleJourneysReeve:to
What to Drink with EverythingAbsolutely
Ticket includes a three-course dinner with matched wines.
4–5pm
Whether he’s opening for The Libertines or reciting Georgian ballads down your local, winner of The Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Performer 2021 Luke Wright is adept at taking poetry places it doesn’t normally go. Join him for an all-new show with deliciously funny poems set against a backdrop of pandemic politics, ageing parents, and the poet’s quest for JOY!
Joelle Taylor: C+nto OtheredandPoems
7.30–10pm
The Garden Theatre £12
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel £16
Tea NadiyawithHussain
Catherine Belton’s Putin’s People is a chilling exposé of the corrupt oligarchs of Putin’s Russia, who have wielded black money to extend power and influence in the West. Tom Burgis’ Kleptopia follows the trail of kleptocracy and corruption across the globe. Together, they explore why London is so attractive to tainted foreign money. Chaired by Oliver Balch
Celeste Ng
Hailed as ‘a blazing book of rage and light’ by the judges, Joelle Taylor’s T. S. Eliot Prize-winning collection is a powerful examination of the female body as political space. History, magic, rebellion, party and sermon vibrate through the poems to explore the private lives of women from the butch counterculture and underground LGBTQ+ communities. One of the spoken word scene’s most spectacular performers, and a tireless advocate for poetry’s power to change lives, don’t miss Joelle as she takes her rightful place centre stage.
4–5.30pm LDF15
The bestselling author and presenter reveals the inside story of his most astonishing adventures and experiences around the planet and close to home. In conversation with Julia Wheeler he reflects on what his unique encounters have taught him, and discusses how we can all better embrace opportunities and the glory of our world.
Be one of the first to read three of 2023’s most anticipated debuts. Claire Daverley’s Talking At Night is a blockbuster love story perfect for fans of One Day and Normal People Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood is the emotionally compelling story of marriage, catastrophe, redemption and grief. Clytemnestra by Costanza
The Daffodil Restaurant £25
Our Guest Curator Celeste Ng*, the bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, discusses her heart-wrenching new novel with Helena Lee. Set in a dystopian near future consumed by fear, twelve-year-old Bird Gardner sets out to solve the mystery of his mother’s disappearance. Our Missing Hearts explores the ways civilized communities can turn a blind eye to the most searing injustice, and the power - and limitations - of art to create change in the world.
Rylan
Turning 60 last year during lockdown, the former Conservative Party leader William Hague reflects on his extraordinary life and career, from political prodigy to Foreign Secretary, biographer, keen conservationist and columnist for The Times. He shares the insights gained from a remarkable life at the epicentre of British politics in conversation with his friend and former colleague Danny Finkelstein This event includes live captioning.
*This participant will appear digitally.
Drawing Back the Iron Curtain
The Garden Theatre £10
William Hague: What I’ve Learnt
Own). 8.45–10pm LP03 Luke
6.30–7.30pm LC44
8.30–9.30pm LR12
The EconomyandDirtyLaundromat:LondonMoneytheGlobal
LDF25
Town Hall,
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
7–8pm LP20
Ticket includes refreshments and a goody bag of limited edition proofs.
THURSDAY 13 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com THURSDAY 13 OCTOBER
Casati is an epic retelling of the most misunderstood woman in ancient history.
8.30–9.30pm
“The bard of lockdown” The Telegraph With support from Afra Atiq
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
8–9pm LC25
‘Remember this / Our whole lives are a protest’
★★★★★ The Stage
It is 100 years since Russia emerged from civil war as the newly formed Soviet Union. The ‘Iron Curtain’ that later descended across Europe symbolised the divide between Western democracies and the eastern Soviet regimes. Timothy Phillips The Curtain and the Wall ) travelled the length of the Iron Curtain to find out how the legacy of the divide – physical, political and emotional – continues to be felt. In conversation with historian Sheila Fitzpatrick (The Shortest History of the Soviet Union) and Dutch novelist Pieter Waterdrinker (The Long Song of Tchaikovsky Street), they reflect on what happened when the communist experiment came to an end. Chaired by The Sunday Times Europe Editor Peter Conradi Part of New Dutch Writing supported by: our lives and underpin British education? Jeffrey and racial justice in education specialist Nicola Rollock (The Racial Code) explore the cost of navigating everyday racism and consider how we can start doing better by every student, now and into the future.
6.30–7.30pm LT13 Simon
The Hive £10
The ProofMichaelPenguinJosephParty
Model and star of The X Factor Rylan Clark talks to Alex Clark about his tell-all book Ten: The Decade that Changed my Future charting his incredible decade in the spotlight. Rylan confronts his mental health issues, the breakdown of his marriage and the ups and downs of life in the public eye. This event includes live captioning.
Join them in conversation with Sam Baker
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
6–7pm
Dirty money is flooding the global economy, emboldening dictators and poisoning democracies: a web of corruption with London at its heart. How have antiquated laws, lobbyists acting in the interests of hostile powers and a booming property market helped the UK become a centre for money laundering?
LE38
Join wine critic Victoria Moore as she hosts a three-course dinner with her choice of matched wines and discusses how to choose the wine that will taste most delicious with whatever you’re eating. From baked beans to ice cream, from trout to truffles, Victoria’s new guide Fried Eggs and Rioja – based on her bestselling The Wine Dine Dictionary – will take you from sofa suppers to festive feasts and ensure that you always reach for the perfect pairing.
Ticket includes afternoon tea with a selection of finger sandwiches and cakes.
6–7pm LC39 Fit OurRethinkingPurpose?ForSchools Town Hall, Pillar Room £10 Who does our education system serve? Before Jeffrey Boakye I Heard What You Said) was a Black teacher, he was a Black student. As such, he has spent a lifetime navigating places of learning that are white by default. How do we dismantle the hidden rules of race and racism that govern
It’s been 100 years since Howard Carter and his team of archaeologists discovered and excavated the tomb of the young king Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings. Cinzia DuBois aka Lady of The Library is joined by historian Christina Riggs (Treasured ) and Egyptologist Garry J. Shaw The Story of Tutankhamun) to delve into the ways that this ground-breaking discovery continues to captivate the world and the secrets that lay beneath the sand.
On the Farm with HumbleKate
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, shattering peace in Europe and creating a seismic shift in the world order, marks a watershed moment. How should the West approach a changing relationship with Russia, balancing increased hostility with a need to maintain dialogue? As Putin tightens his grip on power, who are the figures forming the leadership and opposition of the future? And how will cooling relations impact on the global economy?
THURSDAY 13 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The Hive The RegencyDaffodilSuite, Queens Hotel LM03 Dimbleby:David LifeBroadcastingA LQ11 RationalityPinker:Steven in an AgeIrrational LN05 The Ways of the Woods LDF14 The TrailNutmeg LQ13 Manterrupted...andMansplained LR09 The ProofMichaelPenguinJosephParty LC15 China: The Next Decade LH04 Ben ColditzMacintyre: LL20 Delia Smith LA10 BritainPicturing LT10 The BeneathShip the Ice: The Hunt EnduranceShackleton’sfor LC21 Price Wars: How WorldaCreatingMarketsChaoticareChaotic LR39 Monica Ali LDF15 Tea with Nadiya Hussain LL01 The ToGettingRefresh:BackYou LC44 Hague:William What I’ve Learnt LH11 IronBackDrawingtheCurtain LT13 JourneysReeve:Simon PlacesImpossibleTo LC39 Fit SchoolsOurRethinkingPurpose?For LP20 PoemsOtheredC+ntoTaylor:Joelleand LDF25 What to Drink with EverythingAbsolutely LE38 Rylan LC25 The EconomyandDirtyLaundromat:LondonMoneytheGlobal LR12 Celeste Ng LP03 Luke Wright: The Feel-Good Movie of The Year 8.30–10am LDF02 Breakfast with The Times: The Red Box The Daffodil Restaurant £25 Ticket includes a continental breakfast. Start your day fully informed. Fresh from delivering his witty and insightful daily political guide to your inboxes, The Times Red Box Editor Patrick Maguire hot foots it over to join you for breakfast and chew over the top stories of the day. Joining him on stage at The Daffodil restaurant are Times Radio’s Ayesha Hazarika and Henry Zeffman, The Times Associate Political Editor.
12–1pm LC47
East Side Voices
Russia
Andrew Monaghan (Russian Grand Strategy), Richard Connolly (The Russian Economy) and Emily Ferris look ahead across the next decade, examining what Russia’s future will mean for us all. Chaired by The Sunday Times Europe Editor Peter Conradi (Who Lost Russia?). This event includes live captioning
The Hive £10
Russia’s Next Decade
Kate Humble’s farm, deep in the Monmouthshire countryside, is familiar to many from her Channel 5 series Escape to the Farm. Her simple and seasonal home cooking, featured regularly on the show, is a particular highlight. In Home Cooked she shares recipes from her kitchen table, food for lazy days, busy weeknights or gatherings, and everything in between. Kate chats to Tim Hubbard about the joy of connecting with family and friends, and shares stories from her life on the farm.
Ticket includes a two-course lunch and a glass of wine.
11.30am–12.30pm LH02
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
12.45–1.45pm LC16
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Secrets of Tutankhamun’s Tomb: 100 Years On
Programmed by Guest Curator, Celeste Ng
British Asian authors face the tricky task of holding multiple perspectives in a world that’s all too eager to simplify their identities. Too often, those of Asian descent are still reduced to ‘foreigners’, alternately exoticized, excluded, and scapegoated. In this panel, notable British writers with Asian heritage Peter Ho Davies ( A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself ), Helena Lee (East Side Voices) and Rowan Hisayo Buchanan (Starling Days) discuss their latest writings, the ways in which their heritage informs their work (both directly and indirectly) and their hopes for future British Asian writers.
Celebrated historian and author of Stalingrad Antony Beevor, talks to Allan Mallinson about the devastating struggle that took place in Russia following the collapse of the Tsarist empire in 1917: how idealistic revolution turned to savage civil war, and why this was arguably the most influential event of the modern era.
DAY PLANNER
12–2pm LDF10
12–1pm LB04
6968
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
Antony Beevor:
The Daffodil Restaurant £35
Renowned as one of the world’s greatest poems, The Waste Land is said to describe the moral decay of a world after war and the search for meaning in a meaningless era. A century after its 1922 publication, T. S. Eliot’s enigmatic masterpiece remains one of the most influential works ever written, yet one of the most mysterious. Faber Poetry Editor Matthew Hollis (The Waste Land: A Biography of a Poem), leading British poet Daljit Nagra (British Museum) and literary critic and author Erica Wagner (Mary and Mr Eliot: A Sort of Love Story) offer an expert guide to the poem, followed by a performance by a leading actor.
Threads FeministFeminineDefiance:ofFromArttoArt
theAdventuresBlumenthal:HestoninKitchen
3.30–4.30pm LC29
What makes a great friend? How do we choose the right one? And what do they mean to our lives? Authors Max Dicken (Billy No-Mates), Michael Pedersen (Boyfriends) and Nikki May (Wahala) dissect the true meaning of friendship and their individual experiences with the deepest relationship of them all. They explore the differences between male and female friendships as well as how their own friendships have inspired their writing.
*This participant will appear digitally.70 71
Gone with the Wind and the Lies
FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER
2–3pm LR06
The Hive £10
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
2–3pm LC34
The LandWasteat100
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
The Hive £10
ModernUnderstandingSpain
Love a page-turning thriller? Then don’t miss Sam Baker talking to three crime and thriller writers we think are ones to watch. Winner of the Cheltenham Literature Festival First Novel Prize, Rebecca Pert’s Shetland-set Still Water sees its heroine’s life thrown off course by the discovery of her long-missing mother’s body. Scottish Crime Debut of the Year-shortlisted author Tariq Ashkanani’s Welcome to Cooper is a dark thriller set in a Nebraskan small town. Nadine Matheson, whose writing has been described as ‘gruesomely good’ presents her serial killer thriller The Binding Room
The Garden Theatre £10
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
4–5pm LH16
7–8pm LL04
Hairy Bikers
The Company that Changed the World
I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
The Muse in Art
The PoliticalNovelParentasNovel
Behind its idyllic image, Spanish society and politics are complex, and its turbulent history casts a long shadow. Examining exactly what Spanish identity means in a nation where invasion and immigration have been such a rich part of its narrative, we join the Madrid-based historian Giles Tremlett (Espana) and the Bloomberg’s Europe correspondent Maria Tadeo in conversation with Rosie Goldsmith to explore the forces shaping modern Spain.
Passed down from mother to daughter, the history of textiles is the history of women’s work. Textiles have a unique ability to communicate collective histories and individual stories, and over time, this tradition has evolved: from Louise Bourgeois to Permindar Kaur, modern and contemporary artists have reclaimed textiles as a means of chronicling identity, protest and politics. Art historian Ferren Gipson (Women’s Work) and curator and art critic Naomi Polonsky explore the story of this radical change and the key figures who dared to defy tradition through their visionary practice. Chaired by Grace Banks ( Art Escapes).
Far from posing passively at the mercy of an influential older artist, there is a rich history of artists’ muses - from Lizzie Siddal to Frida Kahlo - rebelling against the male gaze. Art critic Jennifer Higgie (The Mirror and the Palette) and artist and art historian Luisa-Maria MacCormack share the stories of some of the incredible women who have inspired art history’s masterpieces, from da Vinci’s studio to the covers of Vogue, as well as those who have reframed the muse to create powerful work on their own terms. Chaired by Jo Baring (Revisiting Modern British Art).
4–5pm LA11
6.30–7.30pm LP22
1.30–2.30pm LL10
3.15–4.15pm LE13
The Garden Theatre £10
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
2–3pm LR33
The Garden Theatre £12
New toThrillerCrimeBlood:andWritersWatch
QI AnswersElves: to Your Quite QuestionsIngenious
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
LD01
America Tells
Classic bakes including Victoria sponge and cheese pies are savoured by Si King, half of the Hairy Bikers duo. He talks to former Scottish politician Ruth Davidson in a live broadcast for her Times Radio show about baking with confidence and the Biker’s ultimate collection of bakes taken from their book The Hairy Bikers’ Brilliant Bakes This event includes live captioning
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Sarah Churchwell (The Wrath to Come) explores how Gone with the Wind, one of the most enduringly popular stories of all time, can help explain the divisions ripping America apart today. From the Lost Cause to the romances behind the Ku Klux Klan to the erasure of interwar fascism, she charts how 160 years of American denialism paved the way for the violence of Trumpism. Chaired by Georgina Godwin.
Women have been told to ‘lean in’ and act like men to get ahead. But as our systems crumble, isn’t it time we had a different plan? Is there any truth in ‘male’ and ‘female’ leadership styles? And are there patterns in what women want when it comes to voting for policies and politicians? Journalist and author Arwa Madhawi (Strong Female Lead ), Professor of International Relations Karen E Smith and Ipsos MORI’s Chief Executive of the UK and Ireland Kelly Beaver explore the role of women in shaping democracy and society and examine what women in power can teach us about leadership. Chaired by Julia Wheeler
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
4–5pm
6–7pm LA12
Raising a child is often cited as the most important job a person can do, yet fiction that centres on parenthood, particularly motherhood, is often denigrated as ‘domestic’ or ‘small’. In this panel, Celeste Ng*, Jessamine Chan (The School for Good Mothers) and Peter Ho Davies ( A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself ) discuss how so-called domestic fiction might also be considered as novels of ideas. How does work centring on parenthood grapple with larger social and cultural issues and why are such works not afforded the appropriate weight and critical consideration? What might it mean to shift our view of what these novels might have to teach us? Chaired by Clare Clark
Which lottery numbers should I pick? Is it true that we are made entirely of stardust? Can dogs tell the time? Why do songs get stuck in my head? If Rome wasn’t built in a day, how long did it take? These aren’t necessarily the questions QI Elves John Lloyd and Emily Jupitus will answer, but they will be answering a startling array of the weird and wonderful asked by listeners during their R2 appearances on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show
William Dalrymple brings together two decades of meticulous research in ‘The Company Quartet’, in which he recounts how India’s Mughal empire disintegrated, to be replaced by the East India Company – the first global corporate power, and the first to run amok. In conversation with journalist Oliver Balch he explores how a single corporation managed to conquer a state and enslave a people.
Taking the Lead: Women & Power
Culinary pioneer Heston Blumenthal is back with the thrilling Is This A Cookbook? Packed with his usual flair and paired with thoughts, stories, insights and hacks, turning each cooking session into a journey that’ll excite and inspire and reveal a whole world of culinary possibilities and fresh perspectives. He is joined by Alex Clark to chat through his career highlights and share his love of food.
6.15–7.30pm LP07
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £14
LE36
Ticket includes a three-course dinner and a drink on arrival. Bar open until late.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor, her husband Richard Jones and their five boys brought joy to millions throughout lockdown with their Kitchen Discos. They chat about their busy, chaotic, noisy household, and juggling careers with raising a big family. Mealtimes together are important and in Love. Food. Family they share favourite recipes –crowd-pleasing feasts for eating together, inspired by international cuisines and fond memories. Join them for a delicious dinner inspired by the book as they show us how to sprinkle sequinned magic into our own homes... after all, everything’s better with a little bit of disco.
Tables can seat teams of up to 4 people. The bar will be open with prizes.
Ardal O’Hanlon
cheltenhamfestivals.com FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER 8.30–9.30pm LR28
The Times and Sunday Times Forum £16
DAY PLANNER 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The Hive The EverymanDaffodilTheatre, Studio Theatre LDF02 Breakfast with The Times: The Red Box LH02 RussiaBeevor:Antony LC47 East VoicesSide LR33 The NovelPoliticalNovel’‘Parentas LB04 Secrets YearsTomb:Tutankhamun’sof100On LDF10 On the Farm with Kate Humble LC16 DecadeTheRussia:Next LC34 SpainModernUnderstanding LL10 KitcheninAdventuresBlumenthal:Hestonthe LR06 New WatchWritersThrillerCrimeBlood:AndTo LE13 BikersHairy LP22 QI AnswersElves: to Your QuestionsIngeniousQuite LC29 PowerWomentheTakingLead:and LH16 thethatCompanyTheChangedWorld LD01 Gone with the TellsAmericaandWindtheLies LA11 Threads toFeminineDefiance:ofFromArtFeministArt LA12 The Muse in Art LP07 The 100LandWasteat LJ02 From Page To Screen: Emma LL04 Get By With a Little Help From My Friends LP08 SoulDesert LDF26 Recipes from the Kitchen Disco LR28 O’HanlonArdal LE36 Nick Cave O’HaganwithConversationinSeán LP14 Theories By T’s Ultimate Marvel Quiz FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 7.45–8.45pm LP08 Desert Soul The Hive £10
7–10pm
Recipes from the Kitchen Disco
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
With a voice reminiscent of Motown singers and the early soul movement, Arqam Al Abri is a young Emirati soul singer who fuses old school influences with a modern outlook. Star of the international spoken word scene, powerhouse poet Afra Atiq blends Western influences from traditions such as The Harlem Renaissance and The Beat Generation with Arabic, blues and jazz to incredible effect. Don’t miss this chance to see them perform together.
Based on the timeless Jane Austen novel Emma, Autumn De Wilde’s 2020 film gave the period romance the exuberant makeover that it needed. With a star-studded cast, joyous costumes and a witty and charming screenplay, this reimagining took the film world by storm and gained a passionate following. In a special introductory chat, Guest Curator and film critic Clarisse Loughrey is joined by New Zealand novelist, Man Booker Prize winner and screenwriter of Emma, Eleanor Catton, before a screening of the film. Celebrating the art of adaptation, they discuss the process of adapting such an iconic text and the challenges that come with modernising it for the screen.
Created from over forty hours of intimate conversations between Nick and Seán, the book draws candidly on Cave’s life, from his early childhood to the present day, his loves, his work ethic and his dramatic transformation in recent years. Faith, Hope and Carnage examines questions of faith, art, music, freedom, grief and love, offering ladders of hope and inspiration from a true creative visionary. There will be the opportunity for the audience to ask questions that will be answered live on stage by Nick and Seán.
9.30–11pm
9–10pm
72 73
Join musician and writer Nick Cave and journalist Seán O’Hagan live in conversation as they discuss Faith, Hope and Carnage, a new book exploring Cave’s inner life.
The Father Ted, Death in Paradise and My Hero actor, comedian and now bestselling author Ardal O’Hanlon joins Alex Clark to discuss his acclaimed career and new novel, Brouhaha - a black comedy crime satire set in a troubled Irish Border county described by The Irish Times as ‘deliciously readable - and damned funny’.
Amassing over 400k followers, Tyrell Charles’ pop culture commentary has taken TikTok by storm. Join him for this one-off special quiz where he’ll put your Marvel knowledge to the ultimate test. Whether a fan of the comics or the films expect to learn something new and delve deeper into the theories that captivate us. LJ02 Page to Emma
Everyman Theatre, Studio Theatre £10
Nick Cave Conversationin with Seán O’Hagan
Programmed in partnership with The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
Screen:
The Daffodil Restaurant £55
LDF26
LP14
Theories by T’s MarvelUltimateQuiz
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
From
7.30–10pm
This event includes live captioning.
Ticket includes fizz and nibbles.
12.30–1.30pm LU05
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £14
Hugo NewsThroughCantersRifkindthe
Lifting the lid on the complex reality of contemporary Greece are novelist and honorary Greek citizen, Victoria Hislop and writer and political scientist Stathis Kalyvas in conversation with Bloomberg’s Europe Correspondent Maria Tadeo. They’ll explore how its ancient civilisation still underpins much of our arts, science and politics and discuss how its unique geography and turbulent post-war history have shaped the lives of Greek people today – lives still strongly rooted in community and tradition.
LL13
£25 Ticket includes breakfast
ModernUnderstandingGreece
The Daffodil Restaurant £35
Richard Osman
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £16
Are we in the golden age of lying? Public trust in politicians is at an all-time low, and in a time of deep fakes, alternative truths and leaked secrets, it would be easy to think we are surrounded by lies. Author and speechwriter Kathleen Wyatt (The Social Superpower) and President of Murray Edwards College and former Editor-at-large for Channel 4 News Dorothy Byrne (Trust Me, I’m Not a Politician) consider what has led us to this moment and ask: are we at a dangerous tipping point for democracy and public life, or is this how society has always functioned? Chaired by Julia Wheeler.
4.30–5.30pm LC11
Lying: A Social Superpower?
12.15–1.15pm
4.45–5.45pm LE31
Felix White (It’s Always Summer Somewhere), for reasons often beyond him, has always been deeply in love with cricket. His passion for the game is at the fore on the BBC ‘s number one cricket podcast and 5 Live show, Tailenders He joins Tailenders co-host Greg James for a chat about his booka funny, heart-breaking and endlessly engaging love letter to the game.
The Daffodil Restaurant
Ticket includes a two-course lunch and a glass of wine.
2.30–3.30pm LR25
1–3pm LDF11
Hotel du Vin £30
Crisis: Ukraine and Europe
The Garden Theatre £10
10.15–11.15am
11am–12pm LR70
Responding to
A Matter of Life and Cricket
Join Hugo as he broadcasts live from Cheltenham, hosting the first hour of his popular Times Radio show from the Forum stage. For this light-hearted debate on the big stories of the day, he is joined by the Labour MP and campaigner Jess Phillips (Everything You Really Need to Know About Politics) and the comedian Geoff Norcott (Where Did I Go So Right?). Can they agree about anything at all? And will Hugo keep the peace? Come along and find out.
Jarvis Cocker
Breakfast with The BreakfastHealthyWeekendTimes:
Designer and Festival Guest Curator Inua Ellams is joined by art historian Rosalind Mckever, the V&A’s senior fashion curator Claire Wilcox (Fashioning Masculinities and Professor of Modern History Dominic Janes British Dandies) to discuss this movement, the historical origins of this creativity and some of the scandals that fashioned a nation.
The Garden Theatre £12
British-Iranian chef Sabrina Ghayour’s debut, Persiana, was a cookbook phenomenon, her simple yet flavour-filled dishes from across the southern and eastern Mediterranean becoming on-trend dinner party staples. She has since published four further mouthwatering titles: Sirocco, Feasts, Bazaar and Simply. With Persiana Everyday she returns full circle to where she started, with a collection of easy, everyday recipes that recreate and reinvent the flavours of her ancestry: Persian with influences from the Turkish, Arab, Armenian and Afghani cultures and cuisines celebrated by her family.
KawakamiMieko
A multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller, over 30 novels translated into 36 languages, adaptations across radio, stage and screen, the recipient of a knighthood for services to literature and charity, and some of the world’s biggest crime fiction prizes including the Crime Writers’ Association’s Diamond Dagger, Ian Rankin makes his highly-anticipated Cheltenham return with his brand new John Rebus thriller, A Heart Full of Headstones. He talks to Sam Baker
3–4pm LR72
LC17
At a moment of unprecedented creativity in men’s fashion, and continuing reflections on gender, contemporary designers are questioning established forms, seeking to liberate wearers from traditional models of masculine dress.
Town Hall, Pillar Room £12
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £12
SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER 9–10.30am LDF03
Musician and Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker reveals secrets from his early life in Sheffield in his book Good Pop, Bad Pop. He recounts how a selection of random objects found in his loft prompted him to write a memoir about life before Britpop. This event includes live captioning.
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £10
10.30–11.30am LR03 Ian
A rare chance to be part of an intimate audience with a major writer as they revisit a career-defining book. Internationally bestselling crime writer Ian Rankin looks back on Black and Blue a landmark entry in the Tartan Noir genre, the first in the Rebus series to be adapted for television, and the book which propelled him to ‘the elite of British crime writing’ (The Times). He talks to Georgina Godwin
Japanese author Mieko Kawakami* is an international literary sensation. Her bestselling Breasts and Eggs was one of TIME’s ‘Best 10 Books of 2020’ and Heaven was shortlisted for The International Booker Prize 2022. Her most recent novel to appear in English translation All The Lovers In The Night is seeing similar acclaim. She joins* Literary Explorer in Residence Ann Morgan in conversation.
EverydayPersiana
The 2022 Booker Prize Shortlist
The new Director of Chatham House Bronwen Maddox guides us through this fascinating overview of the politics of Europe, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. How does the outwardly strong, united response conceal the separate interests and priorities of individual European countries – and what will be the longterm impact of the Ukraine war on the unity of the EU? Post-Brexit, how does the UK fit into this scenario? Analysing the complex picture in Europe are Bloomberg’s Europe Correspondent Maria Tadeo, Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe and the former defence minister and Chair of RUSI, David Lidington
Celebrate with... Ian Rankin
LQ09
Start your day the right way with an energising breakfast in the company of our panel of health experts from The Times. Health and wellbeing specialist Peta Bee and Harry Jameson, fitness expert and celebrity performance coach, help you reset your lifestyle, sharing hacks for healthier routines and tips for finding motivation through the winter months to look and feel your best. They join Weekend and Beauty Editor Lesley Thomas for a holistic discussion covering physical, mental, nutritional and emotional wellbeing. Rankin
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Presenter and multi-million copy bestselling author Richard Osman talks murder and humour, discussing The Bullet That Missed, the third book in the popular Thursday Murder Club series.
4.30–5.30pm LR35
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
*This participant will appear digitally.
The Times and Sunday Times Forum £12
7574
MenswearTheMasculinities:FashioningArtof
Winning The Booker Prize has a seismic influence on a writer’s life. It’s time to meet the shortlisted writers in with a chance of joining the elite roster of winners which includes Bernardine Evaristo, Margaret Atwood, Hillary Mantel, Arundhati Roy and Kazuo Ishiguro when the 2022 Prize is awarded on 17th October. Director of the Booker Prize Foundation Gaby Wood talks to the talented writers who represent the best of the year’s literary fiction: NoViolet Bulawayo (Glory), Percival Everett (The Trees), Alan Garner* (Treacle Walker), Shehan Karunatilaka (The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida), Claire Keegan (Small Things Like These), Elizabeth Strout (Oh William!).
10–11am LC45
2.30–3.30pm
The founder and ringmaster of the prize-winning literary cabal Neu! Reekie! Michael Pedersen brings a night of Fantastic Racket to Cheltenham. A recipe of poetry, prose, music, and all sorts of literary rambunctiousness, the night features an all-star cast of literary marvels, including spoken word from Hollie McNish Inua Ellams, Yomi Sode and Pedersen himself plus music from enthralling Emirati soul singer Arqam Find herein: vim, verve and verse that will sink into your bones, tickle the tender bits, and ruffle the feathers of any low flying birds.
Richard Herring
The Garden Theatre £12
6.30–7.30pm LC20
Jeremy Bowen: The Making of the MiddleModernEast
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Crassus was a modern man in an ancient world, a pioneer disrupter of finance and politics, and the richest man of the last years of the Roman republic. Without his catastrophic ambition, Crassus might have quietly entered history as Rome’s first modern political financier. Instead, he led an army on an unprovoked campaign against Parthia which scarred Roman minds for generations. Author Peter Stothard chats to Mary Beard about this fascinating figure.
Juan ColombianVásquez:GabrielGreat
6.30–7.30pm LR31
Juan Gabriel Vásquez, also an acclaimed translator for E M Forster and Victor Hugo in Spanish joins fellow translator Daniel Hahn Catching Fire: A Translation Diary) for a career-spanning conversation of a literary life lived between languages.
The Read
The BBC’s ‘man in the Middle East’ Jeremy Bowen shares stories of ordinary men and women on the front line; their leaders, both brutal and benign; and the power games between those jostling for political, religious and economic control. Drawing on his long experience as BBC Editor for the region, he takes us on a journey across its complex past, troubled present and uncertain future. Chaired by Julia Wheeler
7–8pm LE07
Centred on the film director, Sergio Cabrera, Retrospective is the latest novel in the career of one of Colombia’s most esteemed and outspoken writers.
7.15–8.15pm LB08
The Daffodil Restaurant £80 for a team of 4 Ticket includes a fish and chip supper. Bar open until late.
Crassus: The First Tycoon
Sports presenter and former gymnast Gabby Logan talks about her memoir and first book The First Half, revealing the high and lows of her successful and eventful sporting career and the personal challenges and tragedies she has faced. This event includes live captioning.
The Hive £10
Parabola Arts Centre £10
8.30–10.30pm LP10
MotherloadThe
6–7pm LB10
7–10pm LDF28
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
The Garden Theatre £10
9–10pm LR75
RacketFantastic
Comedian Richard Herring talks with honesty and humour to Matthew Stadlen about his battle with testicular cancer. His book Can I Have My Ball Back is a heartfelt memoir about his cancer and addresses what constitutes ‘maleness’ in our society.
5–6pm LT01
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14
8.30–9.30pm LE37
Festival Guest Curator and acclaimed playwright of Barber Shop Chronicles and Three Sisters Inua Ellams and bestselling poet Hollie McNish have both staged acclaimed retellings of Sophocles’ classic play for contemporary audiences. Together they discuss what it is about this ancient heroine that still speaks to us today.
8.30–9.30pm LR14
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
AntigoneofDaughterOedipus:Retold
9.15–10.15pm LR51
The Big BBC Quiz Night
Gabby Logan
Mothers can be tricky things. In major Norwegian writer Vigdis Hjorth’s Is Mother Dead? the estrangement between mother and daughter has been so long and acrimonious that the nowmiddle aged daughter must discover whether her mother is even still alive when she finally returns to her hometown. A darkly funny, and sometimes shocking, cat and mouse game of surveillance and psychological torture ensues. The idea of an intrusive motherin-law reaches new heights in Canadian Ainslie Hogarth’s Motherthing when a young wife is haunted by her husband’s mother’s vengeful ghost in her dark, black-humour filled novel. They talk to Clare Clark
7–8pm LR32
Parabola Arts Centre £12
JustBlackman:MalorieSayin’
From The Archers to The Office, from Desert Island Discs to Dad’s Army from Fawlty Towers to Fleabag... the Beeb has been part of our lives for 100 years. Your quiz mistress, legendary RuPaul’s Drag Race star Ginny Lemon, presents a bespoke pub quiz for the Festival, filled with brainteasers about your favourite shows, stars and characters. Bring a team for a night of frivolity, fish and chips, and factual recall after a few drinks... Prize for the winners!
As the daughter of Oedipus, Antigone was dealt a cruel hand at birth – even by the standards of Greek tragedy. When her brothers are slain fighting for the throne of Thebes, her defiance of King Creon’s edict not to bury her brother’s body sets in motion a chain of devastating consequences.
As a prolific traveller and cultural commentator (with visits to more than 70 countries and four continents to her name) Nanjala Nyabola has a fascinating perspective on exploring the world and the stories we tell about it. Being a black, female, African travel writer in a space that has traditionally been dominated by white, European men, she has revealed in Travelling While Black how the business of travel is packed with assumptions and biases that stop us seeing much of what the globe has to offer. She shares her thoughts in this keynote interview with Literary Explorer in Residence Ann Morgan
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Over more than 30 years and 70 books Malorie Blackman has shaped the landscape of British literature and inspired a generation of readers and writers. Now, for the first time, it’s her own story that takes centre stage. She joins Clarissa Pabi to share insights into the highs and lows that shaped her and discuss the importance of dreaming big.
The NyabolaNanjalaInterview:World
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER 76 77
The Hive £10
In a condemned Glasgow tower block, residents slowly trickle away until the young man of Ryan O’Connor’s The Voids is left alone with only the angels and devils in his mind for company. The Scotsman described the book as ‘perhaps the most intriguing Scottish debut for a decade’. Luke Cassidy’s Iron Annie – a mix of Thelma and Louise and Lisa McInerney’s The Glorious Heresies with a dash of Pulp Fiction - is a wild ride through Dundalk’s underworld. Shortlisted for The Desmond Elliott Prize 2022, it heralds the arrival of a major new Irish writer. They talk to Alex Clark about their acclaimed first novels.
We can’t wait to welcome the bestselling author of Daisy Jones and the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. A hugely popular writer at the top of her game, Taylor Jenkins Reid joins us to discuss Carrie Soto Is Back, a portrait of female ambition in all its raw glory set in the pressure-cooker world of elite tennis.
amazing
Rachel Bright and Jim Field: The Gecko and the Echo
LF53
12.15–1.15pm Jim Kay and Neil HarryIllustratingPacker:Potter
EVENTSFAMILY10–11am
author
With paint, pencil and pixels, illustrator Jim Kay along with collaborating illustrator Neil Packer conjure the wizarding world of Harry Potter, bringing breath-taking scenes and unforgettable characters to life. Talking with children’s author and broadcaster Chris Smith (Frankie Best Hates Quests) these two artists reveal the creative process from concept and model-making to the finished art.
funny, strange and thrilling Welsh stories to life are author and broadcaster Matt Brown (Compton Valance) and previous Children’s Laureate for Wales author Eloise Williams (Gaslight) in an
Town Hall, Pillar Room £7 Ages 9+
Imagine interviewing authors, scientists, artists, film stars and adventurers for your job. That’s exactly what the journalists at The Week Junior and The Week Junior Science+Nature do. In this exciting and interactive workshop, journalists Michael Dalton and Stevie Derrick reveal how they work out what to ask and how to turn interviews into interesting articles. Learn the five golden rules before interviewing a mystery guest and writing up the results for your chance to be published in The Week Junior
Mystery, magic and myth – The Mab is full to the brim with new versions of old tales from the Mabinogi. Bringing these enchanting storytelling event, Suite, Queens Hotel Child £10, Adult FREE Ages 9+ one accompanying adult per child.
Nick MuseumsSuperSharratt:Silly Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 4+
cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER
of its people, places and wildlife with
The Garden Theatre £7 Ages 11+
inside the super-stinky Poo-seum, keep super-quiet at the
11.45am–12.45pm LF33 Matt Brown and Eloise Williams: Epic Welsh Stories The Hive
LF08
Only
Exercise your imaginations with author and illustrator duo Rachel Bright and Jim Field, the team behind bestselling adventure series, The Lion Inside. In a fun-filled event packed with stories, drawing and games, join Rachel and Jim as they celebrate their newest title, The Gecko and the Echo. Listen along to this flamboyantly fun tropical tale of love, fame and friendship and learn how to draw one of the iconic animal characters from the books.
with live drawing from illustrator Max Low 10–11.30am LF17 12.30–2pm LF18 JournalistsJuniorTheWorkshop:WeekYoung Regency
78 79
SATURDAY 15 Box Office 01242 850270
12–1pm LF44
Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 3+
10–11am LF41 BilanJasbinderand IncredibleIndia,Chakrabarti:NinaIndia The Hive £7 Ages 6+ Travel to
Join award-winning fantasy author Vashti Hardy as she brings the fantastical worlds and characters of Brightstorm, Wildspark, Crowfall and Harley Hitch to life. In a session bursting with props, anecdotes, extracts and secrets, find out about the finale in her Brightspark trilogy (Firesong) and discover what might be coming next. Bring a notebook to jot down some world-building tips for young writers.
1–2pm LF68 Hardy: World Building
Going to the museum has never been so much fun! Much-loved illustrator Nick Sharratt invites you to stroll around eight magnificently silly museums, in this picture-book giggle-fest packed with jokes, puns and drawing activities. Step Snoozeum Confuseum! There’s even an All-About-YOU-seum. India, Incredible India a celebration award-winning Jasbinder Bilan (Asha and the Spirit Bird, Tamarind and the Star of Ishta, Aarti and the Blue Gods) and illustrator Nina Chakrabarti. From elephants bathing from a houseboat in Kerala, to ancient cave paintings in Bhimbetka, Delhi’s bustling streets and the snowcapped peaks of the Himalaya, discover fascinating facts in this fun event with storytelling and live illustration. £7
for
joyful
and you won’t believe your eyes at the
Ages 4+
Vashti
pick up your
) chats with
Party on down to celebrate 10 years of Hot Key books, one of the top book publishers for teens and YA. Online creator @Booksandquills Sanne Vliegenthart (Book Club Journal Hot Key Publisher Emma Matthewson three of their amazing authors Rebecca Barrow (Bad Things Happen Here), Alexandra Christo (To Kill A Kingdom/ Princess of Souls) and Ciannon Smart (Witches Steeped in Gold/Empress Crowned in Red ) about their books, the YA community, the impact of TikTok and how to get your writing published. Look out for a special guest appearance and very own party PercyButterworth:theParkKeeper
cheltenhamfestivals.com SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER 3–4pm LF46 Yuval Zommer: Big Book Belongingof Regency Suite, Queens Hotel This will be a relaxed performance. Sure to inspire young naturalists, come and celebrate our connection with planet Earth with bestselling author and Big Books series, Did you know butterflies have bedtimes? Or that sea otters hold hands? Uncover a treasure trove of beautiful and surprising connections between humans and the natural world, followed by a short drawing session inspired by the theme of ‘Belonging’ with Yuval’s help and tips. 4–5pm LF78 Mr Dilly’s Ancient Egyptians Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 6+ Get ready…because you are about to drop dead! Enter the afterlife of the ancient Egyptians with Marcus Dilly in this hilarious show of drama, music, comedy and audience participation. Laugh until your insides hurt in a hilarious burst of foul fun, fascinating facts and exciting entertainment for all the family inspired by the global bestselling book You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy! 3.15–4.15pm LF15 How? What? Why? CrazyAnswersExperttoQuestions The Hive £7 Ages 8+ Have you ever wondered where space ends, how skyscrapers stay up or why spiders have so many eyes? Editor of The Week Junior Science+Nature, Dan Green, Dr Maggie AderinPocock ( Am Made of Stardust?), Isabel Thomas (The Bedtime Book of Impossible Questions) and Peter Gallivan (How to Build a Skyscraper) are experts in solving complex conundrums. They’ll be sharing some of the craziest questions they’ve ever encountered, so bring your headscratchers along too. POSTERSHUGE £3.49 JANUARY 2022 ISSUE 44MAKING SENSE OF THE UNIVERSE Science Nature PANDA CUBS CRYPTOCURRENCY CASSOWARIES MOUNTAIN GOATS MOON ROCKET POSTERSHUGEFREE! Discover powerfearsometheoffire p22 Megalodon: the fishy tale of the scariest shark p48 AWARDWINNING! GLIDERS!LIONS! Meet the world's deadliest creatures and their wild weapons p12 TOXIC! LETHALSPIT! STINGINGSPINES! DEADLYSKIN! FANGS!FATAL WINNING! power of fire 5.15–6.15pm LF35 Hot Key’s 10th Birthday Book Bash The Hive £7 Ages 14+
and
The Hive £7 Ages 4+ This will be a relaxed performance. Percy the Park Keeper creator and award-winning author and illustrator Nick Butterworth is in town with a joyous session for all the family. Find out how Nick creates his much-loved picture books and characters and discover what’s in store for Percy and his animal pals in their brandnew adventure A Flying Visit Live drawing included. 80 81
bag. Part of New Dutch Writing, supported by SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 2.30–3.30pm LF24 Greg James and Chris Smith: Super Ghost The Garden Theatre £7 Ages 9+ The UK’s funniest writing duo Greg James and Chris Smith (Kid Normal and The Great Dream Robbery) introduce their brandnew children’s book Super Ghost, an epic superhero adventure with a twist. Packed full of laughter and imagination, games and audience participation, come along and find out what it takes to be a real superhero. 2–3pm LF57 Laura RainbowAnderson:EllenGrey Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 7+ Journey to The Weatherlands with Amelia Fang creator Laura Ellen Anderson. Explore the magical setting for her new series Rainbow Grey and meet extraordinary characters along the way, including Ray Grey and her Weatherling friends Snowden Everfreeze and Droplett Dewbells. Create your very own book cover featuring a Weatherling character and learn how to draw Ray’s adorable cloud-cat, Nim. 3–4pm Jonathan Stroud: The BrowneScarlettOutlawsand Town Hall, Pillar Room £7 Ages 12+ Lose yourself in a broken, future England where gunfights and monsters collide, with international bestselling author Jonathan Stroud (The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne and Lockwood & Co). Discover how this award-winning author sculpts his landscapes and daring characters and transforms his middle-of-the-night scribbles into scenes, chapters, plot twists and spinetingling monsters. 1.30–2.15pm LF01 Nick
Against a rainy backdrop of three-day weeks and IRA bombings, this unending stream of singalong pop offered the promise of eternal childhood. Over a hearty brunch, The Times rock and pop critic Will Hodgkinson (In Perfect Harmony relives the most coloursaturated decade in music with journalist David Hepworth ( Abbey Road).
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum
Strictly Come Dancing’s Motsi Mabuse talks about growing up in apartheid-era South Africa and uprooting her life to fulfil her dream to become one of the worlds’ top professional dancers. In her new book, Finding My Own Rhythm she shares the obstacles and triumphs that have made it all worth it. Bonneville is one of Britain’s most accomplished actors, familiar to audiences worldwide for his roles in Notting Hill the Paddington films and Downton Abbey From getting his big break as Third Shepherd in the school nativity play, to mistaking a Hollywood star for an estate agent, Hugh creates a brilliantly vivid picture of a career on stage and screen. Chaired by Julia Wheeler This event includes live captioning.
The Garden Theatre £12
SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 DAY PLANNER 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm The Times and The Sunday Times Forum The Garden Theatre Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage Town Hall, Pillar Room The Hive The ParabolaHotelDaffodildeVinArts Centre Regency Suite, Queens Hotel Adult Familyeventsevents LC17 EuropeUkrainetoRespondingCrisis:and LC45 Hugo theThroughCantersRifkindNews LF53 The HarryWorldMagicalofPotter LU05 A CricketofMatterLifeand LR25 OsmanRichard LDF03 Breakfast with The Times: HealthyWeekendBreakfast LF41 IndiaIndia,Chakrabarti:BilanJasbinderandNinaIncredible LF08 Nick MuseumsSuperSharratt:Silly LF17 Workshop: The Week Junior Young Journalists LL13 MenswearTheMasculinities:FashioningArtof LR03 Ian Rankin LR70 KawakamiMieko LF33 Matt Brown and StoriesEpicWilliams:EloiseWelsh LF44 Rachel Bright and Jim Field: The Gecko and Echothe LF18 Workshop: The Week Junior Young Journalists LF68 Vashti Hardy: BuildingWorld LF01 ParkPercyButterworth:NicktheKeeper LDF11 Persiana Everyday LF57 Laura GreyRainbowAnderson:Ellen LR72 Rankinwith...IanCelebrate LF46 BigZommer:YuvalBook Belongingof LF24 Greg James and GhostSmith:ChrisSuper LQ09 Lying: A Superpower?Social LF31 BrowneScarlettOutlawsStroud:Jonathanand Lf15 How? What? Why? questionstoanswersExpertcrazy LF78 Mr EgyptiansAncientDilly’s LE31 CockerJarvis LC11 GreeceModernUnderstanding LR35 The ShortlistBooker2022Prize LT01 The Read the NyabolaNanjalaInterview:World LF35 Hot Book10thKey’sBirthdayBash LB10 RetoldAntigoneofDaughterOedipus: LE07 LoganGabby LR31 JustBlackman:MalorieSayin’ LE37 HerringRichard LR14 JenkinsTaylor Reid LR75 ofonDarknesstheEdgeTown LC20 Bowen:Jeremy The Making of the MiddleModernEast LR32 MotherloadThe LB08 Crassus: The First Tycoon LR51 Juan GreatColombianVásquez:Gabriel LDF28 The Big BBC Quiz Night LP10 RacketFantastic
LB06
Of all the dead authors in the world, Terry Pratchett is the most alive.’ - John Lloyd At the time of his death in 2015, the beloved Discworld author was working on his finest story yet - his own. Told by his headteacher at age six he’d never amount to anything, he went on to become one of the UK’s most popular writers, selling 80 million books worldwide. Terry’s former assistant and close friend Rob Wilkins sits down with Festival Guest Curator Inua Ellams - who credits Pratchett’s Pyramids as the book that made him a writer - to discuss completing Terry’s remarkable story in Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes
1970s Britain: while the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac ruled the albums chart, the singles chart was swinging along to the likes of Brotherhood of Man, Sweet and the Wombles. Heard on Radio 1, Saturday-night TV, down the pub and even emanating from your parents’ record player... It was never cool, but it was the real soundtrack of the decade.
10–11am LR48 NakamuraFuminori and Crime Fiction from Japan Town Hall, Pillar Room £10 Japan’s Fuminori Nakamura* came to international attention novel,his Kenzaburō Ōe Prize-winningwith The Thief, by several acclaimedfollowedbooks exploring the dark side of human nature, among them My Annihilation, Cult X and The Boy in the Earth. In this event programmed in partnership with the Japan Foundation, award-winning literary translator Allison Markin Powell* and publisher at Soho Crime (which specialises in publishing atmospheric crime fiction from across the world) Juliet Grames* speak alongside Nakamura about his renowned work, as well as the broader picture of Japanese crime fiction, and what goes into bringing it to foreign readers. Chaired by Daniel Hahn 1–2pm LE04 BonnevilleHugh The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £16 Hugh
Ticket includes brunch.
£14
,
12–1pm
8382
9.30–11am LDF07
The Daffodil Restaurant £25
10.30–11.30am LE49 Motsi
How to Read a Latin Poem
theSoundtrackHodgkinson’sWillof70s
*This participant will appear digitally. cheltenhamfestivals.com SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER 11.30am–12.30pm LD18 Terry OtherworldlyPratchett: Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12 ‘
Back by popular demand, the Classics dons Mary Beard Llewelyn Morgan and Peter Stothard join together to consider the poetry of Catallus. Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His surviving works are still read widely and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art. Translations are provided and only minimal knowledge of Latin required. Mabuse
AroundWorld:NewDystopiastheGlobe
5.30–7pm LDF19
3–4pm
Ticket includes fizz and nibbles.
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £16
SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER
Spies, Lies and State Secrets
A rare chance to be part of an intimate audience with a major writer as they revisit a career-defining book. Victoria Hislop journeys back to her acclaimed, million-copy No. 1 bestselling novel The Island a dramatic tale of four generations, from the 1930s to the present day, rent by war, illicit love, violence and leprosy. She talks to Alex Clark and answers your questions about the book.
Ticket includes a signed copy of A Heart that Works, RRP £16.99
4–5pm LR76
Derek Owusu began writing That Reminds Me in a mental health facility, using its protagonist to understand his own breakdown. The book went on to win The Desmond Elliott Prize 2020 for the year’s best debut novel. Cheltenham audiences will be first to see Osuwu’s new book Losing the Plot which traces his Ghanaian immigrant family history in search of understanding and belonging. Rooted in a multi-generational Turkish family and Desmond Elliott Prize 2022-shortlisted, Tice Cin’s Keeping the House sees a young woman find her place in richly drawn community and has been described as ‘a cult classic in the making’ (The Guardian).
Lifelines andDerekBloodlines:andOwusuTiceCin
A WhiskyScotland’sAroundJourney
1–3.30pm
Ticket includes a charcuterie board and whisky tastings.
When the real world feels like a dystopia, what can we learn from dystopian literature? And how does the genre differ across countries and cultures? A global panel joins our Literary Explorer in Residence Ann Morgan to discuss reading and writing dystopian fiction in the context of today: Icelandic author Kristín Ómarsdóttir (Swanfolk), Franco-Djiboutian writer Abdourahman Waberi (In the United States of Africa) and Chinese-American author Jessamine Chan (The School for Good Mothers). How does such fiction widen our understanding of the world we face and can it prompt real-world change off the page?
Ticket includes a two-course lunch and a glass of wine.
Inua Ellams Meets Nida Manzoor
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Books for Thought is a project by EUNIC London and the Institut français du RoyaumeUni, funded by the EUNIC Cluster Fund.
Sunday Lunch with Alan Titchmarsh
Facing Loss
5.30–6.30pm LE33
Programmed by Guest Curator Celeste Ng
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
The Garden Theatre £12
Lenny also introduces his latest book Rising to the Surface which looks at the successes and the traumas of his early career in the 1970s and 80s. This event includes live captioning.
Alan Titchmarsh and Bradbury:Kate A Year in the Garden
Lenny Henry:
4–5pm LM01
LR24
Karl KnausgaardOve
The Garden Theatre £12
The InterviewTimesSundayCulture
National treasure and presenter of ITV’s hugely popular Love Your Garden, Alan Titchmarsh (The Gardener’s Almanac) is joined by wildlife gardener, author and broadcaster Kate Bradbury (The Tree In My Garden) to share their wealth of knowledge and contagious passion for gardens and nature. They look to the seasons ahead with advice on what to sow and grow, projects to engage in, wildlife to spot and protect, and flowers to celebrate. Come armed with your questions...
1.30–2.30pm LR34
Rob Delaney
The Daffodil Restaurant £30
Hotel du Vin £30
Desert Island Books: Ian Hislop
3.15–4.15pm LE32
Much-loved comedian and actor Lenny Henry sits down with journalist and broadcaster Miquita Oliver in The Sunday Times Culture Interview. He reminisces on his rich career, spanning everything from stand-up and Shakespeare to Comic Relief.
Competition between the great powers is back on the agenda, and governments around the world are turning to secret statecraft and the hidden hand to navigate these uncertain waters. Meanwhile, we can observe distant war zones through our social media and smartphones, and open-source investigators are exposing the corrupt and powerful at the darkest corners of society. Rory Cormac (How to Stage a Coup) and investigative journalist Geoff White The Lazarus Heist) weigh up the delicate balance between transparency, ethics and security when it comes to sensitive information and consider what this changing landscape means for us all. Chaired by Charlotte Philby (Edith and Kim).
Grave
Award-winning writer and whisky expert Dave Broom (A Sense of Place) takes us on a journey around his native Scotland, visiting distilleries from Islay and Harris to Orkney and Speyside to explore Scotch whisky from the point of view of its terroir – the land, weather, history, craft and culture that feed and enhance the whisky itself. Leading a specially devised tasting menu, Dave will enhance and deepen your understanding of what is in your glass.
LDF08
When Clover Stroud’s beloved sister died suddenly from breast cancer, it tore her life apart. The Red of My Blood charts Clover’s fearless passage through the first year after Nell’s death. Hanne Ørstavik, one of Norway’s most remarkable and admired authors, delves into the complex emotions of bereavement in her new novel, Ti Amo, based on her own experience of losing her husband to cancer. They talk to Georgina Godwin about what life feels like when death interrupts it and consider how – in the face of unimaginable loss – it is possible to rediscover your place in the world.
6–7pm LN08
Nida Manzoor’s anarchic and irreverent comedy We Are Lady Parts about an all-female Muslim punk band has been called ‘outrageously funny’ (USA Today) and ‘gloriously stereotype-defying’ (The Guardian). She has Doctor Who directing credits, a BAFTA and a Rose d’Or Emerging Talent under her belt, as well as a feature film on the way. Don’t miss Festival Guest Curator Inua Ellams chatting to one of filmmaking’s brightest new stars.
Parabola Arts Centre £10
3.30–4.30pm LC26
6–7pm LP27
The Times and Sunday Times Forum £16
A tough task for any bibliophile: if you could only take six books with you to a desert island, which ones would you choose? Following in the footsteps of previous Cheltenham castaways Sebastian Faulks, Maggie O’Farrell and Ian Rankin, this year we hear from Ian Hislop about the books he would be happily marooned with. Chaired by Clare Clark
American comedian and actor Rob Delaney lost his son Henry to a brain tumour. A Heart That Works is his honest account of the harrowing experience, and what he discovered about himself in the process. He talks to Decca Aitkenhead about what compelled him to write the book and why he wants to share his feelings.
The Daffodil Restaurant £35
Celebrate with... Victoria Hislop
5.30–6.30pm LR04
84 85
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £25
Leading Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard’s six-volume My Struggle cycle has been heralded as a masterpiece all over the world. He joins Daniel Hahn to reflect on his remarkable writing career to date and discuss his haunting new novel The Morning Star which sees the lives of nine people brought together by the sudden appearance of a mysterious light in the sky.
Much-loved author, gardener and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh presents his new novel, The Gift. Set in Alan’s beloved Yorkshire Dales, it tells of a young shepherd raised on a remote farm who has the gift of a healing touch. A gentle and uplifting story, it celebrates the wonder of nature and reflects on the ties of family. Join Alan for a delicious Sunday lunch as he chats to Tim Hubbard about his love of writing and what inspires him.
4–5pm LR55
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
ConstantineSusannah
The author of Pandora’s Jar and the new Medusa novel, Stone Blind, Natalie shows you how to survive contact with someone who can turn you to stone with a glance.
Leigh Hodgkinson: Map It Out Workshop
Part of New Dutch Writing supported by:
FAMILYEVENTSFAMILY
The Hive £7 Ages 3+
Andy Treehouse156-StoreyGriffiths:
SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com OCTOBER
Learn how you can make a difference and help make the world a better place with award-winning author and human rights activist Onjali Q Raúf (The Boy at the Back of the Class). Introducing her first non-fiction title Hope on the Horizon, Onjali talks about the inspiration behind her bestselling books, what she loved to read as a child, her work with refugees and all the wonderful people everywhere who help others, whenever they can and wherever they are.
Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 9+
Ages 4+
Only one accompanying adult per child.
10–11am LF36
Having found fame as one half of TV’s Trinny and Susannah, fashion guru Susannah Constantine talks to Tim Hubbard about her extraordinary career featuring stories from her honest and revealing memoir Ready For Absolutely Nothing She discusses moving in royal circles, dating playboys and rubbing shoulders with politicians and popstars. Susannah’s frank disclosures also reveal the darker side of her glamorous life, including her own alcoholism.
Join multi-award-winning author and illustrator Catherine Rayner for a storytelling and live drawing event featuring some of her most loved characters, including Arlo the Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep and her new book Five Bears, a big-hearted picture-book tale of difference, acceptance and bears.
Natalie Haynes: Stone Blind Parabola Arts Centre £12
Onjali Q. Raúf: Hope on the Horizon
LE45
Get Rich or Lie AuthenticityTrying: in the Age of the Internet
8–9pm LR77
8–9pm LC30
Artist, activist and the lead singer of Irish rock band U2 Bono talks to Emma Freud about his memoir Surrender, writing for the first time about his remarkable life and those he has shared it with, from his early days growing up in Dublin, including the sudden loss of his mother when he was 14, to U2’s journey to become one of the world’s most influential rock bands, to his more than 20 years of activism dedicated to the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty. Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story is a nod to the book’s forty chapters, each named after a U2 song. This event includes live captioning.
It’s no easy feat to summarise all of author Yiyun Li’s accolades: among them The Windham-Campbell Prize, The PEN/ Hemingway Award, The Guardian First Book Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for Where Reasons End, her moving novel inspired by the loss of her son to suicide. She joins us in a special visit from the US to discuss her acclaimed writing career and her new novel, The Book of Goose, a propulsive, gripping story of fate, art, exploitation, and intimacy. Chaired by Daniel Hahn
This will be a relaxed performance.
The Garden Theatre £7 Ages 6+
Comedian and classicist Natalie Haynes takes you on a fast-paced tour through the history of Medusa, who she was and why we still see her all around us today.
Mark Billingham
The Garden Theatre £12
10–11am LF61
Crime writer Mark Billingham has sold over 6 million books, had 21 Sunday Times bestsellers and spent over 120 weeks in the top ten. His new novel The Murder Book sees Tom Thorne take on an old nemesis. He talks to Stephanie Merritt
Town Hall, Pillar Room £10
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage £12
Is our digital rat race costing us too much? In Get Rich or Lie Trying Symeon Brown exposes the exploitative world of online hustlers and the stories behind the filtered selfies and gleaming smiles of aspiring influencers. Hanna Bervoets We Had to Remove This Post follows content moderator Kayleigh through the murky world of social media in an exploration of who or what determines our world view. Together with Emily Bootle, whose essay collection This Is Not Who I Am examines our obsession with authenticity, they ask: in the age of the internet, what is right? What is real? And who gets to decide?
Laugh your socks off with Andy Griffiths, award-winning Australian author of the bestselling Treehouse series. Join Andy on his whistle stop UK tour for hilarious tales, ridiculous jokes and side-splitting laughs as you discover the latest happenings in the crazy Treehouse world in Andy’s latest book in the series, The 156-Storey Treehouse
10–11am LF66 12–1pm LF67
Regency Suite, Queens Hotel Child £10, Adult FREE
What is a map? What does it do? Author, illustrator, and co-creator of CBeebies Olobob Top Leigh Hodgkinson (Martha Maps It Out) shares the fun behind map-making in this hands-on family workshop. Let Martha be your guide and explore her world before creating your own map, real or imaginary, using illustrated stickers and drawing materials.
Ticket includes a copy of Surrender: 40 songs, One Story which will be published on 1 November and posted out to customers.
7.45–8.45pm LE19
OneBono:Story
Medusa is one of the most recognisable figures in Greek Myth: her face has stared out at us for millennia, from Agamemnon’s shield in the Iliad to Versace’s logo now. So was Medusa always the terrifying monster we have made her?
7.30–8.30pm
The Times and Sunday Times Forum £30
86 87
The Hive £10
LR60
Yiyun Li
9–10pm LP05
7.30–8.30pm
Hold on to your seat as you journey through the birth of our planet with prizewinning author and illustrator Mini Grey (The Greatest Show on Earth). Charting the big bang to brilliant bacteria and the first humans to walk planet Earth, Mini hosts a fantastically unique tour about the evolution of life as we know it.
YA superstars, best friends, sisters-inlaw and authors Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber share their first young adult book written together, Twin Crowns Twins Wren and Rose star in this high-stakes fantasy rom-com about two sisters separated at birth and vying for the crown – the most addictive read this year. Catherine and Katherine talk all things fantasy and romance and share their top co-writing tips in this unmissable event.
1.30–2.30pm LF29
Town Hall, Pillar Room £7 Ages 12+
Simon Farnaby, actor (Horrible Histories, Ghosts), screenwriter (Paddington 2) and brilliant book writer, talks with author and presenter Anna James (Pages & Co) about his hilarious The Wizard in My Shed series, acting versus writing, his favourite period in history and why funny books are really important.
Be open, be honest, be you! Tom Percival ’s Big Bright Feelings series is the perfect springboard for conversations about empathy, positive self-image and building self-confidence. With live drawing, props and live music, author and illustrator Tom Percival shares picture books and shows us that even little people can have big feelings.
MAGAZINETHEBESTFORCURIOUSKIDS changeCluck! cambiochangementmuuaa pagbag-o wikselje ovana aldaturobih endring history of
Cressida Cowell: Which Way to Anywhere
This will be a relaxed performance.
11.45am–12.45pm LF03
Mini Grey: The ShowGreatestonEarth
This will be a relaxed performance.
cheltenhamfestivals.com SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER
The Hive £7 Ages 5+
12–1pm LF23
The Garden Theatre £7 Ages 9+
Tom Percival: Big Bright Feelings
SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER Box Office 01242 850270
2–3pm LF65
Michael Rosen is one of the nation’s best-loved children’s writers, whose contemporary classics such as We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Jelly Boots, Smelly Boots have delighted children for generations. Join the former Children’s Laureate to celebrate his newest picture book Goldilocks and the Three Crocodiles – a fabulously funny new take on the famous nursery tale.
You Can Do It!
inTheFarnaby:SimonWizardMyShed
STEM ambassador Callum Daniel, author Aoife Dooley (Frankie’s World ) and environmental activists Amy and Ella Meek Be Climate Clever) share their experiences and offer tips to help you tell the world who you are and what you care about.
VOICES FOR
What if the fantasy worlds we imagine were real? Former Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell (How to Train Your Dragon) reveals a 25-year old idea that inspired her new out-of-this-world adventure Which Way to Anywhere Cressida chats about the popular How to Train Your Dragon films, The Wizards of Once books and inspires children to get creating themselves.
When you’re young it can be hard to make yourself heard, but you can still make a difference. Editorial director of The Week Junior, Anna Bassi introduces four young changemakers whose passion for the causes they care about have inspired others to create a cleaner, greener, healthier, and more inclusive and accessible world.
2–3pm LF12
Twin FriendyourComsFantasyWritingCrowns:RomwithBest
Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 8+
Town Hall, Pillar Room £7 Ages 9+
£3.25JUST 18 June 2022 Issue theweekjunior.co.uk340 SCIENCE ANIMALS PUZZLES PEOPLE APPS PHOTOS BOOKS SPORT BELLY BUTTON WORLD’S BEST NEWS & FACTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE HarryCelebratePo er’s 25th birthday p21 MULTIAWARDWINNING! The chickenshistoryhiddenof p10 NASA goes on the hunt for UFOs p6 Making sense of the world Harry Po CHANGE Climate activists join forces to support girls’ education p3
12–1pm LF16
2–3pm LF32
The Hive £7 Ages 4+
88 89
This will be a relaxed performance.
An RosenwithAfternoonMichael
Parabola Arts Centre £7 Ages 5+
Sir Michael and Lady McWilliam Paul and Kathy Mottershead
festival. WIN subscribe to Trust for your chance to win the titles on the Baillie Gifford Prize 2022 longlist and a case of fine wine. MonksFran©
Miles and Monica Dunkley
The T S Eliot Foundation
Stephen Wood Gold Patrons
Stephen and Tania Hitchins Family
Sally ColinDimmerandSusan Enticknap
The McKelvie Family
Dominic and Jannene Collier
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Erika Fatland 32
Diana Evans 50 Diane Ewen 35
Kimberly McIntosh 60
98 99
Catherine Rayner 87
Chloe Ashby 30 41
Anne-Marie Imafidon 22
Claire Daverley 66
Alex Barrow 35
Dave Kelsall 35
Clare Clark 22 25 40 43 49 85 56 57 70 76
Ingrid Christophersen 60
Lesley Thomas 74
Alexander McCall Smith 56
Claire Wilcox 74
Alice Sherwood 56
Ann Morgan 10 11 50 84 59 74 76
Daljit Nagra 71
Johanna Thomas-Corr 42 49 50
Aoife Dooley 88
Alan Bilton 59
Christina Riggs 69
Catherine Philp 52
Juan Gabriel Vásquez 77
Charlotte Vassell 56
Christina Lamb 52
David Lidington 74 David McKee 44
Diana Darke 51
Kristín Ómarsdóttir 84
Laura Bates 40
Leah Davis 32 41 42
Cal Flyn 56
Daniel Mulhall 39
Leo Houlding 24
Asma Khan 52
Claire Irvin 59
Krystle Zara Appiah 60
Angela Hartnett 42
Ciannon Smart 28 81
Jo Baring 71
Ellie Nunn 32
Andriy Lesiv 55
Bridget Hart 25
Charlie Craggs 27 45
Dorothy Byrne 75
Jo Baker 50
Ali Milani 30
Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer 59 India Knight 60
John Holland 52
Anthony Sattin 59
John Tucker 64
Jade McGlynn 41 James Cahill 30 James Crawford 49 James Hawes 61 James Marriott 32 James Naughtie 54 James Walton 57 Jan Carson 52 Jarvis Cocker 75 Jasbinder Bilan 78
Bronwen Maddox 74
Chris Haslam 59
Bruce Daisley 25
David Smith 54 Davina McCall 41
Christine Otten 59
Waberi 84
Lenny Henry 84 90
Graham Norton 57 Greg James 75 80 Greg Jenner 46 Grigory Semenchuk 55 Hana Walker-Brown 40 Hanna Bervoets 86 Hannah Gold 36 Hannah MacInnes 24 29 39 64
Caryl Lewis 47 50
Ardal O’Hanlon 72
Daniel Susskind 62
Allan Mallinson 41 64 69
John Sergeant 22
Barry Forshaw 25 Belinda Kirk 23 Ben Hoyle 40 Ben Macintyre 64 Ben Murray 46 Ben Short 64
Cathy Newman 24 Cathy Rentzenbrink 59 65
Callum Daniel 88 Caroline Eden 23 30 Caroline Hutton 40 Caroline O’Donoghue 29 39 40
Lauren Child
Dolly Alderton 43 Dominic Janes 74
Adam Horovitz 42
Abigail Bergstrom 40 42 62
Frank Wynne 49 Fuminori Nakamura 83 Gabby Dawnay 35 Gabby Logan 76 Gaby Wood 75
Afra Atiq 72
Clive Birnie 25
Chie Kutsuwada 27 45
Anand Menon 74
Andy Rea 32
Craig Graham 45 Cressida Cowell 89
Chris Patten 52
Catriona Ward 32
Alex Falase-Koya 33
Andrew Monaghan 69
Christie Watson 41
John Connolly 32
Delia Smith 65 Derek Owusu 85
Jim Field 79 Jim Kay 28 79
Joseph Coelho 17 24 36
Josh Glancy 40
Alan Titchmarsh 84 85
Alex Clark 23 32 84 62 65 70 72 77
Clíona Ní Ríordáin 60
Emilie Pine 62 Emily Bootle 86 Emily Ferris 69 Emily Jupitus 71 Emma Carroll 17 44 47 Emma Freud 29 38 Emma John 65
Damon Galgut 17 31
Brian Klaas 40 41
Amy Jeffs 24 25 32
INDEX INDEX
Andrew Neil 38
A F Steadman 47 A M Homes Abdourahman41
Celeste Ng 12 70
Christine Pillainayagam 27 36
Inua Ellams 13 83 85 76 74 77 Isabel Hardman 24 30
Faisal Devji 54 Felix White 75
Jessie Burton 38 51
Judith Mackrell 22
Julia Leonard 30 31 42 52 54
Katy Hessel 12 30 31 38 Katy Wan 41
Kelly Beaver 70
Justin Webb 13 31 32 41 Kamila Shamsie 23 Karen Armstrong 23 Karen E Smith 70
Kerry Brown 64
Andy Griffiths 87
Aingeala Flannery 61 Ainslie Hogarth 76
Dr Alex George 90 Edward Enninful 32
Adam Rutherford 61 65
Emma Matthewson 28 81 Emma Tucker 38 40 Emma Wedgeworth 38 Erica Wagner 71
Isabel Thomas 81 J P Rose 27 36
Anna Murphy 22 23
Charlie Mackesy 38
Anna Berkley 23
Cathy Adams 59
Claire McGlasson 56
Alan Johnson 39 40 32
Danny Finkelstein 39 66 Darren McGarvey 61
Antti Tuomainen 25
Ella Meek 88
Julia Wheeler 30 36 43 49 52 83 60 66 54 56 70 75 76
Julie Smith 30
Erinch Sahan 51
Bexy Cameron 50 Bonnie Garmus 49 Bono 86
Emilia Hart 60
Benedict Allen 61 Benjamin Dean 36
Henry Marsh 22 Henry Zeffman 69 Heston Blumenthal 70 Hollie McNish 76 77 Holly Race 27 36
Kate Hindley 36 Kate Humble 69
Laura Thompson 60
Daniel Hahn 39 49 83 84 54 77
Alexandra Christo 28 81
Laurence-Llewelyn44 Bowen 31
Amy Meek 88
Christopher de Bellaigue 40
Erling Kagge 61
Juliet Grames 83
Angela Scanlon 42
Horatio Clare 24 Howard Jacobson 60 Hugh Bonneville 83 Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 54 Hugo Rifkind 74 Iain Martin 54 Ian Hislop 85 Ian McEwan 29
Charlotte Philby 84
Dave Broom 85
Caleb Parkin 16
Chris Smith 28 79 80
Ami Bouhassane 22
Hannah Rose Woods 61 Hannah White 30 Hanne Ørstavik 85 Harry Baker 25 Harry Jameson 74 Hashi Mohamed 61 66 Helen Beedham 49
Kitty Tait 31
Alexis Caught 27 45
Clarisse Loughrey 13 55 72
Catherine Doyle 28 89
Dizz Tate 56
Alice Thomson 39 57
Anton du Beke 57
Charlotte McDonald-Gibson 50
Ian Morris 33 Ian Rankin 74 75
Jay Blades 50 Jeffrey Boakye 66 Jennifer Bell 45 Jenny Løvlie 90 Jenny Pearson 44 Jeremy Bowen 76 Jeremy Hunt 24 Jess Phillips 74 Jessamine Chan 70 84
John Lloyd 71 John Pienaar 30
Alison Markin Powell 83
Anna James 36 44 47 88
Cinzia DuBois 69
Alice Vernon 43
Debbie Kersley 8 Decca Aitkenhead 85
Kit Heyam 42
Anna Bassi 88
Laura Ellen Anderson 80
Gaia Vince 49 Garry J. Shaw 69 Gavin Plumley 60 Geoff Dyer 30 32 41 Geoff Norcott 74 Geoff White 84 Georgina Godwin 43 85 59 60 61 55 56 70 75
Leigh Hodgkinson 87
Ferren Gipson 71 Fran Littlewood 66 Frances Spalding 65 Francesca Main 50
Dan Ojari 46
Clover Stroud 85
Eleanor Catton 72
Arqam Al Abri 72 77
Andrew Holgate 42 51
Caroline Sanderson 51
Leena Norms 25 27 36
Arwa Madhawi 70
John Walsh 42 John Witherow 38 Jonathan Stroud 28 80
Eloise Williams 78
Eleanor Ford 64 Elizabeth Strout 25
Julia May Jonas 57
Clarissa Pabi 76
Anna Conomos 8
Costanza Casati 66
Kit de Waal 51
Ayesha Hazarika 69
Giles Tremlett 70 Gillian Tett 51 Ginny Lemon 76 Grace Banks 71
Afua Hirsch 32
Helen Mort 24 Helen Thompson 54 Helena Lee 69
Katherine Angel 57 Katherine Pangonis 31 Katherine Webber 28 89 Kathleen Wyatt 75 Katie Stallard 64
Karl Ove Knausgaard 84 Kate Bradbury 85 Kate Frost 42
Dan Green 81
Anne Enright 39 50
Antony Beevor 69
David Dimbleby 64 David Hepworth 84
Elaine Katzenberger 43
Nick Sharratt 17 78
Richard Coles 51
Oksana Zabuzhko 55
Sophia Smith Galer 57 Sophie Ellis-Bextor 72 Sophie Haydock 30 Sophie Howarth 29 Sophie Raworth 23 49 Stanley Tucci 23 Stathis Kalyvas 75 Stephanie Merritt 86
Michaela Dunbar 30
Nick Cave 72
Margaret Meyer 50
Olesya Khromeychuk 55
Marcus Brigstocke 32 39
Olaf Falfel 8
Rachel Bright 79
Stephen Banfield 32 Stephen King 31 Stephen Smartt 36 Steve Thompson 40 Steven Pinker 64 Stevie Derrick 78 Suad Aldarra 61 Susannah Constantine 86 Susannah Goldsbrough 60 Susie Dent 29
Orlando Figes 41
Mary Ann Sieghart 65
Raven Smith 31 32
Natasha Solomons 56
Nick Sheridan 35
Neil Packer 28 79
Robin Niblett 54
Mikey Please 46
Richard Susskind 62
Mike Stirling 45
Louise Kennedy 52
Muneera Pilgrim 25 Nadine Matheson 70
Marie-Elsa Bragg 50
Louise Callaghan 52
Peter Hennessy 22 54
Maddie Mortimer 25
Luke Cassidy 77
Michael Bird 65
Michael Kelleher 30
Pádraig Ó Tuama 24
Suzanne Fagence-Cooper 60 Symeon Brown 86 Taran Matharu 45 Tariq Ashkanani 70 Taylor Jenkins Reid 77 Terry McDonell 43 Tessa Leuwsha 59
The Week Junior 35 Thomasina Miers 54 Tice Cin 85
Richard Jones 72
Nikki May 71
Peter Bunzl 47
Olia Hercules 30
Onyi Nwabineli 25
Leslie Vinjamuri 40 41
Oliver Kamm 39
Martine Gosselink 59
Oliver Balch 51 65 70
Paula Bowles 33 Paula Harrison 90
Robin Stevens 33
Ross Collins 90
Mark Hodkinson 51
Nathan Law 52
Rachel Burge 27 36
The International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv 12
Monica Ali 65
Max Hastings 22
Mariella Frostrup 57
Michael Dalton 78
Maggie Aderin-Pocock 81
Marina Hyde 31 32
Mary Berry 29
Matt Plampin 45
Matthew Hollis 71
Milly Evans 27 45
Nicholas Jubber 32
Olivia Petter 57
Peter Kemp 42 50
Miquita Oliver 84 Miranda Keeling 29
Natalie Haynes 86
Peter Gallivan 81
Radhika Sanghani 65
Rodaan Al Galidi 50 Roddy Doyle 61 62
Siobhán McSweeney 29 Siri Helle 64
Soma Sara 40
William Sieghart 24 Yiyun Li 86
Yuriy Gurzhy 55 Yuval Zommer 81 Yvette Fielding 27 36 Zoe Gilbert 24
Motsi Mabuse 83
Peter Conradi 66 69
Richard Shirref 41
Maria Tadeo 70 74 75
Michael Pedersen 71 77
Marijke Schermer 65
Malorie Blackman 76
Lyndsey Fineran 25 51
Natalia Vorozhbit 55
Raynor Winn 23
INDEX INDEX
Mark Billingham 86
Rob Delaney 85
Paul Yamazaki 43
Richard Osman 75
Rupert Russell 65
Lewis Hancox 27 36
Matt Chorley 29 39 59
Max Dicken 71
Samantha Clark 62 Samuel Clark 62 Sanne Vliegenthart 28 81 Sarah Baxter 40 Sarah Churchwell 70 Sarah Gerrard-Jones 30 Sarah Jossel 38 Sarah Kendrick 45 Sarah Shaf 56
Melvyn Bragg 50
Lily Le Brun 65
Robert Harris 61
100 101
Lydia Monks 15 17 33
Rebecca Barrow 28 81
Mark Vanhoenacker 23
Nina Chakrabarti 78
Naomi Polonsky 71 Naomi Potter 41
Mary Beard 77
Lucy Fisher 59
Rosalind Mckever 74 Rosie Goldsmith 22 55 56 70 Rosie Jones 44
Peter Stothard 77
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir 25 32 Ysenda Maxtone Graham 32 Yu Jie 64
Onjali Q Raúf 87
Pip Stewart 61 Polly Paulusma 62
Lizzie Penny 49
William Hague 66
Mieko Kawakami 74
Mark Lawson 31
Marcus Dilly 81
Niall Bourke 61
Mini Grey 89
Nick Robinson 31 39
Rebecca Pert 70
Michael Morpurgo 46
Nicola Rollock 66
Peta Bee 74
Mensun Bound 65
Rich Hall 32
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan 69 Roya Nikkhah 56 Ruby Hammer 38
Russell Franklin 50 Ruth Davidson 70 Ruth Jones 52 Ruth Millington 71 Ryan O’Connor 77 S F Said 17 Sabah Meddings 54 Sabrina Ghayour 75 Sally Bayley 51 Sam Baker 29 51 62 66 56 57 70 74
Michael Rosen 89
Morgan Entrekin 43
Nora Gomringer 25
Pragya Agarwal 65
Rana Mitter 64
Richard Harris 36
Timothy Phillips 66 Tina Brown 56
Patrick Maguire 59 69 Patrick McCabe 39
Tim Hubbard 29 51 83 86 62 66 56 57 69
Pieter Waterdrinker 66
Nida Manzoor 85
Richard Rogan 9
Nathan Bryon 90
Monika Radojevic 40
Max Low 78
Michael Cockerell 29 30
Lu Fraser 36
Mika Yoshitake 41
Morgan Owen 27 36
Nanjala Nyabola 76
Yomi Sode 17 77
Paula Sutton 29
Michael Binyon 39
Louie Stowell 35
Michael Ball 62
Michael Perry 30
Maylis Besserie 60
Nicholas Crane 59 61
Nick Butterworth 80
Oliver Jeffers 36
Rashmi Sirdeshpande 35
Martin Kemp 56
Toby Mundy 51 Tolá Okogwu 47 Tom Percival 88 Tom Read Wilson 29 33 Tom Watson 25 Travis Alabanza 42 Tyrell Charles 72 Vanessa Harriss 35 Vashti Hardy 79 Vicky Pattinson 42 Victoria Hislop 84 75 Vigdis Hjorthse 76 Will Hodgkinson 83 William Atkins 31 William Dalrymple 70
Scarlett Sabet 41 Sean O’Hagan 72 Sean Taylor 46 Sebastian Faulks 40 Shamil Thakrar 62 64 36 41 45 Sheila Fitzpatrick 66 Sheila Hancock 56 Shoo Rayner 8
Rachel Johnson 60
Rachel Sylvester 57
Nadiya Hussain 66
Max Whittle 40
Peter Frankopan 52 54
Paddy O’Connell 22
Matthew Stadlen 77
Robbie Millen 43
Melanie Chisholm 24
Peter Ho Davies 69 70
Richard Herring 77
Rob Wilkins 83
Romana Romanyshyn 55 Rory Cormac 84
Si King Sicgmone70 Kludje 31 Silje Ulstein 25 Silvia Ferrara 54 Simon Farnaby 88 Simon Reeve 66 Sinéad Mac Aodha 60 Siobhan Cleary 51
Lyuba Yakimchuk 55
Luisa-Maria MacCormack 71
Mama G 44 Mandu Reid 40
Nicola Tuxworth 43
Pooja Puri 17
Oloni 57
Matt Brown 78
Richard Connolly 69
Booking dates from 10am Life Patrons 17 August Directors Circle Patrons 21 August Gold Patrons 23 August Silver Patrons 26 August Members 31 August 16-25 Members 1 September General Public 7 September THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS Festival Partners Trusts and Foundations Global In-KindPartnersPartners Media Partners 102 103
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Getting To The Festival
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Family Relaxed Events
Digital Participants
Festival Village in Montpellier Gardens (Incl. The Times and The Sunday Times Forum, The Garden Theatre, The Den, The Hive, Story Shack, The Huddle, Waterstones Bookshop & Children’s Bookshop, Feast Café Bar and Festival Box Office) GL50 1UL
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Queens Hotel GL50 1NN
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EVENTSFAMILY INSIDE 7–16 October 2022 Box Office 01242 #CheltLitFestcheltenhamfestivals.com850270
