Arts & Culture
Marlborough Litfest back for a ninth year

By Ryan Thompson

Now in its ninth year, Marlborough LitFest’s 2018 programme includes a variety of authors throughout the festival weekend (27 - 30 September), featuring new and young fiction writers as well as established names, children’s authors, workshops and poetry events, as part of the Festival’s intention to bring the best of good writing to the town of Marlborough. The complete programme is available on July 11, when the Box Office opens.

Highlights of the 2018 programme include:

Prize-winning novelist and short story writer Rose Tremain will open this year’s Festival on 28 September as the annual Golding Speaker - to highlight Marlborough’s long connection with the Nobel Laureate and Booker Prize winner, William Golding. Rose will talk about her writing including her latest book, a memoir called Rosie: Scenes from a Vanished Life. Friday 28 September, Marlborough Town Hall

Acclaimed war and military historian, Max Hastings, talking about his latest book (published in September 2018), Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975, chronicling the international conflict and how its people were affected. Saturday 29 September, Marlborough Town Hall

Ex-MP Alan Johnson’s latest book In My Life: A Music Memoir, is the fourth instalment in his memoirs, telling the story of his life through the music which has inspired him, from West London in the late 1950s to working as a postman humming Elvis Costello in the 1970s. Saturday 29 September, Marlborough Town Hall

Bestselling author and co-founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Kate Mosse will talk about the first novel in her new historical series, set in 16th century Languedoc, The Burning Chambers. Saturday 29 September, Marlborough Town Hall

Acclaimed contemporary novelist William Boyd has a new book, Love is Blind, set at the end of the 19th century and following the fortunes of a young Scottish musician across Paris, St Petersburg and Edinburgh. Saturday 29 September, Marlborough Town Hall

Katie Hickman blends historical fiction with thriller in her new novel, The House at Bishopsgate, the final book in her trilogy set in 17th century London. Saturday 29 September, The White Horse Bookshop

Back by popular demand, The Translation Duel, chaired by editor and translator Danny Hahn, along with two French translators, Sunday 30 September, Marlborough Town Hall

Hiscox Debut Authors: Adelle Stripe and Mick Kitson, Sunday 30 September, The White Horse Bookshop

Journalist and travel writer Lois Pryce will discuss her third book documenting her travels in Iran, Revolutionary Ride: On the Road in Search of the Real Iran – written after a solo 3,000-mile motorbike ride across Iran in 2013, despite UK-Iran tensions running high at the time. Sunday 30 September, Marlborough Town Hall

The annual Big Town Read author for 2018 is Chris Cleave with his novel, Everyone Brave is Forgotten, a historical novel set in London and Malta during WWII. Each year, Marlborough LitFest and The Reading Agency along with the support of local libraries encourage local book groups and individuals to read a chosen book in advance of the author’s appearance at the LitFest. Sunday 30 September, Marlborough Town Hall

The Marlborough LitFest committee would like to thank its lead sponsor Brewin Dolphin and events sponsors Hiscox Insurance, the William Golding Estate, Marlborough College and St Francis School for their continued support.

For more information go to: www.marlboroughlitfest.org

  • Marlborough Litfest back for a ninth year
  • Marlborough Litfest back for a ninth year
  • Marlborough Litfest back for a ninth year