Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival returns from Thursday 9 – Sunday 12 May 2024
With last year’s festival attracting over 5000 people to the town, across 44 events, Lit Fest ‘24 is set yet again to enthrall and engage, whether you love books or simply have a curious mind. Events will be held in the Assembly Hall Theatre, The Amelia Scott, The Forum, Trinity Theatre and a marquee in Calverley Grounds.
Headliners for this year’s Literary Festival include Radio 2 star and West End legend Michael Ball, with his funny and insightful first memoir Different Aspects. Book your tickets to see him on 9th May, 7:30pm.
Also confirmed to speak is comedy pioneer Lenny Henry, who with his customary warmth and wit, will be guiding audiences through his career in the 1980s and 90s in the wonderfully immersive memoir Rising to the Surface. In conversation with Lenny will be the popular newsreader and presenter Clive Myrie, who recently published his engrossing memoir Everything is Everything. Don’t miss this on 11th May, 7:30pm.
Concluding the list of headliners is travel guru and national treasure Michael Palin, discussing his new book Great Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire. It’s an utterly compelling account of an ordinary man who led an extraordinary life. A blend of biography, history, travelogue and personal memoir this is Michael Palin at his very finest. Catch him at The Assembly Hall Theatre on 10th May, 7:30pm.
Also coming to the Festival is Liz Earle MBE, champion of women’s health, a media influencer and author of many books. Her career has spanned 30 years and she is an authority in the world of natural beauty, nutrition, health, and wellbeing. Liz sorts the fads from the fiction in wellbeing and breaks through the noise that surrounds all the online advice that can overwhelm us. She has taken this mission to heart with her empowering book A Better Second Half coming to Trinity Theatre on 10th May, 5pm.
Over the coming weeks, the full cast of authors and illustrators will be revealed, ranging from internationally acclaimed industry veterans to the local, the young and the new, and it promises once again to be a festival that truly delivers something for everyone! So make sure you keep checking back here.
