The 2016 Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival final programme announced

There are six Guest Curators this year bringing their experience and insight to bear on the Festival’s themes. American writer and critic and former editor of Granta Magazine JohnFreeman; Professor of American Literature Sarah Churchwell; and comedian Reginald D Hunter celebrate new voices and established greats in the ‘America Uncovered’ strand; while Rapper, Poet and Academic Akala; Girl Lost in the City’ blogger Emma Gannon and writer and performer Cecilia Knapp delve into new ways of seeing the world in ‘Millennial lives’.

From stage and screen, multi-award winning director Oliver Stone flies into Cheltenham to discuss film-making with Mark Lawson for his first UK literary festival appearance (check); Cheryl Strayed talks about her best-selling memoir Wild, the subject of a film starring Reese Witherspoon; Emma Freud meets film and television star Alan Cumming (The Good Wife);while prolific television writer Andrew Davies (War and Peace, Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice) talks about his extraordinary career; and legendary Dr Feelgood founder Wilko Johnson explains how he defied death after being given 10 months to live, accompanied by his favourite musical tracks.

To balance the serious discussions, a rich strand of comedy, performance poetry, food and music will fill venues across the festival site. The festival plays host to world renowned Chefs Marcus Wareing, and Antonio Carluccio, healthy-eating sensations Joe Wicks and (Deliciously) Ella Mills and back by popular demand, Marcus Brigstocke who will host special guests including comedian Sara Pascoe for his Big Sunday Brunch. Other entertainment comes in the form of Derren Brown who teaches us how to be happy; punk queen Vivienne Westwood on fashion and climate change; and treasured comedian Alan Carr who tells all. There are special screenings of American classic films; performance poetry; a celebration of Dorothy Parker; counter-culture poet Charles Bukowski remembered in the Festival Lates strand and so much more..

The hugely popular family programme returns, offering over 90 events and workshops led by some of the biggest names in children’s writing including Frances Hardinge, Children’s Laureates past and present Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Chris Riddell and Michael Rosen, comedians and writers Julian Clary and David Baddiel, plus Clare Balding introducing her first children’s book. There are birthday celebrations for two giants of the children’s book world - Roald Dahl and Beatrix Potter, along with appearances from Picture Book makers Chris Haughton, Benji Davies and Rob Biddulph, and a rare festival appearance from astronaut Chris Hadfield who launches his new book and shares his passion for space travel. Meanwhile, YA fans can enjoy the leading voices from the genre, including Marcus Sedgwick, Holly Bourne, Holly Smale and CJ Daugherty and mystery writer Robin Stevens.

Beyond the main stages is a whole host of activities for all ages to discover and enjoy, from locally sourced food and drink, creative writing workshops and masterclasses extending …around town with pop-up performances in the streets and Cheltenham’s very own Lit Crawl, imported from San Francisco’s Litquake Festival. And there are Festival Lates! on site providing deliciously edgy performances.

Programme Highlights:

America Uncovered

In this presidential election year, as the world’s eyes turn to America, Cheltenham looks deeper into the culture as well as the politics of our friends across the pond. Cheltenham Festivals is delighted to announce that the American Ambassador, Matthew Barzun, will be attending.

The Sunday Times hosts a special election review while The Times debates the special relationship between the UK and the US, chaired by Justin Webb and featuring Steve Erlanger, The New York Times bureau chief in London, and Armando Iannucci, creator of the political satires The Thick of It and Veep. Humourist and journalist P J O’Rourke will be musing on America’s place in the world and the current president’s legacy will be examined in The Obama Years: Yes We Can – But Did We? Some of the best new writing from the States comes from literary stars Jonathan Safran Foer, Teju Cole, Michael Connelly and Ben Lerner and from newcomers Garnette Cadogan and Garth Greenwell.

Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver, introduces her brilliant and unsettling new novel The Mandibles A Family, 2029-2047 while classic American literature is discussed and celebrated, from the Frontier novel to the novelist in Hollywood. From film screenings to poetry readings, from gospel and oratory to music and Route 66, as ever the packed programme will satisfy the most lively-minded lover of words.

Millennial Lives

Expect fierce, lyrical storytelling from MOBO award-winning hip hop artist, writer, poet and educator Akala while bloggers and vloggers Emma Gannon (Girl Lost in the City) and Ella Mills (Deliciously Ella) will be among some of the new entrepreneurs talking about Lives Online and the new economy. The Pool’s Marisa Bate and Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett discuss the highs and lows of life in Generation Y and ask ‘Are we screwed?’ while trend-forecaster and author of Stuffocation James Wallman and London Minimalists founder Michelle McGagh discuss whether you can really live a fuller life with less.

Taking stock of current debates from gender and clean eating, to feminism and mental health, Millennial Lives brings together iO Tillett Wright (Darling Days) who lived as both a girl and a boy in youth and is now one of the leading voices in US gender rights with British author, chef and campaigner Jack Monroe to discuss breaking down gender and sexuality stereotypes; while curator Cecilia Knapp explores why many men struggle with mental health issues with Matthew Todd (Straight Jacket) and Tim Grayburn and The Everyday Sexism Project founder, Laura Bates tells Emma Gannon about growing up as a 21st century, empowered girl.

Fiction

The best new fiction from rising stars and literary greats remains at the festival’s heart and there is no bigger international literary figure at the moment than Karl Ove Knausgaard who will receive this year’s Sunday Times Literary Excellence Award. Jonathan Safran Foer is here too to discuss his first

novel in over a decade; Booker Prize winners Ian McEwan and Graham Swift introduce their new novels alongside the grande dame of Irish literature Edna O’Brien, award-winning novelist Lionel Shriver (right - photo Sarah Lee), American crime sensation Michael Connelly, festival favourite Sebastian Faulks, while Jilly Cooper talks to Clare Balding about her novel, Mount!

Other highlights include Sebastian Faulks (Where my Heart Used to Beat), Mark Haddon (The Pier Falls), Eimear McBride (The Lesser Bohemians); Tracy Chevalier (At the Edge of the Orchard); Maggie O’Farrell (This Must be the Place); Sarah Perry (The Essex Serpent); Francis Spufford (Golden Hill) Victoria Hislop (Cartes Postales from Greece) and Alison Weir (Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen) and giving an international flavour to the fiction programme are Norway’s Karl Ove Knausgaard; Iceland’s crime sensation Yrsa Sigurdardottir; and Israel’s Etgar Keret.

The Festival continues to support emerging novelists with its Proof Parties and Fiction at 7 events. This year’s Festival will see talks from rising stars including Sam Baker, Fiona Barton, Donald Ray Pollock, Bill Beverley, Susan Fletcher and Jill Dawson.

Classic Literature is celebrated with events on Shakespeare and Homer; Mariella Frostrup peers between the covers of literature’s most erotic stories and Sarah Churchwell examines the Great American Novel. The Big Read this year is Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, with a series of book group discussions and a panel event with writer and broadcaster Bidisha, poet Salena Godden and Nicolette Jones celebrating this modern classic.

Poetry

The resurgence of poetry is present with Simon Armitage offers his latest work of poetry in translation, Pearl; leading poets Gillian Clarke, Alison Brackenbury, Helen Mort, Ian Duhig, Matthew Hollis, Sarah Howe and Blake Morrison read from their new collections; while Lemn Sissay; Salena Godden and Jemima Foxtrot perform.

Arts and Culture

Drawing the crowds will be comedians Alan Carr, Armando Iannucci, Alexei Sayle and Sara Pascoe; footballer Joey Barton; film and television star Alan Cumming (The Good Wife); and, Jeremy Paxman, Wilko Johnson and Tony Robinson.

Queen of punk Vivienne Westwood talks to Kirsty Wark about Get a Life; the product of six years of blogging from the forefront of climate change, fashion and social activism.

Andrew Davies now in his 80thyear, reveals the secrets behind his extraordinary television adaptations of War and Peace, Vanity Fair, Middlemarch and Pride and Prejudice and Mariella Frostrup gets saucy with the Erotic Review Magazine celebrating literature’s sexiest stories, from Marquis de Sade, Henry Miller & Vladimir Nabokov to modern writers.

The worlds of art and design are reflected across the programme with discussions on the late trailblazing artist and icon Georgia O’Keeffe and Chinese artist and arguably one of the most powerful figures in the contemporary art world, Ai WeiWei.

History

There is also the best of history from across the ages with historians Jonathan Bate and A.N. Wilson looking back at the life and times of Elizabeth II in her 90th birthday year; 101 year-old legendary barrister Jeremy Hutchinson sharing stories of life at the bar; one of the world’s foremost classicists, Mary Beard (SPQR) asks why the Roman empire still matters and Philosopher A.C. Grayling introduces the birth of the modern mind in the 17th century

In military history, Ben Macintyre shares his unprecedented access to the SAS archives in SAS Uncovered, marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the elite military team. 100 years on from The Somme, the psychological impact of war is explored in Shellshock and bestselling author and historian, James Holland, explains one of the most astonishing battles of the Second World War.

Meanwhile, celebrated father and son historians Peter and Dan Snow tell the nation’s story through its fifty most important documents and Richard Osman and Alexander Armstrong, the witty TV quizmasters, will be revealing their Pointless History of the World.

Politics and Current Affairs

As always the festival is a hotbed for politicians and political debate. Humourist and journalist PJ O’Rourke will be musing on America’s place in the world and satirist and screenwriter Armando Iannucci discusses the madness of modern politics. “Big Beast” Ken Clarke talks about his twin loves of politics and jazz while fellow Ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls describes his years heading up the Treasury. Discussing their memoirs will be Margaret Hodge, the redoubtable Public Accounts Committee chairman, and Nick Clegg, while Ian Hislop spills the beans about 30 years editing Private Eye and Alan Johnson reveals the third instalment of his extraordinary and authentic memoir The Long and Winding Road.

In a trio of events programmed in partnership with the Sydney Writers’ Festival, three of the biggest issues facing the world today are discussed by expert panels. The fight against extremism is debated by a panel comprised of the director of Inspire Sara Khan, counter-terrorism expert Peter Neumann, and former Islamic extremist Hanif Qadir; our age of migration is discussed by Professor Alexander Betts, Principal Research Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research Jonathan Portes; while former Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee Malcolm Rifkind and lawyer Helena Kennedy debate the role of intelligence agencies on the home front.

Food and Lifestyle

There will be culinary stars aplenty with the chance to hear them speak and taste their recipes. Who could resist Afternoon Tea with Great British Bake-Off champion Nadiya Hussain, lunch with the master of Italian cooking Antonio Carluccio, or tapas with Miriam González Durántez. There’s also debate about the ‘clean eating’ movement and talk on bushcraft with Ray Mears.

In style, Fashion Director of The Times Anna Murphy and editor of Harper’s Bazaar Justine Picardie explain why what you wear matters in an illustrated guide to iconic fashion in Ten Frocks that Rocked the World and Vogue Style writer Harriet Quick looks at the history of the shoe.

Meanwhile, a whole generation of Jackie readers will rejoice, as actress Janet Dibley, author Emma Kennedy, and former Jackie editor Nina Myskow celebrate the magazine that defined them.

Psychology

In psychology, The Times takes a look at modern life in their Guide to Modern Manners and Modern Parenting. Carrie Weekes, co-founder of A Natural Undertaking and Barbara Chalmers, founder of The Final Fling discuss how to ‘own’ your send-off, the great explorer Ranulph Fiennes explains how he has dealt with crippling vertigo and much-loved broadcaster Sian Williams talks about her battle with cancer.

Families

The festival marks the birthday celebrations of two literary greats this year with Roald Dahl and Beatrix Potter themed events and to mark 100 years since Roald Dahl’s birth, children can take part in a phizz-whizzing quiz inspired by characters like the BFG, Willy Wonka and Matilda.

Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s legions of loyal fans can hear about her brand new character Clover Moon. There’s interactive drawing and storytelling with current Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell, former Laureate Michael Rosen and illustrator Nick Sharratt: ask Chris Riddell a question and he will live illustrate the answer.

Comedians and writers Julian Clary and David Baddiel will talk about their latest books and Lucy Worsley tells tales of the Tudor Court through the eyes of maid of honour Eliza Rose.

The hugely popular Robin Stevens, author of the Murder Most Unladylike series is here, while YA authors Holly Bourne (What’s a Girl Gotta Do?), Holly Smale (the Geek Girl books) and CJ Daugherty (the Night School series) discuss the influence of feminism on their writing. There are also special appearances from visiting American authors, David Levithan, Rachel Cohn, Laini Taylor and Sarah J. Maas and for Youtubers and Minecraft fans Dan TDM is here with his graphic novel adventure.

The full Festival line-up can be found at www.cheltenhamfestivals.com from today

Booking for Cheltenham Literature Festival opens to Members at 1pm on Wednesday, August 31 and to the general public at 1pm on Wednesday, September 7.

Further information can be found at www.cheltenhamfestivals.com.

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