Literature festival returning for 20th year

9 hours ago

Andy GiddingsWest Midlands

News image — Festival patron Tracy Borman is due to talk about the true events of James I's succession

BBC A smiling woman with blonde hair, a blur coat and blue scarf in a blurred courtyard — Festival patron Tracy Borman is due to talk about the true events of James I's succession

The broadcaster John Suchet, historian Tracy Borman and comedian Robert Newman are among the authors due to appear at this year's Lichfield Literature Festival.

The event is in its 20th year and will run between 19 and 22 March.

It will feature 22 events at settings around the town, with general ticket sales due to open on Tuesday.

The festival is set to open with novelist Annie Garthwaite, talking about her two novels featuring women during the Wars of the Roses to life.

Historian Alison Weir, the biggest-selling female historian in the UK, will appear to discuss the five 15th-Century queens caught up in the Hundred Years War and the Wars of the Roses.

Getty Images A woman with long brown hair and a black top poses in front of a dark blue background — Alison Weir is due to give a talk on five 15th-Century queens

Music-lover Suchet will talk about his book dedicated to the life of Beethoven, described as part biography, memoir and travelogue.

Borman will look into the story of James I's succession and the crisis which resulted when Elizabeth I refused to name a successor.

Newman, known for his appearances with fellow-comedian David Baddiel, in the Mary Whitehouse Experience and Newman and Baddiel will discuss his novel, set in the 1930s, about wartime love and espionage.

Getty Images A man with grey hair, a dark suit and striped open-necked shirt holding a model of a persons face — John Suchet, seen here with the Franz Klein Beethoven Life Mask, will talk about a book he has written about the composer

The former Conservative chief whip Simon Hart is also due to appear, along with the Guardian's parliamentary sketch-writer and satirist John Crace, Andrew Lownie, biographer of the now former Duke & Duchess of York, and journalist Lucia Osborne-Crowley, who reported daily from the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.

Charles Saumarez Smith is due to explore the life and legacy of the architect John Vanbrugh and stonemason, while conservator Andrew Ziminski will share his fascination for medieval church architecture.

Stand-up comedian Pierre Novellie will talk about his memoirs. Other subjects include the life of George Orwell, a chef's tour of British cuisine, and popular culture of the inter-war years with historian Alwyn Turner.

Damian Thantrey, director of Lichfield Festival which organises the event, said there would be "highlights aplenty whatever your interests".

The venues

The Hub at St Mary's, the George Hotel on Bird Street and the Guildhall on Bore Street will host many of the events.

The Hub and its mezzanine performance space is in the centre of Lichfield, on the historic Market Square just above the new library.

It will host Robert Colls, Ben Benton, Lucia Osborne-Crowley, Andrew Lownie, Pierre Novellie, Masud Husain, Arthur Snell, Robert Newman, Alison Weir, Katja Hoyer, Tim Minshall, John Crace and Vernon Bogdanor and Andy Beckett.

The George Hotel is a Georgian coaching inn with a large function room and it will play host to Annie Garthwaite, Tom McTague, Alwyn Turner, Charles Saumarez Smith, Andrew Ziminski and Simon Hart.

The Guildhall is a Grade II listed building, used for conferences and weddings, which will be the venue for John Suchet and Tracy Borman.

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