The full programme has now been revealed for this year’s hotly anticipated Chester Literature Festival. Here's the first part of their programme...
The 2023 festival takes place from 9-26 November and promises two-and-a-half weeks of fantastic and fascinating events around the written and spoken word.
Among those who are involved in this year’s LitFest are gardener Monty Don, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, historian Professor David Olusoga, chef and broadcaster Andi Oliver and bestselling author Joanne Harris.
Events, conversations, workshops, performances and open mic sessions will take place over 18 days in a programme packed with something for everyone. There is also the return of the hugely popular Poetry Pub Crawl and a range of free activities which are on for the duration of the festival.
This year’s festival kicks off on the main stage on Thursday, 9 November with An Evening With Monty Don.
The popular BBC Gardener’s World presenter, gardening expert and writer will share his passion for gardens and the unique role they play in human inspiration and wellbeing.
Seasoned gardeners and green-fingered novices will enjoy tales from his career in gardening, detailing his favourite gardens both ancient and modern, and how he fell in love with the natural world.
Don is the author of many books about gardening, along with his Sunday Times bestseller Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs, inspired by his beloved late Golden Retriever who made regular appearances on Gardener’s World.
Expect to be entertained, educated and informed (with the emphasis on entertained) when actor, writer and poet Nigel Planer joins BAFTA award-winning screenwriter and BBC Radio 4’s ‘poet in reticence’ (and founder of Manchester Literature Festival) Henry Normal for an evening on the main stage on Friday, 10 November.
There will be poetry, stories, a Q&A, jokes and some memorable knitwear on display.
Liverpool-born comedian and double Sunday Times bestselling author Sophie McCartney brings her debut stand up tour Tired and Tested to Storyhouse on Saturday, 11 November, promising a riotous representation of modern-day ‘mumming’.
A rising star on the comedy circuit, McCartney won the 2020 Funny Woman award for Best Comedy Series and featured on the Mother & Baby Mum List 2021 as the funniest mum on Intstagram.
In March 2022 she released her debut non-fiction book Tired & Tested: The Wild Ride into Parenthood, while her first novel Mother Hens – billed as a black comedy centred around a group of harassed mothers with scores to settle on a hedonistic Ibiza hen do – is out now.
Then on Sunday, 12 November, author and journalist Tom Parfitt and Mike Parker – creator of ITV’s Coast to Coast series – come together for World Walking Adventures.
In the afternoon event, in the Garret Theatre, Parfitt will talk about his walking adventures encapsulated in his book High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia’s Haunted Hinterland, while Parker’s new book All The Wild Border: Wales, England and the Places Between takes a fascinating look at the Wales-England border.
Meanwhile, multi award-winning Poet Laureate Simon Armitage takes to the main stage for a special ‘an afternoon with’.
His latest book, Never Good With Horses: Assembled Lyrics, is the first ever collection of his lyric output including those for ‘ambient post-rock’ band Land Yacht Regatta and his days with DIY indie band The Scaremongers.
Then in the evening, critically acclaimed author, journalist and TV presenter Candice Brathwaite will join broadcaster Ngunan Adamu for a conversation about the young adult novel Cuts Both Ways, her first foray into fiction which made the Sunday Times bestseller list.
Cuts Both Ways is a sharp and funny love story that explores themes of race, class and the complexities of growing up as a black British teen.
Its exuberant and straight-talking author will discuss both her novel and also her personal and professional journeys, along with taking questions from the audience.
Writer, broadcaster and comedian Natalie Haynes, best-selling author of Pandora’s Jar, comes to the festival on Tuesday, 14 November with her new book Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth.
Learn all about Athene, goddess of war and wisdom who sprang fully formed from her father’s head, Demeter, goddess of agriculture, and the queen of all the Olympian gods, Hera. Prepare to sing the immortal song of the Muses and meet the Furies.
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