Ilkley Literature Festival enters its final week with highlights including Hugh Bonneville, Sir Tony Robinson, and Jay Rayner.
Several upcoming acts are sold out including Lady Hale, Wild Swans author Jung Chang, Irvine Welsh, and Michael Palin.
As the Downton Abbey movie runs in theatres, partly filmed in North Yorkshire, Hugh Bonneville brings movie-star glamour to Ilkley next weekend with a sold-out evening with the actor. But there’s still a chance to get tickets to a talk from the Paddington star on his first children’s book, Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room.
Before that, the writer and restaurant critic Jay Rayner [pictured below] takes to the Kings Hall on Thursday 16 to answer the questions you’ve always wanted to ask, put to him by a host of virtual star interviewers.
Also on Thursday, Sonia Purnell presents her book Kingmaker, which tells the spectacular story of Pamela Churchill Harriman – one of the most powerful women of the 20th century, who has influenced huge names in politics, culture, and fashion, from her father-in-law Winston Churchill, to the Kennedys and Nelson Mandela.
On Friday 17, sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee discusses A Climate of Truth and the need to raise standards of honesty in politics, media, and business if humanity is to thrive. He’ll explain how you too can have a radical impact on the issues you care about most.
The weekend sees The Working Class Library live podcast hosted by author Richard Benson – who is also the former editor of iconic magazine The Face – and Claire Malcolm, CEO of New Writing North, featuring special guest, writer Adam Farrer. They’ll discuss Alan Bennett’s memoir, Untold Stories.
The former head of the Guardian’s international news, Charlie English, talks about his book The CIA Book Club – the astonishing story of how millions of books were smuggled across the Iron Curtain in an attempt to win the Cold War with literature. Charlie will be in conversation with the Times Radio political reporter, Terry Stiastny, telling the remarkable but true untold story of a secret British organisation waging psychological warfare to beat the Nazis, with her book, Believable Lies.
[Charlie English Photo:Nicola Hippisley]
Sara Barnes memoir, The Cold Fix, explains how cold-water swimming transformed her life after a diagnosis of severe osteoarthritis, and how it might transform yours.
Sophie Haydock and Stephen May reimagine real life historical figures and events with their respective novels, Madam Matisse, which explores the life of Matisse’s wife, lover and daughter, and Green Ink, on the disappearance of firebrand socialist MP Victor Grayson in 1920.
The former Chief Whip and Conservative MP, Simon Hart, promises audiences a front-row seat to the most turbulent times in Britain’s recent political history, with Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip.
For aspiring writers, there are also writing workshops on offer from leading authors and poets, including Maia Elsner, Charlotte Eichler, Stephen May and Antony Dunn, exploring building new worlds and finding your voice on the page.
Sunday welcomes the Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlisted writers Sanam Mahloudji and Nussaibah Younis discussing their debut novels in Seriously Funny - exploring how dark humour deals with serious subjects.
The festival also welcomes Sir Tony Robinson on Sunday, as the star of Blackadder and Time Team discusses his adult fiction debut, The House of Wolf, a witty recreation of Anglo-Saxon England and Alfred the Great.
BBC Radio presenter Mark Radcliffe’s discusses his travel book like no other, Et tu, Cavapoo?, transporting us to Rome in a VW Beetle with his cavapoo, Arlo (who’ll be making a special guest appearance).
Corinne Fowler, a professor of colonialism and heritage, explores the buried stories in Britain’s countryside and how they are linked to the history of empire in her event Roam and Reclaim.
And, closing the festival, Great British Bake Off-alumni and culture writer Ruby Tandoh analyses the social, economic, and technological forces shaping the foods we eat in her event All Consuming. Find out how your algorithm affects your appetite.
Several events over this weekend are also available to livestream and re-watch from the comfort of your own home, including Sara Barnes: The Cold Fix, Jo Hamilton: The Post Office Scandal and Me and Jung Chang: Fly, Wild Swans.
2025 marks 52 years of the north’s longest-running and much-loved literary festival, which will finish on Sunday 19 October.
To book visit Ilkley Literature Festival or call the box office: 01943 816714.
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