Festivals: Meet the literary luminaries bound for Lavenham next month

Head to one of England’s best-preserved medieval villages to celebrate the joy of reading this autumn. Louise Cummings selects six superb authors set to enthral at the 8th Lavenham Literary Festival

Who: Sheila Hancock

What: Quite frankly, we are in awe of beloved British actress Sheila Hancock. Having enjoyed an incredible career spanning film, television, theatre and radio, she was the first woman artistic director with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the first female to direct in the National’s Olivier Theatre and still writes regularly beyond her 90th birthday (as a columnist for Prospect magazine). No wonder they made her a Dame!

Catch Sheila in fun, feisty and honest mode as she chats to Janet Ellis about her memoir, Old Rage, shedding light on her fascinating life and taking an uncompromising look at a world very different from her wartime childhood. From the passing of Queen Elizabeth II to the rise and fall of Liz Truss, Sheila muses that despite age (and rage!), there are always reasons for joy.

When: Saturday, November 2; 3.45-4.45pm

Where: Lavenham Village Hall

Who: Ashley Hickson-Lovence

What: Join novelist, poet and university lecturer Ashley Hickson-Lovence as he discusses the power of words with satirical novelist Simon Edge.

Diversity is the overriding theme of his published works, with Ashley’s quirky debut, The 392, set on a London bus travelling from Hoxton to Highbury over the space of 36 minutes and his second novel, Your Show, presenting a fictionalised life of Uriah Rennie, the first black referee in the Premier League. Wild East, his third outing, is a young adult novel-in-verse, aimed at ‘everyone who during the toughest of times still believes in the power of words.’ Ashley, who was inspired by five years’ teaching English in secondary school and tutoring asylum seekers and refugees, is currently editing his latest novel, About to Fall Apart, and debut poetry collection, Why I am Not a Bus Driver.

When: Sunday, November 3; 12.15 – 1.15pm

Where: Lavenham Village Hall

Who: Jyoti Patel and Hilary Taylor

What: If you’ve ever dreamt of penning a novel, join this duo of debut authors who will be discussing the challenges of writing your first book with former Blue Peter presenter and fellow novelist Janet Ellis.

Jyoti, who is a graduate of the University of East Anglia’s Prose Fiction MA, won the Observer’s Best Debut Novel 2023 for The Things That We Lost, a tender exploration of family, grief and belonging.

Edinburgh University graduate Hilary, who lives in Suffolk – where she has taught for almost 20 years - has seen her short fiction published in magazines and anthologies, winning the Bridport Prize for Flash Fiction in 2022. Her debut thriller, Sea Defences, is described as fusing ‘the bleak power of the East Anglian winter into a searingly honest psychological drama’.

When: Saturday, November 2; 11.45am – 12.45pm

Where: Lavenham Village Hall

Who: Craig Brown

What: Pull up a chair and enjoy the scintillating company of Craig Brown, who is this year’s Festival Dinner Speaker. The satirist, restaurant, TV, and book critic and former Times political sketch writer has penned a parodic diary in Private Eye since 1989 and is the author of more than 20 books including the award-winning Ma’am Darling, 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret (a New York Times bestseller) and The Beatles in Time (which won the Baillie Gifford Award). Craig will introduce his latest book, A Voyage Around the Queen, offering his unique kaleidoscopic approach to the most famous woman on earth, examining Queen Elizabeth II in her time through a succession of interlocking prisms.

When: Friday, November 1; 6.30pm to late

Where: The Swan Hotel, Lavenham

Who: Dr Annie Gray

What: Take a stroll down the High Street, from medieval times to today’s familiar bustling scene with historian, broadcaster and cook, Dr Annie Gray. Her latest work, The Bookshop, the Draper and the Candlestick Maker, is a colourful social history of the British High Street, from apothecaries and penny bazaars to the birth of Marks and Spencer, and delves into the original toyshops with curiosities sold to entertain adults rather than children.

Annie, who specialises in writing about the history of food and dining in Britain from 1600 to the present day, is the author of Victory in the Kitchen and The Greedy Queen.

When: Saturday, November 2; 5.30 – 6.30pm

Where: Lavenham Village Hall

Who: Louis de Bernières

What: Say hello to a cast of eccentric characters living on the edge of society in Light Over Liskeard, the latest quirky novel by Louis de Bernières.

Described as ‘a modern-day gothic fairytale with a ghost, an anchorite and various people who have dropped out of society and gone under the radar’ the heart-warming read makes us reconsider what is really precious in our short, precarious lives.

Suffolk-based Louis, who famously penned the best-selling Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, has written short stories, poetry, non-fiction and 12 novels, working previously as a landscape gardener, motor mechanic, carpenter and motorcycle messenger before training to be a teacher. He will be reflecting on his latest work with Martha Kearney, the award-winning journalist and broadcaster, best known for her six-year tenure presenting BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

When: Sunday, November 3; 2.30 – 3.30pm

Where: Lavenham Village Hall

The 8th Lavenham Literary Festival runs November 1 to 3. Find out more and book tickets at lavenhamliteraryfestival.co.uk