A NUMBER of stars will be appearing at the Althorp Literary Festival next month.
Guests at the event, from June 13-15, will include celebrity cook Clarissa Dickson Wright, comedian Julian Clary, General Sir Michael Jackson, current Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and radio broadcaster John Humphrys.
It is the fifth time Althorp Ho
use has held the festival, but this year it will also include a children’s festival.
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre will house entertainment for young readers, with the highlight being a chance for them to ask questions to Anthony Horowitz, creator of the Alex Rider series of spy novels for children.
Clarissa Dickson Wright will open the festival on Friday, sharing tales from her memoir Spilling the Beans.
Canapes of her choice and a glass of wine will be served at the talk from 6.30-7.30pm.
On Saturday best selling author Tracy Chevallier will read from and discuss Burning Bright, while General Sir Michael Jackson will be talking about his acclaimed autobiography Soldier. Both will be appearing between 11am and midday.
Between 2.45 and 3.45pm radio broadcaster and host of BBC2 quiz show Mastermind John Humphrys will be discussing his book In God We Doubt, which came from his BBC Radio 4 series Humphrys in Search of God.
The day will be rounded off with a talk by Julian Clary on his writing, including his debut novel Murder Most Fab and his autobiography A Young Man’s Passage, from 5.45-6.45pm.
On the final day Poet Laureate Andrew Motion will be giving a remarkable insight into the poet’s mind between 11am and midday.
Appearing at the same time will be Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s ex-chief-of-staff, who will be giving a definitive account of his role in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Althorp House is celebrating its 500th anniversary this year and on Saturday and Sunday Earl Spencer will be giving a talk about its history. His talk on the Saturday will be at 5.45-6.45pm and on Sunday at 4.15-5.15pm.
Organisers recommend booking tickets in advance. They cost £10 for an adult event and £5 for a child event. Family tickets, for two adult and two child events, are £25.
Tickets can be bought online from www.althorp.com or by telephoning the box office on 01604 770107.
The full article contains 407 words and appears in Daventry Express newspaper.
