Cliveden Literary Festival to return with 'stellar line-up'

Cliveden Literary Festival returns this October with a ‘stellar line-up’ of speakers.

Known for its political debates, innovative ideas and ‘lively’ discussion, this year’s festival will take place from Saturday, October 15 to Sunday, October 16 at Cliveden House.

It will feature expert panels on Putin’s Russia, chaired by Simon Sebag Montefiore and Zelensky’s Ukraine with Anne Applebaum and Serhii Plokhy.

Edward Enninful, Vogue’s editor-in-chief will also be in attendance discussing his rise to the top of the world of fashion and the event will also feature a constellation of ‘all-star novelists on their craft’.

The festival will also see William Dalrymple and Peter Frankopan expanding history’s horizons, Succession’s Brian Cox discussing becoming Logan Roy, and Louise Perry ‘daring to question the sexual revolution’.

Other speakers announced for this year’s event include Brick Lane author Monica Ali, best-selling story teller Robert Harris, Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland, screenwriter and playwright Abi Morgan, Conservative MP Michael Gove and Nadhim Zahawi, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

William Boyd, Ben Okri, Clarissa Ward, Howard Jacobson, David Nott, Daisy Dunn, Robert Hardman, Camilla Tominey, Simon Heffer and Tina Brown are among other names announced.

The event, which is a ‘sell-out success every year’, is run by a committee of historians and writers, including Natalie Livingstone, Andrew Roberts, Catherine Ostler and Simon Sebag Montefiore.

The festival draws upon the the history of Clivedon House as a literary salon visited by thinkers writers such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Alexander Pope, George Bernard Shaw, Jonathan Swift and Sir Winston Churchill.

It has been described by Ian McEwan as ‘probably the world’s best small literary festival’ and by Alain de Botton as ‘the most dignified and beautiful literary festival on the planet’.

The festival launched in 2017 and continues the heritage of Cliveden House which has inspired thinkers and writers including Alfred Lord Tennyson, Alexander Pope, George Bernard Shaw and Jonathan Swift and Sir Winston Churchill.

Previous speakers at the festival include Leila Slimani, Emily Maitlis, Bret Easton Ellis, Ben Okri, Professor Brian Cox and Hanif Kureishi, Camilla Long, Stephen Frears, Priti Patel, Hallie Rubenhold, Elif Shafak, and Sebastian Faulks.

Natalie Livingstone, chairman of the Cliveden Literary Festival, said: “We’re delighted to announce some of the speakers who will be joining us at the Cliveden Literary Festival this October.

“As ever, this year’s festival will see our fascinating line-up of speakers discuss – and at times fiercely debate – the most pressing issues of our era.”

Tickets can be purchased now from the Cliveden Literary Festival website at: www.clivedenliteraryfestival.org/