Hastings Literary Festival

About

The South Coast's brightest literary festival is back with a fascinating blend of author talks, writing workshops, expert panels and performances.

This year's line-up includes leading playwright Sir David Hare, talking about his first book of poetry, and Costa Book of the Year award winner Monique Roffey discussing the challenges of writing about masculinity with The Book of Man website founder Martin Robinson.

Also featured are journalist Lucy Mangan, who will be discussing her passion for books and her forthcoming first novel Are We Having Fun Yet? and The Guardian's acclaimed chief film critic Peter Bradshaw, who will talk about the challenges of translating literature to the big screen.

Other artists appearing include poet Jessica Mookherjee and author Michèle Roberts. Broadcaster Bidisha joins poet and teacher David Herd to discuss and read from Refugee Tales IV, real experiences of anonymous refugees retold by authors.

The festival finale Bedtime Stories is an evening of saucy and salacious literary fun, hosted by Bavard Bar compere Tim B'vard and featuring writer and comedian VG Lee, author and poet Penny Pepper, musician Bev Lee Harling and singing 'nun' Sister Mary.

There's also support for new and emerging authors, including the festival's popular one-to-one 'meet the agent' sessions with DHH agent Tom Drake-Lee.