Henley Literary Festival is established as one of the UK’s biggest book festivals. The 2019 festival was the biggest yet, with 170 events for adults and children. The line-up included former Prime Minister Theresa May, comedian Paul Merton, cookery legend Mary Berry, England’s greatest batsman Sir Alastair Cook and best-selling authors Jojo Moyes and David Nicholls. The stellar line-up extended to a fantastic programme for schools and children which included Michael Rosen, Onjali Q Rauf, Chris Riddell, Konnie Huq and McFly’s Dougie Poynter.

The Festival was launched in 2007 and previous speakers have included John Mortimer, Doreen Lawrence, John Major, Julia Donaldson, Richard E. Grant, Candace Bushnell, John Sentamu, Cressida Cowell and Graham Nash.

Now in its 14th year, Henley Literary Festival will still take place over the dates originally planned but with all events held online for public safety during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

This year’s festival involves  40 events for adults and children covering fiction, sport, entertainment, politics, history and more. It features authors, broadcasters, journalists and pundits aplenty, including Graham Norton, Joanna Trollope and Nadiya Hussain. 

Free events for children include Rob Biddulph with his record-breaking lockdown sensation Draw With Rob, David Baddiel and a Judith Kerr storytelling session with Laura and Russell Brand, plus schools events with Chris Riddell, Leila Rasheed and Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell.

In addition there will be pop-up events before and after, starting with Nadiya Hussain on 3 September, along with international bestsellers Lynda La Plante, Jodi Picoult, former US Ambassador Kim Darroch and Kate Humble.