Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival Spring Weekend

Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival has announced a bumper line-up of online events taking place online on Saturday, March 13th and Sunday, March 14th 2021.

Following the success of the Festival's interview with Jon Sopel this January, audiences in East Devon and beyond will be able to listen in to a varied programme featuring the authors of some of this season's most exciting reads and considering topical issues from the comfort of their own home.

The line-up includes Somerset's nature-writer Stephen Moss whose uplifting book The Accidental Countryside marvels at how wildlife is adapting to new environments created by man. For sport lovers, former player Chris Bentley talks to Guardian Rugby columnist Robert Kitson about his book Exe Men which charts the extraordinary rise of the Exeter Chiefs.

The full line-up includes one of the most acclaimed modern historians in the world – the Reith lecturer Professor Margaret MacMillan who will be talking to Mike Martin, Visiting War Studies Fellow at King's College London, about our complex relationship with war and conflict and why we can't resist it.

Tim Marshall, former Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs Editor at Sky News, will talk about The Power of Geography, the anticipated follow-on to his hugely successful book Prisoners of Geography, looking at how ten different regions in the world are shaping global politics and power today.

Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland will talk about his alter ego as the best-selling author Sam Bourne, and his latest thriller To Kill a Man which centers on a scandal in The White House.

The much-admired author of Island Dreams, Gavin Francis, will reflect on the subject of his latest book Intensive Care, which explores the impact of the pandemic not just from his medical viewpoint as an Edinburgh GP, but the impact it has had and will have on our communities long after it is over.

The Festival, as a charity, is committed to supporting literacy in the region and its programme includes three events available entirely free to schools, families and children home-learning that will be available from 4th March – World Book Day – until 19th March.

Events for children and families include a draw-along with the multi-award-winning Rob Biddulph, author of Odd Dog Out; the Waterstones Children's Book prize winner Sita Brahmachari, sharing her World Book Day book The River Whale, exploring the themes of belonging for years 4 to 5; and the author/illustrator behind the beautiful children's books, including Where Bear?, Sophy Henn.

Tickets are on sale now from www.budlitfest.org.uk and cost £8 per event, or with an additional option to buy a discounted signed book. Books will be supplied by Winstone's Books in Sidmouth, and event sponsors include Jurassic Kitchens.

All events for young people and families will be free to view on the Festival website, launching on World Book Day on 4th March.