Just who are literary festivals for and why do we love them so much? Gail, Steph and host Philippa go backstage with Anne Oxborough of the well-established Ways With Words and Michael Pugh of recent start-up the Llangwm Literary Festival to find out more. From the delights of surprise-hit speakers, post-show river swims, vodka-fuelled poetry sessions and the rise of fancy food stalls to the horrors of airborne green rooms, bacon-roll bust-ups and rail replacement buses, the conversation ranges far and wide in the usual Slightly Foxed way. In this month’s audio-adventure through the magazine’s archives the writer and performer A. F. Harrold goes speed-dating with Iris Murdoch at Cheltenham Literature Festival and, to finish, there’s the usual round-up of recommended reading from off the beaten track.

Please find links to books, articles, and further reading listed below. The digits in brackets following each listing refer to the minute and second they are mentioned. (Episode duration: 38 minutes; 42 seconds)

Slightly Foxed Issue 63 (2:27)

Boy, Roald Dahl (2:32)

The Eagle of the Ninth and The Silver Branch, Rosemary Sutcliff (2:37)

Corduroy, Adrian Bell (2:42)

The Salt Path, Raynor Winn (15:52)

This Is Going to Hurt, Adam Kay (24:05)

Julian of Norwich: A Very Brief History, Janina Ramirez (25:11)

The Sea, The Sea, Iris Murdoch (27:07)

Take Nothing with You, Patrick Gayle (33:23)

The British in India, David Gilmour (34:50)

The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker (35:44)

Travels in a Dervish Cloak, Isambard Wilkinson (36:40)

A Date with Iris, A. F. Harrold on the novels of Iris Murdoch, Issue 25 

Oxford Literary Festival (1:00)

Sea Fever Literary Festival, Wells-next-the-Sea (1:08)

Slightly Foxed Autumn Launch at One Tree Books, Petersfield. Tuesday 10 September, 6.30–8 p.m. (4:15)

Ways With Words: Festivals of Words and Ideas, Dartington, Keswick and Southwold (5:05)

Llangwm Literary Festival, Pembrokeshire (6:18)

Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye (18:01)

Cheltenham Literature Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival (18:08)

Opening music: Preludio from Violin Partita No.3 in E Major by Bach

The Slightly Foxed Podcast is hosted by Philippa Lamb and produced by Podcastable