Utter delight in the company of one of the most effervescent minds in the land, creator of Rumpole of the Bailey and now a wonderful new comic novel, Quite Honestly. This 2006 event with John Mortimer is great fun.

Pulitzer Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon has been called 'the most important English language poet born since the Second World War'. Hear the power of his forthcoming work in this 2006 event.

A gifted and imaginative writer, William Nicholson returns to the Book Festival in 2005 with the first book in his new trilogy Seeker, an extraordinary adventure full of magic, glory and truth. Suitable for children aged 11 and upwards.

One of America's most admired and respected novelists and a strong contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In this 2007 event Joyce Carol Oates discusses her bold new novel Black Girl / White Girl, which examines the issues of race in the US in the troubled years following the Vietnam War.

Michelle Paver's book signing queues are getting almost as long as Jacqueline Wilson's and her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series has become a massive hit with children; full of ancient artefacts and tales of survival. Listen to this exciting event from 2007, suitable for children aged 8-12 years old.

An outstandingly courageous critic of the current Russian regime, journalist and author Anna Politkovskaya has been the recipient of numerous international honours. Sadly she was found shot dead in a lift at her apartment block in Moscow on 7 October 2006. She was one of our most welcome guests at the Book Festival in 2005 and spoke compellingly about her work and also her fears for her life. This talk is translated from Russian.

Always a hot favourite at the Book Festival, bestselling crime author Ian Rankin's events are never less than entertaining. Here he chats to Magnus Linklater and reveals something about his new 2007 Inspector Rebus novel, Exit Music.

Do the Disco Inferno with Louise Rennison, outspoken author of extraordinary teen fiction, as she discusses her latest hilarious Georgina Nicholson offering 'Luurve is a Many Trousered Thing...' in this lively 2007 event.

New Children's Laureate and master entertainer Michael Rosen (most famous for We're Going on a Bear Hunt) thrilled Book Festival audiences in 2007 with this fun event for the whole family, full of silly, zany poetry told with infectious enthusiasm. Suitable for age 7 and upwards.

Will you step in front of a bus today or win the lottery? The author of the breathtaking bestseller How I Live Now, talks to an audience of teens and adults in this 2006 event about her utterly compelling new novel on fate and what happens when fate doesn't like you...