2009 marks the twentieth anniversary of Bruce Chatwin’s death. In this session, a panel of the author’s friends, family and critics will examine Chatwin’s work and legacy, discussing the significant contribution of the author to post-war British fiction and travel writing. The panel will include Hugh Chatwin, Bruce’s brother, and the Chatwin scholars Nicholas Murray and Jonathan Chatwin, amongst others, and will take audience questions at the end of the session.

Sponsored by Cox & Kings

In 1939, George Orwell composed a famous essay about Charles Dickens. “When one reads any strongly individual piece of writing, one has the impression of seeing a face somewhere behind the page,” wrote Orwell. But in this contest between two of Britain's greatest writers, which face will fit? Both Orwell and Dickens will have one advocate speaking up for them in this debate – and you, the audience, will get to vote on which is the greater author.

For Orwell: Hardeep Singh Kohli (writer and broadcaster). For Dickens: for Jenny Hartley (author, Dickens and the House of Fallen Women). Chaired by Francine Stock (BBC Radio 4)

Albert Roux, OBE and Legion d’Honneur, is one of the world’s most respected and best-loved chefs.

His life-long passion for the culinary arts began when he took up a post as an apprentice patissier when he was just 14. He came to the UK when he was 18 years old to spend time as a commis de cuisine at Nancy Astor’s country home in Clivedon. In 1967 he and his younger brother Michel opened Le Gavroche, Britain’s first Michelin-starred restaurant in London.

Although Albert Roux has now retired from the kitchen, he still has a great deal to offer. His appearance at the Festival provides us all with the chance to meet one of the most influential chefs of the age.

In this intriguing talk, two very popular novelists talk about their very different ways of dealing with the topic of location. Living in Venice, Donna Leon uses all her love and knowledge of that city in her popular detective novels; Patrick Neate, on the other hand, had never been to New Orleans before breathing life into the city in his Twelve Bar Blues. Why do some authors chose places close to their heart while others prefer backgrounds imagined in their head?

Sponsored by Cox & Kings

Kate Atkinson brings her acclaimed fictional detective, Jackson Brodie, back to solve yet another crime in this psychologically astute new thriller from the author of Case Histories and One Good Turn. When Will There be Good News? begins in a remote corner of rural Devon when six-year-old Joanna is a little girl lost, being the only survivor of an unspeakable crime. Thirty years later, Andrew Decker, the man convicted of that crime, is released from prison and immediately vanishes from sight. Has he gone in search of Joanna? Chaired by Daniel Mallory

Sponsored by The Macdonald Randolph Hotel