Steve Ullathorne

Roma Agrawal

Award-winning engineer and broadcaster Roma Agrawal brings her fascinating new book, Nuts & Bolts, to ChipLitFest - she deconstructs our most complex feats of engineering into seven fundamental inventions: the nail, spring, wheel, lens, magnet, string and pump.

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Steve Best, Xavicus Media

David Baddiel

Author and presenter David Baddiel brings The God Desire to the festival. A personal exploration of atheism, this is David's much-anticipated follow-up to Jews Don't Count.

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Alex Barrow

Alex is a children's illustrator. He works on a children's magazine as well as story books. And he plays the accordion. This is Alex's first visit to ChipLitFest, he's bringing his new picture book, If I Had a Crocodile - loads of facts, fun and rollicking rhymes.

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Steve Best

Mark Billingham

Mark is a Festival founder patron and well-established Festival favourite as the ChipLit Quiz master. He also happens to be one of the country's most entertaining and popular crime writers with a brand new detective series on its way in May 2023. And we're thrilled to be bringing The Last Dance to a very special festival event on 26 May.

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Dr Sharon Blackie

Writer and teacher Sharon Blackie brings her compelling book, Hagitude, to ChipLitFest, it's a radical rewriting of the future for all women approaching their mid and elder years.

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Mark Blagrove

Professor of Psychology and Director of the Sleep Laboratory at Swansea University, Mark Blagrove, brings his fascinating studies about sleep, memory and dreaming to our our Sleep Well! event.

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Esther Horvath

Mensun Bound

Leading marine archaeologist, Mensun Bound, tells the incredible story of how Ernest Shackleton's ship , the Endurance, was found in the 'most hostile sea on Earth'.

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Neil Spence

Katherine Bradley

Katherine Bradley has had a long career in managing homeless services and now works in education alongside her writing work. She has published two suspense thrillers, as Kate Bradley, and joins ChipLitFest to discuss The Sisterhood, a feminist retelling of George Orwell's 1984.

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Stephen Bullivant

Stephen Bullivant is Professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion, he will be presenting a 30-minute lecture about the Vatican as part of the ever-popular Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions

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Jane Grant

Ru Callender

Rupert Callender was moved to become an undertaker through his experience of bereavement and its aftermath. His extraordinary book, What Remains?, is a revelation that will transform our understanding of death and how we celebrate our loved ones.

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Roland Chambers

Author and illustrator Roland joins us at ChipLitFest for the first time with his exciting new children's series, The Adventures of Billy Shaman, about exploration and discovery through the ages. Roland is Writer in Residence for First Story, the creative writing charity for young people.

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Jo Cheetham

In 2012, Jo Cheetham attended her first ever protest and it changed her life forever when she joined the No More Page 3 campaign. Jo's book, Killjoy, lifts the lid on this incredible David and Goliath-style triumph over a media empire.

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Jeremy Prout

Nicola Chester

Nicola Chester is a writer, school librarian and tenant on a farm estate in the North Wessex Downs. We are thrilled she is joining us twice, once as Ru Callender's interviewer and then as a writing tutor for her Wild Writing workshop.

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Chipping Norton Stanza Group

The Chipping Norton Stanza Group is run by Poetry Society members, they meet monthly to help one another develop their poetry.

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Ludo Cinelli

Literary agent from Eve White Literary Agent, Ludo Cincelli comes to the festival for the first time as part of the Publishing Masterclass event.

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Geoff Cottrell

Geoff Cottrell is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and visiting scientist at the Oxford University Astrophysics Department and at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, he will be presenting a 30-minute lecture about Observational Astronomy as part of the ever-popular Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions

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Vybarr Cregan-Reid

Author, academic and running enthusiast Vybarr Cregan-Reid returns to ChipLitFest as an interviewer. He'll be talking about getting a good night's sleep at our Sleep Well! event and to Dr Jules Montague about The Imaginary Patient.

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Heather Darwall-Smith

Heather is a psychotherapist and sleep specialist. She is joining our Sleep Well panel to bring fascinating and much-needed advice to all those longing for a good night's sleep.

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Gabby Dawney

Gabby is a children's writer, screenwriter and occasional illustrator. She writes on the hit CBeebies pre-school animated show ‘Messy goes to OKIDO’. This is her first visit to ChipLitFest, she's bringing her new book, If I Had a Crocodile - loads of facts, fun and rollicking rhymes.

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Paul Clarke

Sarah Ditum

Critic and journalist Sarah Ditum joins ChipLitFest as an interviewer. She'll be talking about middle aged women in Hags; pioneering surgeons in Life in Her Hands; and feminist activism in Killjoy.

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Thomas Docherty

Thomas is a children's author and illustrator, he never thought he would end up writing books as he's dyslexic. But now his books have sold around the world and been translated into 25 languages. This is Thomas' first visit to ChipLitFest, he's bringing The Hare-Shaped Hole which he illustrated and John Dougherty wrote.

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John Dougherty

ChipLitFest favourite and founder patron John Dougherty is back, this time with his new book, A Hare-Shaped Hole, which was illustrated by Thomas Docherty. It's a beautiful, gentle and very hopeful exploration of loss.

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Willa Douglas

Willa Douglas runs Wild for Words, an education centre that uses creative learning and imaginative play to allow children to develop their reading and writing.

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Paula Whitcher

Jo Durrant

Jo Durrant joins us at the festival for the first time as an interviewer. Jo is the award-winning presenter of Jo Durrant’s Beautiful Universe podcast.

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Catherine Evans

Catherine is the ChipLitFest trustee who organises the annual short story competition and the publisher behind our collection of previous short story winners, The One About The Sheep. As always, she will host the award ceremony during the festival weekend.

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Hannan Connell

Lissa Evans

Lissa writes books for children and for adults. She trained to be a doctor and has worked in radio and television. She first came to ChipLitFest as an interviewer and is now joining us with her fantastic children's book, Wished, all about a box of magic birthday candles.

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Anna Richards

Suzi Feay

Literary journalist, reviewer and broadcaster, Suzi Feay joins us again as a festival interviewer. She will be talking to Marina Hyde and Sebastian Payne about life on Westminster's front line and hosting our evening with David Baddiel.

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Emma Flint

Novelist and true-crime aficionado Emma Flint joins the festival for the first time with her agent, Jo Unwin, to help shine a light on the publishing process.

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Dave Brolan

Chris Floyd

Chris Floyd’s photographs have appeared in magazines and newspapers including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and The New York Times Magazine and have won him numerous distinctions over his three-decade long career.

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Gerry Foley

Interviewer Gerry Foley returns to ChipLitFest. He'll be talking to Ed Stourton about his candid and gripping memoir, Confessions, and to Simon Sebag Montefiore about his spell-binding story of humankind, The World: A Family History.

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Rosie Parsons

Hannah Foley

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, this is Hannah's first visit to ChipLitFest and we're very excited about introducing her wonderful book, The Tiger Who Sleeps Under My Chair, to local primary schools.

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Bekky Lonsdale

Nell Frizzell

Novelist and journalist Nell Frizzell is joining ChipLitFest for the first time. She will be interviewing Clare Mackintosh and the king and queen of feel good fiction, Mike Gayle and Milly Johnson. She's also celebrating her latest book from the frontline of motherhood, Holding the Baby.

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Claire Fuller

Costa Award-winning novelist Claire Fuller returns to ChipLitFest, this time with The Memory of Animals, a gripping, haunting story that imagines a future where survival is always in doubt.

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Simon Weller

Mike Gayle

Mike Gayle has been a full-time novelist since 1997 following the publication of his Sunday Times top ten best-seller My Legendary Girlfriend. He first came to ChipLitFest in 2017 and we're delighted to welcome him back to claim his crown as king of feel good fiction.

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KT Bruce

Alison Gomm

Editor and regular ChipLitFest interviewer as well as longtime committee member, Alison's interests range from literature to journalism to the classics.

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Will Gompertz

Will Gompertz has been writing about and championing the arts at the Tate, the BBC and now the Barbican. He returns to ChipLitFest with his latest book, See What You're Missing: 31 Ways Artists Notice the World - and How You Can Too.

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Candy Gourlay

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, Candy is a frequent visitor to ChipLitFest and we're absolutely delighted to bring her stunning new novel, Wild Song, to local secondary school students.

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Jane Graham Maw

Jane Graham Maw is a literary agent whose clients include previous and current ChipLitFest authors such as Raynor Winn and Vybarr Cregan-Reid. Jane returns to the festival to run a day of Pitch the Agent sessions, giving advice to writers about getting agents to notice their manuscripts.

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Lauren Psyk

Joe Haddow

Joe is one of our regular ChipLitFest interviewers. And, as always, he will be talking to our debut novelists in the New Voices event.

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Etienne Gilfillan

Alice Harman

Alice has written over 40 books for kids, about everything from art to outer space. She's bringing her new book to ChipLitFest and it's all about famous paintings told from the perspective of the subjects themselves – including superstar Mona Lisa. Alice is also running a workshop for adults, about writing for children.

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Harry Heape

Children's author Harry Heape first came to ChipLitFest with his Shiny Pippin stories. Now he is bringing Indiana Bones - a crime-solving dog - to the festival. Expect lots of fun, lots of laughs and lots of adventures.

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Rachel Sherlock

Monica Heisey

Monica Heisey is a screen writer from Toronto whose credits include Schitt's Creek and who will join our New Voices 2023 panel with her debut novel, really good, actually, a wildly funny story about the uncertainties of modern love, friendship and happiness.

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Adam Henson

We are delighted that local farmer and television presenter Adam Henson is stepping across the border into Oxfordshire to take us on a journey through the seasons to show us what we can find, spot, observe and do in the countryside.

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Lee Gillies

Mick Herron

Mick is the Gold Dagger-winning author of the Slough House series. Often described as John le Carré's successor, Mick will be in conversation with Mark Billingham at our The Last Dance event, celebrating the arrival of Mark's new detective Declan Miller.

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Sarah Hutchinson-Jarman

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, Sarah writes for both adults and children. Her first picture book, Frog Finds Home, is released on World Book Day.

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Matt Crockett

Marina Hyde

Guardian columnist Marina Hyde is regularly agreed to be the funniest journalist out there, no other writer is more suited to chronicling the absurd times in which we live. She and Sebastian Payne will be unpicking life on the political frontline in our Wild Westminster event.

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Elvin James Mensah

Elvin James Mensah joins our New Voices 2023 panel with his debut novel, Small Joys, a tender story of love, friendship and finding happiness in the most unexpected places.

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Greg Jenner

Public historian Greg Jenner brings the fascinating history behind ordinary objects to our special event for all the family. We're thrilled that Greg is returning to ChipLitFest and we know that his mind-boggling tales from the past and hilarious historical happenings will make this an unmissable event.

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Roth Read Photography

Milly Johnson

We're so excited to welcome Milly Johnson - the undisputed queen of feel-good fiction - to Chipping Norton. She is one of the UK's Top 10 Female Fiction authors having sold millions of copies of her books worldwide.

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Sarah Ann Juckes

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, Sarah Ann is the author of four highly-acclaimed books for young people that include The Night Animals, recently awarded the Waterstones Book of the Month.

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Jenny Smith

Yasmin Kane

Having been the ChipLitFest short story judge last year, literary agent Yasmin Kane returns to the festival to run a day of Pitch the Agent sessions, giving advice to writers about getting agents to notice their manuscripts.

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Susan Llewelyn

Susan Llewelyn is Professor of Clinical Psychology at Oxford University and Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, she will be presenting a 30-minute lecture about Clinical Psychology as part of the ever-popular Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions

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Heledd Roberts

Clare Mackintosh

Clare is the best-selling, multi award-winning author of some of the past decade's most popular thrillers. She is also the founder of ChipLitFest and we're delighted to host an event celebrating her latest book, The Last Party, and ten years of the festival.

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Ayisha Malik

Novelist Ayisha Malik has been to ChipLitFest twice before once as a debut writer and then as a writers' workshop tutor. We're delighted that she's back now as an interviewer to discuss dystopian literature.

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Kathryn Cusimano

Averil Mansfield

Averil Mansfield established herself as a pioneer in every sense of the word when she qualified as a surgeon in the early 1970s. Life in Her Hands is the remarkable story of a truly trailblazing woman. Don't miss this chance to hear Averil's extraordinary account of her extraordinary life.

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David Myers

Jack Meggitt-Phillips

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, Jack Meggitt-Phillips is the author of the hilarious and monstrous The Beast and the Bethany series.

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Charlotte Mendelson

Novelist Charlotte Mendelson joins us to celebrate the paperback release of The Exhibitionist, named The Times' Novel of 2022. It's a dazzling, very funny read that takes the dysfunctional fictional family to the next level.

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Mat Smith

Dr Jules Montague

Consultant neurologist Dr Jules Montague shines a light on medical diagnosis in her fascinating book, The Imaginary Patient, and examines the idea that a diagnosis might not give us the certainty we crave but, in fact, reveal the medical establishment's bias. Jules will also be interviewing Joe Tracini about his book, Ten Things I Hate About Me.

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Georgina Moore

Deputy MD of PR Agency Midas, Georgina Moore is an award-winning book publicist who has worked in the publishing industry for 20 years, several of her authors have featured at past festivals. She is also a debut novelist and will join the New Voices panel with The Garnett Girls.

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Richard Baker

Polly Morland

Writer and documentary maker Polly Morland brings her extraordinary reportage on the life of a country doctor, A Fortunate Woman, to ChipLitFest. Combining biography, nature writing and a plea on behalf of general practice, this wonderful account is a remarkable response to John Berger's A Fortunate Man.

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Emma Norry

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, Emma Norry is delivering a series of dynamic and engaging creative writing workshops to vulnerable students in non-mainstream education.

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Mary-Ann Ochota

Mary-Ann is again joining ChipLitFest as an interviewer. She's an anthropologist, archaeologist and adventurer.

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Triptych Photography

Lev Parikian

Nature writer, conductor, inventor of both the Twitter Birdsong Project and the World Cup of Random English Words , Lev Parikian turns his attention to flight, the evolutionary story of life on the wing, in his latest book, Taking Flight.

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Laura Pashby

Writer and photographer Laura Pashby's book, Little Stories of Your Life, will inform her writers' workshop about finding your own voice. Laura uses words and photographs to capture precious small moments and how those moments can enhance your creativity.

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Sebastian Payne

Author and think tank director, Sebastian Payne, tells of the miscalculations and mistakes that led to Boris Johnson’s downfall, only two years after he first entered No.10 Downing Street. This is a gripping and timely look at how power is gained, wielded and lost in Britain today.

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Roxxie Blackham

Lizzie Pickering

Lizzie Pickering brings her personal and professional experience of navigating grief to her important new book, When Grief Equals Love. Lizzie is a former ChipLitFest trustee and we are now thrilled to welcome her as an author.

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Bali Rai

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, Bali is a frequent visitor to the Festival especially because of his amazing work with vulnerable young people.

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Andy Riley

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, Andy is bringing Action Dude - all thrills...all action...all the time - to Key Stage 2 pupils.

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Gloria Hamlyn

Meg Rosoff

Best-selling, award-winning author Meg Rosoff brings her brilliant, classic story, The Great Godden, to our event about families in fiction. This is the story of one family, one dreamy summer - the summer when everything changes.

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Andrew Maybury

Harriet Rycroft

Harriet Rycroft is a local plantswoman with an expertise and passion for container gardening following her years as Whichford Pottery's head gardener. "Harriet is the queen of ornamental container gardening!" –– Sarah Venn, founder of Edible Bristol

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SF Said

SF Said - award-winning author of Varjak Paw, The Outlaw Varjak Paw and Phoenix - brings his captivating new story, Tyger, to ChipLitFest. As well as being one the country's best-loved children's authors, SF is also a patron of the festival!

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Dr Helen Salisbury

Dr Helen Salisbury is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Oxford and joins us to interview Polly Morlund about her book A Fortunate Woman.

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Marcus Leoni Folhapress

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Internationally best-selling and prize-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore brings The World to Chipping Norton. Named as The Times History Book of 2022, it's a groundbreaking history of the world told through its most influential families.

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Stephanie McLeod

Kathy Slack

Back, by popular demand! Cotswold chef and food writer, Kathy Slack, has discussed food blogging and run a brunch event at previous ChipLitFests. She returns again with a delicious spring time lunch from her best-selling cookbook, From the Veg Patch.

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Laura Dodsworth

Victoria Smith

In her new book, Hags, journalist Victoria Smith sets out to find the answer to one of today's burning questions - what is about women in their forties and beyond that seems to enrage almost everyone?

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Paul Oscar Photography

Richard Smyth

Nature writer and novelist, Richard Smyth, returns to ChipLitFest (last here in 2015) with The Jay, The Beech and the Limpetshell where he weaves together history, memoir, and environmentalism to form a new kind of nature writing: one that asks both what we have lost, and what we have yet to find.

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Alexandra Stewart

Children's non-fiction writer, Alexandra, is coming to ChipLitFest with her wonderful book, Let's Fill This World with Kindness - over 25 real-life stories revealing how heroic acts of kindness can change our world for the better.

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Edward Stourton

Edward Stourton is one of the best-known names in British broadcasting. We're delighted that he is bringing his memoir, Confessions, to Chipping Norton. It's a fascinating reflection on his life the the events that have shaped him.

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Joe Tracini

Actor, author, magician and leotard-wearer Joe Tracini lives with a complex mental illness. He wrote his book, Ten Things I Hate About Me, to save his life and hopes it will save others. It’s frank, sad and surprisingly hilarious. Don't miss it!

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Jenny Smith

Jo Unwin

Jo is a literary agent with a background in acting and scriptwriting. She is the judge for our 2024 short story competition.

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Pen Vogler

Pen Vogler is a food historian and a publicist at Penguin Press. She first came to ChipLitFest in 2018 to discuss the food featured in Dickens' novels. This time Pen will be talking about food and class.

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Michael Wharley

Lucy Walters

Storyteller Lucy returns to ChipLitFest with an adventure through the wood-wide-web! Children are listeners before they are readers and Lucy is a wonderfully engaging storyteller who we love to include at the festival.

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Alex Willmore

Part of our extraordinary team of authors working in schools in and around Chipping Norton, Alex Willmore is a best-selling author and illustrator. He will be bringing his brilliant picture book, I Did See a Mammoth, to the town's nursery school.

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Caroline Wood

Literary agent, Caroline Wood was a film producer before joining the Felicity Bryan Agency. This is her second visit to ChipLitFest, this time she will be running an invaluable workshop about finding and working with a literary agent.

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Yuval Zommer

Yuval is the best-selling author and illustrator of the Big Book series. We are so pleased to welcome him back to ChipLitFest to run a drawing workshop and to decorate the windows of Jaffé & Neale bookshop.

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AUTUMN 2022

Following our return to live literary events in April 2022, we hosted three extraordinary evenings in October. Thanks so much to our audience and authors for getting involved: Dame Prue Leith, Brian Bilston, Manni and Reuben Coe and interviewer Saba Salman. Also thanks to Chipping Norton Theatre for hosting the events and to Jaffé & Neale for organising the book sales.

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Dame Prue Leith

What a night we had with Prue Leith on 5 October 2022. Adventures in improvised soup; salad served with a bathplug; keeping the Hollies' hash, and killing dead lobsters for Princess Margaret. The inimitable Prue Leith was in sparkling form. The tales just kept on coming and Dame Prue's home crowd was most royally entertained.

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Brian Bilston

On 11 October 2022 a completely packed house listened to the inimitable poetry of Brian Bilston, best-selling poet and novelist and Twitter's unofficial poet laureate. His latest collection, Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems, is a year’s worth of poetic treats and you’ll never look at the Hungry Caterpillar in the same way again.

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Eddy Pearce

Manni and Reuben Coe

On 20 October 2022, brothers Manni and Reuben Coe celebrated their wonderful memoir, brother do you love me. Reuben’s wish for their extraordinary book is that it will fulfil his "world mission to make everyone emotional." It certainly had that effect in Chippy! Our audience loved meeting the Coe brothers in gentle, moving and honest conversation with Saba Salman from Sibs, the charity for brothers and sisters of disabled children and adults.

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Nicola Bensley

Saba Salman

Author and editor of Made Possible (an anthology of essays by people with learning disabilities), Saba joined us at ChipLitFest for the first time to interview Manni and Reuben Coe about their book, brother.do.you.love.me.

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