, pictured left, is to look back at his life and the early formative influences that turned him into the writer he is today in a major new event added to the
festival website. Tickets are already selling well, with the US author of the
Outlander sci-fi adventure-romance novels
Diana Gabaldon, pictured right, set to be one of the biggest draws of 2015.
The television comic and bestselling author of
Round Ireland with a Fridge,
Tony Hawks, has also confirmed his event on his latest hilarious book,
Once Upon a Time in the West . . . Country.
In the
children's and young people programme, there are confirmed appearances by
Frank Cottrell Boyce,
Cressida Cowell and Lauren Child, and veteran author
Judith Kerr.
Events previously announced include actress
Celia Imrie, pictured left, Booker Prize-winning novelist
Kazuo Ishiguro, multi-award-winning Indian novelist
Amitav Ghosh, former Downing Street adviser to Tony Blair,
Jonathan Powell, television and radio personalities
Paul Heiney and
Anita Anand, Nobel-prize-winning scientist
Eric Kandel, and children's authors
Philip Pullman, and
Liz Pichon.
These events and more are available to book at
oxfordliteraryfestival.org. Many more speakers and events will be added as times and venues are confirmed over the next few weeks. A walk-in and telephone box office will open in Blackwell's bookshop later this month.
Find the plot on our writing course
Aspiring writers can book a place on our popular creative writing course
Finding the Plot: A Course for Aspiring Fiction Writers, which includes masterclasses by Louise de Bernières, pictured, Joanne Harris, and other leading writers.
The popular five-day residential course at Corpus Christi College features five two-hour tutor-led workshops and a series of ten one-hour talks given by leading literary figures and publishers.
Book early to avoid disappointment.
