Come down off the shelf – Scarborough's Books by the Beach is on this weekend - Larry Lamb, Jeremy Vine, Belinda Bauer and Alison Weir among the guests
Books by the Beach – Scarborough’s literature festival – brings famous faces and best-selling writers to town this weekend – Friday, June 6 to Sunday, June 8.
Gavin and Stacey’s Larry Lamb and BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine head the guest list which also includes Alison Weir, Belinda Bauer and Kate Summerscale.
Books by the Beach organiser Heather French said: “This is our 12th festival and I’m confident there’s something for everyone.
"We have a wealth of best-selling novelists and prize-winning authors visiting Scarborough to share their new books.
All events feature authors appearing in-person and there are book signings too. Most events take place at Queen Street Methodist Church except for Sunday morning when the venue is the YMCA Theatre, St Thomas Street.
Books by the Beach programme:
Friday, June 6
10am: Joanne Harris in conversation with Gerry Foley
The author of Chocolate talks about its prequel Vianne – set six years before she opens her scandalous chocolaterie in the French village of lansquenet.
12.30pm: Dr Annie Gray in conversation with festival patron Helen Boaden
The historian, cook and broadcaster takes us on a journey through the ages from medieval marketplaces to precincts of the 20th century with her new book The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker.
3pm: Belinda Bauer in conversation with Gerry Foley
Belinda is a Crime Writer’s Association Gold Dagger award winner and a Booker Prize longlisted author.
She shares her new novel, The Impossible Thing – a sweeping tale of obsession and greed, and a crime that has remained unresolved for a hundred years. Set partially at Bempton in the 1920s
5.30pm: Anne Sebba in conversation with Helen Boaden
Anne shares her new work The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. In 1943, German SS officers of Auschwitz ordered that an orchestra should be formed among female prisoners to play marching music to other inmates and concerts to officers in charge
8pm: Professor Joann Fletcher
Scarborough-based Egyptologist gives an illustrated talk entitled The Story of Egypt’s Royal Women: from Queens to Female Pharaohs.
Highlighting her own work researching the lives of Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra, Joann will reveal their status as female pharaohs alongside the numerous women who served as queens and officials.
Saturday, June 7
10am: Tracy Chevalier in conversation with Helen Boaden
Tracy is the author of eleven novels, including Girl with a Pearl Earring. She will be discussing her spellbinding new novel The Glassmaker, set in Venice, 1486. Women are not meant to work with glass, but Orsola Rosso flouts convention to save her family from ruin.
12.30pm: David Torrance in conversation with Alan Johnson
David is a constitutional specialist at the House of Commons Library and published historian of British politics.
He talks to former MP Alan Johnson about his book Wild Men – the story of the first Labour government/
3pm: Tim Marshall in conversation with Gerry Foley
Tim marshall is a leading authority on foreign affairs with more than 30 years of reporting experience. He is the author of the No 1 Sunday Times bestsellers The Power of Geography and The Future of Geography. He discusses his updated 10-year anniversary edition of the runaway bestseller, Prisoners of Geography.
5.30pm Kate Summerscale in conversation with Alan Johnson
One of the UK’s top-selling true crime writers discusses her new work The peepshow: the Murders at 10 Rillington Place.
Kate mines the archives to uncover the lives of Reg Christie's victims and the tabloid frenzy their deaths inspired. Kate’s findings suggest a new solution to one of the most notorious crimes of the century.
8pm: Jeremy Vine in conversation with Helen Boaden
The broadcast talks about the first book in a new mystery series Murder On Line One which features a failed radio chat show.
Sunday, June 8: Alan Johnson in conversation with Gerry Foley, YMCA Theatre
The former Labour MP and memoir and crime writer will be chatting about his biography of Harold Wilson.
12.30pm: Chloe Dalton in conversation with Gerry Foley
The writer and political adviser spent more than 10 years working in the UK Parliament and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Lockdown led Chloe to leave london and return to the countryside of her childhood, where she unexpectedly found herself custodian of a newly born, endangered hare. Raising Hare chronicles their journey together.
3pm: Alison Weir
Alison is a best-selling historical novelist of tudor fiction and a leading female historian.
She has published more than 30 books. Step into the thrill and danger of Tudor England as Alison gives an illustrated talk on her new novel The Cardinal: the Secret :ife of Thomas Wolsey.
5.30pm: Stuart Maconie in conversation with Helen Boaden
The broadcaster e shares his new book With a Little Help From Their Friends – the stories of the people who made the Beatles who they were.
8pm: Larry Lamb in conversation with Helen Boaden
The Gavin and Stacey’s Mick Shipman talks about his debut novel All Wrapped Up – a behind-the-scenes story of the making of a blockbuster.
Tickets for all events are available from the YMCA box office on 01723 506750 and online at www.booksbythebeach.co.uk