Stanley Tucci and Stephen King confirmed for Cheltenham Literature Festival 2022

Stanley Tucci, Stephen King and Bono are among the stars confirmed to appear at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival.

First held in 1949, The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival is the world’s oldest literature festival and features talks and discussions from a variety of authors, journalists and public figures.

In 2022, the festival will host more than 500 events and close to 1,000 authors across 10 days, with its fiction programme including the likes of Ian McEwan, Malorie Blackman and Alexander McCall Smith.

Renowned American author of horror and fantasy novels Stephen King is set to dial in remotely for a rare interview with BBC Radio 4 journalist Mark Lawson.

Bestselling novelist Ian Rankin, who was made an OBE for services to literature, will make his return to the festival with a brand new thriller in his Detective Rebus series.

Following its launch at last year’s festival, Cheltenham’s Voicebox programme will return, aiming to bring youth voices to the forefront with a range of talks, workshops, panels and music.

A variety of up-and-coming stars will be given a platform to share their work and in addition to spoken word, poetry and performance from local and national young talent, events will also explore topics and trends including mental health, activism and LGBT experiences.

The classic literature line-up will celebrate some of the most-loved classic works from Britain and further afield.

As part of the roster academic Sarah Churchwell will examine Gone with the Wind in an attempt to help explain divisions in the United States today.

While Ireland natives Anne Enright, Daniel Mulhall and Pat McCabe will delve into James Joyce’s magnum opus and landmark modernist work Ulysses in its centenary year.

A number of food-based events will also take place over the course of the 10-day festival, with appearances from chef Angela Hartnett and singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor and her husband Richard Jones who will share recipes from their Kitchen Discos, which the couple launched during lockdown and saw them dancing around their kitchen underneath a disco ball.

TV favourites Dame Mary Berry and The Hairy Bikers will also engage in discussions about their love of food.

The Cheltenham Literature Festival 2022 will host a range of music-orientated events, including a discussion with Irish singer-songwriter Bono about his new memoir and the stories that led him to write for the first time, as well as a heartfelt discussion between Nick Cave and journalist Sean O’Hagan about the grieving process following the death of Cave’s son earlier this year.

Veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby will also be present to reflect on his 50-year career at the BBC and share his thoughts on the monarchy, politics, and the current state of Britain.

The bestselling author of Everything I Know About Love – Dolly Alderton – is set to discuss some of her favourite Dear Dolly agony aunt letters from her column in The Sunday Times Style magazine, while editor-in-chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful will reflect on his journey from a working-class outsider to a fashion industry heavyweight with writer Afua Hirsch.

The Cheltenham Literature Festival will take place between October 7 and October 16, with tickets on sale to festival members later this month, followed by general booking on September 7.