Pictured above: Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan in conversation at Cliveden Literary Festival 2024

Cliveden Literary Festival has announced the full line-up for its 2025 edition, taking place on 11–12 October at Cliveden House in Berkshire. Tickets are now available for the two-day event, which will feature leading voices in literature, politics, history, and culture.

Among this year’s headline sessions, politician Michael Gove and journalist Sarah Vine will be in conversation with historian Andrew Roberts, discussing their marriage and divorce in the public eye. Author Salman Rushdie will appear alongside his wife, poet and photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths, to explore their creative partnership. Actor Richard E. Grant will reflect on his career and personal journey with Georgia Beaufort, while philosopher Alain de Botton is set to examine themes of love, heartbreak and sorrow. Historians Jung Chang and Peter Frankopan will join Geordie Greig for a conversation on China’s past and future.

The festival will also include a range of panels covering current affairs, literature and global politics. Topics under discussion will include US political intrigue, contemporary espionage, and the enduring appeal of authors such as Jane Austen. A special edition of “Question Time” will address key issues in British politics, featuring Alex Burghart and broadcaster Emily Maitlis.

Emily Maitlis and Andrew Roberts at Cliveden Literary Festival 2024

The 2025 speaker list includes Elif Shafak, Marlon James, Anthony Horowitz, William Boyd, Tina Brown, Jonathan Freedland, Dambisa Moyo, Charles Moore, Joanna Coles, Tristram Hunt and Helen Castor, among others. The programme brings together novelists, historians, journalists, playwrights and political commentators.

Now in its eighth year, the festival continues Cliveden House’s historic role as a centre of literary and political discourse. Once a gathering place for figures such as Alexander Pope, George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill, the venue maintains its legacy as a hub for ideas and debate.

The festival is organised by a committee of writers and historians: Andrew Roberts, Natalie Livingstone, Catherine Ostler and Simon Sebag Montefiore. It has earned a reputation for offering thought-provoking discussion in a setting renowned for its cultural and historical significance.

For tickets, visit the website: www.clivedenliteraryfestival.org

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