Bridport Literary Festival Director, Tanya Bruce-Lockhart, reveals some of the fascinating writers she has brought together for this year’s event

First Confession with Lord Patten

Christopher Patten’s eclectic and high flying career has seen him at the forefront of Tory politics, the last Governor in Hong Kong, Chairman of the BBC and Chancellor of Oxford University. His autobiography unleashes his views on the political landscape which will no doubt prove controversial and potentially explosive. He will be in conversation with Howard Davis.

3pm, 5 November at The Electric Palace

To Catch a King with Charles Spencer

Charles Spencer is a distinguished historian whose work always has a thrilling narrative and his latest book To Catch a King is no exception. It features the gripping of adventure of Charles II’s escape and is largely set in this coastal part of West Dorset. As you will discover it is an action-packed adventure story.

6.30pm, 9 November at The Electric Palace

Ascent with Christ Bonington

Sir Chris Bonington, one of Britain’s greatest mountaineer, has a career which spans six decades of climbing peaks across all continents, which he charts in his autobiography Ascent: A Life Spent Climbing on the Edge. He talks to Luke Hughes, Chairman of the Everest Foundation, about his thrilling and sometimes dangerous passion for scaling record breaking peaks.

4.30pm, 10 November at The Electric Palace

The Earth and I with James Lovelock

James Lovelock CH is the distinguished independent scientist originator of the Gaia Theory – a theory which considers the Earth a living and evolving system striving to regulate itself so that life can continue to flourish. In conversation with the acclaimed writer and journalist Bryan Appleyard, they discuss his new book The Earth and I and how humans have managed to adapt to become the most influential species on earth but at what cost.

11am, 11 November at The Electric Palace

A Marriage in More Than Words

At this year’s BridLit Festival two married couples discuss their new books. Peter Snow and his wife, Ann MacMillan tell us about their fascinating collection of battlefield War Stories detailing the lives of ordinary men and women who got swept up in the turbulence of war - from Waterloo and World Wars to Syria (5 November at The Electric Palace).

Claire Tomalin’s autobiography A Life of My Own is an intimate memoir which charts her unsettling childhood, her escape to Oxford, her tragic losses, her distinguished literary achievements and her subsequent happy marriage to Michael Frayn, a multi-talented writer of critically acclaimed fiction and plays. Frayn’s new book Pocket Playhouse provides a tour de force of theatrical imagination. Both these events are at The Bull Hotel on Monday 6 November.

For young readers

Chris Riddell: Children’s Laureate

BridLit is delighted to welcome Chris Riddell along with Ottoline and Goth Girl and all their many friends to this year’s event. Chris, the 2015-2017 UK Children’s Laureate, is an accomplished artist and the political cartoonist for the Observer. His children’s books have won a number of major prizes, including the Costa Children’s Book Award for Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse. Then there are the bestselling Ottoline books, The Emperor of Absurdia, and, with Paul Stewart, the Muddle Earth and Scavenger series. Chris will be in conversation with Chris Huxley at the Electric Palace at 9am on 11 November. Free entry to children.

Other children’s events at BridLit:

• 4 November: A Morning of Myths, Magic & Glorious Greeks - Acclaimed children’s storyteller, Michael Loader, opens a Pandora’s Box of theatre, song, puppets and participation. Bridport Community & Youth Centre.

• 11 November: Leaf by Niggle - Based on a 1939 lesser-known short story by J.R.R. Tolkein, Puppet State’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe show introduces us to the poignant story of Niggle, an artist on a curious journey. It is often seen as an allegory of Tolkein’s own creative process and life. The Lyric Theatre, Bridport.

Don’t miss!

BridLit is hosting the first Oldie Literary Lunch in Dorset on Tuesday 7 November at the Seaside Boarding House at Burton Bradstock with guest speakers Paula Byrne, Anne de Courcy and Harry Mount.

Make a Date: Bridport Literary Festival runs 5 – 12 November.