The programme, which will run from 29 April to 3 May, also features talks from big-name novelists Joanne Harris and Louise Doughty, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and Welsh singer Cerys Matthews.
Mr Fogle has completed many challenges over the years including climbing Mount Everest, a six day marathon across the Sahara Desert and cycling a rickshaw from Edinburgh to London. He has written ten Sunday Times best-selling books, along with a new series of children’s books – ‘Mr Dog’.
Pictured: Ben Fogle’s new series of children’s books.
He was due to come to the island to talk about that, but filming commitments have got in the way and forced him to cancel his Guernsey trip.
Any member of the Literary Festival who has already bought tickets to Mr Fogle’s talk can get a refund.
**NOTICE OF EVENT CANCELLATION**
We are very sorry to announce that our event “Ben Fogle: Tales from the Wilderness” on Sat 2 May 2020 at 12.30PM has been cancelled due to sudden changes in Ben’s filming schedule. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/JYPq0Klweq
— Guernsey Lit Fest (@GuernseyLitFest) February 8, 2020
Professor Dawkins – best known for writing ‘The Selfish Gene’ and ‘The God Delusion’ – will be here this spring though, to talk about his latest book, ‘Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide’.
He will take the audience through his thoughts on evolution and how it fits with the big questions of belief. Professor Dawkins’ event will also be held at St James on 2 May.
Pictured: Professor Richard Dawkins (image from guernseyliteraryfestival.com).
2020 will be the festival’s eighth year, with a full programme lined up covering a wide range of topics.
The events will mostly be centred around St Peter Port, with talks at St James, the Festival Hub in Market Street and the Guille-Alles Library.
Cerys Matthews MBE will speak at an event at St James on the evening of 1 May. She currently programmes and hosts the BBC Radio 2 Blues Show as well as her award-winning Sunday show on BBC 6 Music. She was the founder members of the band Catatonia and author of the bestseller, ‘Hook, Line and Sinker’.
Pictured: Cerys Matthews MBE.
Audience members will be able to hear all about her newest folk cookbook, ‘Where the Wild Cooks Go’.
Meanwhile, those with a passion for poetry may be interested in hearing from Mr Armitage, who worked for a time as the Oxford Professor of Poetry before becoming Poet Laureate.
He will talk through and read some of the work, but will also be judging this year’s International Poetry Competition, which is run by the Literary Festival.
The Festival also organises a programme of events in local schools. 12 children’s authors will run talks and workshops with the pupils, including Andy Riley, Onjali Rauf and Neal Layton.
The ever popular Tea Party will return this year with an ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ theme, and children can enjoy a show from Dr Dilly.
Tickets for festival events go on sale to the public today.
The full line up and more information on each event is available here.
