Wells Festival of Literature has unveiled its 2025 programme — and it's one of its most ambitious and crowd-pulling line-ups yet.

The nine-day celebration of books, ideas and conversation will run from 17 to 25 October, with a ix of high-profile speakers, debut talent and community events set to bring readers flocking to England's smallest city.

This year's headliners read like a literary dream team. Gardener and broadcaster Carol Klein will dig into the roots of her new memoir Hortobiography, while culinary legend Prue Leith shares the lessons behind her latest book, Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom.

Completing the trio of TV favourites, BBC international correspondent Lyse Doucet brings insight and humanity to her account of reporting from Afghanistan in The Finest Hotel in Kabul.

Literary heavyweights are also front and centre. Sebastian Faulks opens the festival with The Shape of Time — part memoir, part meditation on memory, history and imagination.

Edward St Aubyn, creator of the searing Patrick Melrose series, returns with Parallel Lines, a novel exploring the split-second decisions that shape a life. Booker Prize-winner Howard Jacobson joins the ever-popular Book Group event to discuss What Will Survive of Us, a tender and sharply observed novel about late-life love.

As ever, the festival's trademark mix of intellect and accessibility is on show. There'll be quiz nights, a roaming poet composing bespoke verses on demand, meet-the-author lunches, and a showcase celebrating the winners of the festival's international writing competitions.

Now in its 32nd year, Wells Festival of Literature continues to punch well above its weight — and this autumn's programme proves it has no intention of slowing down.

Tickets and the full schedule are available now at www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk.