‘To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.’ - AC Grayling

Making the most of your LitFest

With so much variety and countless sessions on offer, you will undoubtedly be spoilt for choice, but how do you choose between sessions? Here are some tips we hope will help you get the best out of the 2012 LitFest.

Treat coming to the LitFest in the same way as planning for a holiday to a wonderful cultural city. Give yourself time to study the whole programme; make a note of you and your family and friends’ hot favourites and build the rest of your choices around these anchors.

Just as you would when visiting a new city, step away from the familiar and try an Arabic session or two: there is simultaneous translation so you will be able to get the most out these events. Learn a bit about the religion and history of the region, or the folk tales and culture, or the architecture.

We have some delicious food sessions and demos, as well as a Literary Lunch and a Tea. The InterContinental also has excellent restaurants and special Festival food stalls for snacks between sessions.

Get to meet a writer whose books you have not read previously, someone as famous as Nicholas Sparks or David Nicholls, or perhaps a relative newcomer such as PG Baskar or Selma Dabbagh.

For great entertainment and plenty of laughter come to Terry Wogan’s session on Opening Night, while for emotional highs, the international poets on the same evening will transport you to imagined places and times.

For mental stimulation, join in one of the great debates or panel sessions peppered throughout the Festival, from the round table discussion on the Fate of Arabic in the 21st century, to the George Orwell Lecture and, of course, the famous Quiz chaired by bestselling crime writer Mark Billingham.

Above all, let your mind and body be nourished with the amazing smorgasbord of writers coming from all corners of the globe to entertain, inform and inspire you.

Enjoy!

The Festival Team