David Farnor | On 02, Oct 2020

Cheltenham Literature Festival goes online for 2020

The Cheltenham Literature Festival is going online this year, with nine days of digital panels, talks and activities live-streaming across the UK.

From 2nd to 11th October, the festival will include more than 160 events with the majority of them streamed live from Cheltenham’s Town Hall and the Everyman Theatre in front of a socially distanced live audience.

The line-up ranges from literary greats and fresh talent to travel and adventure, food and drink, lifestyle and psychology, history and science, art and classic literature, alongside a powerful collection of current affairs events drawing in expert insight from journalists and columnists.

New for 2020, the Festival will present “The Citizen’s Manifesto”, bringing together young activists, politicians and key thinkers with the Festival audience to shine a political, social, economic and cultural light on a year like no other, exploring the ways in which society could and should change in the wake of coronavirus. The audience will be invited to suggest ideas for panellists to discuss on stage and visit the digital Pledge Wall to make a promise to their future self.

A series of interviews with writers around the world – entitled The World is Waiting – will provide insight into writers’ lives in lockdown and a glimpse into the literary culture of Japan, Australia, Nigeria, the US and more, featuring writers such as Marilynne Robinson, Sayaka Murata, Tayari Jones, Akwaeke Emezi and Tara June Winch.

In partnership with Audible and independent publisher Jacaranda, a string of events will explore the power of the spoken word, discussing the publishing industry’s response to Black Lives Matter and showcasing Jacaranda’s authors including Tolu Agbelusi, Njambi McGrath and Shola Von Reinhold.

The Festival’s infamous Lit Crawl will be part of Lit Crawl Global, which will see Lit Crawls around the globe collaborate for a border and time zone-defying celebration of the written and spoken word.

The festival is free to watch live through the #CheltLitFest Player, or for £20 you can catch up with more than 120 events and talks on-demand – with the content available until 31st December 2020.

Sky Arts will also return to broadcast highlights for free on linear TV at 11pm on 6th October and 11.30pm on 8th October. Streaming service Marquee TV will also be streaming selections of the programme on-demand, including The World Is Waiting interviews and the Sunday Times Must Reads, including Kiley Reid, Edna O’Brien, Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Strout.

Here’s the rundown of what’s on when throughout the online event:

Friday 2nd October

Debuts and Cocktails
5:00pm – 6:00pm

Elif Shafak: How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Marilynne Robinson, Colm Tóibín
7:00pm – 8:00pm

Lucy Bell
7:00pm – 8:00pm

Inua Ellams
8:00pm – 9:00pm

To Be Someone: A Love Letter to The Jam
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Raise The Bar
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Nick Hornby
10:00pm – 11:00pm

Saturday 3rd October

Sayaka Murata
10:00am – 11:00am

Coronavirus Meets Climate Change: A Moment of Reckoning?
Ann Petitfor, Chris Goodall, Natalie Fee, Elif Shafak
11:00am – 12:00pm

Are We Doing it Right?
Otegha Uwagba, Pandora Sykes
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Greg James and Chris Smith: Kid Normal
1:00pm – 2:00pm

The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence: Edna O’Brien
1:00pm – 2:00pm

Roger Robinson and Romalyn Ante
2:00pm – 3:00pm

M G Leonard and Sam Sedgman: Adventures on Trains
3:00pm – 4:00pm

Malcolm Gladwell
3:00pm – 4:00pm

Kim Darroch: Ambassador in the Age of Trump
4:00pm – 5:00pm

Caroline O’Donoghue and Emma Jane Unsworth
5:00pm – 6:00pm

The Age of Outrage
Ashely Dotty Charles, Iain Dale, Elif Shafak
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Caitlin Moran: More Than a Woman
7:00pm – 8:00pm

The Red Death & Resurrection
7:00pm – 7:45pm

Paul Mendez and Okechukwu Nzelu
8:00pm – 9:00pm

John Niven and Pete Paphides
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Cheltenham Writes! Local Lates
Nima Cas Hunt, Romalyn Ante, Stanley Iyanu
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Sunday 4th October

Matthew Syed: Dare To Be You
10:00am – 11:00am

Charlie Mackesy
10:00am – 11:00am

Unravelling Unconscious Bias
Pragya Agarwal, Elif Shafak
11:00am – 12:00pm

Rob Biddulph: Dog Gone
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Tsitsi Dangarembga
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Editing The Sunday Times: Emma Tucker
1:00pm – 2:00pm

Meet the Literary Editors
Andrew Holgate, Robbie Millen
2:00pm – 3:00pm

DBC Pierre
3:00pm – 4:00pm

The Times Debate: What Next for America?
Sarah Churchwell, Tom McTague, Gerard Baker, David Aaronovitch, Kim Darroch
4:00pm – 5:00pm

Gloucestershire Writers’ Network
Tyler Keevil, Sarah James
5:00pm – 6:00pm

Insight: Investigating the Inside Story of Britain’s Battle with Coronavirus
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Literary Top Trumps: Who Should Lead the Free World?
7:00pm – 8:00pm

Nikita Gill: Maidens, Myths and Monsters
8:00pm – 9:00pm

Emma Freud Meets Rupert Everett
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Monday 5th October

Draw Along: Alex T Smith Claude
8:00am – 8:13am

Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara: Little People Big Dreams
8:00am – 8:21am

Nizrana Farook: The Girl Who Stole an Elephant
8:00am – 8:21am

Tom Palmer: After the War
8:00am – 8:33am

Stories Aloud: Anna James Pages & Co
8:00am – 8:14am

Katherine Rundell: The Good Thieves
8:00am – 8:24am

Elizabeth Acevedo: Clap When You Land
8:00am – 8:35am

Anthony McGowan: Lark
8:00am – 8:41am

Liz Hyder: Bearmouth
8:00am – 8:39am

Annet Schaap: Lampie
8:00am – 8:34am

Sophia Thakur: Poetry Masterclass
8:00am – 8:40am

The Nuremberg Trials 75 Years On
10:00am – 11:00am

Soft Power: The New Great Game
11:00am – 12:00pm

Back to the Drawing Board for Schools?
12:00pm – 1:00pm

The Sunday Times Travel Team
1:00pm – 2:00pm

Hag: Forgotten Folk Tales Retold
Carolyne Larrington, Daisy Johnson, Irenosen Okojie
2:00pm – 3:00pm

Coronavirus: What’s the Story?
3:00pm – 4:00pm

Women in War
4:00pm – 5:00pm

Megan Hunter and Daisy Johnson
5:00pm – 6:00pm

Will Coronavirus Cure the NHS?
Clare Gerada, Chris Hopson, Clive Lewis
6:00pm – 7:00pm

House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons
7:00pm – 8:30pm

Richard and Mat Osman
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Tuesday 6th October

Draw Along: Dapo Adeola Clean Up!
8:00am – 8:12am

Oliver Jeffers: What We’ll Build
8:00am – 8:38am

Laura Ellen Anderson: Amelia Fang
8:00am – 8:42am

Stories Aloud: Lauren Child Pippi Longstocking
8:00am – 8:20am

The Cold War: Then and Now
10:00am – 11:00am

When Dystopia Becomes Reality: Life Under Lockdown
Owen O’Kane, Punit Shah
11:00am – 12:00pm

Has Coronavirus Changed Our Community?
12:00pm – 1:00pm

James Naughtie: On the Road
1:00pm – 2:00pm

Whose History?
2:00pm – 3:00pm

Labours of Love
4:00pm – 5:00pm

African Europeans: An Untold History
Olivette Otele
5:00pm – 6:00pm

CPD: Poetry Matters! Developing a love of poetry in the primary classroom
5:00pm – 6:00pm

Back to Big Brother?
James Ball, Claudia Aradau
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Raynor Winn: The Wild Silence
7:00pm – 8:00pm

John Lanchester: Reality and Other Stories
8:00pm – 9:00pm

Natalie Haynes: Pandora’s Jar
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Wednesday 7th October

Draw Along: The Brothers McLeod Knight Sir Louis
8:00am – 8:13am

Jennifer Bell and Alice Lickens: Agents of the Wild
8:00am – 8:40am

Matthew Syed: Dare to be You!
8:00am – 9:00am

Jack Noel: What the Dickens!
8:00am – 8:28am

Stories Aloud: Humza Arshad Little Badman
8:00am – 8:28am

Au Revoir, Tristesse: Lessons in Happiness from French Literature
10:00am – 11:00am

Stories of the Colonial Experience
Shamil Thakrar, Shalina Patel
11:00am – 12:00pm

Lockdown: A Culture Fix?
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Raphael: Prince of Painters
1:00pm – 2:00pm

Silencing Your Inner Critic
Stephanie Yeboah, Emma Gannon, Abigail Bergstrom, Scarlett Curtis
2:00pm – 3:00pm

Inside Francis Bacon
3:00pm – 4:00pm

Gavin Francis: Island Dreams
4:00pm – 5:00pm

How I (Lost and) Found Myself After 40
Sam Baker, Meg Matthews
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Kawai Strong Washburn and C Pam Zhang
7:00pm – 8:00pm

Alex Pavesi and Stuart Turton
8:00pm – 9:00pm

Andrew O’Hagan
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Thursday 8th October

Draw Along: Katz Cowley Characters and Creatures
8:00am – 8:17am

Rob Biddulph: Dog Gone
8:00am – 9:00am

Greg James and Chris Smith: Kid Normal
8:00am – 9:00am

M G Leonard and Sam Sedgman: Adventures on Trains
8:00am – 9:00am

Stories Aloud: Simon Farnaby The Wizard in My Shed
8:00am – 8:21am

Cromwell’s Protectorate
Allan Mallinson, Kate Williams, Leande de Lisle
10:00am – 11:00am

No Modernism Without Lesbians
Diana Souhami
11:00am – 12:00pm

Eat. Sleep. Work. Repeat?
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Why Dante Matters
John Took
1:00pm – 2:00pm

The Boundaries of Postcolonial Identity
Nikesh Shukla, Ravinder Bhogal, Dina Nayeri
2:00pm – 3:00pm

Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe
3:00pm – 4:00pm

Shakespearean: On Life and Language in Times of Disruption
Robert McCrum
4:00pm – 5:00pm

Carys Davies and Rachel Joyce
5:00pm – 6:00pm

Ruth Jones
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Shamil Thakrar Meets Yotam Ottolenghi And Ixta Belfrage
7:00pm – 8:00pm

Funny You Should Ask… Your Questions Answered by the QI Elves
Anne Miller, James Harkin, Andrew Hunter Murray
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Friday 9th October

Draw Along: Sophy Henn Pizzaz
8:00am – 8:12am

Joseph Coelho: Poems Aloud
8:00am – 8:28am

Matt Goodfellow: Bright Bursts of Colour
8:00am – 8:37am

Stories Aloud: Jasbinder Bilan Tamarind & the Star of Ishta
8:00am – 8:25am

What’s the Point of Saints?
Allan Mallinson, Roderick Strange, Ruth Gledhill, A.N. Wilson
10:00am – 11:00am

The Art of The Short Story
Niamh Campbell, Carys Davies, Andrew Holgate, Jennifer Makumbi
11:00am – 12:00pm

Did We Get Happier in Lockdown?
12:00pm – 1:00pm

A N Wilson: The Mystery of Charles Dickens
1:00pm – 2:00pm

I Am An Island
2:00pm – 3:00pm

CLiPPA Poetry Award Show LIVE
2:00pm – 2:35pm

Ben Fogle
3:00pm – 4:00pm

A Good Listen: The Making of an Audiobook
Robin Morgan-Bentley, Imogen Church, Mark Billingham
4:00pm – 5:00pm

Carys Bray and Andrew Hunter Murray
5:00pm – 6:00pm

Olive and Mabel: Internet Superstars
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Sathnam Sanghera: Locked Down with Gen Z
7:00pm – 8:00pm

The Alternative Book Club
7:00pm – 8:00pm

Rachel Long and Nina Mingya Powles
8:00pm – 9:00pm

Tayari Jones
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Emma Freud Meets Claudia Winkleman
10:00pm – 11:00pm

Saturday 10th October

Michael Crummey
9:00am – 10:00am

Liz Pichon: Shoe Wars
10:00am – 11:00am

Tara June Winch and Behrouz Boochani
10:00am – 11:00am

Jane Harper and Chris Whitaker
11:00am – 12:00pm

Guess How Much I Love You Storyteller Show
Liz Frost
12:00pm – 12:45pm

Bryan Washington
12:00pm – 1:00pm

How Change Happens
Jess Phillips, Helen Lewis, Kevin Maxwell
1:00pm – 2:00pm

Writing & Neurodiversity
Naoise Dolan, Camilla Pang, Abigail Bergstrom
2:00pm – 3:00pm

Victoria Hislop
3:00pm – 4:00pm

What’s Next for the Global Economy?
Ian Goldin, Robin Niblett, Stephen D. King
4:00pm – 5:00pm

Naoise Dolan: Exciting Times
5:00pm – 6:00pm

Marcus Brigstocke: I’ve Never Read
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Dolly Alderton
7:00pm – 8:00pm

Lives of Colour: Diversifying our Dreams
Hafsah Dabiri
7:00pm – 8:00pm

Jacaranda Books: Diverse Ideas, Groundbreaking Writing
Shola Von Reinhold, Njambi McGrath, Tolu Agbelusi
8:00pm – 9:00pm

Laura Bates and Marcus Brigstocke
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Echoes and Edges
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Sunday 11th October

Marcus Brigstocke Does The Sunday Papers
10:00am – 11:00am

The Other Mother
Jen Brister, Candice Braithwaite, Louise Pentland
11:00am – 12:00pm

How To Read A Latin Poem
Llewelyn Morgan, Mary Beard, Peter Stothard
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Carrie Hope Fletcher: Into the Spotlight
1:00pm – 2:00pm

The Sunday Times Must Reads: Elizabeth Strout
1:00pm – 2:00pm

The Female Gaze
Charlotte Jansen, Luisa-Maria MacCormack, Kenya Hunt
2:00pm – 3:00pm

Anthony Horowitz: Alex Rider
3:00pm – 4:00pm

The Sunday Times Must Reads: Ann Patchett
3:00pm – 4:00pm

China: A Global Power Shift?
4:00pm – 5:00pm

Mary Beard and Peter Stothard
5:00pm – 6:00pm

Lessons in Leadership
Leslie Vinjamuri, Robin Niblett, Adrian Furnham
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Anthony Horowitz
7:00pm – 8:00pm

The Sunday Times Must Reads: Kiley Reid
8:00pm – 9:00pm

Ian Hislop at 60
9:00pm – 10:00pm

Wednesday 14th October

Liz Pichon: Shoe Wars
8:00am – 9:00am

Guess How Much I Love You Storyteller Show
Liz Frost
8:00am – 8:40am

Carrie Hope Fletcher: Into the Spotlight
8:00am – 9:00am

Anthony Horowitz: Alex Rider
8:00am – 9:00am

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