Wells festival reveals star-studded speakers

By Laura Linham 16th Jul 2026

Local News by Laura Linham 16th Jul 2026

Wells Festival of Literature has revealed the first big names heading to the city when the event returns from Friday, 16 October to Saturday, 24 October 2026. Lady Hale, Oz Clarke, Henry Normal and Dame Maggie Aderin are among the speakers announced for this year's festival.

Lady Hale, the first woman to serve as President of the Supreme Court, will return after appearing at last year's festival in conversation with solicitor Harriet Wistrich. She will introduce her new book, With the Law on Our Side, which offers a guide to the legal system.

The former Supreme Court president became widely known as "Spider Woman" because of the brooch she wore when delivering the court's 2019 judgment that Boris Johnson's suspension of Parliament was unlawful. Festival organisers said she had enjoyed her previous appearance so much that she was keen to return.

Wine writer and broadcaster Oz Clarke will discuss A Vine is a Wild Thing, drawing on a career spent tasting, travelling and telling stories about wine. His appearance will explore his lifelong fascination with grapes and winemaking.

BBC Radio 4's Henry Normal will bring humour and poetry to the programme. The writer, who co-wrote The Mrs Merton Show and the first series of The Royle Family, will feature work from Collected Poems, due to be published this autumn alongside a new radio show.

Dame Maggie Aderin will also appear to discuss her memoir, Starchild. Inspired by television animation The Clangers from the age of three, she went on to become a space scientist and presenter of The Sky at Night.

She was made a dame in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to science education. Her memoir charts the challenges she faced, her determination to overcome them and her childhood dream of travelling into space.

Full details of the speakers and events will be published on the Wells Festival of Literature website at the beginning of August. The printed programme will be available from Monday, 10 August.