Tickets are already disappearing fast for this year's Wells Festival of Literature, with several high-profile speakers sold out just days after booking opened.

The nine-day festival runs from Friday, 16 October to Saturday, 24 October and brings writers, broadcasters, historians, poets and public figures to Wells for another packed programme.

Wells Festival of Literature is a sponsor of Wells Nub News.

Jonathan Dimbleby and Lady Hale are among the names whose events have already sold out, but there are still tickets available for comedy writer, poet and producer Henry Normal.

Normal is best known as co-writer of The Mrs Merton Show and, with Steve Coogan, the BAFTA-winning Paul and Pauline Calf Diaries. He also co-founded Baby Cow Productions, whose credits include Gavin and Stacey, The Mighty Boosh and the Oscar-nominated film Philomena.

Since retiring from television production in 2016, Normal has written and performed ten BBC Radio 4 programmes combining comedy, poetry and stories about his family. A new show, A Normal Journey, is due to be recorded this autumn, while a new collection of his poetry is being published this month.

He appears at Wells Festival of Literature on Wednesday, 21 October at 7.45 pm.

There is also something in the programme for anyone with literary ambitions of their own.

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The festival's Poetry Readings and Prize Giving event brings together writers from around the world competing for £5,000 worth of prizes. The event is free to attend and takes place on Monday, 19 October from 2 pm to 5 pm.

The wider 2026 programme includes names from fiction, current affairs, history, science, food, travel and the arts, with speakers including Patrick Gale, Stephen Sackur, Martin Sixsmith, Oz Clarke, Kate Williams, Andrea Wulf, Ping Coombes and Nicholas Crane.

With several events already sold out, anyone who has been meaning to "have a look later" might want to bring later forward a bit.

Tickets for Henry Normal and the rest of the available programme can be booked through the Wells Festival of Literature website.

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