A stellar line-up has been announced today for Cheltenham Literature Festival 2022.

The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival 2022 is delighted to announce this year's unmissable programme, with more than 500 events and close to 1,000 authors and speakers promising an international literary celebration like no other.

From Friday 7 to Sunday 16 October, the world's foremost writers, thinkers and performers will descend on the vibrant spa town when the Festival village returns to the heart of regency Cheltenham for a jam-packed week of fascinating discussion and unforgettable memories.

With something to cater to all - from avid bookworms to first time visitors - the dynamic programme spans history, food, travel, poetry and spoken word, art, sport, faith, philosophy, fashion, psychology, science, nature, business and much more. The best new voices in fiction and poetry will appear alongside literary giants and high-profile speakers, political thinkers, and beloved stars of the stage and screen.

Among the festival highlights are an appearance by music legend Bono, frontman of rock royalty U2, who will discuss his new memoir and the stories that led him to write for the first time.

Stephen King - recipient of The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence 2022 - dials in for a rare, career-spanning interview with Mark Lawson. Ian Hislop shares his Desert Island Books with Clare Clark.

Susie Dent, lexicographer extraordinaire and Queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner, and actor Tom Read Wilson of Celebs Go Dating share the words you need to navigate every situation in modern life.

Sunday lunch offerings are available with BBC Radio 4 presenter and journalist Nick Robinson for an essential inside view into British politics, and Alan Titchmarsh, who discusses the wonder of nature in his gentle and uplifting novel The Gift.

Known for her award-winning television writing including Gavin and Stacey and Stella, Ruth Jones has gone on to receive similar acclaim for her fiction and will discuss her latest, Love Untold.

In intimate and revealing conversations, beloved presenters Rylan Clark and Jay Blades (of BBC's The Repair Shop) discuss their respective memoirs and the difficulties they have overcome.

This year, in a continuation of the Festival's 3-year 'Read the World' theme - which offers a passport to a world of ideas - there will be a dedicated Ukraine Day (Tuesday 11 October) co-curated with The International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv, celebrating the country's unique, rich culture and highlighting the impact of the ongoing conflict on those personally affected. These events are part of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture organised in partnership with the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute.

Following its launch at last year's festival, VOICEBOX - Cheltenham Literature Festival's acclaimed new programme and venue - is back. Dedicated to bringing youth voices to the forefront, it will host free talks, workshops, panels, DJ sets and music, shining a light on the biggest names and rising stars. As well as spoken word, poetry and performance from local and national young talent, events will explore topics and trends that matter to young people, including mental health and wellbeing, activism, and LGBTQ+ experiences, and there will be a film night hosted by guest curator Clarisse Loughrey.

Meanwhile, charging into its seventh year in Cheltenham, for one night only Lit Crawl takes over the streets for a free, fast-paced evening of pop-up events and quirky literary happenings. Across surprising locations including record stores, cafes, tattoo parlours and barbershops, the crawl gives a platform to young and emerging comedians, authors, poets and performers including a moving spoken word session with Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees.

The lively Festival village is the perfect setting for a family day out with a bumper programme of events, free activities and workshops, featuring the greatest storytellers and illustrators, sure to inspire a love of reading in children of all ages and stages. The Festival's flagship education programme Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils, annually reaches 9,000 pupils across the country through a network of teachers' book groups who read high-quality, diverse children's literature.

This year's Conference, featuring authors and literacy experts, will empower teachers to bring these books to life in the classroom and inspire reading for pleasure amongst their pupils. Furthermore, this year will see the culmination of Beyond Words, a creative writing project for vulnerable young people unable to access mainstream education in Gloucestershire. Created by writer and poet Caleb Parkin in consultation with previous students, a new creative writing for wellbeing resource launches at VOICEBOX.

Booking for the Literature Festival opens to Cheltenham Festivals Members on Wednesday 31 August and general booking opens on Wednesday 7 September.