Kew Gardens announces the full line up for its literary festival, Write on Kew, as it once again plays host to world famous authors and writers from several genres including fiction, nature, history, science, and children, for a series of scintillating talks and events in stunning surroundings.

Luscious gardens, breath-taking architecture and over 250 years of science and history make Kew a perfect location for the London literary festival. Write on Kew is open to writers and readers of all subjects and ages, and many of the talks will take place in Kew’s listed buildings, including the beautiful Nash Conservatory, and Museum Number 1, which faces the iconic Palm House.

Among many others, children’s writers Michael Rosen, Francesca Simon, and Sally Gardner will be appearing, as well as novelists AS Byatt, Helen Dunmore, and Rose Tremain, food writers Rick Stein and Nadiya Hussain, historian Antony Beevor, nature writers Tristan Gooley and William Fiennes, designer Emma Bridgewater, broadcaster Reverend Richard Coles, actor Brian Blessed, politicians Nick Clegg and Alan Johnson, and scientists AC Grayling and Susan Greenfield.

The festival’s programming directors Anne Elletson and Tanya Burgess say: “We are incredibly excited about the programme for this year’s festival, which once again features some of the very best literary talent out there. There is really no better place in London for a festival of this nature than Kew Gardens, where visitors can immerse themselves in the rich world of books as beauty, creativity and knowledge come together.”

Richard Deverell, director of Kew Gardens says: “We were delighted to see the huge appetite for, and fantastically warm response to, our first literary festival last autumn, and cannot wait to welcome back authors and book lovers alike. Kew is so much more than just a botanic garden, it is a hub of contemporary, creative thinking, at the fore-front of both the science and arts worlds. I am thrilled that this festival is fast becoming an absolute must on the literary circuit.”

Any proceeds from the festival go back into funding Kew’s science and conservation work, so visitors will be supporting Kew’s mission: to be the global resource for plant knowledge, building an understanding of the world’s plants upon which all our lives depend.

Tickets go on sale to Kew members on 27 June, and to non-members 29 June. www.kew.org/writeonkew

Author Neel Mukherjee who spoke at Write on Kew in 2015, says: “I felt very honoured to be there, especially since I consider Kew to be paradise on earth and perhaps the greatest British achievement along with the NHS and the BBC. And that wonderful conservatory! It was GORGEOUS. It was like being in a ship and the Gardens outside, as darkness fell, was the sea in which we were floating. I’m confident that the festival will go from strength to strength.”

Full list of authors:

KATE ADIE
MARINA LEWYCKA
A.N. WILSON
MARTHA KEARNEY & LALINE PAULL
WILLIAM FIENNES
MEL GIEDROYC
AC GRAYLING
MEERA SOHDA
ALAN JOHNSON
MICHAEL ROSEN
ALEXANDER MASTERS
NADIYA HUSSAIN
ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH
NICK CLEGG
ANTONY BEEVOR
NOEL JANIS-NORTON
ARTEMIS COOPER
MARIAN KEYES
AS BYATT
PADDY ASHDOWN
BEN MACINTYRE
REVEREND RICHARD COLES
BEN MILLER
RICK STEIN
BRIAN BLESSED
ROALD DAHL: WORD WIZARDS
CLARE & ADRIAN WARING
ROBERT WINSTON
COLIN THUBRON
ROSE TREMAIN
DAVID BADDIEL
SARAH RAVEN
DIANA ATHILL
SARAH SANDS & TONY KIRKHAM
EMMA BRIDGEWATER
SHAMI RADIA, NEIL WHIPPEY & SEBASTIAN HOLMES
OLIVER JAMES
ROBERT HARRIS
FAY WELDON
STEVE ANTONY
FRANCESCA SIMON
STEVE JONES
FRANK GARDNER
SUSAN GREENFIELD
HELEN DUNMORE
THOMAS GRANT
HELEN RAPPAPORT
TOM PARKER BOWLES
TONY ROBINSON
TRACY BORMAN
JAMES NAUGHTIE
TRACY CHEVALIER
JESSIE BURTON
TRISTAN GOOLEY
JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL
VANESSA BERRIDGE
JOHN CRACE
WILLIAM SITWELL
JOANNE HARRIS
WOLFGANG BUTTRESS
MARGARET WILLES
SALLY GARDNER
FIONA DANKS & JO SCHOFIELD