MARGARET DRABBLE – on a personal history with jigsaws.

What is the importance of childhood? As we age, how accurate is our memory? What patterns are there in our lives? Are jigsaws a peculiarly British form of meditation?

Editor of The Oxford Companion to English Literature, Margaret Drabble CBE, is the author of numerous highly-acclaimed novels, biographies, and screenplays. Her latest novel, hot off the press, is The Pattern in the Carpet.

DEBORAH MOGGACH – on reading, writing, and making books into films.

What happens, in your head and your heart, when you read a book? What happens when you watch a film? How do you turn a brilliant book into a fine film? What is lost, and what is gained? Any more questions?

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, poultry keeper, and author of 16 novels, Deborah Moggach has also become prolific in her adaptations of books into films. Her screen play for the film of Pride and Prejudice was nominated for a BAFTA and her TV screenplays include the award-winning adaptation of Goggle-Eyes. Her most recent work in taking words from the page to the screen, which she described as 'an extraordinary and emotional journey', was for The Diary of Anne Frank broadcast earlier this year on BBC1. Deborah Moggach has also worked closely with the Anne Frank Trust, helping to spread Anne's message, of tolerance and respect for all people.

GUY BROWNING – on humour, normality, maps in his life, and maybe in yours!

Where does humour come from? What is ‘normal life’ and who are ‘normal people’? How does humour travel from the strut on life’s stage to rut on the printed page?

This event offers uncanny insights into the human race, immoderate laughter, and unexpected revelations, maybe even our own!

Author of humorous books and the newly-deceased, after 10 years, Guardian How To . . . column, Guy Browning’s latest oeuvre is called Maps of My Life. Fascinating.

POET IN NEW YORK – performed by Keith James & Rick Foot.

A concert of unique and evocative music that exposes the fear, fascination, and vulnerability that a fragile and creative person experiences when confronted with a place as unsettling as the city of New York.

Featuring material by Leonard Cohen, Federico Garcia Lorca, Vladimir Nabokov, Bob Dylan, Suzanne Vega, and Pablo Neruda.