Join acclaimed historian and writer Alison Weir and Blake Morrison, author of And when did you last see your father for City Books’ annual literary brunch.

Alison Weir is perhaps best known as a best-selling biographer, with major works on Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen Isabella, Mary Queen of Scots and Katherine Swynford. She is also an accomplished historical novelist.

In this special celebration of good food and great books, Alison turns her attention to her latest novel The Lady Elizabeth, the story of Elizabeth I before she became queen and Blake presents his new novel South of the River.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Three young sisters must defeat the evil Dr DeWilde before he takes control of the whole land - but at what cost? Meet Guardian journalist Lyn Gardner, author of Into the Woods - a tale of tales and a must for all fans of fairytale and adventure. Taking inspiration from numerous fairytales and weaving them into a wholly original story, Into the Woods is a whirlwind of imaginative happenings, dastardly deeds and thrilling escapades.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Adopt an Author event
Years 5-6, school event

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

A lot of people who write books have scary and exciting things happen to them when they're young. Ian Whybrow missed out on all that! But he's made amends as a grown-up with a brilliantly bonkers career as a multi award-winning writer of 'genuine comic exuberance' (Guardian). Find out how, where, when and why - but not necessarily in that order - with the best-selling author of Little Wolf and Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs!

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Adopt an Author event
Years 3-5, school event

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Patrick Ness, Katy Moran and Denise Johnston-Burt. Chaired by Nicholas Tucker

What are the pleasures and pitfalls of creating gripping narratives for children and young readers? For an indispensable inside track on the grown-up game of children's writing join Nicholas Tucker with Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go, debut novelist Katy Moran (Bloodline) and their editor and mentor from Walker Books Denise Johnston-Burt.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Adults 16+

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Michael Rosen's mission as Poet Laureate is to put poetry 'back into rooms and halls full of wonder, compassion, haunting, laughter, music and rhyme.' In two very special events the best-selling author of Totally Wonderful Miss Plumberry and We're Going on a Bear Hunt puts his manifesto into action with irresistible offerings of diverse verse and interactive performance for youngsters and older children.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Ages 8-11

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Billy is a bit of a worrier. He worries about hats and shoes. He worries about clouds and rain and giant birds... Helping Billy to overcome his childhood worries in this special interactive event is Anthony Browne, the multi-talented creator of Gorilla, Willy the Wimp, The Shape Game and Silly Billy. An inspiring and intimate encounter with the first UK illustrator to win the coveted Hans Christian Andersen Award in half a century!

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Ages 6+

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Molly Moon's talents know no bounds! Hypnotism, world-stopping, time travel... and now she's reading minds. Send Molly, Rocky, Micky, Petula and their good friend Georgia Byng over the moon by making your way - in an orderly fashion - to their latest adventure Molly Moon, Micky Minus and the Mind Machine. Georgia Byng is the author of four Molly Moon adventures plus bucket loads of other books.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Ages 9-11

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Michael Rosen's mission as Poet Laureate is to put poetry 'back into rooms and halls full of wonder, compassion, haunting, laughter, music and rhyme.' In two very special events the best-selling author of Totally Wonderful Miss Plumberry and We're Going on a Bear Hunt puts his manifesto into action with irresistible offerings of diverse verse and interactive performance for youngsters and older children.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Ages 5-7

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Master storytellers Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden take flight with Icarus in their latest unplugged evening of breathtaking mythology. Prometheus' theft; Pandora's box; the Minotaur and the labyrinth; and of course that fateful flight of Daedalus and son. More heartstopping drama from the finest storytellers in the land. Bar none!

'Fabulous!' (The Guardian)

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Ages 12+

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Philip Ardagh is over two metres tall with a big bushy beard. Not only is he very large and very hairy, but he has also written over 70 books for children from serious stuff about hieroglyphics to abnormally funny adventures about small boys and stuffed stoats. Beard gags and much hilarity guaranteed from the best-selling author of the Unlikely Exploits series and the supremely daft Eddie Dickens trilogy.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Ages 8+

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Can a penguin be the perfect present? Ben is delighted when he rips open his gift and finds a penguin inside. 'Hello, Penguin!' says Ben. Penguin says nothing... until a passing lion intervenes. Polly Dunbar is already the award-winning author/illustrator of Flyaway Katie and Dog Blue. Discover her colourful new world of tongue-tied penguins and fortuitous felines in this interactive session for young children.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Ages 4+

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Four children. One ancient civilisation. A world of adventures. When Thieves of Ostia sent Flavia, Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus on their first Roman escapade, Caroline Lawrence's action-packed adventure took the children's book world by storm. Fifteen stories, two TV series and a host of companion books later and these thrill-a-minute Roman whodunnits are delighting young readers across the world. Join Caroline Lawrence as she gets up close and personal with history and mystery.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Ages 7+

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

Join queen of teen Louise Rennison for a hilarious insight into the fabbity fab Confessions of Georgia Nicholson best-selling books. And be the first to find out about the next book in the series with an exclusive sneak reading from book nine, which doesn't hit the shops until July!

Tickets only available from:
Brighton Dome Ticke Office
01273 709709

Ages 13+

Now in its fourth year, 26 Letters is a four day A - Z of children's workshops, talks, readings and quizzes.

After a spellbound afternoon in the park with Peter, Hook, Wendy, Tinkerbell and Nana the dog, it's time to magic your way to our enchanting 26 Letters Neverland Quiz. With tea, sandwiches, cake, prizes galore and a host of book-based brainteasers to test your knowledge, there's an ocean of swashbuckling fun for all the family.

Please Note:
Tickets for this event are available in person only from Brighton Dome Ticket Office, by calling 01273 709709
or online from the Brighton Festival Website

Former BBC correspondent Duncan Hewitt lives and works in China. He has witnessed first hand the impact and speed of China’s recent vast social and economic upheavals. His book Getting Rich First - Life in a Changing China speaks with the voices of everyday people as they learn to adapt to one of the most rapid transformations in history.

The peasant turned lifestyle guru, the former monk working on a Shanghai building site and the once-conservative father running a gay hotline: this is the new China, a nation in motion, where whole streets are rebuilt in a week, car ownership is soaring, education goes private and rural workers migrate to the cities in search of a better life. It is a transformation that has swept through the country since the first economic reforms of the 1980s, when Deng Xiaoping announced that China would have to 'let some of the people get rich first'. While many have benefited, others are struggling to keep up in what is now one of the most divided societies on earth.

A gripping account of the transformation of modern China.

Presented by City Books at The Old Market

David Sedaris is quite simply, one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today. A Grammy Award nominated American writer and broadcaster, he came to prominence when his account of working as a Christmas elf at Macys, ‘Santaland Diaries’ was broadcast on National Radio. It became a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic.

Much of Sedaris’s humour is autobiographical and self-deprecating, often concerning his middle class upbringing, his Greek heritage and his life in France with his partner Hugh.

His collection of essays ‘Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim’ lifted the corner on ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface.
His sixth collection of stories ‘When You Are Engulfed in Flames’ is a fresh masterpiece of comic writing, concentrating on his attempts to give up smoking.

‘Like a warped Thurber: domestic, laconic, slightly warped but never bitter, and extremely funny’ Sunday Times

‘A humorist par excellence, he can make Woody Allen appear ham-tongued and Oscar Wilde a drag’ Observer

Presented by City Books at The Old Market