Wolf Hall author Hilary Mantel has insisted she has “absolutely nothing to apologise for” following widespread outrage over her apparent criticism of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Boris Johnson was the perfect example of a modern politician because he “excelled at telling a leadership story” even if he didn’t do much in the way of actual leadership, Gavin Esler has told the Bath Literature Festival.

After his recent stint as Richard III the actor Mark Rylance is to take on another major period of British history in a television adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s award-winning novels.

Award-winning novelist says she has "absolutely nothing to apologise for"

Heard the one about the rabbi, the Muslim, the Christian and the sociologist who all agreed with each other? It’s sound unlikely enough to be a joke but it happened at the Bath Literature Festival when the subject turned to the vexed question of faith schools.

Best-selling writer Sebastian Faulks is to breathe new life into much-loved characters Jeeves and Wooster after being approached by the estate of PG Wodehouse.

Best-selling writer Sebastian Faulks is to breathe new life into much-loved characters Jeeves and Wooster after being approached by the estate of PG Wodehouse.

Jo Wood, the former wife of Rolling Stone Ronnie, has told how she offered some of her children drugs to try when they were growing up.

The truth about the world's most violent conflict zones isn't black or white, scary or idyllic, corrupt or democratic. Yet our media tries to make it so.

Polymathic arts writer Kevin Jackson, in Bath to introduce his book Constellation of Genius about the literary annus mirabilis of 1922, ran up against the feminist lobby.

How do you quantify "reasonable doubt"? And how much doubt is enough to stop you sending a fellow human to prison or execution? There were weird scenes in Bath's historic Guildhall when the maverick human rights lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith, asking these questions, turned the banqueting hall into a court of law and the audience into a quaking jury.

Two heavyweight speakers gave passionate talks on two titans of 19th-century poetry at The Independent Bath Literature Festival – focusing on their preoccupation with death.

Why do politicians "scuttle sideways like a startled crab" whenever the legalisation of drugs is mentioned? Three experts on the drugs trade trained their headlights on the crab today.

Jarvis Cocker might seem an unlikely contender to headline a literature festival, but it seems the former Pulp frontman really does have a thirst for knowledge.

Justin Bieber’s fans may complain about a two-hour wait, but it was a different story for those in line to see Stephenie Meyer, the author of the bestselling Twilight novels.