We are delighted to announce that Gyles Brandreth will be the closing speaker at this year's Wells Festival of Literature. This erstwhile politician turned writer, actor, broadcaster and all round entertainer has become a much loved household name. This is an event not to be missed, as Gyles will also be speaking about his recently published autobiography 'The Odd Boy Out'.

Apart from his political career, Gyles has made numerous television appearances, including a role in Dr Who and is currently appearing on 'Celebrity Gogglebox', radio broadcasts, taking part in such favourites as 'Just a Minute' and 'Call My Bluff', has written biographies, books on grammar and correct English, books on the royals, scripts for television programmes, a stage show and has published his own diaries. He is also an acclaimed after dinner speaker who featured in The Guinness Book of Records for the longest after dinner speech, which lasted twelve and a half hours! Gyles' interests also extend to several charities which he supports, most notably the National Playing Fields Association, now known as Fields in Trust, where he worked with Prince Phillip.

Gyles will be entertaining the audience at Cedars Hall with anecdotes from his colourful career as well as talking about his long awaited autobiography 'The Odd Boy Out'. In his autobiography Gyles brings all his flamboyant prose, for which he is so well known, to describe growing up and coming of age in post war Britain. His inimitable style presents the reader with a witty account of ordinary family life, together with enthralling tales about meeting princes and presidents, exploring the sex clubs of Copenhagen and the experience of visiting death row in America. His autobiography is about so much more than Gyles Brandreth as it paints a picture of politics, the media, swinging London and stage and screen from Laurence Olivier to Twiggy.

His appearance at the Wells Festival of Literature, which runs from Friday 15 October to Saturday 23 October, will be an unmissable event! All events are scheduled to take place at Cedars Hall in Wells and will follow government guidelines. At the moment we are planning for all speakers to appear live at Cedars Hall, with additional access via live-streaming for those who are unable to attend in person.

The full Festival programme will be announced in August, with tickets going on sale on Monday 6 September. Become a Friend of the Festival and take advantage of priority booking which opens on Tuesday 31 August. For all information about becoming a friend, events and booking please visit our website www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk.

We are a non profit making organisation and our aim is to fund programmes in local state schools to foster a love of literature, reading and writing. It is therefore very fitting that our closing speaker, Gyles Brandreth, is well known for his love of the English language and was a member of Trevor McDonald's Better English campaign and, as a lifelong fan of Scrabble, he founded the National Scrabble Championships.