SWINDON Festival of Literature kicks off next week, with a number of guests lined up in the first few days.

Graham Harvey, prize-winning author, farmer, co-founder of the country’s leading conference on low-input ecological agriculture and agricultural advisor to the BBC Radio 4’s The Archers, will be at Swindon Arts Centre at 12.30pm on Tuesday, May 2, to talk about the whys and wherefores of grass-fed food and pose the question 'are we really what we eat?'.

Hilary Bradt will be at the arts centre at 6.30pm the same day to give an illustrated talk on the reluctant solo traveller.

Author, editor, and publisher of numerous travel books and articles, Hilary Bradt MBE, was herself a reluctant solo traveller but set out on a journey through Ireland on horseback with only her Connemara pony for company.

And later on at 8pm, Benedict Allen will be at the arts centre with an illustrated talk on Birds of Paradise: the Ultimate Quest.

Allen undertook a journey to a remote cloud forest in Papua New Guinea with wheelchair user Frank Gardner, the BBC’s Security Correspondent, in search of these elusive birds.

With his usual good humour and enthusiasm, Benedict reveals the full story behind their dramatic trek.

On Wednesday, May 3 at 12.30pm at the arts centre, Irving Finkel, cuneiform tablet curator at the British Museum in London, will discuss the world’s oldest way of writing.

Cuneiform script, on tablets of clay, traces its roots back to 3,200 BC when, for the first time ever, someone came up with the idea of writing.

Then at 6.30pm, the arts centre will welcome Oliver James, who will talk about how to change ourselves and our lives for the better.

In his latest book, Not in Your Genes, psychologist, documentary producer, and author James drills deep down into the childhood causes of our individuality.

And at 8pm on the same day, Mark Lawson will be at the arts centre, discussing on accusations, allegations, and reputations.

Novelist, television broadcaster, journalist, and erstwhile presenter of Radio 4’s Front Row, Lawson is author of The Allegations, in which a leading academic is arrested for a potentially reputation-ruining historic assault. A friend he turns to for support is also the subject of career-ending accusations. Both are bewildered, as are family and friends.

Tickets for all Swindon Festival of Literature events can be booked at swindontheatres.co.uk or by calling 01793 524481.

For full daily coverage of the two-week festival, check out the Swindon Advertiser or visit our website at swindonadvertiser.co.uk.