Prolific author Tracy Chevalier will be discussing the many places and periods that she writes about, literary biographer Hilary Spurling turns her attention to Anthony Powell, an iconic figure of English letters, and writer and TED speaker Ann Morgan talks about her project to read a book from every country in the world in one calendar year.

Brian Clegg discusses big data and how the information revolution is changing our lives, whilst Steve Richards explores why conventional politicians are failing to adapt to the challenge of today, whilst Jamie Bartlett looks at radical alternatives.

We seek inspiration from outside the literary world as social and cultural historian Carol Dyhouse draws upon literature, cinema, and popular romance to show how the changing position of women has shaped their dreams about men, Pen Vogler tells us how she recreated recipes inspired by the novels and letters of Jane Austen and Alex Preston and Nicholas Ryle talk about how they were inspired by birds.

You can learn how to change the world through gentle protest with Sarah Corbitt and Craftivism, discuss gender with Juno Dawson, and delve into the world of therapy with Susie Orbach.

These are only a few of the highlights from the 2017 programme. For more information, head here.