Wimbledon BookFest has announced that broadcaster and author Clare Balding will appear at this year’s festival for a special live recording to launch the National Literacy Trust’s brand-new podcast – The Joy of Reading – during the National Year of Reading. Clare will be speaking to host Gaby Huddart, reflecting on the books that have shaped her life – from the stories that first captured her imagination as a child to the titles that have inspired her career and the books she believes everyone should read.
The event heads a new wave of bestselling writers, acclaimed performers, journalists, historians and cultural figures announced today for Wimbledon BookFest 2026, including actor Celia Imrie, cricket legend Sir Ian Botham, former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret Lady Anne Glenconner, foreign affairs expert Tim Marshall, comedian and crime writer Julian Clary, and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Avni Doshi.
The announcement follows Wimbledon BookFest’s major programme launch in June, which revealed appearances from writers including Maggie O’Farrell, Elif Shafak, Matt Haig, Caitlin Moran, Marina Hyde, Meera Syal and Simon Sebag Montefiore, many of which are already sold out, alongside the festival’s expanded schools programme during the National Year of Reading.
Among the newly announced highlights:
Celia Imrie reflects on a lifetime of adventures, sharing stories from her travels around the world and remarkable career on stage and screen.
Sir Ian Botham revisits the highs and lows of an extraordinary sporting career.
Tim Marshall joins Luke Harding to explore the changing geopolitical landscape, from shifting borders to the future of global power.
Lady Anne Glenconner, confidante to Princess Margaret and author of the million-copy bestseller Lady in Waiting, reflects on a life of glamour, romance, personal tragedy and the unexpected joy of stepping into the spotlight.
Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Avni Doshi joins Indonesian author Intan Paramaditha for a conversation about myth, memory, family and the uncanny in contemporary fiction.
Mat Osman, bassist with Suede, joins author Rodge Glass to discuss how one of their generation’s most electrifying bands made some of their finest music in their fourth decade.
The new programme also includes conversations on science with Jim Al-Khalili, stories of survival and resistance in Afghanistan with Zahra Joya, medieval history with Janina Ramirez, fiction with Alexandra Potter and M. John Harrison, poetry and storytelling with Ashley Hickson-Lovence and Luke Kennard, and creativity with Wimbledon-based Pakistani artist Mahin Hussain and Wimbledon-based Ghanian artist Mary Owusu-Hirsch. Colin Grant unpacks the complexities of belonging with Isabelle Dupuy and Suzanne Harrington.
Audiences can also step inside the world of Britain’s intelligence services in MI5 Archive: Official Secrets, presented by historian Mark Dunton, uncovering newly declassified stories of spies, scandals and state secrets. The festival will also host a special screening of acclaimed South Korean film No Other Choice, continuing the festival’s ongoing celebration of Korean culture.
Now approaching its 20th anniversary, Wimbledon BookFest brings together internationally renowned writers alongside emerging voices while remaining deeply rooted in its local community. This year’s programme places a particular emphasis on widening access through the National Year of Reading, including the launch of Nathaneal Lessore as the festival’s new Schools Laureate and Big Read for Schools initiative