Monday 20th September

The aims of the Ten Minute Playwriting Workshop are to inspire and inform local writers to write their own ten minute play which can then be performed within the local community or entered to the numerous ten minute play festivals around the world. The great thing about a ten minute play is it's an achievable and accessible introduction to theatre for writers new to writing for the theatre. In a realistic time frame you can write and develop a work of considerable quality that can go on to be performed at home and abroad.

One of the world's leading ten minute playwrights, Alex Broun has had over 60 ten minute plays produced in nearly 400 productions all over the world from the USA to China. Alex is also the Artistic Director of Short+Sweet Theatre, the largest ten minute play festival in the world that started in Sydney, Australia in 2002 and now runs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Auckland.

All of todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Elegant, delicious and classic; who can resist the culinary icon of the cupcake? Ideal for children and adults alike, the little decorated cake has become a national treasure and who better to describe how to create your own gastronomic works of art than Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas, the duo behind the phenomenon of celebrity favourite, Primrose Bakery?

As extravagant or as simple as you choose, part of the appeal of the cupcake is in its sheer versatility. Martha and Lisa offer inspiration for every flavour and occasion. The cupcakes are based on their own ideals of seasonal, home-baked cakes, made with simple equipment and 100% natural ingredients.

Martha and Lisa founded Primrose Bakery in 2004 and started out supplying to their local deli Melrose & Morgan. The business grew to meet the rising demand and they now supply Selfridges Foodhall, Fortnum & Mason, Tom's deli in Notting Hill and Fresh and Wild, as well as an ever-expanding private client list, which has included Paul Smith, Kate Moss and Elton John. In autumn 2008 they opened a Primrose Bakery in Covent Garden.

Dan Lepard is one of the most respected and widely-read bakers in the world. He writes weekly in The Guardian, monthly in The British Baker and regularly for Sainsbury's Magazine. He has become the alternative baking guru for a generation unconvinced by celebrity chefs.

His first book, Baking with Passion (Quadrille, 1999), was awarded the Guild of Food Writers Cookery Book of the Year and short-listed for the Andre Simon Food Book of the Year. His next book, The Handmade Loaf (Mitchell Beazley, 2004), combined his writing with his skills as a photographer as he took a remarkable solo journey to some of the most unexplored parts of Europe in search of forgotten and overlooked bread recipes.

He has two books due next year: in Spring 2011 a collection of recipes from his Guardian newspaper column, and in the Autumn a long-awaited book on traditional British baking, both published by 4th Estate, London.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Many would say that we're living in a golden age of historical fiction. But why do readers love to inhabit the past, and why do so many writers love writing it? This panel brings together four historical novelists, who between them write crime, romantic adventure, literary and crossover fiction, to talk about what they write and why.

Maria McCann's novels conjure up the dark, turbulent times of the English Civil War. Her new novel The Wilding (Faber) was longlisted for the 2010 Orange Prize.

Emma Darwin's latest novel A Secret Alchemy (Headline Review) recreates the violent, glamorous world of the Princes in the Tower. It was named one of The Times Best Paperbacks of 2009.

Roger Morris's four historical crime novels are set in Dostoevsky's 1860s St Petersburg. Acclaim for his debut A Gentle Axe (Faber) was followed by two CWA accolades for A Vengeful Longing.

Rose Melikan's historical adventures highlight the secret warfare waged during the Napoleonic era as Mary Finch and Captain Robert Holland match wits with French agents and English traitors. Romance Reviews Today called her The Blackstone Key (Sphere) a 'page-turning, excitement-filled mystery'.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

One hundred thousand children run away from home every year in the UK. Rachel Billington's The Missing Boy (Orion, May 2010) imagines the personal story of one of those children. It is a tense and emotional novel about the day-to-day existence of a contemporary family living through their worst nightmare.

Rachel Billington is the author of 19 other novels, including Lies and Loyalties, One Summer, The Space Between and A Woman's Life. She is the co-editor of Inside Time, a national newspaper written for and by prisoners, and has been the President of PEN. She lives in London and Dorset with her husband, the director Kevin Billington.

Bridget Galton is Features Editor of The Ham&High.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Robert Lacey is a British journalist and the author of the bestselling books Majesty and Ford: The Men and the Machine, among others. In 1979, he moved with his family to Saudi Arabia for eighteen months to research his book, The Kingdom, an eye-opening and penetrating study of that country's complex and often paradoxical culture. The book was banned by the Saudi government of the time.

For the past three years he has split his time between Saudi Arabia and London, gathering firsthand material for Inside the Kingdom at every level of Saudi society - from political dissidents and Guantanamo detainees to the innermost circles of the royal family. Inside the Kingdom is the most penetrating and substantial book on the Saudi state and society since September 11.

Photo credit: David Levenson

Valerie Grove has been a journalist for 40 years, now working on The Times. She wrote the biographies of Dodie Smith, Laurie Lee and John Mortimer. Her latest book is a life of Kaye Webb, founder of the Puffin Club, who was married to the great cartoonist Ronald Searle.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Alison Kervin's latest book is Wags at the World Cup. Tracie Martin is the true queen of the Wags - and this is going to be her year. From her lemon-frosted highlights to the tips of her bejewelled bronzed toes, Tracie is the ultimate footballer's wife. The England squad are heading to South Africa for the World Cup and Tracie's husband Dean has a place on the coaching squad. So the Martin family is on their way to South Africa. And while the fight may be on for England to regain their rightful place in the history books, Tracie knows that the true battle will be fought in Gucci and in the pages of her favourite tabloids. It's old school wags versus the new breed of career girls. Fashion versus football. And Tracie is going to win!

Alison is an award-winning freelance writer and journalist. She was formerly the Chief Sports Interviewer of The Daily Telegraph newspaper. Alison has also written for The Sunday Times, Rugby World magazine, The Daily Mail and Observer Sports Monthly. She has written nine highly-acclaimed books including three previous novels, The WAG's Diary, A WAG Abroad and Celebrity Bride.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

In his latest book, Young Mandela (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, June 2010), David James Smith has set out to reevaluate Mandela's entire political and personal life leading up to his conviction. It is the Mandela many have never seen: not the dignified, elderly statesman but the committed freedom fighter who left his wife and children to terrorise racist white South Africa and go on the run from the police in the early 1960s.

Young Mandela considers Mandela not from the perspective of the lionized president but of the young man with everything still to achieve.

David James Smith is a journalist for The Sunday Times Magazine. His previous books are The Sleep of Reason: The James Bulger Case, All About Jill: The Life and Death of Jill Dando, Supper With the Crippens and One Morning in Sarajevo. He lives in Lewes, East Sussex with his partner and their four children.

Alex Bates is an eminent UN international prosecutor, who worked extensively on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

When Marine Pen Farthing brought two dogs home from his tour of Afghanistan, little did he know what he had begun. Twelve months later, he has left the Marines, after 20 years service, to run his dog rescue charity full time. He barely has a chance to miss life in action, as he is inundated with requests from marines and soldiers to give more rescued dogs the chance of a new life in the West.

Whether it's little Helmand, Fubar or Beardog - or the unruly litter known as the Char Badmashis or Four Hooligans - Pen does his upmost to give these dogs the chance they deserve. It is a frustrating and sometimes dangerous process, and while some dogs make it out to safety, others, tragically, do not. But a look out the window to see his own Afghan hounds, Now Zad and Tali, with bright eyes and glossy coats tells him it's all worthwhile.

Like his Sunday Times bestseller One Dog at a Time (Ebury Press, April 2010), No Place Like Home (Ebury Press July 2010) is the story of one man's courage and persistence in the face of often insurmountable odds. It will warm - and break - the hearts of dog lovers everywhere.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Valerie Grove has been a journalist for 40 years: formerly for The Evening Standard and The Sunday Times, now on The Times, specialising in interviews. She lives in Highgate, and walks her Dalmatian on the Heath every day, and plays tennis almost as often. She wrote the biographies of Dodie Smith, Laurie Lee and John Mortimer, and is a mother of four. Her latest book,
So Much to Tell is a life of Kaye Webb, founder of the Puffin Club, who was married to the great cartoonist Ronald Searle.

Kaye Webb, a journalist with no publishing experience, burst into the world of children's books in 1961 and changed the face of children's publishing forever. Her child-like enthusiasm and shrewd business mind led her to become Puffin's most successful editor and the genius behind the Puffin Club, which opened up the exciting world of authors and books to children across Britain. But whilst Kaye's professional life had worked out beautifully, her private life had been the reverse. Kaye had two husbands before her marriage to the artist Ronald Searle, and the torment of his sudden and shocking departure never left her. Yet to the outside world Kaye Webb remained passionate and unstoppable. This is the unknown story of the woman who brought the joy of books to children everywhere whilst battling the emotional pain that plagued her private life.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Andrew Graham-Dixon's Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane recreates the painter's dark and dangerous life in the worlds of Milan, Rome and Naples, which were full of cardinals and whores, prayer and violence.

In this book, Andrew answers questions that have long puzzled scholars. He reveals the identities of the ordinary people - often prostitutes and the very poor - that Caravaggio used as models for his depictions of classic religious scenes; he describes what really happened during the fateful duel which led to Caravaggio's death aged thirty eight. At the heart of the book are Andrew's readings of Caravaggio's pictures; he shows how he created their drama, immediacy and humanity.

Andrew has published a weekly column on art for twenty five years, most recently in The Sunday Telegraph. He has written a number of acclaimed books, including A History of British Art and Renaissance. He is one of the leading figures in broadcasting in the UK, having presented seven major television series on art for the BBC.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Chris Cleave's debut novel Incendiary was a prize-winner and international bestseller and his second novel, The Other Hand has found phenomenal success both in the UK and abroad, hitting number one on The New York Times bestseller list. It is is the unflinching, brutal story of a Nigerian refugee and a British glossy magazine editor, which balances an outwardly political motive with rich, deep character development (and even some welcome humour). Chris is married with three children, and lives in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Paula Kitching is a historian specialising in Holocaust and War studies, an educational consultant and a writer.

Photo credit: Niall McDiarmid

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Fiona Millar is a writer and journalist specialising in education and parenting issues. She currently writes a column in Education Guardian. In 2009 she published The Secret World of the Working Mother looking at the experiences of women from all walks of life as they juggle work, home and childcare.

Professor Tanya Byron is a consultant clinical psychologist specialising in child and adolescent mental health. Tanya has authored three books on parenting and is an independent government advisor on children, young people and digital media.

This will be an interactive event, so please send your questions in advance to litfest2010@ljcc.org.uk with "Fiona Millar Event" as the subject.

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc

Martin Amis is the author of ten novels, the memoir Experience, two collections of stories and six collections of non-fiction, most recently The Second Plane. His latest novel The Pregnant Widow (Jonathan Cape, February 2010) is a comedy of manners and a nightmare, brilliant, haunting and gloriously risque. Summer 1970 - a long, hot summer. In a castle in Italy, half a dozen young lives are afloat on the sea of change, trapped inside the history of the sexual revolution. It is the most eagerly anticipated novel of the year and Martin Amis at his fearless best.

Claire Armitstead is the Guardian's literary editor. She was previously arts editor, having worked as a theatre critic for the Ham & High, the Financial Times and the Guardian. As a published author she has contributed essays to New Performance (Macmillan, 1994) and Women: A Cultural Review (Oxford University Press, 1996). She makes regular appearances on radio and television as a cultural commentator on literature and the arts.

Photo credit: Tom Craig

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc. This event is also sponsored by GRANTA.

Tracy Chevalier grew up in Washington, DC and after university moved to London. She is the author of six novels, including Girl with a Pearl Earring, Burning Bright, and most recently, Remarkable Creatures. She worked in publishing for several years before doing an MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia, under the tutelage of Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain.

An American-born writer who has lived in the UK over 20 years, Lionel Shriver is best known for The New York Times bestseller The Post-Birthday World (2007) and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin. Currently a columnist for Standpoint, she is a widely published journalist. Her ninth novel is So Much for That (March 2010).

All todays events are sponsored by Development Securities Plc