There's still time to become a friend of Wells Festival of Literature and reap the benefits! These include priority booking for events a whole week before general booking, 10% discount on tickets and having our brochure delivered hot off the press to your door. This has all the dates and details of over 30 brilliant authors and speakers which we have secured for this year. Friends will be automatically added to our mailing list to receive updates from the Festival.

As well as these benefits, the Friends scheme offers members the chance to become a Patron of the Arts and to become actively involved with all aspects of the Festival. The ongoing support of our Friends enables us to increase our educational work. The aim is to extend the love of literature and learning among the young people of our county.

This year's Festival has something for everyone! From poetry, politics and philosophy to popular culture, as well as the fascinating world of medicine, history and present day topical subjects, a window onto some iconic people and places, fact and fiction; there is a wealth of talent and knowledge to be discovered at Cedars Hall from Friday 16 October.

More names have now been unveiled! If you enjoy crime novels then Lucy Atkins and Elly Griffith will be just the ticket, while David Omand reveals How Spies Think. If you relish an insight into different lives and places, then we have Olivia Williams sharing secrets of the Savoy Hotel and Hugo Vickers' biography of Cecil Beaton. Continuing the historical theme Alex Watson explores the Eastern Front during WW1 at the Great Siege of Przemysl.

Right up to date on a topical theme, we have Hashi Mohamed's vision in People Like Us: What it Takes to Make It in Modern Britain and Robert Winder's take on Soft Power: The New Great Game for Global Dominance. Alongside these we have Adam Kurcharski on The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread and Why They Stop.

For the romantics Donal Ryan's novel Strange Flowers, long-listed for the Booker Prize, explores love and loss in rural Ireland. For the armchair travellers Sophy Roberts takes us on a journey through the harsh landscape of Siberia. Her book, The Lost Pianos of Siberia, reveals how music uncovers the deep humanity and rich history of the place.

Many of these events will sell out very fast, especially when the brochures are out at the end of August and ticket sales are open to the general public in September. So it is really a bonus to become a Friend of the Festival and take advantage of the priority booking to avoid disappointment and beat the rush. Not to mention the feel good factor of supporting educational projects for many young people in our area, after so many months spent away from the classroom.

The cost of a single Friend is £30, with £50 securing Joint Friends membership. You will need to hurry as priority booking starts on Monday 31 August and will run until Sunday 6 September inclusive. You can join the Friends scheme online. For full details click HERE : the Festival site