LEADING British public figures, award-winning international writers and big screen legends are in the newly-announced programme for the Ilkley Literature Festival 2015.

Yorkshireman Brian Blessed will be talking about his autobiography ‘Absolute Pandemonium’ on the day of its release, October 8.

Former leader of the Green Party and its first and currently only MP, Caroline Lucas, will explain what she faced at Westminster as a new member with a radical agenda struggling against centuries of tradition.

Award-winning food critic Jay Rayner will reveal some of his more memorable and disastrous dining experiences, while Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University, Simon Schama, known for his insightful TV documentaries, will close the festival with a celebration of significant and historical portraits, from Elizabeth I to Amy Winehouse.

Acclaimed authors from across the globe also feature in the star-studded line-up, including Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Jane Smiley, New York Times bestseller Jami Attenberg and, in a rare visit to the UK, Australia’s leading poet, Les Murray.

Festival director, Rachel Feldberg, said: “Our festival isn’t just about reading, it’s about sharing experiences with authors from all over the world, giving us new insights into well-known stories; unearthing innovative discoveries in science and nature and finding new fiction favourites.

"The festival gives us all the opportunity to celebrate the diversity of literature, and I’m always keen to encourage audience members to attend an event on an unfamiliar subject, try a new author or to simply get together with friends and enjoy the festival atmosphere.”

The Yorkshire landscape has given rise to generations of significant writers, and the influence of God's Own County also features in the festival programme.

Caryl Phillips, author and Professor of English at Yale University, incorporates the Leeds cityscape of his youth into a new novel inspired by ‘Wuthering Heights’. And recounting the inspiring tale of Hull fishwives, who changed UK shipping laws in 1968 after the loss of three trawlers, is journalist and university tutor, Brian Lavery.

Anticipating the wealth of Brontë anniversaries during the next few years, the festival explores the decade into which the sisters were born.

Father and son broadcasters, Peter and Dan Snow, examine the Battle of Waterloo, while Charlotte Brontë is the focus of both Claire Harman, writer of a new biography on Charlotte, and novelist Patricia Duncker, who explores the oldest Brontë’s lesser known novel, ‘Villette’.

Several writers and commentators look to the future and offer a personal insight into economics, society and genetics.

Lord Robert Winston questions the ethical implications of evolving practices in human genetics and, no longer limited by being in government, former Business Secretary Vince Cable lifts the lid on the coalition, and offers an informed perspective on how we should manage the UK economy during the coming decade.

Paul Mason, economics editor for Channel 4 News, asks if capitalism has reached its limit, while social geographer Danny Dorling makes a plea to reassess economic equality.

The festival als offers plenty of opportunities for budding writers to engage directly with authors, at workshops and seminars designed to help the next generation find their way through the literary world.

The full programme is available for download at the ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk website. Tickets will be on sale online and through the box office on 01943 816 714 on September 1. Booking for Festival Friends opens on August 17.