Booker-nominated novelist among star guests to speak at French literary festival 

Sunjeev Sahota, the Booker-nominated British novelist, is among the big names at a literary festival in south-west France this October.

Created in 2013, Festilitt was born out of a desire to bring French and English-speaking communities together around a shared love of reading and literature. 

It is held every year in Parisot, a small hilltop village at the crossroads of Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot and Aveyron.

Festilitt has proved popular in previous years, attracting authors such as Tracy Chevalier, Helen Dunmore, Kate Mosse and Adam Thorpe.

The events, in both English and French, are free. 

Read more: ‘It’s ok to be vibrant and confident’ – Moving to France after 50

Fesilitt guests

Liz Stanley, president of the festival, said: "This year's programme has a good range of authors and topics so there is something to appeal to everyone.

“We're particularly thrilled to welcome such a renowned author as the Booker-nominated Sunjeev Sahota, but our audiences always get as much out of talks by lesser-known writers, like debutant Nicolas Padamsee, whose novel about a young man's far-right radicalisation in London feels eerily prescient given what we've seen on the UK streets this summer.”

She added: “History lovers will be pleased to hear we have a great session with Matthew Parker, whose book One Fine Day explores the British Empire at the start of the 20th century.

“We've also got some lighter topics, with ML Longworth, whose cosy crime series has been televised as Murder in Provence starring Roger Allam, and Melanie Cantor, talking about her laugh-out loud comedy The F**k it List, the story of a woman forced to re-evaluate her life at 40."

The festival takes place from October 11-13. Full details can be found at festilitt.com.