'Art, life and ideas have always rubbed shoulders and intermingled at Charleston.

This year the themes jostle ever more enticingly: from the Great Reform Bill of 1832 to the Scandal of 1963; from the industrious Mr Wedgwood to the discreet charm of Apple’s designs; from Miss Austen’s Pump Room to Modernist Year One 1922; from the early balloonists to transatlantic missions; from midwives to Marx. Writers take centre stage of course: writers and family; writers and war; writers and the environment; writers and booze.'

We can't think of a better excuse to visit the charming Charleston than their Springtime festival of books, ideas and creativity.

Learn how to write your own memoir with Damian Barr, who's just penned an account of his own upbringing in the shadow of Margaret Thatcher; 'Maggie and Me'.

Enjoy talks by a wealth of talented authors including Mark Haddon, Salley Vickers, Joanne Harris,Olivia Laing and many more.

We've got our hearts set on attending 'The Stuff of Legends':

Audrey Niffenegger’s illustrated novella, The Raven Girl, is the subject of a new dance-work for the Royal Ballet. It is a dark fairytale about a young bird, the offspring of a raven and a postman, who yearns to be freed from her human body. The legendary star of the Ballets Russes, Nijinsky, is indelibly associated with The Rite of Spring, whose centenary is marked in 2013. In a revealing biography, Lucy Moore captures ballet’s great revolutionary artist: a gripping tale of talent, beauty, sexual rivalry and madness. Audrey Niffenegger is the author of The Time Traveller’s Wife. Lucy Moore is a writer and broadcaster. Chaired by writer, critic and journalist Nicolette Jones.

Book early, as some talks are already sold out (the one with Jeremy Irons.Obvs.)

17th-26th May