May
Now until May 24, Brighton Festival
The largest English multi-arts event has its first ever guest artistic director, Anish Kappor, presenting books and debates alongside music and theatrical spectaculars.
21-31, Guardian Hay festival, Powys
Writers, comedians and musicians come together to provide unrivalled cultural nourishment. But then we would say that.
June
19-27, Lowdham book festival, Nottinghamshire
Dominated by Flicks in the Sticks – a weekend of films based on books.
July
3-5, Beyond The Border: Wales international storytelling festival, South Wales
St Donats Castle plays host to a celebration of world oral tradition.
10-19, Ealing literary festival, London
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Will Self and Toby Young give talks.
10-19, Ways With Words, Devon
Book readers meet book writers in the grand setting of Darlington Hall.
19 July-10 Sept, BBC Proms literary festival, London
A smorgasbord of literary interviews and discussions, many for Radio 3 broadcast.
24-26, Port Eliot Lit Fest, Cornwall
Bohemian literary camping festival with music, comedy, food and the simply bizarre.
August
15-31, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh
Hundreds of author interviews, literary debates and workshops.
September
3-13, Bristol poetry festiva, Bristol
A host of respected poets and a Bristol vs Allstars slam.
5-6, Islay book festival, Argyllshire
The island plays host to 11 speakers on a range of literary topics.
18-27, The Bath festival of children's literature, Somerset
Meet Michael Rosen, Michael Morpurgo and Shaun the Sheep.
25 Sept-4 Oct, Wigtown book festival, Wigtownshire
A joint book and whisky festival, celebrating the myriad links between the two.
26 Sept-4 Oct, Appledore book festival, Devon
Created when the council tried to close the local library, this is a true community event.
29 Sept-3 Oct, Inverness book festival, Inverness-shire
Gordon Burn tops an interesting and varied bill of writers.
October
1-11, Beverley literature festival, Yorkshire
Lionel Shriver, Bernard Cornwell and Jeremy Strong give talks. Plenty of workshops too.
6-24, Chester literature Festival, Cheshire
Talks from writers, workshops, readings and spoken word performance.
12-17, Bournemouth literary festival, Dorset
A children's writing workshop hopes to find the next JK Rowling.
15-24, Guildford book festival, Surrey
Various Guildford venues host writing workshops and high profile talks.
2-4, Henley literary festival, Oxfordshire
Henley plays host to heavyweight historians, novelists and commentators.
2-18, Ilkley literature festival, West Yorkshire
Northern literary festival with an impressive line-up.
9-18, Cheltenham Literature Festival
Books with added jazz, celebrating the 60th year of the event.
12-18, Mere literary festival, Wiltshire
Small village festival in aid of local charities.
15-25, Manchester literature festival, Manchester
International authors, independent publishing showcases and new media experimentalism.
• The Big Chill Guide to Summer Living contains all this year's best events and activities. Published by Guardian Books, it is available for £12.99 (rrp £14.99)
