Global best-selling authors and television stars including Sebastian Faulks, Louis de Bernieres and Ben Fogle will top the bill at this year’s ninth annual Wimbledon BookFest.

Tickets go on sale shortly for a packed programme of events to suit all ages which will bring together the worlds of literature, the arts, popular culture, film and sport to the Big Tent on Wimbledon Common.

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For the first time, Cannizaro House, pictured above, will host two events - Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman in conversation with Penny Vincenzi and an evening of perfume with Lizzie Ostrom.

Among the headliners are best-selling novelists Louis de Bernieres and Sebastian Faulks, Brit Award Critics Choice longlisted George the Poet, TV adventurer Ben Fogle, and the biggest selling female historian of all time, Alison Weir.

Headlining the children’s programme are wildlife expert and TV presenter, Steve Backshall, poet Michael Rosen, actress and conservationist Virginia McKenna and, back by popular demand, the Wombles sing-a-long.

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The festival will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with a Mad Hatter Storytelling event, and fans of Sean the Sheep will be able to learn how to make their own models with Aardman Animations.

Budding writers are well looked after, with a 250 word short story competition and a day-long writing course run by partners University of Roehampton.

The theme for this year’s short story competition is A Brave Face and entries must be submitted via email to shortstory@wimbledonbookfest.org with a fee of £10 by July 19.

Festival director Fiona Razvi said: "Wimbledon BookFest is continuing to build on its reputation as a leading London book festival.

"This year we’re broadening the scope of our programme to include more music, film and performance-based events but at the heart of the festival there will be a full range of writers and novelists talking about topics as diverse as Magna Carta to Brit Pop Culture."

Tickets go on sale on Monday, July 20 for general release and went on sale on Monday, July 6 for friends for the festival being held in Wimbledon from October 2 to 11 this year.

Visit www.wimbledonbookfest.org for the latest news and to book tickets.