TELEVISION presenter and historian Peter Snow could be appearing the Taunton Literary Festival in 2018.

It would appear the reputation of the literary festival is growing as not only has he asked to be at it but author Gary Cox who was at this year’s event wants to come back Organiser of the Taunton Literary Festival, Lionel Ward is delighted the event was such a hit and people (both those who gave the talks and those who attended) had fun.

Lionel who runs Brendon Books in Bath Place, described the recent 2017 event as: “The most complete and also the most popular of our festivals.”

The festival proved a ‘Brucie Bonus for booklovers’ who snapped up tickets left right and centre for a number of the events which were held in Taunton.

Last Saturday, the star turn or Star Witness (the title of his first novel) was Andy Hamilton.

Speaking Andy’s talk at Castle School in Taunton, Lionel said: “Andy Hamilton was, as you expect, erudite and funny. “It was quite a revelation to find that, despite his radio and television scriptwriting fame, he was unable to find a traditional publisher to take on the book he wanted to write and had to support his first novel through crowd funding.”

Reflecting on the whole of the Taunton Literary Festival which ran from November 3- 22, Lionel said he felt people (including himself) had learnt so much from the festival generally.

“It has been the most complete and also the most popular of our festivals. I have not totted up all the figures yet but the total audiences expected to be over 2,000.

The most satisfying thing is that I felt we learned so much both though the talks and interviews but also through the answers to the questions of the audience.

“We already have two events provisionally booked for the festival in 2018 and look forward to doing it again next November. It is the planning which makes all the difference.

"We started a month earlier in July which gave people more time and we were able to book everyone we wanted to appear.

"And we had a principal sponsor Brooks Macdonald (Investment management firm).”