The proramme for the 25th annual Hay Festival was unveiled at midnight on Tuesday and as ever there is a stellar line-up.

This years eclectic mix includes Lionel Shriver author of We Need To Talk About Kevin and So Much For That, in conversation with Rosie Boycott about her new political satire set in a Portuguese backwater.  Germaine Greer talks love and sex in Shakepeare’s plays  with special reference, naturally to Romeo & Juliet.

Ever popular Stephen Fry will talk to Kay Redfield Jamison about her work on bi-polar disorder and creativity Touched with Fire.   The contemporary English literary collosi, Ian McEwan and Martin Amis will bookend the festival, appearing in the first and second weekends respectively.  The Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri will discuss Wild  his first book of poems for over a decade.

Comedian Bill Bailey will close the Festival on Sunday 10 June with a mix of music and comedy that includes religious dubstep and folk bouzouki.  The event is billed to start at 8.27pm.  Don’t be late.