THE first county-wide literature festival will be held in Wiltshire in the autumn.

And anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite author may have their dream realised.

Celebrated authors such as Beryl Bainbridge, who has been described as "one of England's great novelists," and Angela Huth will be appearing at various Wiltshire towns between September 28 and October 5.

Guardian and Whitbread prizewinning author Bainbridge has been shortlisted for the Booker prize on no less than five occasions.

Her books include Master Georgie, Every Man for Himself and An Awfully Big Adventure, which has recently been adapted for a film starring Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman.

She will be launching the festival at Salisbury library on September 28.

Angela Huth, whose popular novel Land Girls, was adapted for a film in 1998will be appearing at Calne's new Millennium library.

Huth, who also writes for radio, television and stage and is a well-known freelance journalist, critic and broadcaster, will be promoting her latest novel, Of Love and Slaughter.

Hugely popular children's author Michael Morpurgo, who has written more than 60 books, will be appearing at Wootton Bassett library.

The festival, organised by Wiltshire County Council, will also include a number of special storytime sessions for schoolchildren, events for the visually impaired and a professional fairy, who will be sprinkling her magic dust at a children's event.

During the week Wiltshire libraries will also be running a number of initiatives to encourage more people to use the library service, including a free book ordering service.