MARLBOROUGH LitFest has pulled off something of a coup after they announced that the award-winning author Will Self will headline their festival.

The novelist, journalist and TV personality will open the festival on September 29 as this year's Golding Speaker, talking about his latest novel, Phone, which is due out later this year.

At last year's event, more than 2,500 poured into the town hall for a feast of writing, tales and poetry in the seventh edition of the festival and excitement is building already after securing Mr Self's services.

Jan Williamson, chairman of the festival, said: "We are over the moon that Will Self has agreed to be the Golding speaker for 2017. He has been described as ‘the most daring and delightful novelist of his generation’.

"It is a thrill that he will be here to open this year’s Marlborough LitFest. We have asked him for a few years to come along so to finally get him to come is fantastic news.

"Our festival is committed to good writing and bringing the best authors we can to Marlborough and he certainly fits the bill. He is such an interesting and innovative novelist so it is great to have him on board.

"I hope we are getting a bit of a reputation for getting top class writers like Mr Self and that we continue to grow as it is a wonderful event."

The Litfest, which will run from September 29 to October 1 at the town hall, hosts an annual Golding to highlight Marlborough’s long connection with the Nobel Laureate and Booker Prize winner, William Golding, at an event sponsored by the William Golding estate.

On top of this announcement, the festival have revealed that for the first time they will be putting on a Nature Writing Day, on June 3 at the White Horse Bookshop, High Street, in association with Brewin Dolphin.

This will involve nature writers and speakers such as garden designer, Rosie Hardy, as well as the winner of the Richard Jefferies Society Writers’ Prize for outstanding nature writing which will be announced in the Spring.

"It is a new venture for us and one we are very much looking forward to," said Mrs Williamson.

"At the time of the festival, nature is winding down at that time of the year so we wanted to do something outside of the festival itself to catch the best of the English summer and to celebrate the wealth of nature writing in the UK."

The lineup for both events will be revealed in the coming months and for more information visit http://www.marlboroughlitfest.org/