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Former TV Breakfast Show Host Joins Literary Festival Line-Up

The latest addition to the list of authors heading to this year’s Isle of Wight Literary Festival has been announced.

Louise Minchin, the former host of BBC Breakfast, has just published her first novel, Isolation Island, which she will be promoting at the event, which runs from October 3 to 6 at Northwood House in Cowes.

She will join fellow celebrities Clare Balding, Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth at the festival.

Former cabinet minister Lord Norman Fowler, Gen Sir Michael Jackson (not that one), historian Tracy Borman and TV and radio presenter Martin Sixsmith are also on the line-up.

As well as being known for her time on the BBC Breakfast sofa, Louise has been involved in numerous other TV roles and written two non-fiction books (Dare to Tri and Fearless).

She was chair of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023.

In Isolation Island she draws on her inside knowledge on reality shows such as I’m A Celebrity to devise a show with a universally recognisable set-up, but where real darkness lurks behind the gloss of primetime entertainment.

The book takes place on a remote island off the coast of Scotland, where ten celebrities arrive in the depths of winter to take part in the most gruelling – and lucrative - reality survival show ever devised.

Chair of the Isle of Wight Literary Festival, Maggie Ankers, said:

“It is wonderful to have Louise joining our 2024 line-up.

"She is a multi-faceted person and will bring something special to our programme.”

This year’s festival will also feature an expanded schools’ programme, a new jazz event and the return of the popular Fizz Quiz at the Island Sailing Club.

Tickets are due to go on sale next month.

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