STARS have lined up for this year's Isle of Wight Literary Festival, and it will be music to the ears of audiobook fans.

Two top actors will speak about how they bring books to life for the listener.

Lydia Leonard has appeared in major TV shows such as Gentleman Jack and The Crown, where she played Cherie Blair, and in films including The Fifth Estate with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Alongside her at the Reading, Not Reading session at 4.20pm on Friday, October 6, will be Malcolm Sinclair, a renowned film, TV and stage actor.

Malcolm has performed with theatre companies including the Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company.

He has won countless awards for his television and stage performances including Casino Royale, Foyle’s War and Star Wars: Andor.

The event is presented by Spiracle Audiobooks, a new, independent audiobook platform offering fiction and nonfiction, championing writing published by the UK's independent and small presses.

Learn how the reader can transform the text and bring all the atmosphere, character and meaning to it – alongside the perils of overdoing it, giving inappropriate emphasis or unnecessary drama, mispronunciations or faltering accents.

The event will see the actors involve the audience, asking them to read to themselves and then hear the same piece read.

Buy tickets at https://isleofwightliteraryfestival.com/

A spokesperson for Spiracle said: “Our roots are in the Isle of Wight and we are delighted to be part of this year’s Literary Festival with Reading, Not Reading.”

The event is one of many at the Isle of Wight Literary Festival which is being held in Cowes from October 5-8 with a base at Northwood House.

Among the major speakers are Isle of Wight-born Dame Sheila Hancock, Maureen Lipman, Michael Morpurgo, Patrick Gale and Justin Webb.

Now affiliated with the Isle of Wight Literary Festival, the Isle of Wight Book Awards Grand Literary Lunch will kick off proceedings, on Tuesday, October 3, at midday.

The public are welcome to attend the event, at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes.

Buy tickets at https://members.islandsc.org.uk/event/878381

From a healthy selection of entries of books published in 2022, the three category judges, best-selling authors Georgina Moore (fiction), Alan Titchmarsh (children's) and Hunter Davies (non fiction) have each selected their top three titles.

All nine on the shortlist will receive a certificate, with the winner of each category receiving £200, the 'Book Of The Year' an additional £500.

The judges will award the prizes following a three course meal and a presentation from charity Independent Arts.

Tickets include a glass of fizz and a three course meal.