The annual festival, which is hosted by the Centre for Creative and Performing Arts, starts on January 17.

Whitbread award winner Jeanette Winterson has written 10 novels including best-seller Oranges are not the Only Fruit. She has just published her memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? to critical acclaim.

Iain Banks, author of The Wasp Factory and renowned as one of the most powerful and original writers of a generation, will also appear at the festival, alongside poets John Burnside and Sean O'Brien - who have both been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize, to be announced in January.

Other writers include journalist and novelist John Lanchester, neuroscientist Prof Robin Dunbar who will discuss the science of falling in love, and Jackie Kay who has been shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Prize and who has a new collection of short stories called Reality, Reality.

The nine-strong line-up will read-from and discuss their work at the university, which is to be awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for its world-renowned Creative Writing programme.

Festival director Prof Lavinia Greenlaw said: “We attract the best writers from all over the world and the best audiences a writer could hope for.

“We are thrilled to once again present such a diverse and eminent line-up. I hope that both our regular audience and newcomers will enjoy this exciting programme of events.”

The spring series launches on January 17 and runs until May 15. All events take place at 7pm in Lecture Theatre 1, at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Season tickets priced £42 (£36 students and concessions) and individual tickets priced £6 (no concessions), are available from the UEA Box Office on 01603 508050, or online at www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk/events/.

For more information visit: www.uea.ac.uk/litfest  


Tuesday, January 17: John Burnside

John Burnside’s recent collection Black Cat Bone won the Forward Poetry Prize and has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. His acclaimed novels include The Summer of Drowning, recently shortlisted for a Costa Novel Award.

Tuesday, January 31: AL Kennedy

AL Kennedy is one of our most acute and inventive novelists. Her latest work, The Blue Book, takes us into the world of fake magic and mediums while the author delights and unsettles us with some games of her own.

Tuesday, March 6: Jeanette Winterson

Jeanette Winterson, renowned for her piercing and lyrical fiction has published a memoir. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is an extraordinary account of the story behind her acclaimed debut novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.

Tuesday, March 13: John Lanchester

John Lanchester’s Whoops: Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay was described by Will Self as ‘the route map to the crazed world of contemporary finance we have all been waiting for'. He now brings his wit and expertise to bear on the subject in fiction with his new novel, Capital, exploring the effects of the crash on some very different lives.

Tuesday, March 20: Sean O’Brien

Sean O’Brien is a poet celebrated for his commitment to the question of how we live as well as for his artistry. His latest collection November has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot and Forward Prizes. His last, The Drowned Book, won both.

Tuesday, March 27: Paul Farley

Paul Farley’s second collection, The Ice Age, won the Whitbread Poetry Award. His latest, The Dark Film, continues his investigation into ‘the art of seeing’ – what lies out of sight, at the edge of vision or under our noses.

Tuesday, May 1: Iain Banks

Iain Banks’ controversial and celebrated debut The Wasp Factory appeared in 1984. He is now renowned as one of the most powerful and original writers of his generation. His new novel Stonemouth is set in the criminal underworld of a Scottish estuary town.

Tuesday, May 8: Robin Dunbar

Robin Dunbar is professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford and author of such provocative and illuminating titles as The Trouble with Science and How Many Friends Does One Person Need? He will talk about The Science of Love and Betrayal - essential reading for anyone who's ever wondered why we fall in love and what on earth is going on when we do.

Tuesday, May 15: Jackie Kay

Jackie Kay is one of our finest and most versatile writers. Her poetry includes Fiere, shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. Her novel Trumpet won the Guardian Fiction Prize and her recent memoir Red Dust Road was the Scottish Book of the Year. Her new collection of short stories is Reality, Reality.