TELEVISION presenter Alan Titchmarsh was among speakers at the Oxford Literary Festival yesterday.

Mr Titchmarsh appeared at Oxford Martin School, in Broad Street, to discuss his new book, Bring Me Home.

The celebrity gardener’s ninth fiction novel is about a man who inherits a castle, but has a poor relationship with his children.

Also in the city was author Ian McEwan, who attended a ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street, to recieve a Bodley Medal for his contribution to literature.

Oxford Mail:

Novelist Ian McEwan, left, at the Sheldonian Theatre with Bodley's Librarian Richard Ovenden

Mr McEwan had his first book, a short story collection called First Love, Last Rites, published in 1975 but has since written more than 30 others.

At the Bodleian Library’s Divinity School, Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark talked to critic Bidisha SK Mamata about her debut novel, The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle, which was published this month.

Oxford Mail:

Kirsty Wark talked to fellow journalist and broadcaster Bidisha SK Mamata

The Oxford Literary Festival, which is sponsored by the Oxford Mail’s sister title The Oxford Times, ends on Sunday.

Jeremy Smith’s Man About Town, see page 6 For more information visit oxfordliteraryfestival.org