AN AUTHOR who re-imagined classic novel Wuthering Heights will be one of the headline guests at Ilkley Literature Festival.

Critically-acclaimed writer Caryl Phillips recently visited Haworth to speak about his 11th novel, The Lost Child, which was inspired by Emily Brontë’s and is set against the Leeds cityscape of his childhood.

Caryl is one of the first authors to be revealed for the line-up of Ilkley Literature Festival, which runs from October 2 to 18.

Thousands of book lovers will once again descend on the spa town for the annual event, the biggest festival of its kind in the North of England.

The guests also include former MP and Business Secretary, Vince Cable, who will present his new book, After The Storm, which is published later this year.

Follow-up to Cable’s The Storm, the timely book will offer audiences a previously unreported inside view of the coalition.

Karen Joy Fowler, whose novel The Jane Austen Book Club spent 13 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, will also speak.

Fowler’s latest book We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was shortlisted for last year’s Man Booker Prize.

The full programme for Ilkley Literature Festival will be announced on August 10, with tickets going on sale to the general public from September 1.

Priority booking is available between August 17 and 26 for Festival Friends, and the scheme is currently open to new members.

To receive a copy of the programme guide by mail, people should join the mailing list before August 1. Visit ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk for further information.