Turns out the rumours of their deaths have been greatly exaggerated because Victor and Barry are coming to the Book Festival. Or, that is, Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson are: the comedy geniuses behind the iconic Scottish double act and a hilarious new book, Victor and Barry’s Kelvinside Compendium. The friends – who shot to fame in the 1980s – are now both giants of the stage and screen. Tonight, Jackie Kay leads us down memory lane – and up the garden path via their brand-new book – as they reunite, and reveal how they went from Hillhead hi-jinks to Hollywood stardom.

Join Alice Oseman, the creator of global smash-hit coming-of-age romance Heartstopper, for a very special in conversation event with Wren James.    Heartstopper follows Nick and Charlie, two teenage boys who meet at grammar school, quickly become friends and fall in love. The story navigates the ups and downs of first loves, friendships, coming out and mental health. The #1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling graphic novels that followed brought this charming love story to even more readers – with Heartstopper Volume 5 instantly becoming the UK’s fastest selling graphic novel ever.

Dolly Alderton is a self-confessed over-sharer. ‘All I want to do is tell everyone everything. I connect with people through the details of life.’ This sharing – of the good, the bad, and the messy bits of living – has become Alderton’s trademark. Her wildly popular debut memoir, Everything I Know About Love, celebrated the sheer joy, romance, and complexity of female friendship, while her follow- up novel, Ghosts, cemented her reputation as one of the sharpest chroniclers of modern times, and modern relationships. In Good Material, Andy – a male comedian who never won the Perrier Award – has just lost the woman who he believed to be the love his life. He’s floundering, broken hearted, and a bit of a dick, to be honest. Join Alderton as she talks about this very modern novel about class and comedy, heartbreak, male friendship, and why you should always seek to find the other side of the story.

With the General Election looming (or at least the possibility of its announcement), the political news cycle is in overdrive: each day brings drama, often with mishandlings directly attributed to those who should know better. James O’Brien, one of Britain’s leading broadcasters, reaches 1.4 million people weekly through his lunchtime show on LBC. Renowned for his blistering analysis and critique, he’s among the fiercest critics of contemporary Britain's management by our current crop of political leaders. How They Broke Britain is his forensic takedown of the key figures responsible for the UK’s current mess. He’s even updating it exclusively this month to ensure Rishi Sunak can take his place among them (with a chapter longer than Truss’s, but shorter than Murdoch’s). O’Brien systematically connects the dots to damning effect, urging us to demand better as we examine our expectations from 21st-century politicians. Expect sparks to fly as Assistant Editor of the Spectator Isabel Hardman takes the interviewing hot seat.