Cunard Line announced the return of the extraordinary Literature Festival at Sea, curated by the team of The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival on RMS Queen Mary 2 this year, featuring a line-up of some of the finest talents in the world, including Alexander McCall Smith, Bernardine Evaristo, Ian Rankin, Mary Beard, and Richard Osman.
The 7-night Transatlantic crossing, which departs from NYC New York to Southampton (England UK) on December 3, 2022, includes workshops, readings, and talks, as Queen Mary 2 is sailing across the Atlantic.
Passengers will hear from award-winning authors about their work and life, go behind the headlines with The Times journalists and have the chance to improve their writing skills in workshops led by literary experts.
English scholar and one of the best-known Classicists in Britain, Mary Beard, said she was "beyond excited to travel, speak and engage with guests on a literary festival on the high seas."
"I am sure there will be plenty of wonderful distractions, but the pleasures of being literally away from it all with a chance to discuss bookish things…what could be better?”
According to award-winning British writer, journalist, and broadcaster, Damian Barr, “Books are a world away from the one we’re all in—a portal to other places, an escape."
"This unique floating literature festival adds another dimension to that feeling of freedom we get when we’re lost in a good book. Away from the world and all its concerns, I find that I think more deeply and have richer conversations with fellow writers and chance chats with passengers along the way. I am most looking forward to returning to this Literature Festival at Sea.”
The 7-night Transatlantic Crossing is priced from US$1040 per person.