FRIDAY night sees the curtain rise on Hexham Book Festival – and what an amazing array of writers it has in store for us this year.

It gets under way this evening with the former governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, speaking about the global economic crisis and the future of money.

Will there be any? Let’s hope he has the answer for Queen’s Hall ticket holders.

Tomorrow begins in pastoral mood with nature writer Melissa Harrison, who will talk about her book, Rain, accounts of four walks in different seasons in different counties, but all in inclement weather.

This is a celebration of precipitation and Britons’ relationship with it.

In the afternoon, author Dan Boothby discusses his time as warden on Kyleakin Lighthouse Island with journalist Sheilagh Matheson.

Max Porter speaks about his Ted Hughes-influenced Grief is the Thing with Feathers and Hexham-based poet Linda France will be in the library recalling her two-year journey exploring the UK’s botanic gardens for her latest collection Reading the Flowers.

If Gothic is your thing, then make a beeline to see Andrew Michael Hurley, whose debut novel, The Loney, won the 2015 Costa First Novel award.

It’s a dark tale of religious mania set in the 70s on the bleak Lancashire coast of Morecambe Bay.

One of the highlights of this book festival is bound to be Louis de Bernieres, author of the bestselling Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, who shares his insights into the world’s best love poetry.

The big name on Sunday morning is former foreign secretary and co-founder of the SDP, Lord David Owen.

With exactly two months to the EU referendum, who better to give his opinion on the UK’s place in Europe?

On Sunday afternoon, another insight into politics: our most famous statesman, Sir Winston Churchill, and the hitherto unexplored subject of his finances.

David Lough’s No More Champagne – Churchill and his Money exposes the financial cliff edge that Churchill tiptoed along throughout most of his political career.

Indeed, the great man was a master at tax avoidance – are there lessons for politicians today?

Other literary gems this week include the Rev. Richard Coles of BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live and erstwhile Communard talking about his memoir, Fathomless Riches, on Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday night, we return to the remarkable story of the Churchills.

This time it is a profile of his wife, Clementine, provided by Sonia Purnell who will be discussing her biography, First Lady – the Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill.

l Tomorrow is, of course, the Bard’s birthday and the 400th anniversary of his death.

To celebrate, Hexham Book Festival, in collaboration with Northern Stage, has arranged two Shakespeare workshops for children which they have aptly called All the World’s a Stage.

Meanwhile, over at the Forum Cinema, viewers will be treated to Shakespeare Live! thanks to a collaboration between the BBC and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

This live digital relay, hosted by actor David Tennant and featuring greats such as Dame Judi Dench, English National Opera and Birmingham Royal Ballet, will celebrate Shakespeare’s enduring influence on everything from opera to jazz and dance to musicals.

There’s also a celebratory evening of readings and music to mark the occasion at the town’s medieval Moot Hall on Sunday at 7.45pm.

The event is part of this year’s Hexham Spring Festival organised by the Hexham Community Partnership.

Set around the theme of Shakespeare In Love and Death, Hexham’s Moot Hall Players will perform some of the Bard’s well-known and less well-known monologues and sonnets together with music of and about the period.

Tickets are available from the Forum Cinema or Cogito Books in Hexham. They can also be obtained by ringing or texting 07785 790841.