The world’s oldest literature festival takes place, naturally, in a storied locale. Cheltenham is the U.K.’s most complete Regency town, a spa resort whose mineral springs drew seasons of visitors, including writers used to digging deep for natural resources of their own. A bilious George III came to take the waters, in 1788. So too did Jane Austen, Lord Byron, and Charles Dickens. In a nearby suburb, the looking glass that inspired Lewis Carroll catches the odd reflection still. This October, nearly 1,000 authors and speakers are alighting in Cheltenham for over 500 events offered by The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. With a commitment to “Read the World,” lions of letters and culture such as Stephen King, Edward Enninful, Elizabeth Strout, Karl Ove Knausgård, Richard Osman, Celeste Ng, Ian McEwan, and Stanley Tucci will chat dystopia, domestic fiction, poetry, art, fashion, science, travel, current affairs, and more. On the 11th, a day devoted to Ukraine will be co-curated with The International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv. Distinguished writers and those just launched, pop-ups and panels, family events and supper clubs: Cheltenham wells with them all. —Grazie Sophia Christie