WORDS by the Water's eminent line-up for its 2018 literary gathering at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake includes top comedian Shappi Khorsandi, Michael Rosen, Vince Cable, Peter Snow, Polly Toynbee, Micheal Buerk, Claire Tomalin, Ben Okri, Michael Frayn, Simon Heffer and many more. Running from March 9-18, festival president Melvyn Bragg will also speak at the event on stage with his daughter Marie-Elsa Bragg, in conversation about the role of faith in their fiction and lives. Festival themes include Politics and Change, Ways of Being, Exploration and Global perspectives. Booking opens on January 8 on 017687-74411.