Freshly enthused by my first ‘proper‘ literary festival (at Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey was filmed!) last weekend, The Reading Agency suddenly jumped into my inbox with a tantalising offer.

Regular visitors might think that someone who spends as much of his life as he can (virtually) living in the period between approximately 1580 and 1615 would have next to no interest in 2027.

Yes, sure, I’ve been ‘the Shakespeare guy’ since about 2010. But first and foremost I’m a reader.

A nerdy reader at that. I’ve kept careful records of everything I’ve read – for work or play – since 2013. (Spreadsheets are one of my guilty pleasures). And if we look at the last three years, for example, the average year of first publication for my reading has been 1972, 1937, and 1973, respectively.. When you take into account how much Early Modern and ‘classic’ stuff I read, there’s a healthy amount of very contemporary literature in there to raise those averages.

So I DO want to know what publishers are betting the house on for 2027. At the very least I’d like to look back this time next year and see if they got it right.

I’m massively interested in trends and fashions which respond to reader demand. After all, I’m the one who links Dracula and War of the Worlds (published within months of each other) because they address societal fears at that time, in that place. So what’s preoccupying the wider ‘us’ right now?

I also want to know if there’s something in the pipeline by familiar / favourite authors.

I absolutely want to know what my students might be reading.

And of course, here at Nerd HQ, we shouldn’t discount the idea that next year will see some exciting new work related to my enthusiasm for ‘heritage’ texts. PLEASE don’t ask me about the FOURTH series of Arden Shakespeare, despite the fact that I own a full set of Third editions. And definitely do not ask me whilst my Dearest Partner of Greatness might overhear!

(Arden Shakespeare is published by Bloomsbury, by the way – session 3)

So: 25 November has become a busy, busy day. Interested in joining me? Here’s the link I got. If you book a session, I expect you to tell me, by the way!

Over to you: tell me about your experiences at Literary Festivals. Now I’ve been to one, which others should I go to (or avoid)?