OXFORD Literary Festival is now a nine-day wonder, but the roll-call of star names on the programme means this year’s celebration of books will be remembered for at least 12 months.

The festival is now in its 15th year, and boasts 400 speakers at 300 different events, from Saturday March 20 to Sunday, March 28.

Edinburgh, Cheltenham and Hay may, in theory, run bigger festivals, but Oxford is now a place that internationally-acclaimed authors will clear their diaries for.

With Christ Church, the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre as historic backdrops for most of the talks, it is not surprising that authors drop everything to book in at the Randolph Hotel or the Old Bank in the High for a few days.

Every year, when a rough itinerary for the festival is announced, I have to do a double-take when I see how many of my favourite authors are on their way.

I write down the chosen dates in my diary and then realise that I cannot possibly attend them all, and limit myself to four or five favourites.

This year, it will be very hard to choose which events to attend, with so many literary big guns commandeering Christ Church.

How can I possibly choose between John le Carré, Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, John Simpson, Philip Pullman, Sebastian Faulks, Max Hastings, Dave Eggers and Barbara Trapido?

Festival organiser Sally Dunsmore told The Guide she hoped 30,000 people would come to the festival later this month after an estimated 25,000 people turned up last year.

She said: “We are incredibly lucky here in Oxford because the writers we talk to all want to come and join us.

“The festival runs across two weekends, so it’s longer than last year and it is definitely going to be bigger.

“We are very lucky that people want to come to our festival to talk about their work – it’s an amazing line-up.

“The local economy should get a boost because of all the visitors, and we have already made some bookings with some of the colleges and hotels.

“As well as the visiting authors, the festival is also a great opportunity for local authors like Philip Pullman, William Horwood and Julie Summers to discuss their work.

“A few events have already sold out and one of two authors, like travel writer Jan Morris, are coming here for the first time.

“Brian May’s talk about a lost Oxfordshire village has also provoked a lot of interest.”

Young readers are well catered for with several children’s authors visiting, including Alex Rider author Anthony Horowitz, and Frank Cottrell Boyce.

And there are a limited number of places for book-lovers who want to join creative writing courses.