Various venues, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin Various times and prices Sep 4-9 mountainstosea.ie

It’s always an interesting line-up, it’s by the sea, and they are usually lucky with the weather, so taken altogether Mountains to

Sea is one of the highlights of the book-lover’s year. This year, historical novelist Philippa Gregory (pictured), Gerbrand Bakker, the author of the IMPAC Award-winning novel The Twin, and Man Booker-winner Howard Jacobson will all be visiting. As will Esther Freud, John Banville and many more.

To add to the appeal, for the first time, the dlr Poetry Now festival will take place at the same time, with poets and speakers from as far afield as Burma, Sweden and the US, as well as some of the best contemporary Irish poets.

The keynote address will be given by James Fenton, who’ll be talking about Philip Larkin. Another poetry-related event to check out is the Best of Zebra Poetry Film Festival (the festival has been held every year in Berlin for the past decade). And the fabulous Itinerant Poetry Library, the world’s first international mobile public library, will be paying a visit with its collection of “lost and forgotten” poetry.

Well worth a trip on the Dart.