The Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas is only four years old, but today hosts a notable literary exclusive.

The first public interview involving Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and his wife, the novelist Polly Samson, takes place in the grounds of Borris House, the beautifully located stately home in the shadow of the Blackstairs Mountains and Mount Leinster in Co Carlow.

Samson, an accomplished and successful novelist, has understandably shied away from being professionally associated with her husband, given his status as one of the most famous guitarists in the world and member of Pink Floyd.

Writing lyrics

But today the pair will discuss the creative process and how they collaborate on writing lyrics, though the latest Pink Floyd album,

The Endless River

, has only one song with lyrics on it.

Gilmour and Samson aside, the Borris festival has assembled a world-class line-up of writers, including the novelist Ian McEwan, the philosopher AC Grayling, the Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours, which was made into a successful film, and the military historian Antony Beevor.

Lawns and tents

The sun shone brightly on the lawns of Borris House and the assembled tents as visitors arrived for the first day of the three-day festival yesterday.

Local accommodation is scarce, especially as the only hotel in town has two weddings on this weekend. The walled gardens of the house have eight temporary pods for visitors to stay in.

During a discussion yesterday on the Military Pensions Archives, which were released last year, UCD professor of history Diarmaid Ferriter revealed that the stories and detail they contain may now be turned into a television documentary.