Lord Bragg and James Herbert headline Liverpool literary festival

Lord Bragg, Roger McGough and Janet Street-Porter are amongst the headline names at the festival

A new Liverpool literary festival will include shows from broadcaster Lord Bragg and journalist Janet Street-Porter, it has been announced.

In Other Words, a month-long event to celebrate the reopening of Central Library, will also see performances by poets Roger McGough and Brian Patten.

Horror author James Herbert will make a rare public appearance, holding a talk underground in the Williamson Tunnels.

The festival begins with a World Book Night event on 23 April.

The opening event will see authors Philippa Gregory, Jasper Fforde, Jeanette Winterson, Patrick Ness and Jackie Kay appearing at St George's Hall, which sits alongside the refurbished library.

The library has been shut for two years to allow a £50m refurbishment to take place.

The city council has worked in partnership with community writing organisation Writing On The Wall, the Merseyside Literature Partnership and other local groups to put the festival together.

Poet Brian Patten, who will be part of a double bill with Roger McGough at St George's Hall, said the festival was "exciting, wide-ranging and inclusive and I'm really proud to be part of it".

"Liverpool has always embraced creativity open-heartedly and the new festival certainly lives up to this great tradition."