Cunard Flagship Queen Mary 2 To Play Host to 2022 Literature Festival At Sea

​Cunard announces the return of the extraordinary Literature Festival at Sea, curated by the programming team of The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival aboard flagship Queen Mary 2 in 2022, featuring a line-up of some of the world's finest talent, including Bernardine Evaristo, Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Mary Beard and Richard Osman.

The seven-night Transatlantic crossing, which departs New York for Southampton on December 3, 2022 will include a plethora of workshops, talks and readings as Queen Mary 2 sails across the Atlantic.

Guests will hear from award-winning authors about their life and work, go behind the headlines with The Times journalists and have the opportunity to improve their writing skills in workshops led by literary experts.
English scholar and one of Britain's best-known Classicists, Mary Beard, said, "I am beyond excited to travel, speak and engage with guests on a literary festival on the high seas. I am sure there will be plenty of wonderful distractions, but the pleasures of being literally away from it all with a chance to discuss bookish things…what could be better?"

Award-winning British writer, journalist and broadcaster, Damian Barr, who featured on the 2019 Literature Festival at Sea, and will return in 2022, said, "Books are a world away from the one we're all in—a portal to other places, an escape.  This unique floating literature festival adds another dimension to that feeling of freedom we get when we're lost in a good book.  Away from the world and all its concerns, I find that I think more deeply and have richer conversations with fellow writers and chance chats with passengers along the way. I am most looking forward to returning to this Literature Festival at Sea."

The seven-night Transatlantic Crossing is priced from $1,039 per person.
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"Cunard is delighted to once again host a dazzling line-up of acclaimed literary talent who will headline our 2022 Literature Festival at sea," said Jamie Paiko, vice president, Cunard North America. "Our guests will truly relish this second-to-none ocean travel experience as they sail with these renowned authors amidst the elegance and style of our flagship, Queen Mary 2."