David Walliams

Our next guest at the Marlborough Literature Festival is David Walliams!

Our guess is that you already know him from Britain’s Got Talent, Come Fly With Me and Little Britain. Following his successful television career, he has now written a range of children’s books which explore the lives of original and entertaining characters.

Walliams’ fiction has been a resounding success, resulting in him winning prizes at The Specsavers National Book Awards three years running and becoming the biggest selling author of 2017. His inspiration comes from people he meets in his everyday life and action packed James Bond films, which he enjoyed as a child. His success could be attributed to the fact that he makes a conscious effort to not talk down to the children who is writing for, whilst also tackling challenging subjects such as family relationships.

Walliams’ books primarily explore themes of family and friendship, drawing upon Roald Dahl for inspiration. His first book, The Boy in the Dress, delves into the lives of Dennis, his older brother, John and their father. Like Dad and John, Dennis enjoys football but, unlike Dad and John, he also enjoys watching Trisha and reading Vogue. It is this love of Vogue that forms a friendship between Dennis and Lisa, the most popular girl in school. It is Lisa’s dress that Dennis wears to school, while pretending to be a French exchange student, which results in an amusing encounter with his French teacher. Funny and heart-warming, Walliams’ first book was inspired by a 12-year-old fan who sent a picture of himself dressed as Emily Howard (a Little Britain character) for a school fundraising day.

More recently, his number one bestselling book, Bad Dad, includes the hilarious tale of Frank and his Dad, a normal father and son, who experience the extraordinary. Frank’s dad, also know as Gilbert the Great, the locally renowned car racer has it all; he’s seen as the King of the Track and is adored by Frank. However, one night Gilbert’s life changes when he is involved in a tragic accident which results in his leg being amputated. Down on his luck, Gilbert gets involved with the villainous Mr Big and is thrown in prison for being the getaway driver in a robbery. It’s now up to Frank to break Dad out of prison and escape the evil Mr Big, but can he do it? 

Louise Tinker of the Marlborough LitFest said: “We are delighted that David Walliams will be appearing this year as Marlborough will get to hear first-hand about his phenomenal success as a children’s author. LitFest, once again, has a packed programme of children’s events with local authors and award-winning story tellers taking part.”

Anna Wilkinson

David Walliams will be appearing in two separate events on Sunday 30 September, at 10.30am and at 3pm in the Marlborough College Memorial Hall. Tickets are £5 each.