A world leading glaciologist will be talking to a local literature festival directly from where she is currently working - in the Arctic.

Jemma Wadham was scheduled to appear at Cedars Hall for the Wells Festival of Literature on Saturday October 23.

She stands at the frontline of the climate crisis and will be talking about her book Ice Rivers from the Arctic.

Jemma has produced groundbreaking work which has revealed that these icy landscapes are not sterile wastelands, but as alive as soil or oceans.

They are home to millions of micro-organisms, storing vast quantities of methane under the frozen wastes.

You probably know that these ice rivers are in peril, high up in the Alps, the Andes and the Himalayas where these indomitable glaciers are receding. But do you know the consequences to humanity?

Melting Antarctic ice sheets release water, destroying sensitive marine food-webs and crucially unlocking the glaciers' storage vaults of methane.

All events at Cedars Hall will be live streamed again this year, so you will be able to enjoy the festival from the comfort of your own armchair.

Details of the full programme and how to register for this service can be found at www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk.

However, you can still come along to Cedars Hall to see the authors in person, ask questions and peruse a wide range of books at the Waterstones pop-up bookshop by purchasing tickets from the same website, or by calling 01749 834483 (weekdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm).

The festival runs from October 15 to 23 with a whole range of exciting and interesting events, something for everyone.

There is plenty on offer. If you enjoy a peek into other people's lives why not try Andrew Lownie talking about his book Traitor King: The Duke and Duchesse of Windsor in Exile?

Emily Mayhew's The Four Horsemen and the Hope of a New Age is an uplifting look at how people from all disciplines and walks of life are making the world safer for us all.

Very topical at the moment is a focus on the NHS. To Provide All People by Owen Sheers marked the 70th anniversary of the NHS and tells the story of a single day in a single NHS hospital.

If the real lives of writers take your fancy then Jonathan Bates' book Bright Star, Green Light: The Beautiful Works and Damned Lives of John Keats and F. Scott Fitzgerald will suit you.

Or perhaps Monica Jones, Philip Larkin and Me: Her Life and Long Loves by John Sutherland should pique your interest.

A touch of politics past and present, fiction and nonfiction, is offered by Lucy Jago's novel A Net for Small Fishes and Emily Kenway's The Truth About Modern Slavery.

Lucy Jago tells the tale of the unlikely friendship between two very different women based on a true scandal that rocked the court of James I.

While Emily Kenway challenges assumptions about modern slavery by exploring how media complicity, the opportunism of rich philanthropists and our failure to recognise the lies we are fed by those in power conceals the damage done to migrants.

Closer to home we have Stephen Moss, a resident of Mark and president of the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

He will be talking about our best loved birds and help us understand the lives of these feathered friends.

His latest book, The Swan, describes the life cycle of Britain's largest and most elegant bird with superb illustrations

To tickle your tastebuds there is Rukmini Iyer, former lawyer, then food stylist and now bestselling author.

Rukmini brings delicious and easy recipes in one tin with minimum fuss and maximum flavour, plus vegetarian and vegan recipes for the barbecue in her book The Sweet Roasting Tin and The Green Barbecue.

Wells Festival of Literature is a Nub News sponsor. Without community-minded partners like the Festival of Literature we would not be able to produce the locally-relevant, clickbait-free news to the people of Shepton Mallet.