David Nobbs to be honoured at Henley Literary Festival

A tribute event to comedy writer and novelist David Nobbs is due to take place in October at the Henley Literary Festival.

The creator of shows including The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin and A Bit Of A Do had been due to speak at the festival, but sadly died in August.

Instead, Veep writer and Radio 4 star David Quantick will now host an event at Henley's Kenton Theatre on Saturday 3rd October as part of the festival to remember the writer. The show will be headlined by Nobbs' friend and former writing partner Barry Cryer, with What a Carve Up! author Jonathan Coe and writer Andy Miller also set to take part in a panel discussion to celebrate the writer's life and work.

The event is being curated in aid of the Writers' Guild Welfare Fund and further additions to the line-up will be announced in the coming weeks.

David Nobbs had been due to return to the festival to talk about his books, following on from his sell-out performance in 2013. Across his long and varied career, Nobbs authored 20 novels and wrote for a variety of comedians, including The Two Ronnies, Frankie Howerd and Les Dawson.

Henley Literary Festival programming director Tom Ryan says: "We were all very sad to hear of David's passing but having been in touch with his family I'm delighted can celebrate the work of this very funny writer and lovely man."

The Henley Literary Festival takes place at venues across the Oxfordshire-based town from 28th September to 4th October. The festival's line-up also includes Sue Perkins, Tim Key, Katy Wix and Emma Kennedy. For more information visit: www.henleyliteraryfestival.co.uk