Culture and politics on stage at Woodstock

By Arifa Akbar, Arts Correspondent David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, the crime fiction writer PD James and the acclaimed historian Simon Schama, are to take centre stage at Woodstock Literary Festival this weekend. The festival, sponsored by The Independent, began yesterday with a talk between the novelist Howard Jacobson and John Walsh, who are both columnists for The Independent. During the next three days, leading figures from the political and cultural world will explore themes ranging from Shakespeare's plays and Jane Austen's letters to the Iraq war. Today Mr Cameron will have a wide-ranging interview with The Independent's editor-in-chief, Simon Kelner, at the festival amid the 18th-century splendour of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Tomorrow, PD James will be in conversation with the writer Kate... [read full story]