Celia Imrie at literary festivals
Last checked: 28 October 2026
If you know Celia Imrie from the screen, her books offer a different reason to spend an evening in her company. Comic fiction, wartime stories and a travel memoir sit alongside the acting career. For someone who loves stories of journeys, reinvention and people thrown together, the writing gives the visit its own appeal.
Quick facts
- Best known for
- The Nice novels and travel memoir
- Genre or subject
- Comic fiction, historical fiction and memoir
- Latest book
- The Elegant Hustler (2026)
- 2026 festivals
- Cheltenham Literature Festival
About Celia Imrie
Imrie’s writing includes the Nice trilogy, Sail Away, Orphans of the Storm and Meet Me at Rainbow Corner, as well as the autobiography The Happy Hoofer. Her publisher describes the Nice novels as top-ten Sunday Times bestsellers. The books give readers several distinct choices: a comic community on the French Riviera, an Atlantic crossing, historical fiction or memories told in the writer’s own voice.
Her acting work includes The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Calendar Girls. That may be the point at which a festival visitor first recognises her, but the books are a reason to stay with the writing. A novel lets you enter a created world; a memoir lets you follow the experiences selected for the page. The difference can help you choose what to read before a conversation.
The Nice sequence starts with a woman leaving London after early retirement and discovering a new community. The later titles are Nice Work (If You Can Get It) and A Nice Cup of Tea. Across other books, travel and changing circumstances continue to provide the setting in which characters meet. You can choose the opening novel without making a commitment to read every title before attending a talk.
The Elegant Hustler, published on 8 October 2026, turns to travel memoir. It includes journeys by sea and rail, from theatre tours in Australia to European trips, Amtrak travel, Indian railways and voyages on the Queen Mary 2. Fidelis Morgan is her writing partner and travelling companion. The book offers the reader a working performer’s journeys and the encounters that make them worth recounting, a different perspective from the fictional travellers in her novels.
Where to start with their books
Not Quite Nice
Theresa leaves London after early retirement for Bellevue-sur-Mer near Nice, where a group of expatriates seems to offer freedom and a fresh beginning. Their comfortable lives conceal secrets. Start here for the first Nice novel, especially if the appeal of a festival conversation lies in comic fiction and people making a new life together.
Meet Me at Rainbow Corner
In London in 1944, Dot Gallagher arrives from Liverpool to work as a nurse and discovers Rainbow Corner, the American servicemen’s club in Piccadilly. Friendship with Lilly, secrets and wartime fears shape the story. Try this for historical fiction, with a social meeting place at its centre and people living through an uncertain period.
Sail Away
A cancelled stage production sends actress Suzy towards work on a cruise ship; Amanda sees a cruise as an answer after a flat purchase fails. Their Atlantic crossing brings unusual fellow travellers and suspicious dealings. It is a fiction choice for readers who enjoy a journey that gathers people together before complicating their plans.
The Elegant Hustler
This is the non-fiction route through journeys by ship and train. Choose it for travel recollections and the companionship behind them, rather than for a fictional plot to solve. If a festival event sends you back to the shelves wanting more of the voice you have just heard, memoir can make a natural companion to that visit.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
2026
| Festival | Date | Event and venue | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham Literature Festival | Celia Imrie and Fidelis Morgan The Times and Sunday Times Forum | Official programme |
What their events are like
Celia Imrie’s 2026 programme included a conversation at Cheltenham Literature Festival.
Where to see them next
Stratford Literary Festival’s 2026 programme included Celia Imrie: The Elegant Hustler: Adventures from a Life on the Move, 29 October 2026. 2026 event details.
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
For a trip inspired by a travel memoir, make the journey part of the pleasure without overfilling the day. Take one book you want to spend time with, choose a comfortable connection and leave a meal break around the event. You can enjoy hearing about travel without needing an ambitious itinerary of your own.
- Cheltenham Literature Festival: festival guide · Where to stay · 2027 programme
Read more
Explore Celia Imrie’s official writing information and the publisher’s author page.
Authors you might also like
Gyles Brandreth
Offers another set of books to explore after Celia Imrie’s writing.
Sandi Toksvig
For another Cheltenham speaker with writing and performance among her working interests.
Andrew Davies
A fellow Stratford autumn speaker whose memoir focuses on a creative working life.
Your questions about Celia Imrie
Which Celia Imrie novel should I read first?
Not Quite Nice begins the Riviera sequence. For a different setting, Meet Me at Rainbow Corner takes you to wartime London, while Sail Away puts travellers together on an Atlantic crossing. Choose the sort of company and setting you want before worrying about the rest of the bibliography.
When was her Stratford autumn event?
Use the festival links on Celia Imrie’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
Did Fidelis Morgan join her at Cheltenham?
Yes. Their joint event is in the official programme. Morgan is also the writing partner and travel companion connected with the new memoir. That makes the conversation of interest to readers curious about how journeys become a book as well as readers who know the novels.
Do I need to know her screen work to enjoy a talk?
Use the festival links on Celia Imrie’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
How should I plan a first festival visit around her?
Use the festival links on Celia Imrie’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
Sources
- Cheltenham Literature Festival: Celia Imrie and Fidelis Morgan
- Celia Imrie: official website
- Celia Imrie: official publisher information
- Celia Imrie: official book and event information
- Celia Imrie: official book and event information
- Celia Imrie: official book and event information
- Celia Imrie: official book and event information
- Celia Imrie: official book and event information
- Hachette: Celia Imrie and The Elegant Hustler