THIS year's Port Eliot Festival is promising a stellar line-up rich with literary pickings.

This magical and truly original festival, which takes place on July 24 to 26, is pleased to announce its Hot 5 literary stars.

Sarah Waters, Kate Summerscale, Alain de Botton, Monica Ali and Alexander Waugh will all be bringing their way with words and something just a little different to this hidden part of south east Cornwall.

Freshly confirmed for the festival is acclaimed novelist Sarah Waters, her first three novels, which include Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith, have received high praise from both mainstream reviewers and the gay and lesbian press. In 2003 she was nominated by Granta magazine as one of 20 'Best of Young British Novelists'. Sarah will be presenting a very special event based around her new novel The Little Stranger.

Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House (Bloomsbury, 2008) won the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in 2008 and has been storming the book charts this year. Alongside journalist Louise Carpenter, Kate will be creating a mysterious and intriguing happening to take place inside the wonderful Port Eliot House.

Alain de Botton is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and public speaker, whose books have sold in millions around the world. His latest book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, explores the "beauty, interest and occasional horror of the modern world of work". At this year's festival, Alain will be solving your work problems live on stage, drawing from his extensive travels and study undertaken for the writing of The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work.

Monica Ali was Newcomer of the Year at the 2004 British Book Awards and one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. Her first novel, Brick Lane, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the George Orwell Prize for political writing and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Monica is a great storyteller; an acute observer of modern drama who gives us a knowing look into the melting pot of contemporary existence.

Alexander Waugh, grandson of Evelyn and son of Auberon, is a writer, publisher, cartoonist, presenter, producer and award-winning composer. His books include the best-selling Classical Music: A new way of listening and the critically acclaimed Time (1999), God (2002) and Fathers and Sons (2004), also a BBC4 documentary. His new book, The House of Wittgenstein – a study of the Wittgenstein family and particularly of pianist Paul Wittgenstein has received stellar reviews for its originality and fresh perspective. During the festival Alexander will bring alive the pages of the book with a talk on Wittgenstein and a virtuoso piano recital in the magnificent Round Room.

Joining the Hot 5 will be rising stars Joe Dunthorne, Ross Sutherland and Tim Clare's excellent stand-up poetry show Found in Translation, described by the Londonist as "a recipe for madness".

Also one to look out for is Port Eliot Festival's collaboration with Jeff Barrett, Heavenly Records' co-founder and brains behind the Caught By The River website.

Over the three days of the festival, the Caught By The River team will host readings from their forthcoming book and introduce an eclectic programme of music, performance, partying, bird-watching and fly-fishing. Also making the 'fishing trip' will be a whole host of musical acts, performers, writers and artists invited by the Heavenly crew.

Other literary names confirmed for the festival include Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Henry Hemming, Barbara Hulanicki, The Antonius Players, Justine Picardie, Mick Brown, Hadley Freeman, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Hanif Kureishi, Arthur Smith, Grace Maxwell, Louis de Bernières, Tahmima Anam, Mark Crick, Susie Boyt, Will Hodgkinson, Mike Jay, William Fiennes, Tim Richardson, Alexander Masters, Tom Hodgkinson, Rosie Boycott, Jung Chang and Persephone Books.

Alain de Botton said: "Most literary festivals feel like work, but Port Eliot is like messing about in a garden at play – and from this informality comes the particular zaniness and inventiveness that is the festival's hallmark. It's always a joy to come."

The new Port Eliot Festival website is now live at www.porteliotfestival.com

Information on the growing line-up, performers' profiles, tickets, travel, accommodation, photographs, video and everything else you need to know about the festival can be found there.

Adult weekend tickets can be purchased for £105 each and children's tickets for £40 each. Family tickets and day tickets are also now on sale at www.porteliotfestival.com and by posting cheques to Port Eliot Festival, The Estate Office, St Germans, Saltash, Cornwall, PL12 5ND.