BRIDPORT’S Page to Screen festival has attracted some of the giants of the literary world and this year is no exception with best-selling author Nick Hornby signed up.

The April festival is the UK’s only film festival dedicated to the adaptation of books into films.

Polly Gifford, director of Bridport Arts Centre, said: “We are so excited to confirm that Nick Hornby will be at this year’s From Page to Screen festival. He has been on both sides of the adaptation process and A Long Way Down will be his fourth novel to be made into a film. We can’t wait to welcome him to Bridport.’’

Nick Hornby, whose novels Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About a Boy have all been made into films, will be on stage ‘in conversation’ with this year’s guest curator Jon Ronson – journalist, documentary filmmaker and author of non-fiction books.

Their conversation will be followed by a screening of A Long Way Down, an adaptation of Mr Hornby’s 2005 novel.

The Pascal Chaumeil-directed film had a stellar cast including former James Bond Pierce Bros-nan, Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, Sam Neill, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots and Rosamund Pike. Hornby is also an Academy Award nominated screenwriter for his adaptation of Lynn Barber’s memoir, An Education.

Mr Ronson said: “Nick and I have had lots of conversations over the years about the ups and downs of adapting things for the screen.

“In fact Nick’s advice is always ringing in my ears when I deal with movie people. So I’m especially glad that he’s going to be at From Page To Screen.”

Mr Ronson’s 2009 film The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was adapted from his book and stars George Clooney, will also feature as part of the festival programme.

Bridport Arts Centre, in collaboration with the Electric Palace cinema, will show a wide range of films over five days at the two venues.

Most screenings will feature a talk by authors or filmmakers, giving audiences the chance to go beneath the surface of their favourite films and discover more about the filmmaking process.

Mr Ronson will reveal his other film choices in the coming weeks.

Together with screenwriter Peter Straughan, Jon has also penned the soon-to-be-released Frank. Loosely autobiographical, Frank is a hotly anticipated comedy starring Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Domhnall Gleeson.

From Page To Screen was founded in 2009 by Bridport Arts Centre, inspired by the Bridport Prize – one of the UK’s longest running and respected literary prizes.

More details can be found at frompagetoscreen.org.uk