FAMOUS authors will be visiting Epping and Loughton as part of the Essex Book Festival in March.

Tim Lott, author of the Scent of Dried Roses and a regular columnist in the Evening Standard, will be at Epping Library, St John's Road, from 7.30pm until 9.30pm on Wednesday, March 3, to discuss his new novels. The book explores the search for love and self-knowledge of a middle-aged Londoner.

Writer and translator Josephine Balmer, whose books include Sappho: Poems and Fragments and Classical Women Poets, will be at Loughton Library, Traps Hill, from 7.30pm until 9.30pm on Thursday, March 11, to discuss her work.

Tickets for each event, priced £3, are available by ringing 01206 573948.