Feminist icon Germaine Greer will top the bill at a ten-day political festival in Lewes.

The academic and broadcaster will close the 2002 Revolution To Revolution festival organised by the town's Tom Paine Project, an organisation which promotes the life and works of the 18th Century political philosopher, pamphleteer and one-time Lewes resident.

The Australian will give a talk entitled Thomas Paine And Women before a question-and-answer session at Lewes Town Hall on Sunday, July 14, at 5pm.

The centrepiece of this year's festival, which runs from tomorrow to July 14, is an exhibition celebrating The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Britain's first and most enduring working-class novel.

The exhibition takes place in the Barbican House museum in Lewes and will run from July 4 until the August 26 bank holiday, with admission at £2.

It will be unveiled by Phyllida Stewart-Roberts, Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex, at the official opening of the festival on tomorrow at 11am.

The opening few days of the festival will include the Headstrong lecture on citizenship by Baroness Cumberlege, at Pelham House, Lewes, on Friday at 1pm. Admission is free.

Also on Friday is Lewes: A Riotous Assembly, a two-hour costumed guided walk starting at the Barbican, Lewes Castle, at 7pm. The event is free but donations are welcome.

On Saturday, Dr Richard Whatmore of the University of Sussex will speak on Paine and Dave Harker, former academic and writer, will speak on Robert Tressell, author of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, in the U3A day school Tressell Today, Paine Tomorrow at Pelham House from 10am to 3pm. Admission is £6 on the day.

Future festival events include lectures and a rare UK screening of Grey Owl.

Tickets for the talk by Ms Greer cost £8 (£5 concessions) and are available in advance from Lewes tourist information centre.