Literary Calendar
Events for September 29, 2013 through October 5, 2013
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Dreaming of Daphne du Maurier with Jane Dunn and Hilary Macaskill, Soho Literary Festival
Daphne du Maurier is one of the icons of 20th-century literature. Hugely successful as a writer, her short story The Birds and novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn were also effortlessly transferred to the screen. Daphne was the daughter of the Edwardian actor-manager, Gerald du Maurier, whose funeral she refused to attend, the wife of ‘Boy’ Browning, the Arnhem hero who warned they were going ‘a bridge too far’, and the lover of Gertrude Lawrence. Hilary Macaskill, author of Daphne du&hellip
The Grammar Bee with Mr Gwynne, Harry Mount and Toby Young, Soho Literary Festival
Gwynne’s Grammar has sat at the top of the bestseller lists for most of the year. Why? Because most of us have the nagging doubt that our English ain’t what it might be. Harry Mount (Amo, Amas, Amat) is a fellow stickler for good grammar, not because he’s pedantic but because he believes good English helps people in all aspects of their lives, especially their careers. Toby Young (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) has made grammar the backbone of his new West London&hellip
Life and Death in Victorian England with Judith Flanders, Kate Colquhoun and Claire Armitstead, Soho Literary Festival
Claire Armitstead, the literary editor of the Guardian, will talk to Judith Flanders and Kate Colquhoun about survival in the 19th century, when you might well fall victim to murder, assault, poor medicine or an epidemic – in a time when sex was taboo and death was revered. More information/book tickets
WAGs of the Third Reich (with Anne Sebba, Jane Thynne, Rachel Johnson and Meike Ziervogel), Soho Literary Festival
Whole libraries of books have been written about the male members of Hitler’s evil court, but far less is known about their wives and girlfriends. How were these women able to live with some of the greatest monsters in history? Anne Sebba, the biographer of Wallis Simpson and Mother Teresa, will be chairing a discussion with three women who have made the subject their own: Jane Thynne, author of Black Roses, the story of Clara Vine, an ambitious actress who finds herself among the&hellip
The Classics Quiz: pueri versus puellae, Soho Literary festival
Following the success of last year’s contest, which was won by the puellae,Professor William Fitzgerald, author of How to Read a Latin Poem, will be this year’s interrogator (quizmaster to barbarians). Harry Mount (Amo, Amas, Amat) is looking for three optimi for his team; Rachel Johnson is looking for three optimae for her team. So, if you know about the locative and how Caesar conquered Gaul, this is your chance. Members of the audience can also take part, and the puer or puella with the highest score will be give a year’s free membership of the&hellip
Lincoln Book Festival: James Fergusson on The Most Dangerous Place on Earth
James Fergusson THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE ON EARTH: inside the outlaw state of Somalia Award winning author and journalist James Fergusson has met everyone in Somalia from politicians, pirates, extremists and mercenaries to aid workers, civilians and refugees. He gives a unique account of a country ravaged by war, considers what the future might hold for a generation who’ve grown up knowing little else and exposes the reality of life in this hard, often forgotten land. http://www.jamesfergusson.info More information/book tickets
An evening with Robert Harris, The Telegraph
Read all reviews for An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris. The ticket includes a copy of An Officer and A Spy to collect at the event, and a drinks and canapé reception. More information/book tickets
5 x 15, Belgravia
Unscripted true stories of passion, obsession and adventure from Ruby Wax, Serge Schmemann, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin and Sarah Harper. More information/book tickets
Lincoln Book Festival: Giles Milton on how British spies thwarted Lenin’s global plan
Giles Milton Russian Roulette – A Deadly Game: how British spies thwarted Lenin’s global plan Giles is author of eight works of popular history, including the best-selling Nathaniel’s Nutmegand Paradise Lost (Smyrna 1922). Reading at times like a thriller, Russian Roulette is the story of a group of British spies smuggled into Soviet Russia on an undercover mission to thwart Lenin’s Bolshevik-Islamic plot to topple British India and the Western democracies. –www.gilesmilton.com/ More information/book tickets
Lincoln Book Festival: Richard Davenport-Hines on sex, class and power in the age of Profumo
Richard Davenport-Hines on An English Affair: sex, class and power in the age of Profumo Undoubtedly the biggest British political scandal of 20th century, Richard sets it firmly in the context of life and attitudes of the late fifties and early sixties, putting flesh on the bones of all the participants! As a journalist and prize-winning author, Richard has written on British attitudes to sex and sexuality, an anthology of vice, and biographies of Proust, W H Auden and Lady Desbrough. His last&hellip
Lincoln Book Festival: Diane Atkinson on The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton
Diane Atkinson on The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton Caroline Norton was accused by her husband of ‘a criminal conversation’ (adultery) with the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, precipitating the biggest scandal of the 19th century and a high profile divorce. Cut off by her husband, Caroline fought for women’s rights in male-dominated Victorian society, eventually resulting in women having a separate legal identity. Diane is a lecturer and curator at the Museum of London specialising in women’s history. – www.dianeatkinson.co.uk/ More information/book tickets
Lincoln Book Festival: A. N. Wilson in conversation with Gil Darby
A N Wilson in conversation with Gil Darby A prolific and eclectic author and newspaper columnist, A N Wilson is known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views – from The Elizabethans andThe Victorians to Dante, Hitler, Betjeman, Jesus and more. His latest novel, The Potter’s Hand is a fictionalised biography of Josiah Wedgwood. More information/book tickets
Tom Holland on his new translation of The Histories of Herodotus, Daunt Bookshop, Marylebone
Tom Holland has brought a mass readership to classical history with books like In the Shadow of the Sword and Persian Fire. Now he has produced a magisterial new translation of one of the ancient world’s most fascinating books. Written in the fifth century BC, The Histories tells of the war between the Persian Empire and the Greek city states as well as being full of bizarre stories which account for much of what we know about the world he&hellip
Lincoln Book Festival: Charles Sebag Montefiore on The British as Collectors
Charles Sebag Montefiore on The British as Collectors: from the Tudors to the Present (co-authored with James Stourton) Charles Sebag-Montefiore has spent 40 years creating the definitive library on British patronage and collecting. He is a trustee of the National Gallery and was a trustee of the National Art Collections Fund between 2000 and 2011. James Stourton is Chairman ofSotheby’s UK and frequently writes on the history of collecting. More information/book tickets
Lincoln Book Festival: Sarah Gristwood, Richard Buckley and John Ashdown-Hill
Sarah Gristwood author of Blood Sisters: The women behind the Wars of the Roses – best-selling Tudor biographer and commentator on royal affairs talks about the lives and importance of the women in this very real game of thrones.http://www.sarahgristwood.co.uk/ Richard Buckley of University of Leicester Archaeological Services and project manager on the Greyfriars dig, talks about his forthcoming book, co-authored with Mathew Morris, Richard III: the king under the car park (working title). John Ashdown-Hill author of The Last Days of Richard III&hellip
Lincoln Book Festival: Julie Summers on Jambusters
Unpaid, unsung, to a large extent uncomplaining, these women quietly and often with humour, made the countryside tick during World War II. “Julie Summers is one of those natural born writers who have a compelling story to tell.” http://www.juliesummers.co.uk More information/book tickets
Lincoln Book Festival: Tracy Borman on The Witches of Belvoir
Lincolnshire-born author has a local launch for her new book about witchcraft in Jacobean England – the witches who feature in the book lived at Belvoir and were tried at Lincoln Castle. Tracy has appeared with Tony Robinson on ‘Walking Through History’ and in a Channel 5 documentary on witchcraft. She has recently been appointed interim Chief Curator of the Royal Palaces alongside Lucy Worsley. – www.tracyborman.co.uk More information/book tickets
Allan Ahlberg at the London Lit Festival, Kings Place
One of Britain’s best-loved children’s authors, Allan Ahlberg tells us about his own oddly enchanted childhood lived out in the Black Country during the 1940s. He remembers a father in overalls smelling of wood shavings and oil, of a fiercely protective mother who cries when he discovers that he is adopted, of life insurance policies (‘£6 if the child dies under age 3′) and fearsome bacon slicers. And of his first days at school: ‘Allan could do much better. He is most&hellip
Jung Chang at the London Lit Festival, Kings Place
The author of Wild Swans tells us the extraordinary story of the most important woman in Chinese history: Empress Dowager Cixi who ruled China for 47 years. Selected at 15 as one of the Emperor’s 3000 concubines, she launched a palace coup at his death and transformed the country from a medieval state into a modern society. Jung Chang will be in conversation with Jonathan Fenby, formerly editor of The South China Morning Post, The Observer and Reuters World Service as well as a senior correspondent for The&hellip
Elif Shafak at the London Lit Festival, Kings Place
Come and spend an hour in the company of the most internationally recognised Turkish woman writer writing in both Turkish and English. She may talk about her country’s rich heritage of multiple cultures and legends as well as as honour killings, a particular past tense which only exists in Turkish and trying to balance the devotion to family with the compulsion to write. More information/book tickets