JOLYON MAUGHAM: HOW GOOD LAW CAN TOPPLE THE POWERFUL

All too often our legal system feels as if it only works for people who already have power and privilege. Jolyon Maugham KC (Bringing Down Goliath) – founder of the UK’s largest legal campaign group, the Good Law Project and outspoken barrister on social media – reveals what has driven his inspiration and purpose.

He talks to Greg Ingham about a bold new vision for how the law can work better for all of us in the fight against injustice.

Date: Saturday 13 May

Time: 2.30pm – 3.30pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: A9

Fiction

Joanna Quinn And Kim Sherwood

Join two exceptional voices in contemporary historical fiction as they talk to the Guardian journalist and editor Claire Armitstead. Joanna Quinn’s captivating debut The Whalebone Theatre was the breakout hit of last year – a beguiling story of inheritance, imagination and courage and of an irrepressible girl from a gloriously dysfunctional home who fights to carve out her own story. With extraordinary verve and chutzpah, Kim Sherwood’s A Wild and True Relation remakes the 18th-century Heroical novel and challenges women’s writing and women’s roles throughout history.

Date: Saturday 13 May

Time: 2.30pm – 3.30pm

Venue: Walcot House

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: A10

Persephone Books And Domestic Feminism

Enjoy a cup of tea and a slice of chocolate cake upstairs at Persephone while Nicola Beauman, founder of Persephone Books, gives an informal talk about one of her favourite topics: domestic feminism in fiction. She will explore the subtle but unabashed feminism of Persephone writers such as Edith Ayrton Zangwill (The Call), Dorothy Whipple (Someone at a Distance, Greenbanks), Barbara Euphan Todd (Miss Ranskill Comes Home) and Penelope Mortimer (Daddy’s Gone A’Hunting).

Ticket includes tea/coffee & a slice of cake.

Date: Saturday 13 May

Time: 3pm – 4pm

Venue: Persephone Books

Price: £4 – £12*

Event code: A11

Sharing Stories Navigating Miscarriage And Baby Loss

Entertainment Pop Culture Icons With David Hepworth And John Higgs

The Beatles, James Bond and Abbey Road Studios are all enduring cultural icons. Music journalist David Hepworth (Abbey Road) and cultural historian John Higgs (Love and Let Die) share stories of great music, larger-than-life stars and the interwoven histories of music and film with a glorious romp through popular culture over the past 60 years.

Date: Saturday 13 May Time: 5pm – 6pm

Venue: Guildhall Banqueting Room

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: A13

Losing a baby during pregnancy is still a silenced and misunderstood subject. Author Pippa Vosper (Beyond Grief), and writer Vanessa Haye discuss their own experiences of pregnancy loss. They are joined by Kate Davies from miscarriage and baby loss charity Tommy’s, who provides in-depth insight into the ongoing clinical research carried out by the charity. Whatever your experience of womanhood or motherhood, this will be an empowering conversation that aims to inspire and connect those who have been touched by pregnancy loss.

Date: Saturday 13 May

Time: 4.30pm – 5.30pm

Venue: Walcot House

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: A12

*Ticket price excludes booking fee

Fiction Spotlight On The Jhalak Prize

Now in its eighth year, The Jhalak Prize celebrates the best books by British and British resident writers of colour each year, covering a myriad of genres. Former winner, Guy Gunaratne (Mister, Mister), will be joined by one of this year’s shortlisted authors plus former judge Sarah Shaffi to talk about the prize’s impact and celebrate the work it has championed.

Date: Saturday 13 May

Time: 5pm – 6pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: A14

Fiction 75 Years Of I Capture The Castle

It’s 75 years since Dodie Smith’s bestselling coming-of-age novel I Capture the Castle was first published. The travails of its heroine Cassandra and her eccentric family have captured the hearts of readers and writers ever since. Join two of the book’s biggest fans, Bath-based novelists Joanna Nadin (The Double Life of Daisy Hemmings) and Harriet Evans (The Beloved Girls), to discuss the novel’s lasting influence and importance. Are you a Cassandra or a Rose? Or maybe even a Topaz? Come and chat about all things Mortmain at this timely celebration of a beloved book.

Ticket includes tea/coffee and biscuits.

Date: Saturday 13 May

Time: 5pm – 6pm

Venue: Persephone Books

Price: £4 – £12*

Event code: A15

Sharing Stories

Cariad Lloyd Talks To Cathy Rentzenbrink

Comedian and host of the award-winning podcast, Griefcast, Cariad Lloyd (You Are Not Alone) reflects on all that she has learned about the process of grieving and society’s changing attitude to death with Cathy Rentzenbrink (How To Feel Better). An event for all of us: whether you have felt lost in your own grief, would like to help someone you know through theirs, or would just like to understand death (and life) a little better.

Date: Saturday 13 May Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm

Venue: Guildhall Banqueting Room

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: A16

Fiction Bolu Babalola And Liv Little

Honey & Spice was the breakout hit of last summer: a deliciously witty and relatable romcom that went straight to the top of the bestseller lists and was a Reese’s Book Club pick and BookTok favourite. Its author Bolu Babalola is having a party to celebrate the paperback release of her sensational book and you’re invited! Joining her for an evening of chat and music is the founder of gal-dem, Liv Little, author of the striking debut, Rosewater, a love story about what happens when the world is telling you that you should have it all together but the foundations you’ve built for yourself are crumbling. Chaired by Sarah Shaffi.

PERFORMANCE A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN

The award-winning Dyad Productions return with a 21st-century take on Virginia Woolf’s celebrated pre-TED talk.

Take a wry, amusing and incisive trip through the history of literature, feminism and gender. Meet Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, Aphra Behn and Shakespeare’s sister Judith! Travel to the far-flung future of 2028, but whatever you do, Keep Off the Grass. Rebecca Vaughan (Female Gothic, Orlando, Christmas Gothic, Dalloway, Austen’s Women, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) performs Woolf’s 1928 exploration of the impact of poverty and sexual inequality on intellectual freedom and creativity.

Date: Saturday 13 May Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: A17

★★★★★ ‘Intelligently adapted, beautifully performed … entrancing’ British Theatre Guide

‘Perfection … Vaughan is simply sublime’ Huffington Post

Date: Saturday 13 May

Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm

Venue: Ustinov Studio

Price: £8 – £20*

Event code: A19

Mind And Body Revolutionise Your Sleep And Health

Award-winning scientist Russell Foster (Life Time) takes us on a journey through the circadian rhythms that dominate our days and lives – showing how we can all use the science of the biological clock to achieve better sleep, better health and better minds. Breaking down myths and replacing them with cutting-edge science, Foster will empower us to get back into rhythm and live healthier, sharper lives.

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 11am – 12pm

Venue: Guildhall Banqueting Room

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: B1

Popular Science Pragya Agarwal

We’ve all heard that girls should be ‘sugar and spice and all things nice’, while ‘boys don’t cry’. Hysterical, Telegraph’s Big Ideas Book 2022, sees Pragya Agarwal shine an illuminating light on the hidden bias, double standards and myths that warp our judgements about the way men and women feel. She talks to the Guardian journalist and editor, Claire Armitstead, about the impact of it on her own life and considers what a future where emotions are ungendered might look like.

Art Of Expression

BATH CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS’ FAIR

Pop along to Green Park Station for the award-winning Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair, bringing 70 artists from the city and beyond right to the heart of Bath. Discover fine art, photography, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and much more. Find out more at www.bcaf.co.uk

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 10am – 5pm

Venue: Green Park Station

Price: FREE

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 11am – 12pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: B2

BEYOND CORONATION: WHAT’S NEXT FOR OUR ROYAL FAMILY?

May 2023 heralds a remarkable historic moment for our country – our first new monarch in 70 years, yet our new king remains an enigma and everything our royal family stands for seems threatened by scandal and division. Catherine Mayer, author of the gripping landmark biography, Charles: The Heart of a King, joins Jonathan Healey, whose brilliant and bloody new history of England’s turbulent 17th century, The Blazing World, reveals many parallels with the challenges faced today. Chaired by BBC World Service journalist, Anu Anand.

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Venue: Guildhall Banqueting Room

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: B3

Fiction The Women Of Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s best-known tales have long held readers fascinated. Natasha Solomons’ Fair Rosaline takes everything you thought you knew about Romeo and Juliet and turns it on its head, while Isabelle Schuler’s Lady MacBethad is the origin story of the woman who would be queen no matter what. They talk to Sarah Shaffi about their fresh takes on these fierce, forgotten female characters.

Ticket includes a bespoke sampler of Fair Rosaline, not due to be published until Summer 2023, and a chance to win some exciting Shakespeare-related prizes! Check our website for more details.

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 4pm – 5pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: B5

Sharing Stories Kit De Waal Talks To Cathy Rentzenbrink

From a mother who banned Christmas and birthdays to a father who splurged money he didn’t have on cars and fancy shoes, award-winning author Kit de Waal’s childhood in 1960s Birmingham was anything but ordinary. Caught between three worlds, Irish, Caribbean and British, she reflects on a chaotic upbringing of opposites and extremes in her new book, Without Warning and Only Sometimes, with fellow memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink.

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: B4

Fiction Spies Among Friends

A special festival event with a trio of espionage writers at the top of their game! Charlotte Philby (Edith and Kim) talks to James Naughtie, acclaimed BBC broadcaster, as he introduces The Spy Across the Water, the third instalment in his brilliant spy series woven around three brothers bound together forever through espionage. Joining them is the winner of the Bath Novel Award and the first female author to pick up Ian Fleming’s mantle, Kim Sherwood (Testament) – whose explosive new official 007 thriller, Double Or Nothing blows the world of James Bond wide open.

Words And Music How To Feel Better With Words And Song

Cathy Rentzenbrink is a writer who comes from a long line of nobodies and struggles to feel she has the right to say anything.

Kate Dimbleby is a singer who grew up in a family of famous communicators and her problem is trying to get a word in at all. Expect laughter, maybe a few tears and a lot of fun in this exploration of how finding and nurturing our own unique voice is a crucial and joyous ally in navigating life and feeling better.

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 4.30pm – 5.30pm

Venue: Guildhall Banqueting Room

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: B6

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: B8

ART OF EXPRESSION JEREMY DELLER: ART IS MAGIC

The Turner Prize award-winning artist Jeremy Deller’s new book, Art is Magic, ties up the key works of his career alongside the art, pop music, film, politics and history that have inspired his work. He shares stories about his extraordinary career including The Battle of Orgreave, a recreation of a confrontation from the miners’ strike, Andy Warhol (who he met in 1986), rave culture and hen harriers pecking out the eyes of a Tory MP with broadcaster, writer and DJ, Zakia Sewell. 30

Date: Sunday 14 May

Time: 7pm – 8pm

Venue: Guildhall

Banqueting Room

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: B9

THE ART OF PITCHING YOUR BOOK: WITH BLAKE FRIEDMANN LITERARY AGENCY

Writing a novel? Have a great idea for a memoir, or nonfiction narrative? How can you give your book the best shot at publication with a winning pitch? Join two Blake Friedmann book agents as they take you through which elements of your story have the best pitching potential, how to pitch so your book appeals to publishers and agents, and how to define your USP as the author. A comprehensive and friendly workshop.

Your ticket includes tea/coffee & biscuits.

Date: Monday 15 May

Time: 10.30am – 12.30pm

Venue: Bath Central Library

Price: £10 – £25*

Event code: C1

Art Of Expression The Colourful World Of Kaffe Fassett

Kaffe Fassett needs no introduction, a counterculture design legend, he has dedicated the last 50 years of his life to the world of knitting, quilting and needlepoint, promoting these crafts through his own work and encouraging others to find their own creativity. He talks to editor Dennis Nothdruft (The Artist’s Eye) about his prolific career, his time spent living in Bath and his incredible use of colour. Don’t miss your chance to learn from the worldrenowned master textile designer and have your quilting conundrums answered.

Date: Monday 15 May

Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: C5

Sharing Stories Manni And Reuben Coe Talk To Sally Phillips

brother. do. you. love. me. is a text that Reuben Coe, struggling with the physical reality of having Down’s syndrome, sent his older brother Manni Coe, who immediately left his Spanish home, took Reuben out of care and moved them to a countryside cottage. Join the brothers in conversation with acclaimed comedian, actress and vocal disability advocate Sally Phillips, as they discuss their critically acclaimed memoir and consider how, individually and collectively, we can all take better care of each other.

Date: Monday 15 May Time: 11am – 12pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: C3

LUNCHTIME LECTURE HOW DOES CULTURE MAKE US HUMAN?

Acclaimed author and professor

Martin Puchner (Culture: A New World History) takes us on a breakneck tour showing how art forms have crisscrossed continents over centuries to produce masterpieces. From Nefertiti’s lost city and the Islamic Golden Age to 20th-century Nigerian theatre and Modernist poetry, he explores how contact between different peoples has driven artistic innovation in every era – while cultural policing and purism have more often undermined the very societies they tried to protect.

This event is part of the Lunchtime Lecture series in partnership with University of Bath.

Date: Monday 15 May Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Venue: Guildhall

Banqueting Room

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: C4

Nature Enchantment With Katherine May

What if there was a different way to relate to the world? One which celebrates the restorative properties of the natural world and promotes a sense of mental wellbeing and calm. Overwhelmed by the chatter on social media and the grind of the news, Wintering author Katherine May talks to Cathy Rentzenbrink about pursuing a more meaningful way of life.

Philosophy And Life With Ac Grayling

How should I live my life? What sort of person should I be? What shall I aim for? These ‘Socratic’ questions have long fascinated acclaimed philosopher AC Grayling (Philosophy and Life). He shares the wisdom we need to make sense of our lives by drawing on an eclectic range of thinkers and authors from across eras and continents to help provide the answers.

Date: Monday 15 May

Time: 5pm – 6pm

Venue: Guildhall

Banqueting Room

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: C6

Local Interest Introducing Read Easy Bath

Did you know that 2.4 million adults in the UK can’t read? Read Easy provides free, confidential coaching for adults who struggle with their reading. Come and find out how you can volunteer in your community. Hear about the different roles available and learn what a difference being able to read makes to someone’s life.

Date: Monday 15 May

Time: 6pm – 7pm

Venue: Dorothy House Bookshop

Price: FREE (ticketed)

Event code: C8

Date: Monday 15 May

Time: 5pm – 6pm

Venue: Guildhall Salon

Price: £5 – £15*

Event code: C7