5 minute read
HISTORICAL FICTION THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF CHARLES IGNATIUS SANCHO WITH PATERSON JOSEPH
Meet Charles Ignatius Sancho, an 18thcentury writer, abolitionist and composer – a man born on a slave ship who escaped enslavement and became the first black Briton to vote. His extraordinary story, hidden for 300 years, is told by one of Britain’s best-loved actors, Paterson Joseph, in his captivating debut historical novel. He joins us at the festival, in conversation with Joanna Nadin, for a special event incorporating readings and conversation. This is a thrilling, throat-catching wonder of a story, one not to be missed.
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Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Guildhall
Banqueting Room
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: D11
ARCHITECTURE ICONICON: CONTEMPORARY BRITISH BUILDINGS
Wimpey Homes. Millennium monuments. Wind farms. Spectacular skyscrapers. Self-confessed architecture geek John Grindrod takes us on an enthralling, witty and engaging journey around the Britain we have created since 1980: the horrors and delights, the triumphs and failures.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: D12
Poetry Poetry Reading And Open Mic
A festival first! Come and hear local poets Carrie Etter, Pey Oh and Ruth Sharman read from their critically acclaimed work and, if you like, read one of your own poems as well! During the breaks there will be a chance to mingle, have a drink from the bar and chat to the poets. Attendees wanting to read should bring a single poem of no more than 40 lines and can sign up at the beginning of the event.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 7.30pm – 9.30pm
Venue: Chapter 22 Roots & Records
Price: £4 – £12*
Event code: D14
Workshop How To Write Funny
We all love to read a book that makes us laugh but writing a rib-cracking book is a serious business. In this workshop, Rebecca Rogers (The Purgatory Poisoning), local author and winner of the Comedy Women in Print Unpublished Comedy Novel prize, will help you to create your funny novel. From exploring the big ideas (what actually is funny?) to looking at knee-slapping dialogue and character development, you’ll come away with a suitcase full of hilarious hints and tips to add fun to your manuscript. Aimed at beginners but all are welcome. Your ticket includes tea/coffee & biscuits.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 10.30am – 12.30pm
Venue: Bath Central Library
Price: £10 – £25*
Event code: E1
Find The Price For You
Have you seen our new flexible pricing? Find the right price for you on our guide on page 5
Mind And Body Living A Longer And Healthier Life
80% of why we age is within our control, so simple lifestyle changes will ensure we stay younger for longer. With 35 years’ experience at the forefront of ageing medicine, Professor Rose Anne Kenny (Age Proof) demystifies the science behind ageing and draws on her own pioneering research to give practical advice on the steps we can take to lead a long, healthy life.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 11am – 12pm
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: E3
Lunchtime Lecture The Art Of Colour
Invented by cave-dwellers and medieval conjurers, cunning conmen and savvy scientists, the colours of art tell a riveting tale all their own. Acclaimed author Kelly Grovier reveals the astonishing back stories of the pigments that define and connect the greatest works in the history of art.
This event is part of the Lunchtime Lecture series in partnership with University of Bath.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Venue: Guildhall
Banqueting Room
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: E4
Social History The Story Of The Country House
Former editor of Country Life, author and architectural historian Clive Aslet whisks us through a fascinating account of the country houses of Britain. From their evolution in a changing political and economic landscape to their architects, builders and often eccentric occupants, he charts the changing fortunes and hidden histories of these fascinating architectural splendours.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: E5
HISTORICAL FICTION DAN JONES: ESSEX DOGS
July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun. Globally bestselling historian Dan Jones talks to Greg Ingham about his historical fiction debut Essex Dogs – the explosive first instalment in an epic new trilogy set during the Hundred Years’ War.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 5pm – 6pm
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: E7
CURRENT AFFAIRS POLITICS: A SURVIVOR’S GUIDE
We live in an age of fury and confusion. A new crisis erupts before the last one has finished: financial crisis, Brexit, pandemic, war in Ukraine, energy shortages. Prime ministers come and go but politics stays divided and toxic. Award-winning journalist Rafael Behr examines his own journey from despair to hope, with insights drawn from three decades as a political commentator. He talks to fellow journalist John Harris on how to stay engaged without getting enraged.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 5pm – 6pm
Venue: Guildhall
Banqueting Room
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: E6
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Sharing Stories On Loving And Leaving Ballet
For centuries, being a ballerina has been synonymous with being beautiful, thin, obedient and feminine. But what does this mean in a post #MeToo, body-positive world? Weaving together her own time at America’s most elite ballet school with the lives of renowned ballerinas throughout history, Alice Robb (Don’t Think Dear) interrogates what it means to perform ballet today and whether it is time to reimagine its liberating potential. She talks to ballet enthusiast
Lottie May.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 7pm – 8pm
Venue: Mr B’s Emporium
Price: £4 – £12*
Event code: E10
NATURE UNDERCURRENT: NATASHA CARTHEW AND TANYA SHADRICK
Join acclaimed writer Natasha Carthew as she talks to Tanya Shadrick (The Cure for Sleep) about her new memoir
Undercurrent: A Cornish Memoir of Poverty, Nature and Resilience and her work as a working-class nature writer. Together they will highlight the importance of authentic voices in literature and why celebrating diversity is so important.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: E12
HISTORY CLEVELAND POOLS: ENGAGING IN THEIR HISTORY
The newly restored Cleveland Pools, built by the Georgians, are a unique open air bathing facility that has seen 200 years of remarkable history. Learn about their rich past with the pools’ patron, Professor June Hannam, and research historian, Dr Linda Watts.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Venue: Dorothy House Bookshop
Price: FREE (ticketed)
Event code: E8
Sharing Stories
Michael Frayn Talks To Mark Lawson
This special festival event sees the celebrated playwright and novelist Michael Frayn (Noises Off, Copenhagen) looking back on his life from the perspective of his 90th year, thinking about a few of the people who have formed his own particular world. Some have had a profound effect; some only a passing one. Some you may know yourself; some you certainly won’t. Some he now wonders if he ever really knew himself. He talks to journalist and broadcaster Mark Lawson about Among Others, his new patchwork memoir made of a lifetime’s encounters.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Guildhall
Banqueting Room
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: E11
Sponsored by
Poetry Lyra Comes To Bath
Bristol’s exhilarating poetry festival brings together local, national and international poets with the aim of showcasing poetry in the widest range of forms. Three of Lyra’s poets will delight and intrigue in this special Bath Festival performance: current Bristol City Poet, Kat Lyons, Caleb Parkin (Bristol City Poet 2020–22), and Malaika Kegode, 2023 Lyra Festival Poet. Hosted by the Lyra Festival directors, Lucy English and Danny Pandolfi.
Date: Wednesday 17 May
Time: 6pm – 7.30pm
Venue: Komedia
Price: FREE (ticketed)
Event code: E9
Sponsored by
