DAUNT BOOKS Festival Thursday 19th and Friday 20th March 2014 83 Marylebone High Street, London, W1U 4QW 020 7224 2295 | www.dauntbooks.co.uk
NOTES & IDEAS
We are very excited to welcome you to the Daunt Books Festival 2015. It’s our twenty-fifth year of bookselling and the festival’s second year. We’ve kept some of the best bits from last year, such as a short stories event, the walking book club, and a talk engaging with the idea of place – a subject close to our hearts as you can see from the way we arrange our books. You’ll also see some additions, like the afternoon recitals, and our first talk for teenagers. As you leaf through the following pages, I hope you find some inspiration in the range of talks. From heroines to spies, nature to politics, and women of the 1950s to Russian émigrés of the 1920s, we have tried to programme something – or indeed many things – for everyone. You can either purchase tickets for individual talks or there are a limited number of festival passes which guarantee entry to everything. We can’t wait for the festival to begin and look forward, above all, to seeing YOU here. For us, the best thing about last year was not the stellar talks, nor the delicious food, and not even the jolly yellow bunting, but having our shop full to the brim with readers, the air abuzz with enthusiastic conversations about books. A bookshop is not just a place to buy books, it’s a space to bring readers together, to foster a literary community, and to have a great deal of fun in the doing. Emily Rhodes
Thursday 19th March
CHOOSING YOUR HEROINES
Samantha Ellis & Anne Sebba talk to Alex Clark 10.00 - 11.00am - £6 including a morning snack from Honey & Co.
Join us to learn about some extraordinary lives and revisit some favourite novels to find inspiration in heroines, both real and imagined. In Samantha Ellis’s charming memoir How to be a Heroine, she shows us how her favourite characters – from Jane Eyre to Esther Greenwood and the Little Mermaid to Lizzy Bennett – have served as good, or indeed bad, role models over the years. In contrast to these fictional women, icons such as Mother Teresa, Laura Ashley and Wallis Simpson, have been subjects of biographies by Anne Sebba. Samantha Ellis and Anne Sebba discuss the virtues of their favourite women with literary critic Alex Clark.
Thursday 19th March
THE NATURE CURE William Fiennes & Tim Dee
12.00 - 12.45pm - £6 including a macaroon provided by The Monocle Cafe
Why are we drawn to the outside, to birds, to nature? How can trying to understand our landscape help us better understand ourselves? In William Fiennes’ beautiful, thoughtful book The Snow Geese, he follows the migration of snow geese and reflects on nature, travel and homecoming along the way. Joining him to discuss ‘the nature cure’ is naturalist and birdwatcher Tim Dee. Dee’s most recent book Four Fields is a lyrical exploration of four fields in different parts of the world: Cambridgeshire, Zambia, Montana and the Chernobyl exclusion zone. In telling the story of these different patches of land, he interrogates our relationship with the wild and makes us look anew at where we live and how.
Thursday 19th March
PERFECT WIVES OR BRILLIANT CAREERS: WOMEN OF THE 1950s Virginia Nicholson & Rachel Cooke 1.30 - 2.15pm - ÂŁ6 including a sausage roll provided by The Ginger Pig
In Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes, Virginia Nicholson reconstructs the 1950s through the eyes of its women – the housewives with clean pinafores and gleaming coiffures, and also the students, diplomats, immigrants and teddy girls. In Her Brilliant Career, Rachel Cooke introduces us to ten trailblazing women of the era, whose pioneering professional lives paved the way for future generations. Packed with illuminating anecdotes and unexpected revelations, here are two fascinating, unusual guides to the real women of the 1950s.
Thursday 19th March
A MUSICAL ALICE IN WONDERLAND Ralph Wyld, Cecilia Bignall & ensemble from The Royal Academy of Music 3.00 - 4.00pm - Free (booking essential)
To mark the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s dearly loved story Alice in Wonderland, Royal Academy students Ralph Wyld and Cecilia Bignall were inspired to compose ‘All in the Golden Afternoon’, a musical interpretation of Carroll’s imaginative world. Combining traditional written composition, improvisation and electronics, the music mirrors the dreamlike nature and playfulness of the story. Elements of classical music and jazz are infused in this exciting musical adventure in Wonderland.
Thursday 19th March
EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES & OTHER GERMAN CHILDREN’S CLASSICS Michael Rosen & Anthea Bell talk to Julia Eccleshare 5.00 - 6.00pm - Free (booking essential)
German writer Erich Kästner’s spirited stories have captured the imagination of children and adults alike for generations. Former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen talks about his fondness for Emil and the Detectives, Kästner’s other books and The Wicked Tricks of Till Owlyglass, his own retelling of one of his favourite German children’s books. Joining him is translator Anthea Bell, who has produced fantastic new renderings of Kästner’s The Parent Trap, The Flying Classroom and Dot & Anton. They talk to Julia Eccleshare, Children’s Books Editor for the Guardian.
Thursday 19th March
THE ESTABLISHMENT
Owen Jones talks to Owen Hatherley 7.00 - 7.45pm - £7 including a glass of wine
In The Establishment, Owen Jones gives a biting critique of the British Establishment and makes a passionate plea for democracy. Hailed by Russell Brand as ‘our generation’s Orwell’, Jones exposes the vested interests which bind the lobbies of Westminster to the newsrooms of Fleet Street and the trading rooms of the City. He talks to political and architectural writer Owen Hatherley. ‘Owen Jones displays a powerful combination of cool analysis and fiery anger in this dissection of the profoundly and sickeningly corrupt state that is present-day Britain. He is a fine writer, and this is a truly necessary book.’ Philip Pullman
Thursday 19th March
MY HISTORY Antonia Fraser talks to Valerie Grove 8.30 - 9.30pm - £7 including a glass of wine
In her new memoir, acclaimed biographer and historian Antonia Fraser describes how she fell in love with history, the subject that would define her life. Fraser takes us back to her wartime childhood, a season as a self-made debutante, her studies at Oxford, a job in publishing, and the moment when her first book Mary Queen of Scots became an unexpected worldwide bestseller. Written with her trademark wit and panache, this is a magical account of one person’s journey towards becoming a writer and an historian. Antonia Fraser talks to biographer and journalist Valerie Grove. ‘A delight from start to finish.’ The Spectator
Friday 20th March
EMILY’S WALKING BOOK CLUB Setting off from the Marylebone shop at 10.00 and returning for 11.15. Free (booking essential and come having read the book) with biscuits provided by La Fromagerie.
Join other book-lovers for a stroll around Regent’s Park with writer, bookseller and blogger Emily Rhodes to discuss Barbara Comyns’ extraordinary novel Our Spoons Came from Woolworths. Sophia is an eccentric young Bohemian in 1930s London with no money, an artist husband, and a beloved pet newt. When she falls pregnant, their acute poverty makes the situation desperate and we follow Sophia as she struggles to survive. Praised as ‘a marvellous writer’ by Graham Greene, Comyns conveys a moving story with an unnerving lightness of touch and unfailing sense of humour.
Friday 20th March
IN PRAISE OF SHORT STORIES Tessa Hadley, Colin Barrett & Julianne Pachico talk to Laura Macaulay 12.00 - 12.45pm - £6 including hot chocolate from Rococo
Short stories have never been more celebrated as a literary form, or more popular with readers. Join us for an inspiring discussion of their merits and charm, and listen to a dazzling array of short story writers read their work. As Alice Munro said when she accepted the Nobel Prize: ‘Everything the story tells moves you in such a way that you feel you’re a different person when you finish.’ ‘A writer of exceptional intelligence and skill … a subtly subversive talent’ is how the Guardian describes Tessa Hadley. She is the author of four novels and two collections of short stories; her stories regularly appear in magazines including The New Yorker and Granta. Colin Barrett’s debut collection of short stories Young Skins won the Guardian’s First Book Award and The Frank O’Connor Award; the judges said his stories ‘come alive with that ineffable thing – soul’. Julianne Pachico is completing her PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at UEA; her story The Tourist is published by Daunt Books. Laura Macaulay is a publisher and bookseller at Daunt Books.
Friday 20th March
RUSSIANS IN PARIS: GAZDANOV, TEFFI AND OTHER ÉMIGRÉ WRITERS OF THE 1920S Bryan Karetnyk & Peter Pomerantsev talk to Nicholas Lezard 1.30 - 2.15pm - £6 including pastries provided by La Fromagerie
Writers Gazdanov and Teffi were two of the two hundred thousand White Russians who escaped from Russia after the 1917 Revolution and settled in France. By the midtwenties, Paris was the cultural and political centre of the diaspora and Gazdanov and Teffi were prominent members of its literary scene. Gazdanov’s work was greatly admired by Gorky among others, and he achieved this success while working nights as a taxi driver. Teffi was a literary celebrity in Russia, counting Lenin and Tsar Nicholas II among her fans. Both writers have been recently rediscovered, their work newly translated and published to great acclaim by Pushkin Press. Bryan Karetnyk is an editor and translator of Russian literature, including Gazdanov’s The Spectre of Alexander Wolf and The Buddha’s Return. Peter Pomerantsev has written a riveting account of Putin’s Russia, Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, and his father worked for the same radio station (albeit some years later) as Gazdanov. Nicholas Lezard is a literary critic for the Guardian and writes for the New Statesman. His most recent book is Bitter Experience Has Taught Me.
Friday 20th March
THE DAUNT TRIO PERFORMS POPULAR CLASSICS Toby Thatcher (oboe), Jernej Albreht (clarinet) & Lois Au (bassoon) 3.00 - 4.00pm - Free (booking essential)
The Daunt Trio was formed in 2014 after its three members had performed together in various ensembles and chamber groups while studying at the Royal Academy of Music. The choice of name originates from the group’s enthusiasm for Daunt Books, in particular the oboist Toby Thatcher, who has worked at the Marylebone shop for the past two years. They perform a fun and varied programme including pieces by Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Scott Joplin’s ‘The Entertainer’.
Friday 20th March
ROBERT MUCHAMORE
The author of the Cherub series talks to Philip Womack 5.00 - 6.00pm - Free (booking essential)
We are thrilled to welcome Robert Muchamore for the festival’s first young adult event. His award-winning Cherub series is about a division of the British Security Service which employs teenagers as intelligence officers. The Cherub division also stars in his Henderson’s Boys books, set during the Second World War. Muchamore’s most recent novel Rock War is the first of an exciting new quartet of books about three teenagers seeking success in the music world. His books have been translated into 27 languages and have sold over 8 million copies. Robert Muchamore talks to Philip Womack, children’s novelist and literary critic for the Daily Telegraph, Guardian and other publications. Philip is also a fellow of First Story, which supports literacy at challenging secondary schools.
Friday 20th March
SPIES IN FACT AND FICTION Charles Cumming & Christopher Andrew talk to James Naughtie
7.00 - 7.45pm - ÂŁ7 including a glass of wine
The world of espionage has been played out in the shadows of our history and has filled the pages of many novels, from Kipling and Conrad to Ian Fleming and Alan Furst. Charles Cumming was approached for recruitment by the Secret Intelligence Service, an experience which inspired his gripping first novel A Spy By Nature. His most recent book A Colder War has seen him hailed by The Sunday Times as the new John le CarrĂŠ. Christopher Andrew is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Cambridge and the author of The Defence of the Realm, a magisterial authorised history of MI5. They talk to broadcaster James Naughtie, whose book The Madness of July is a sophisticated Cold War spy thriller. From their knowledgeable positions, they cast light on this shady, secretive and fascinating world.
Friday 20th March
PALIN ON PLACE
Michael Palin talks to Brett Wolstencroft 8.30 - 9.30pm - ÂŁ7 including a glass of wine
For the festival finale, we are delighted to welcome comedian, writer and traveller Michael Palin to tell us about how he has experienced the power of place. Where has he found to be particularly inspiring? How do the challenges of capturing a sense of place vary from screen to page, and from travel-writing to fiction? And which writers has he found to be particularly adept at conjuring the spirit of a place? Michael Palin talks to our very own Brett Wolstencroft.
FOOD & DRINK AT THE DAUNT BOOKS FESTIVAL Delicious treats will be provided for various daytime talks, thanks to the generous support of Marylebone institutions: La Fromagerie, The Ginger Pig, Rococo Chocolates, The Monocle Cafe and Honey & Co. You are very welcome to bring a sandwich to our lunchtime talks, if it means you can sneak out of the office to enjoy some food for thought. Special pre- and post-Festival menus are available from Hardy’s Brasserie, round the corner from our shop at 53 Dorset Street, W1U 7NH. Please book in advance on 0871 971 6876 using the reference ‘Daunt’.
Set Menu 5 - 10.30pm | £15
Double baked smoked haddock & cheddar soufflé Green salad with beetroot & walnuts * Coq au vin, mash potato, french beans Cornish cod, puy lentils, roast cherry tomatoes, salsa verde * Lemon posset Vanilla ice cream, hot chocolate sauce
GETTING HERE
All talks take place at:
Nearest London Underground stations : Baker Street, Regent’s Park and Bond Street.
Daunt Books 83 Marylebone High St London W1U 4QW
The following buses stop near Daunt Books: 2, 13, 18, 27, 30, 74, 82, 88, 113, 139, 189, 205, 274, 453, C2. The nearest Barclay’s Cycle Hire docking stations are at: Beaumont Street (where it meets Marylebone High Street) and Paddington Street (where it meets Chiltern Street).
TICKETS Tickets may be bought from our Marylebone shop in person, with credit/debit card by telephone on 020 7224 2295 or at www.dauntbooks.co.uk Ticket holders are entitled to 20% off the books discussed.
Daunt Books Festival Pass £35 Guaranteed entry to all 14 events over the two days (limited availability)
Individual Talks as priced
Children’s Talks, Emily’s Walking Book Club & Musical Performances Free, but you must reserve a space
We would like to thank the Howard de Walden Estate for their encouragement and support of the Festival
Michael Palin
Antonia Fraser
Owen Jones
William Fiennes
Virginia Nicholson
Charles Cumming
Anne Sebba
Christopher Andrew
Samantha Ellis
Tessa Hadley
Tim Dee
Michael Rosen
Valerie Grove
Robert Muchamore
Rachel Cooke
Peter Pomerantsev
Colin Barrett
Nicholas Lezard
Bryan Karetnyk
James Naughtie
Anthea Bell
Owen Hatherley
Julia Eccleshare
Philip Womack
Julianne Pachico
Alex Clark
Cecilia Bignall
Ralph Wyld
Laura Macaulay
The Daunt Trio
Emily Rhodes