HAR R OG ATE
Raworths Harrogate
literature festival
21-24 October 2021 | The Crown Hotel
‘One of the UK’s best literary festivals’ Harper’s Bazaar
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2021 | Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival
Programme at a glance Thursday 21 October 12.00pm 4.00pm 5.30pm 7.30pm
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Literary Lunch with Paul Kenyon Kate Vigurs: Mission France Led By Donkeys with James Sadri & Oliver Knowles Go Big, How To Fix Our World with Ed Miliband
Friday 22 October 11.00am | 12.30pm | 2.30pm | 4.00pm 6.00pm 7.30pm
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Dr Waheed Arian, In The Wars Robin Ince and The Importance of Being Interested Her Heart for a Compass, with Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York & Marguerite Kaye The Secret Royals with Rory Cormac and Richard J. Aldrich The Prosecutor: Nazir Afzal Funny You Should Ask… Again, with the QI Elves
Saturday 23 October 11.00am | 12.30pm 2.30pm 4.00pm 6.00pm 7.30pm
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SCOFF with Pen Vogler, A History of Food And Class In Britain Museums, Adapting To The Modern World Spa Wars with Melanie King Climate Change, Code Red For Humanity Amy Jeffs, Storyland An Evening with the Dogfather, Graeme Hall
Sunday 24 October 9.30am | 11.00am | 12.30pm |
Head First with Alastair Santhouse What Next for the UK on the World Stage? In conversation with author Monique Roffey
All events will take place at The Crown Hotel, Crown Place, Harrogate, HG1 2RZ. All events are unreserved seating. Friends of the Festival will be able to enter the event space prior to other bookers. To become a Friend of the Festival, check our website or call us. #RaworthsLitFest
Booking Fees Apply
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2021 | Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival
Welcome
Welcome to Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival. We are so delighted to be able to be back at the Crown Hotel here in Harrogate as this October, ‘one of the UK’s Best Literary Festivals’ returns with an excellent range of best-selling authors and speakers. Costa Book Award Winners, journalists, war reporters and leading political figures bring their stories to life here on the Harrogate stage as we draw together a wide range of leading thinkers, authors and speakers as part of the 2021 programme. The last 18 months have been incredibly tough for everyone and we are thrilled to return to delivering live events. We are indebted to our title sponsors Raworths Solicitors, who have continued to support us to ensure we attract the brightest talent to Harrogate to inspire, entertain and delight. Within this brochure you will find just a few highlights of what to expect this year. We hope you’ll join us, and we can’t wait to welcome you! Sharon Canavar, Chief Executive, Harrogate International Festivals. We are incredibly proud to support Harrogate International Festivals in bringing this event to our town and have our name associated with this wonderful literature festival. Our support of Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival is an important partnership and one which resonates with our commitment to the arts and culture for the benefit of our local community. Thanks to the Harrogate International Festivals team’s determination when faced with unprecedented challenges, we can turn a new page and look forward to the festival and listening to the different authors and the stories they have to tell. There is a real breadth of topics in this year’s programme and we hope that you will enjoy it with us. Zoe Robinson, Managing Partner, Raworths Solicitors.
Booking Fees Apply
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1571
The Waters That Made Us
450 years ago in 1571 the waters that ‘made’ Harrogate were discovered by William Slingsby, creating the foundations for the town as a spa destination of choice. This legacy is seen in our architecture, hotels, concert halls. As part of the Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival we are delighted to be celebrating this anniversary with a commissioned sound & light installation around the Crown Hotel & Royal Pump Rooms. Keep your eyes peeled for more information about our celebration of the waters that made us in the coming weeks on our website: www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com All events are subject to licensing and permissions
Sponsored by
Stop Me & Book One Celebrate the gift of reading with our Stop Me & Book One bikes across Harrogate which will light up Harrogate town centre in October. Details and dates to be announced soon.
Spa Trail Get involved with the myths and mystery of the spa. Did drinking the waters really make you better, was one type of water better than another for fixing your gout? This family trail will be in place throughout October.
Literary Lunch with Paul Kenyon Thursday 21 October | 12-12.30pm Our lunchtime speaker Paul Kenyon is a distinguished BBC correspondent and BAFTA award-winning journalist and author. He has reported from danger-zones around the world for BBC Panorama, pushing the boundaries of investigative journalism and asking the questions many wouldn't dare – from tackling Gaddafi's son in a cage full of lions, to secretly filming Iran's secret nuclear sites. Kenyon is the recipient of an Association of International Broadcasters Award and three Royal Television Society awards. His latest book is a vivid, brilliant, darkly humorous and horrifying history of some of the strangest dictators that Europe has ever seen. Balanced precariously on the shifting fault line between East and West, Romania's schizophrenic, often violent past is one of the great untold stories of modern Europe.
The country that gave us Vlad Dracula, and whose citizens consider themselves descendants of ancient Rome, has traditionally preferred the status of enigmatic outsider. But this beautiful and unexplored land has experienced some of the most disastrous leaderships of the last century.
Tickets: £35,
Kate Vigurs | Mission France: The True History of the Women of the SOE Thursday 21 October | 4-5pm Dr. Kate Vigurs is a freelance historian, academic advisor, and researcher. Her postdoctoral research was used for the BBC World War One at Home series and makes regular appearances on television and radio. Kate is the author of Mission France: The True History of the Women of the SOE, telling the story of the thirty-nine female SOE agents who when ordered by Churchill to ‘set Europe ablaze’ went undercover in France, to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance.
Tickets: £13 Booking Fees Apply
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Led by Donkeys with James Sadri & Oliver Knowles Thursday 21 October 5.30-6.30pm Art, activism and accountability and the story of How Four Friends With A Ladder Took On Brexit. What started as an anonymous night-time guerrilla poster campaign by four friends determined to expose the lies, lunacy and hypocrisy of Brexit, Led By Donkeys quickly became the biggest entirely crowdfunded political campaign in British history. Meet the people
behind the posters and why a guerrilla group of four regular guys disillusioned by government lies created awareness to the masses through their nationwide billboard campaign.
Tickets: £16
Go Big, How To Fix Our World with Ed Miliband Thursday 21 October 7.30-8.30pm The solutions to our problems already exist. Go Big from Ed Miliband tells us how. From affordable housing to tackling the climate crises, for the past four years Ed Miliband has been discovering and interviewing brilliant people all around the world who are tackling problems, transforming communities and pioneering global movements. At this rare moment in history when people everywhere see the need for big change, and the scale of the challenge is daunting, the opportunity for what is possible is far greater. Interviewed by Mark Lawson | Tickets: £16
Booking Fees Apply
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2021 | Friday 22 October Dr Waheed Arian | In The Wars Friday 22 October | 11am-12pm Having survived the civil war in Afghanistan, Waheed Arian arrived alone in the UK aged 15. He went on to study medicine at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Now an NHS Doctor & Radiologist, he’s using smartphones and volunteer specialists to provide life-saving medical advice to doctors working in areas of conflict. Dr Arian has been recognized as a UNESCO Global Hope Hero, a UN Global Goals Goalkeeper, an NHS Innovation Mentor, and was appointed to the WHO Roster of Digital Health Experts in 2019. His latest book, In The Wars, is the extraordinary memoir of a boy who recognised the power of education and dreamed of helping others and a terrific story of courage, ambition and resilience.
Tickets: £13
Robin Ince and The Importance of Being Interested Friday 22 October | 12.30-1.30pm Comedian Robin Ince quickly abandoned science at school, bored by a fog of dull lessons and intimidated by the barrage of equations. Twenty years later, Ince fell in love and now presents one of the world’s most popular science podcasts. In his erudite and witty book, Ince reveals why scientific wonder isn’t just for the professionals. Filled with interviews featuring astronauts, comedians, teachers, quantum physicists, neuroscientists and more, The Importance of Being Interested is an optimistic and profound book that explores why so many wrongly think science is distant and difficult and will leave you filled with a thirst for intellectual adventure. Interviewed by Matt Stadlen | Tickets: £13
Booking Fees Apply
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Her Heart for a Compass, with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York & Marguerite Kaye Friday 22 October | 2.30-3.30pm Loosely based on the life of her ancestor Lady Margaret Montagu Scott, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York's sweeping historical romance follows her headstrong heroine from the conformity of Queen Victoria's court to a search for identity and love in Ireland and America. Incorporating research into her heritage and drawing upon her own unique life journey, the Duchess, with co-writer Marguerite Kaye, pens a fictional account of the life of her great-great-aunt, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott. Rich in historical detail, and set amongst the drawing rooms of Victoria's court, and the grand country houses of Scotland and Ireland, Her Heart for a Compass is a breathtaking romantic novel of daring to follow your heart against all odds. Interviewed by Mark Lawson | Tickets: £16
The Secret Royals Friday 22 October | 4-5pm Richard J. Aldrich is a Professor of International Security at the University of Warwick. A regular commentator on war and espionage, he has written for The Times, Guardian and Daily Telegraph. He is a prize-winning author of several books, including The Hidden Hand and GCHQ. Rory Cormac is a Professor of International Relations specialising in Secret Intelligence and Covert Action at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of Disrupt and Deny and co-author, with Richard J. Aldrich, of The Black Door. For the first time, The Secret Royals uncovers the remarkable relationship between the Royal Family and the intelligence community, from the reign of Queen Victoria to the death of Princess Diana. Based on original research and new evidence, The Secret Royals reveals how far their Majesties still call the shots in a hidden world and presents the British monarchy in an entirely new light.
Tickets: £13 Booking Fees Apply
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2021 | Friday 22 October The Prosecutor: Nazir Afzal Friday 22 October 2021 | 6-7pm As a Chief Prosecutor, it was Nazir Afzal’s job to make sure the most complex, violent and harrowing crimes made it to court, and that their perpetrators were convicted. From the Rochdale sex ring to the earliest prosecutions for honour killing and modern slavery, he was at the forefront of the British legal system for decades. He’ll share a story that began in Birmingham, in the sixties, as a young boy facing racist violence – events which set him on the path to his ground breaking career, and which enable him to help communities that the conventional justice system ignores and give a voice to the voiceless. Sharing stories from his memoir The Prosecutor, he will be interviewed by Matt Stadlen.
Tickets: £13
Funny You Should Ask… Again, with the QI Elves Friday 22 October | 7.30-8.30pm Join Elves Alex Bell and Ethan Ruparelia as they serve up their pick of bizarre, extraordinary and hilarious facts from the QI universe, folowed by questions from the audience. Come prepared to test their knowledge! The QI Elves are the brains behind the hit panel show QI and the hugely popular podcast No Such Thing As A Fish. Every week the Elves appear on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show’s Why Workshop where they answer the ponderings and wonderings of Radio 2’s most inquisitive listeners. Join the Elves in Harrogate for a live show as they prepare to answer questions such as ‘If spiders can walk on the ceiling why can’t they get out of the bath?’ and ‘How can I live forever?’
Tickets: £13 Booking Fees Apply
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2021 | Saturday 23 October Museums, Adapting To The Modern World Saturday 23 October 12.30-1.30pm For centuries, museums have played an integral role in preserving the history of our society. Exhibits show us how our nation, our communities and our cultures came to be and without them, those stories could be forgotten – but are we getting the full picture? A panel of experts will discuss the importance of museums in preserving our history, literature, art and culture, and how their role is changing in a modern world.
SCOFF with Pen Vogler, A History of Food And Class In Britain
With philosopher, psychologist and broadcaster Dr Peter Hughes, author of the compelling A History of Love and Hate in 21 Statues spanning continents, religions and eras and British architecture historian, author and curator Owen Hopkins.
Saturday 23 October 11am-12pm In this fascinating social history of food in Britain, Scoff examines the origins of our eating habits and reveals how they are loaded with centuries of class prejudice. Covering such topics as fish and chips, roast beef, avocados, tripe, fish knives and the surprising origins of breakfast, Scoff reveals how in Britain we have become experts at using eating habits to make judgements about social background.
Tickets: £14
Pen Vogler is the author of Dinner with Mr Darcy and Dinner with Dickens and curated the exhibition Food Glorious Food at the Charles Dickens Museum. She edited Penguin's Great Food series, writes and reviews on food history for the press and has recreated recipes from the past for BBC Television.
Tickets: £13 Booking Fees Apply
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2021 | Saturday 23 October Spa Wars, with Melanie King Saturday 23 October | 2.30-3.30pm By 1600 Harrogate and its surrounding hamlets featured four medicinal wells competing for custom. Which would earn their credentials from visiting physicians, and which would be dismissed as ‘superstitious relics of popery’? English spas have a long and steamy history, from the thermal baths of Aquae Sulis in Bath to the Victorian mania for hydrotherapy and Turkish hammams in Harrogate. The Secret History of English Spas brings to life the social and cultural history of our obsession with drinking and bathing in spa waters. From the rich and famous to the poor and sick, all of whom visited spas in the hopes of a cure. Discover the entrepreneurs behind the promotion of the resorts - with their often dubious scientific evidence - and the behind the scenes salacious social lives where moral health might suffer even as bodies were cleansed and purged.
Tickets: £13
Climate Change Code Red For Humanity Saturday 23 October | 4-5pm From the deadly floods in Germany to scorching heat in Canada and a deluge in the Black Sea region, extreme weather events are becoming commonplace in the daily news. As COP26 approaches, our panel of experts will discuss our planets climate – is man-made climate change really to blame? What can we do to save the planet and how will this change the way we all live? With Dr Alice Bell a climate campaigner and writer; Alister Doyle, award-winning journalist who has covered climate change for almost two decades; Professor Peter Stott, a Science Fellow in Climate Attribution at the Met Office's Hadley Centre and Claire Bradbury, a sustainable futures specialist with a background in law and international development.
Tickets: £14 Booking Fees Apply
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Amy Jeffs, Storyland Saturday 23 October | 6-7pm Soaked in mist and old magic, the ancient stories of Britain begin between the Creation and Noah's Flood, in an age when the earliest generation of giants walk the earth. Amy Jeffs pays intimate attention to the medieval source manuscripts and brings these tales to vivid life, displaying the storytelling gift that kept our ancestors rapt by firelight. These ancient stories of extinction, homeland, parenthood, rebellion, love, loss, magic and faith are retold with narrative flair, reimagined in stunning artworks and glossed with a rich and erudite commentary. Storyland is an utterly exceptional publication that will thrill all lovers of history, art, landscape and legend.
Amy Jeffs is a Somerset-based art historian and printmaker with expertise in medieval art and literature. In 2020, she gained a PhD in Art History from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, having worked at the British Library, and studied for earlier degrees at the Courtauld Institute of Art and Cambridge.
Tickets: £16
An Evening with the Dogfather, Graeme Hall Saturday 23 October | 7.30-8.30pm Have you ever wished you could get the dogs in your life to behave better?, Graeme Hall has seen all kinds of quirky behaviour – from both dogs and their owners! Graeme Hall ‘The Dogfather’, star of Channel 5’s Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, imparts his wisdom on how to build the best relationship with your dog, told through the stories of some of the special dogs he’s loved and trained throughout his career. Backed up by scientific research, Graeme will be revealing his advice to Matt about how to train a happy, healthy dog, so from the old dogs who may need some new tricks to your newly adopted pandemic pooch this event could change yours, and your dog’s life! Interviewed by Matt Stadlen | Tickets: £16
2021 | Sunday 24 October
What does it mean to be well? Is it something in our body? Or, is it rather something subjective - something of the mind? In this profound collection of clinical stories, eminent psychiatrist Dr Alastair Santhouse draws on his experience of treating thousands of hospital patients to show how our emotions are inextricably linked to our physical wellbeing. Our minds shape the way we understand and react to symptoms, dictate our treatments, and influence whether they work. They even influence whether we develop symptoms at all. Written with brutal honesty, deep compassion, and a wry sense of humour, Head First examines difficult cases that illuminate some of our most puzzling and controversial medical issues-from the tragedy of suicide, to the stigma surrounding obesity, to the misery of chronic fatigue. Ultimately he finds that medicine has failed us by promoting specialization and overlooking an important component of our health: our mind.
What Next for the UK on the World Stage Sunday 24 October | 11am-12pm The international order put in place after World War II is coming to an end, and the political landscape across the world is changing. As the UK emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic detached from the EU, we ask the question, what next? Our panel of experts will discuss what the future holds for the UK and how we will be placed on the international stage. With authors Peter Ricketts who has been at the heart of Britain's foreign policy for more than 30 years, Richard Fenning who spent 14 years as CEO of Control Risks, the global consultancy that specialises in helping businesses out of tight spots in difficult countries, and Gavin Esler who was a main presenter of the BBC current affairs show Newsnight for 12 years.
Tickets: £14 Booking Fees Apply
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In conversation with author Monique Roffey 2020 Costa Book of the Year winner Sunday 24 October | 12.30-1.30pm Monique Roffey is an award-winning Trinidadian-born British writer of novels, essays, literary journalism, and a memoir. Her most recent novel, The Mermaid of Black Conch, won the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020 with her award winning book about an ancient Taino woman cursed to be a mermaid who is caught in contemporary times. This is a lyrical and vivid story of love, loss, family and friendship, as well as the destructive power of jealousy, and the terrible force of nature. Interviewed by Matt Stadlen | Tickets: £13
Booking Fees Apply
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Dive In: celebrating 450 years of Harrogate’s mineral springs. September 18th 2021 to March 27th 2022
Plunge in to this exhibi�on to discover how Harrogate has been shaped by its legendary waters. Encounter images from the town’s spa history, alongside works of contemporary art that explore broader themes of water, history, health and healing. Opening with historic views of Harrogate spa, the exhibi�on highlights artwork by some of Britain’s leading contemporary ar�sts, including Caroline Walker’s pain�ngs set in a Budapest thermal baths where public and private spaces overlap; Serena Partridge’s �ny tex�le works that blur fact and fic�on in Harrogate’s past, and Kate Mellor’s photographs that ponder the rela�onship between photography, history and truth during an illusory quest through European spa towns.
Distillation
New work by Balbinder Broadbent 16 September 2021 – 27 March 2022
Balbinder Broadbent is one of Yorkshire’s most interesting abstract painters. Throughout lockdown, she has been creating powerful new paintings which are revealed for the first time in her first solo exhibition at the Mercer. She’s chosen to title this exhibition ‘Distillation’ because this period saw her refining and clarifying her distinctive visual language. She has also returned to printmaking after a long break, creating a stunning series of monochrome drypoint etchings. Mercer Art Gallery, Swan Road, Harrogate HG1 2SA.Telephone 01423 556188 Open daily 10.00 – 16.00 (please check our facebook page for updates before your visit).
2021 | How to Book Phone:
01423 562 303
Email:
info@harrogate-festival.org.uk
Online:
harrogateinternationalfestivals.com
In Person:
Harrogate International Festivals, 32 Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate, HG1 1DB.
Opening Times: Monday to Friday 10am – 5pm. Payment: Harrogate International Festivals accept all major credit/debit cards (except American Express), cash or cheques. Cheques should be made payable to ‘HARROGATE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS’. In order to cover the cost of postage there is an additional £1.50 charge for postal orders, however, you can choose to collect your tickets on the door of the event or at the Festival office prior to the event. Booking Fee: Harrogate International Festivals charges a £1.75 transaction fee for all bookings. Ticket sales alone do not cover the costs of our Box Office and booking fees are vital to development, maintenance and running of our in-house Box Office. We endeavour to keep our booking fees as low as possible and this charge is per order, not per individual ticket. For more information and for full booking Terms and Conditions please visit our website: www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/box-office Festival Bookshop: The Festival Bookshop is provided by Waterstones and will be available throughout the weekend including for signings with the authors post each event. Covid Measures: You must not travel to or attend the Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival if you are experiencing any Covid19 symptoms. You must not travel if you need to isolate. Please be aware that some distancing measures may still be in place and you may be asked to wear a mask in more crowded indoor areas, including moving around the auditorium and bookshop. Please follow all the advice on site from the HIF staff. Visitors with Disabilities: All Festival venues have wheelchair access and we offer free tickets for carers. For more information and to book wheelchair seating please call our Box Office. Tickets on the Door: Subject to availability, tickets will be sold at the venue 30 minutes prior to the performance, and a £1.75 transaction fee will apply. Please be aware tickets can sell out in advance and booking early is recommended. Returned Tickets: The Box Office cannot refund money or exchange tickets, except in the case of a cancelled event. We are happy to try and re-sell returned tickets for sold-out events for a small charge. Concessions: Concessions are available for under 18s, students in full time education and those receiving unemployment benefits. Appropriate ID must be provided. May not be used in conjunction with any other offers. Gift Vouchers Why not treat a Friend or relative to an event at the Festival? Gift vouchers are available from the Festival Box Office for all Festival events.
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2021 | Sponsors and supporters Title Sponsor
Premier Partners
Major Supporters
Festival Partners
Regular funder
Community Partner
Special Projects
Harrogate International Festivals is a registered charity, no. 244861. All information correct at time of going to print. Harrogate International Festivals reserves the right to make such alterations as may become necessary. T&Cs apply. Please see our website for details.
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