Ways With Words Festival of Words and Ideas Dartington, Devon 4 – 14 July 2014
Education, Education, Education We are often asked whether we are writers ourselves. The answer is ‘no’ but in the case of Kay Dunbar and Stephen Bristow we often explain that we have come from the world of education. Since the word ‘education’ has been hijacked by Michael Gove, Tony Blair, David Blunkett etc. it’s not a word that conjures up positive images for many people; yet we have always believed in the power of education. The development of curiosity, the life of the mind, a love of learning and ideas: these form the basis of all Ways With Words’ activities. Come to The Telegraph Ways With Words Festival at Dartington Hall this July and see whether you agree: there is nothing more important than education. Directors – Kay Dunbar, Stephen Bristow Chloë Bar-Kar, Videl Bar-Kar
Break in to mar the holy peace Of this great solitude.
from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Solitude’
Here Nor scorn
President’s Introduction As you grow older, time seems to pass more quickly. But the depressing illusion does have its compensation. We don’t have to wait so long for Dartington to come round again. This year, as in the past, the festival offers a wonderful - and remarkably eclectic - array of speakers in the unique setting of Dartington Hall. For over twenty years it has been one of the highlights of my summer. I look forward to seeing you there. Roy Hattersley Festival President
from the world I win release, of men, nor footstep rude, Title Sponsor
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Friday 4 July – Great Hall
Jonathan Miller
Clive Boursnell
Jung Chang
OPENING THE 23RD TELEGRAPH WAYS WITH WORDS FESTIVAL OF WORDS AND IDEAS AT DARTINGTON HALL 1 2.30pm Great Hall £10
Jonathan Miller Fringe to Polymath Whether in ‘Beyond the Fringe’, presenting television programmes on the brain or directing at The National Theatre, Glyndebourne and La Scala, Sir Jonathan Miller’s knowledge of the arts, science and medicine has shaped our cultural perspective. In the month of his 80th birthday and on the publication of a collection of his writings from the last 60 years, he is a most welcome opening speaker.
Day Ticket: £24 (not including event 4 or 5)
2 4pm Great Hall £10
Clive Boursnell The Transformation of The Laskett Sir Roy Strong, together with his late wife, created a remarkable formal garden, The Laskett. Since her death he has redesigned and remade the garden. This process has been recorded by renowned photographer Clive Boursnell who will show his photographs and tell the story of the remodelling.
Friday 4 July – Great Hall Jung Chang China – Great Hall From Feudalism to Modernity 3 5.30pm £10
4 8 - 9pm Great Hall £10
Matt Harey
Remarkable author Jung Chang discusses her latest contribution to the penning of Chinese history, ‘Empress Dowager Cixi’. She overturns notions of Cixi as a cruel despot and diehard conservative. Instead, a story that incorporates the abolition of ‘death by a thousand cuts’ and foot-binding, is woven into the grand narrative of China’s transition from feudalism to modernity.
Matt Harvey The Element in the Room Festival favourite and Poet in Residence for RegenSW, Matt Harvey returns to recharge our batteries with sustainable verse which is by turns nebulous, fabulous, frivolous and strange. This livewire versifier will brighten up your evening. (That’s enough energy gags. Ed.)
Friday 4 July – Barn 125 2.30pm Barn £10
Mark McCrum The Writing Life
5 4pm Barn £7 (or £15 to include event 83 on Friday 11 July at 7.30pm)
FILM - The Invisible Woman from the book by Claire Tomalin
Mark McCrum launches his novel, ‘Fest’, a whodunnit about the murder of a famous critic at a rural literary festival. He talks frankly about the often comic ups and downs of his career as a best-selling ghost and non-fiction writer, working with celebs such as Robbie Williams, Bruce Parry, Ben Fogle and Prince Harry on books like ‘Castaway’, ‘1900 House’ and ‘Walking With The Wounded’. (This event does not appear in the printed brochure.)
(Cert. 12A - 111 mins.) At the height of his career Charles Dickens met a young woman, Nelly Ternan, who became his mistress. Next Friday, 11 July at 7.30pm, in the Great Hall, Claire Tomalin will be speaking on her book, ‘The Invisible Woman’ (Tickets £10). For those who want to see both events there is a reduced joint price of £15.
Saturday 5 July – Great Hall
Helen Taylor
6 10am Great Hall £10
Gerard Lyons
Helen Taylor The Eternal Appeal of ‘Gone with the Wind’ Seventy-five years after the cinematic release of ‘Gone with the Wind’, Prof. Helen Taylor explores some of the reasons for the huge appeal of the book and the film. Drawing on letters from fans, literature, film and feminist theory, and from her study of Southern American history she delves into the sensibilities of millions of devotees worldwide.
James Lovelock
7 11.45am Great Hall £10
sponsored by
8 1.30pm Great Hall £10
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 11)
Stephan Harding
Gerard Lyons The Optimistic Economist Gerard Lyons is a leading international economist who spent nearly 30 years working in the City. Ahead of the game in pre-empting the major economic trends of the last 25 years, Lyons now has a surprising prediction - that we are currently better off than we think, and the next twenty years will herald one of the strongest periods of growth...ever. Come and see if you agree.
James Lovelock speaks to Stephan Harding of Schumacher College What the Future Holds James Lovelock has been hailed as the man who conceived a new way of looking at life on earth, a great scientific visionary of our age. He gives his reflections on how scientific advances are made, and his own remarkable life as a lone scientist.
Saturday 5 July – Great Hall
Liam Fox
9 3.15pm Great Hall £10
10 5pm Great Hall £10
Natalie Haynes
Liam Fox New Global Challenges Former Secretary of State for Defence, Dr. Liam Fox MP, analyses the major issues that face humanity in a rapidly changing world. He presents the questions that world leaders and decision-makers are asking about what threatens world peace and stability, and examines how to meet the challenges of the new global reality.
Natalie Haynes Standing Up for the Classics Former stand-up comedian, writer and broadcaster, Natalie Haynes explores the power of the Classics and how they influenced her new novel, ‘The Amber Fury’.
Francesca Martinez
11 8 - 9pm Great Hall £12
Francesca Martinez What the **** is Normal? Whatever body you’re born into, it seems that most people share the universal desire to be ‘normal’. This show is for anyone who’s ever struggled to fit in, felt ‘different’ or wondered what the **** normal means? Apart from a cycle on a washing machine, of course. (Suitable for 16+) “One of the circuit’s most brilliant comedians” The Observer
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 11)
Saturday 5 July – Barn – Science: Past, Present and Future 12 10am Barn £10
Joanna Bourke Pain
13 11.45am Barn £10
Ben Shephard Towards a Science of The Mind
14 1.30pm Barn £10
Experiencing pain is something everyone shares; whether it is a grazed knee, labour, a heart attack or cancer, pain permeates lives. Prof. Joanna Bourke, author of many outstanding books on the history of medicine, provides an enthralling analysis of attitudes to suffering.
How did the human brain evolve? Ben Shephard traces the intellectual journeys of four men who addressed this question: William Rivers, Grafton Elliot Smith, Charles Myers and William McDougal. Their work made way for modern neuroscience. Spanning neurology, psychology, psychiatry, zoology and anthropology, Ben Shephard’s narrative history traces their voyage of discovery, and makes some modern discoveries along the way.
Lewis Dartnell Rebuilding Civilisation Post-apocalypse: with most of human life destroyed, infrastructure in tatters, power stations shattered, communication and transport systems torn apart, how would the survivors rebuild the world they have lost? Dr. Lewis Dartnell provides a toolkit for rebuilding civilisation and relearning the accumulated knowledge that is taken for granted in the modern world.
Day Ticket: £40
Henry Marsh
15 3.15pm Barn £10
Pedro Ferreira It’s All Relative
16 5pm Barn £10
Henry Marsh Brain Surgery
Nearly 100 years on, Einstein’s general theory of relativity remains one of the most influential achievements in modern physics although vilified by Hitler as ‘Jew science’, and hounded in Stalin’s Russia as quasi religious. Professor of Astrophysics, Pedro Ferreira traces relativity from its origins to its intellectual descendants.
Brain surgeon Henry Marsh examines the responsibility that comes with holding a life in your hands, and cutting into the stuff that creates thought, feelings and reason. The image of brain surgery as a precise craft practised by imperturbable super-humans is candidly undermined, as Marsh recounts the triumphs, disasters and regrets of life in theatre.
Sunday 6 July – Great Hall
Rebecca Front
Kate Fox
17 10.30am Great Hall £10
Kate Fox Englishness
18 12pm Great Hall £10
Rebecca Front interviewed by Peter Stanford What it is to be Curious
Kate Fox’s clever observations uncover the quirks, habits and foibles of the English. Putting the national character under the microscope, Fox explores this strange and fascinating culture and its complex codes of conduct. Her book, ‘Watching the English’, is a biting, affectionate, insightful and often hilarious look at English society.
Driven by her natural curiosity, BAFTA-winning actress and comedy writer Rebecca Front has drawn from her life experiences to compile a collection of true and witty stories. She discusses the awkwardness of human interaction, the unshakeability of fear and the randomness of memories.
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 22)
Peter Stanford
19 1.30pm Great Hall £10
Francesca Martinez
Francesca Martinez interviewed by Peter Stanford ‘Normal’ is a Four Letter Word What happens when you’re branded ‘abnormal’ in a world obsessed with normality? Francesca Martinez was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was two years old and her parents were gravely told that she would never lead a ‘normal’ life. Intrigued by the power that a six-letter word has over so many people, she shares her own lifechanging journey of growing up as ‘abnormal’, being rescued from High-School-Hell by ‘Grange Hill’, letting Ricky Gervais mock her walk in ‘Extras’ and working out what to say to the BBC after being offered the role of a vegetable.
Sunday 6 July – Great Hall
Kate Adie
20 3.15pm Great Hall £10
sponsored by
21 5pm Great Hall £10
Katie Campbell
Kate Adie Working Women and World War One A generation of men off fighting, World War One inadvertently paved the way for women’s ascent towards equality. Broadcaster and best-selling author Kate Adie shows how women emerged from the shadows of domestic life and took to the fields, the factories and the offices in order to contribute to the war effort.
Katie Campbell Great British Gardens Tieing in with the television series, ‘British Gardens in Time’, Katie Campbell’s beautifully illustrated book showcases four great British gardens: Stowe, Biddulph Grange, Nymans and Great Dixter. Campbell demonstrates the hold that gardens have on the British imagination and how they reflect social changes and the ideas and culture of a nation.
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 22)
Ann Widdecombe
22 7.30 - 9pm Great Hall £10
Martyn Lewis
Peter Stanford, Ann Widdecombe, Martyn Lewis and Vaughan Lindsay Volunteering – What is it? Who is it for? This panel of experts discusses The Telegraph’s current ‘Lend a Hand’ volunteering campaign. Peter Stanford, the chair of the panel, is the coordinator of The Telegraph’s campaign. The panel includes Martyn Lewis (ex-newscaster and now chair of both the NCVO and the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service), politician Ann Widdecombe and Vaughan Lindsay (CEO of the Dartington Hall Trust and promoter of the concept of resilient communities).
Sunday 6 July – Barn – Global Voices
Neel Mukherjee
23 10.30am Barn £10
sponsored by
24 12pm Barn £10
Ramita Navai
John Keay South Asia After Partition India expert John Keay offers the first history of South Asia that treats the countries that make up the region - India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - as a whole. This expansive account traces the social and political fortunes of South Asia from the violence of Partition to today’s burgeoning population and industry.
Neel Mukherjee Memories of Calcutta Award-winning writer Neel Mukherjee talks about his latest novel, ‘The Lives of Others’. Set in his birthplace Calcutta during the politically volatile late 60s, the novel anatomises the soul of a nation by touching on family relationships, the limits of empathy and the nature of political action.
Day Ticket: £40
25 1.30pm Barn £10
Mina Holland Around the World in 39 Cuisines
26 3.15pm Barn £10
Ilan Pappé The Idea of Israel
27 5pm Barn £10
Ramita Navai Living in Modern Tehran
Mina Holland’s sumptuously illustrated ‘The Edible Atlas’ combines snippets of anecdote, history and literature with mouthwatering recipes from around the world. She asks what and why people eat the way they do and delves into the flavours, ingredients and techniques at the heart of thirtynine world cuisines.
Ilan Pappé, Professor of History at the University of Exeter, offers a critical analysis of Zionism - the movement behind the creation of Israel. Pappé considers the role of Israel’s major institutions in creating a statewide ideology, and explores the fraught relationships between the production of knowledge and the exercise of power.
Ramita Navai discusses the lives of eight protagonists drawn from across the spectrum of Iranian society. An intimate and unforgettable portrait of modern Tehran, and of what it is to live, love and survive under one of the world’s most repressive regimes.
Sunday 6 July . . . but also A day of events by OVERSTEPS POETS arranged and introduced by Alwyn Marriage
Recent Publications 28 10am Dukes Room £6
29 11.30am Dukes Room £6
Brand New Readings by some of the latest poets to be published by Oversteps: Cora Greenhill, Simon Richey, Michael Bayley, Lynn Roberts, John Torrance and Robert Cole.
Worth Repeating Oversteps sometimes publishes second (or even third) collections by its poets. This morning some of these poets are invited to share their new work: Christopher North, Elisabeth Rowe, A C Clarke, Susan Taylor and Simon Williams.
in Residence at a major arts festival in Winchester, and Lynn Roberts has written a collection in celebration of particular works of art in the National Gallery. 31 4pm Dukes Room £6
Crossing Borders
6.30pm Dukes Room Free (no ticket required)
Trade Winds
Extending Our Horizons 30 2.30pm Dukes Room £6
Poetry and Art – Illustrated Readings Poetry and art are close sisters, and there is often an overlap between the visual arts and the written word. This afternoon, poets and artists show examples of visual art and read poems relating to them. Graham High is a poet, artist and sculptor, Alwyn Marriage has been Poet
Day Ticket: £20
Several poets divide their time between Britain and another country. Sharing poetry inspired by France, Greece, Germany, Spain and New Zealand, Cora Greenhill, Rebecca Bilkau, Robert Cole, John Torrance, Christopher North and Hilary Elfick will take some international journeys as they bring the Oversteps Day 2014 to a close.
Trade Winds is a long established seeding ground for poets, singer-songwriters and story- tellers, new and experienced. Turn up at the start with a short performance piece to get a spot in the show. All welcome.
Monday 7 July – Great Hall
Irving Finkel
32 10am Great Hall £10
33 11.45am Great Hall £10
Caspar Walsh
Irving Finkel Retracing the Story of the Flood Dr. Irving Finkel, British archaeologist and Assyriologist and at present Assistant Keeper in the Department of the Middle East in the British Museum, recounts a real-life detective story into the earliest days of writing and the origins of the story of the Flood. Beginning with the discovery of a clay tablet inscribed in Babylonian Cuneiform, his story traces the tablet’s decoding. His enthusiasm and knowledge are infectious.
Caspar Walsh, Gerard Lemos and Peter Stanford Prison Life Gerard Lemos, a social policy expert, sets the agenda for a radical change in the treatment of offenders; BBC broadcaster, journalist and author, Caspar Walsh, has had
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 37)
Gerard Lemos
first hand experience of prisons, told in his memoir, ‘Criminal’. Now he has written a novel, ‘Tribe Warrior’, written in collaboration with hundreds of prisoners. Peter Stanford is director of the Longford Trust which promotes social and prison reform. 34 1.30pm Great Hall £10
Rod Liddle The Sorry State of Modern Life In the West we live longer, richer lives than ever before. But are we happier? Reflecting on his parents, his upbringing and his life, Liddle sets about dissecting and diagnosing our very sick state. Offending every piety conceivable, Rod Liddle, outspoken journalist, television presenter, former editor of the Today programme and associate editor of The Spectator, demonstrates how we have become imprisoned by ideologies that make us miserable.
Monday 7 July – Great Hall
Rod Liddle
35 3.15pm Great Hall £10
36 5pm Great Hall £10
HRH Princess Michael of Kent
HRH Princess Michael of Kent The Queen of Four Kingdoms Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, with her insider’s perspective on Royal life, unveils a seldom-told story of England’s invasion of France in the 15th century. It is a dramatic and enthralling period of history witnessed by the captivating and complex heroine, Yolande, known as ‘The Queen of Four Kingdoms’.
Jolyon Mitchell Peace and Violence Jolyon Mitchell skilfully combines personal narrative, practical insight and academic analysis to explore the roles that media and religion play in promoting peace and inciting violence. He analyses media from posters, cartoons and stained glass to websites, radio and film - and draws on examples from around the world, including Iran, Rwanda and South Africa.
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 37)
Jolyon Mitchell
Angela Neustatter
37 7.30 - 9pm Great Hall £10
Angela Neustatter, Eileen Carnell and Caroline Lodge Growing Older Growing older is just that - a time to grow. It is possible to become more active, read that novel, learn to dance and mainly to keep changing. Angela Neustatter has written a quirky A-Z of Ageing full of sound advice and inspiring attitudes. Eileen Carnell and Caroline Lodge offer a valuable guide on how to enjoy an active, contented and fulfilling retirement. An exciting new life is possible when people least expect it. Caroline Lodge and Eileen Carnell
Monday 7 July – Barn – Writers and Their Worlds 40 1.30pm Barn £10
Jill Dawson
Jans Ondaatje Rolls
38 10am Barn £10
Roy and Lesley Adkins Why Jane Austen Loves a Sailor
39 11.45am Barn £10
Jill Dawson Fact into Fiction
In this 200th anniversary year of ‘Mansfield Park’, historians Roy and Lesley Adkins (authors of ‘Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England’ and ‘Jack Tar’) explore the world that inspired this novel. They look into Jane Austen’s love affair with the Royal Navy, as well as life on land, at sea and in the mean streets of Portsmouth.
Jill Dawson chooses fiction to tell stories about factual events. In the past she has written about autism, the Soham murders, Rupert Brooke and other true stories. Her latest novel, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, tells the story of a heart transplant operation. Patrick becomes bewitched by his new heart and the boy who donated it. This intriguing story asks important question about who we are and the forces that shape us.
Day Ticket: £40
John Goodby The World and Sense of Dylan Thomas John Goodby’s investigation into the poems of Dylan Thomas, released to coincide with the centenary of Thomas’ birth, offers a bridge between poetry and critical theory. Thomas’ work is viewed, for the first time, through the lens of modernism; a talk that makes sense of his work for the 21st century.
41 3.15pm Barn £10
Jans Ondaatje Rolls Around a Bloomsbury Table
42 5pm Barn £10
Lucy Newlyn William and Dorothy Wordsworth – All in Each Other
The Bloomsbury Group often debated and formed their ideas across a dining room table. Here Jans Ondaatje Rolls has collated the meals shared by E.M. Forster, Roger Fry and Virginia Woolf among others. With recipes, sketches, paintings, photographs and letters, discover the narratives and social lives of these literary greats through the meals they ate together.
William Wordsworth’s collaboration with his ‘beloved sister’ spanned nearly fifty years. Rumours of incest have surrounded them since the 19th century, but Professor Lucy Newlyn sees their cohabitation as arising from circumstances peculiar to their family history. She explores the symbiotic nature of their creative processes and asks how fully did their resettlement in the Lake District recompense them for the loss of a shared childhood.
Tuesday 8 July – Barn – Affairs of the Art 43 10am Barn £10
Andy Christian interviews Heather Jansch Remembering Bert Jansch and his Music
44 11.45am Barn £10
Rod Stoneman Seeing is Believing
45 1.30pm Barn £10
Alex Woodcock Medieval Architectural Sculpture
The songwriter’s ex-wife Heather Jansch collected together her memories, photos, letters, drawings, lyrics and other personal artifacts after Bert Jansch’s death in 2011 and with the help of Andy Christian wrote a memoir of her time with the star. She will share her memories.
Our world is saturated by visual media in many forms and yet we act as if we are immune to it. Prof. Rod Stoneman, Director of the Huston School of Film and Digital Media at the University of Ireland and previously a Deputy Commissioning Editor for Channel 4, debates the changing world of visual communication, its politics and the impact it has on every one of us.
In his book, ‘Of Sirens and Centaurs: Medieval Sculpture in Exeter Cathedral’, Dr. Alex Woodcock introduces the fascinating, diverse range of sculptures to be found in Exeter Cathedral. His illuminating talk on this topic will open your eyes and hearts to the richness of these Gothic images.
Day Ticket: £40
Michael Bird
46 3.15pm Barn £10
47 5pm Barn £10
Bert and Heather Jansch
Michael Bird Sculpting the Cold War Era Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003), whose sculpture captured the essence of the Cold War epoch, achieved worldwide recognition after winning the International Prize for Sculpture at the 1956 Venice Biennale. Michael Bird draws on fresh research to create an appraisal of Chadwick’s oeuvre, including an account of the sculptor’s artistic personality and his working methods.
James Hall The Self Portrait Art historian James Hall maps the history of the defining visual genre of our confessional age - the selfportrait. Tracing the tradition from the earliest myths of Narcissus and the Christian tradition of ‘bearing witness’ to the prolific self-image making of today’s contemporary artists, his beautifully illustrated account is comprehensive and insightful.
Tuesday 8 July – Great Hall
Ed Conway
48 10am Great Hall £10
sponsored by
49 11.45am Great Hall £10
sponsored by
Mark Moody-Stuart
Ed Conway Colourful Money Matters Economics Editor of Sky News, formerly Economics Editor at The Telegraph, Ed Conway sheds light on one of the most important economic summits in world history. In this lively exploration of the Bretton Woods summit of 1944 he explores the knotty debates and colourful accounts of the only global financial overhaul the world has ever known. This is economics at its most captivating.
Mark Moody-Stuart Responsibility and the Ethics of Big Business Reflecting on his own experiences, former Chairman of Shell and also Anglo American plc, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart considers current major issues (climate change, corruption, globalisation, poverty and the financial crisis) and discusses how corporations should be led in the 21st century.
Day Ticket: £42 (not including event 54)
Roger Scruton
Simon Heffer
50 1.30pm Great Hall £10
Roger Scruton The Sacred World
51 3.15pm Great Hall £10
Simon Heffer Writing Proper
The sacred, argues renowned philosopher Roger Scruton, is under threat from the current deference to atheism. In this reflective discussion Scruton ponders the potential losses that a purely scientific worldview might herald. He considers the moral, aesthetic and interpersonal landscapes humanity could inherit in the absence of the transcendent.
Simon Heffer offers an entertaining and supremely useful guide to the frequent errors, common misunderstandings, and stylistic howlers that afflict the English language. There are essential lessons here for those who care about the English language and would like to use it correctly.
Tuesday 8 July – Great Hall
John Sutherland
52 5pm Great Hall £10
53 6.30pm Great Hall £10
John Crace
John Crace and John Sutherland Digesting Literature ‘The Two Johnnies’ team up for an entertaining literary double act. Crace is best loved for ‘The Digested Read’: deadly condensed parodies of the books of the day. Sutherland is an academic, biographer, and author of the recent ‘A Little History of Literature’. Expect an irreverent look at today’s literary landscape from this unorthodox pairing.
Stephanie Shirley Women in the Workplace When Dame Stephanie Shirley founded a highly successful tech. company it was very unusual for women to take such prominent roles in the workplace. She went on to employ only women in her business. Is positive discrimination the best way forward?
Day Ticket: £42 (not including event 54)
Stephanie Shirley
54 8 - 10pm (inc. interval) Great Hall £10
George Monbiot
George Monbiot The Case for Rewilding Journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot argues that by restoring and rewilding our damaged ecosystems on land and at sea we can bring wonder back into our lives. Making use of some remarkable scientific discoveries, his latest book, ‘Feral’, lays out a new, positive environmentalism, in which nature is allowed to find its own way. Today he discusses his experiences, beliefs and his much-debated views chaired by Rob Hopkins, author, environmentalist and co-founder of Transition Town Totnes. There will be a 45 minute talk followed by a 30 minute interval and 45 minute interview with questions from the audience.
Wednesday 9 July – Great Hall
Tim Moore
55 10am Great Hall £10
Max Leonard
Tim Moore and Max Leonard Hanging In In this entertaining discussion, cyclists and writers Tim Moore and Max Leonard explore the trials and tribulations of slogging through gruelling cycle races for rewards distinctly different from the fame and glory of winning. Charming, funny and off-beat.
Kenan Malik 56 A History of Morality 11.45am A provocative exploration of the Great Hall history of moral thought, ranging £10 from Homer’s Greece through to contemporary America, via Mao’s China and ancient India. Kenan Malik’s voyage of enquiry covers questions such as where do values come from from? Is God necessary for moral guidance? Are there absolute moral truths?
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 60)
Kenan Malik
Helen Dunmore
57 1.30pm Great Hall £10
Helen Dunmore Capturing the Past
58 3.15pm Great Hall £10
Jane Gardam Passion, Metamorphosis and Enchantment
Novelist Helen Dunmore’s latest book marks the centenary of WWI. ‘The Lie’ watches a young man, back from the war and homeless, looking out to sea. Behind him are mud, trenches and barbed wire and memories of the most intense relationship of his life. Will he be able to step into the unknown, and escape the terrible consequences of a lie?
Prize-winning novelist Jane Gardam discusses her recent collection of short fiction, ‘The Stories’. Hallmarked with all the originality, poignancy, wry comedy and narrative brilliance of her longer fiction, they demonstrate Gardam’s ear for dialogue, eye for detail and capacious understanding of the vagaries of the human heart.
Wednesday 9 July – Great Hall
Jane Gardam
59 5pm Great Hall £10
Jovan Nicholson
Jovan Nicholson The Art and Life of Ben and Winifred Nicholson Based on his book, ‘Art and Life: Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis, William Staite Murray 1920-1931’, Jovan Nicholson explores the creative partnership between his grandparents, Ben Nicholson and Winifred Nicholson. He examines their friendship with Christopher Wood, their meeting with Alfred Wallis and their association with the potter William Staite Murray.
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 60)
60 7.30 - 9pm Great Hall £10
Satish Kumar
Satish Kumar and Gay Watson Empowering the Inner and Outer Being Satish Kumar applies his holistic approach to all aspects of life. His latest book, ‘Soil, Soul, Society’, discusses caring for the natural environment, maintaining personal well-being and upholding human values. For the first 40 minutes of this session he will talk about these issues. For the next 40 minutes Gay Watson will explore the concept of emptiness in contexts as diverse as Buddhist philosophy and contemporary art. A challenging and inspiring theme based on her book, ‘A Philosophy of Emptiness’.
Wednesday 9 July – Barn – Family Stories
Raffaella Barker
61 10am Barn £10
62 11.45am Barn £10
63 1.30pm Barn £10
Dan Waddell I Know Who I Am
64 3.15pm Barn £10
Robert Sackville-West Family Betrayal
65 5pm Barn £10
Lyndall Gordon Of Mothers and Daughters
Robert Sackville-West
Rita Trotman Three Boys and their Escape from a Romanian Orphanage This is the story of children who don’t have families but who have found surrogate parents in Rita Trotman and her husband. Revealing the horrendous conditions of the Romanian orphanages she tells of her 20 year mission to improve the lives of these abandoned children.
Raffaella Barker From a Distance Raffaella Barker discusses her latest novel, ‘From a Distance’, set between the post-war artists’ colony that thrived in St. Ives, and present-day Norfolk. She uses the central image of a decommissioned lighthouse, sweeping its beam through time, to explore the flawed interactions across generations and the yearning desire humans have to belong.
Day Ticket: £40
Every family has its own history and secrets: the black sheep, the lost family fortune or the shamed family member whose name is only ever whispered. We are all fascinated by the lives of our ancestors. The ground-breaking BBC2 series, ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, which took TV personalities on an emotional journey to trace their family history, was a great success. Now Dan Waddell has written his own guide to help everyone journey into their past.
In 1914 Henry Sackville-West and his wife were found shot dead; his suicidal despair was fuelled by his failure to inherit Knole. Robert Sackville-West, the present incumbent of the stately home reveals the secrets and lies at the heart of this English Dynasty.
Renowned biographer Lyndall Gordon tells the story of her own 1940s Cape Town childhood, growing up with a mother whose mysterious illness regularly confined them both to life indoors. Her unusual childhood was mediated through books, storytelling and her mother’s writing.
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Postcode Tel. E-mail BOOKING FOR FRIENDS STARTS WEDNESDAY 14 MAY - max. 2 tickets per event. - for phone and postal bookings only. GENERAL BOOKING STARTS WEDNESDAY 21 MAY BEFORE THE FESTIVAL THE BOX OFFICE WILL BE OPEN FOR TELEPHONE BOOKINGS MONDAY - FRIDAY 10am - 5pm DURING THE FESTIVAL THE BOX OFFICE, ON-SITE AT DARTINGTON HALL, WILL OPEN 30 MINS. BEFORE THE FIRST EVENT OF THE DAY AND WILL CLOSE AFTER THE START OF THE LAST EVENT. CONCESSIONS: People aged 24 or under and people on any benefit related to the forthcoming Universal Credit can buy tickets normally priced at £10 or less for just £5 if purchased in person during the festival. Proof of entitlement will be required. DATA PROTECTION: Ways With Words will not pass on your details to any other organisation. TERMS & CONDITIONS: The right is reserved to substitute speakers and vary the advertised programme if necessary. All information is correct at the time of going to press. Please refer to our website (wayswithwords.co.uk) for full details of our policy on cancellations, ticket refunds and exchanges, and on lost tickets.
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FRIDAY 4 JULY 1
Jonathan Miller
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Irving Finkel
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Walsh, Lemos & Stanford
10
2
Clive Boursnell
10
34
Rod Liddle
10
3
Jung Chang
10
35
HRH Princess Michael of Kent
10
4
Matt Harvey
10
36
Jolyon Mitchell
10
GH Day Ticket (1 - 3)
24
37
Neustatter, Carnell & Lodge
10
125
Mark McCrum
10
GH Day Ticket (32 - 36)
40
5
FILM - The Invisible Woman
7
38
Roy & Lesley Adkins
10
5/83 - FILM and TALK
15
39
Jill Dawson
10
40
John Goodby
10
SATURDAY 5 JULY 6
Helen Taylor
10
41
Jans Ondaatje Rolls
10
7
Gerard lyons
10
42
Lucy Newlyn
10
8
Lovelock & Harding
10
Barn Day Ticket (38 - 42)
40
9
Liam Fox
10
TUESDAY 8 JULY
10
Natalie Haynes
10
43
Christian & Jansch
10
11
Francesca Martinez (1)
12
44
Rod Stoneman
10
GH Day Ticket (6 - 10)
40
45
Alex Woodcock
10
Joanna Bourke
10
46
Michael Bird
10
13
Ben Shephard
10
47
14
Lewis Dartnell
10
15
Pedro Ferreira
10
48
Ed Conway
10
16
Henry Marsh
10
49
Mark Moody-Stuart
10
Barn Day Ticket (12 - 16)
40
50
Roger Scruton
10
51
Simon Heffer
10
12
SUNDAY 6 JULY
James Hall
10
Barn Day Ticket (43 - 47)
40
17
Kate Fox
10
52
Crace & Sutherland
10
18
Rebecca Front
10
53
Stephanie Shirley
10
19
Francesca Martinez (2)
10
54
20
Kate Adie
10
21
Katie Campbell
10
22
Stanford, Widdecombe, Lewis & Lindsay
10
55
Moore & Leonard
10
GH Day Ticket (17 - 21)
40
56
Kenan Malik
10
23
John Keay
10
57
Helen Dunmore
10
24
Neel Mukherjee
10
58
Jane Gardam
10
25
Mina Holland
10
59
Jovan Nicholson
10
26
Ilan Pappé
10
60
Kumar & Watson
10
George Monbiot
10
GH Day Ticket (48 - 53)
42
WEDNESDAY 9 JULY
Ramita Navai
10
GH Day Ticket (55 - 59)
40
Barn Day Ticket (23 - 27)
40
61
Rita Trotman
10
28
Brand New
6
62
Raffaella Barker
10
29
Worth Repeating
6
63
Dan Waddell
10
30
Poetry and Art
6
64
Robert Sackville-West
10
31
Crossing Borders
6
65
Lyndall Gordon
10
Dukes Day Ticket (28 - 31)
20
Barn Day Ticket (61 - 65)
40
27
no.
total
event
£
THURSDAY 10 JULY
no.
total 102
event
£
Alan Winfield
5 5
66
Linda Blair
10
103
Russell Stannard
67
Simon Blackburn
10
104
Charles Townshend
5
68
David Adam
10
105
Rana Mitter
5
69
Roman Krznaric
10
Dukes Day Ticket (102 - 105)
16
70
Christopher Hamilton
10
SUNDAY 13 JULY
Barn Day Ticket (66 - 70)
40
106
James Crowden
71
Julie Bindel
10
107
David Belton
10
72
Linda Grant
10
108
James Copnall
10
10
73
Andrew Wilson
10
109
James Long
10
74
Michael Meacher
10
110
Taylor Downing
10
75
Worth & Hart
10
Barn Day Ticket (106 - 110)
40
76
Peter Marsh
10
111
Roy Hattersley
10
77
Birtwistle & Maddocks
10
112
Peter Snow
10
GH Day Ticket (71 - 76)
42
113
Michael Rosen
10 10
FRIDAY 11 JULY
114
David Owen
78
John Tusa
10
115
Simon Jenkins
10
79
Paddy Ashdown
10
116
Chris Bryant
10
117
80
Sandi Toksvig
10
81
Michael Holroyd
10
82
Salley Vickers
10
83
Claire Tomalin
10
118
Moor Poets
6
GH Day Ticket (78 - 82)
40
119
Taylor & Williams
6
84
Bridget Holding
10
120
Rebecca Gethin
6
85
Tristan Gooley
10
121
What is Creativity?
6
86
Philip Lymbery
10
122
Jill Treseder
6
87
Nick Groom
10
123
Ruth Brooks (1)
6
88
Wick & Mather
10
124
Ruth Brooks (2)
6
Barn Day Ticket (84 - 88)
40
FE1
Clive Fairweather
12
SATURDAY 12 JULY
Owen, Long & Downing
10
GH Day Ticket (111 - 116)
48
. . . but also
FE2
Rebecca Gethin (workshop)
12
89
Naomi Wood
10
FE3
Mo Cohen (workshop)
12
90
Judith Mackrell
10
FE4
Katheryn Trenshaw (workshop)
12
91
Helen Rappaport
10
FE5
Bridget Holding (workshop)
12
92
Rachel Holmes
10
84/FE5 - TALK and WORKSHOP
20
93
Mary Talbot
10
94
Daisy Goodwin
10
Barn Day Ticket (89 - 94)
48
Frayn, Tomalin & Hattersley
10
96
Penelope Lively
10
97
Margaret MacMillan
10
98
Helena Kennedy
10
99
David McKie
10
126
100
Anthony King
10
101
Jeremy Hardy
15
GH Day Ticket (126, 96 - 100)
48
TICKET TOTAL
£
Add Friends’ Membership (£15) TOTAL
£
no.
total
Rover Tickets and Accommodation Packages ROVER TICKETS
ACCOMMODATION PACKAGES
Rover tickets give admission to the numbered events in the programme over a particular period. They can be bought separately or as part of an inclusive accommodation package.
Ways With Words offers 10-night accommodation packages (ranging from £870 - £1566 pp) and two 5-night packages (from £503 - £839 pp) in Higher Close or in the Courtyard at Dartington Hall. We also offer two 3-night weekend packages (from £320 pp) and a 4-night midweek package (from £450 pp) in Higher Close.
‘Festival Extras’, marked ‘FE’ must be purchased separately. A Rover ticket guarantees a seat for every event in the Great Hall. We hold a set number of seats for Rover ticket holders in the Barn and other, smaller venues. These are on a first come, first served basis. To purchase Rover tickets please write the number you require in the box and then make payment as indicated on the front of the booking form.
10-day Rover ticket (Price: £350) • admission to all numbered events 5-day Rover ticket (Price: £240) • 1st 5-day Rovers begin with event 1 on Friday 4 July and end at 12.45pm on Wednesday 9 July. • 2nd 5-day Rovers begin with the 1.30pm event on Wednesday 9 July until the end of the festival. • Midweek 5-day Rovers run from Monday 7 July to Friday 11 July. Weekend Rover tickets (Price: £155) • 1st weekend Rovers begin with event 1 on Friday 4 July and end with the last event on Sunday 6 July. • 2nd weekend Rovers begin on Friday 11 July at 1.30pm until the end of the festival.
Accommodation varies from comfortable, en suite bedrooms right in the heart of the festival site to single, student bedrooms (which share bathroom facilities) about 2 mins. walk from the main site. Along with your room and breakfast, packages include lunch and dinner, or just dinner. All packages include a Rover ticket in the price. If you are interested in an accommodation package please phone 01803 867373 and we can advise on availability and give more details. BED & BREAKFAST Bed & Breakfast accommodation is available in Higher Close (single rooms sharing bathroom facilities) at £31 pp/pn. There is a 2-night and 2 tickets per night’s stay minimum purchase.
TO MAKE A RESERVATION for an accommodation / Rover package or for B&B please phone 01803 867373. Payment in full is required at the time of booking. Cancellations cannot be refunded. Customers are strongly advised to take out holiday insurance.
Thursday 10 July – Barn – Mysteries of the Mind
Linda Blair
68 1.30pm Barn £10
David Adam Coping with OCD
69 3.15pm Barn £10
Roman Krznaric The Six Habits of Highly Empathic People
70 5pm Barn £10
Christopher Hamilton Dealing with Adversity
Roman Krznaric
66 10am Barn £10
Linda Blair Mindfulness and Beyond
67 11.45am Barn £10
Simon Blackburn The Narcissistic Self
Linda Blair, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, offers a five-step programme for managing stress and anxiety and cultivating calm. Her path to mindfulness is clear, practical and simple, and designed to promote balance, purpose and tranquility.
Simon Blackburn refers to psychology, philosophy, literature, history and popular culture to delve into the complex question of selfimage. With humour, learning and style, he emphasises the importance of healthy self-regard, and suggests that a balance between narcissism and self-esteem is sorely lacking.
Day Ticket: £40
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder sufferer David Adam combines brain science, archival documents of patients and their treatments, and personal memoir, to explore the drive towards obsessions and compulsions. He investigates the transformation of quiet thoughts into blinding blizzards of unwanted mental noise. He will challenge preconceived notions of ‘normality’ and mental illness.
In his new book, ‘Empathy: A Handbook for Revolution’, School of Life faculty member Roman Krznaric reveals how empathy not only enriches one’s own life but also helps create social change. Empathy, he argues, has the power to transform relationships, from the personal to the political. He explores six different ways we can expand our empathic potential.
Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy of Religion at King’s College London, Christopher Hamilton draws upon a wide range of disciplines to examine strategies for coping with the trials and tribulations of everyday life. He offers carefully considered insights into human suffering and practical suggestions for facing adversity, wherever we encounter it.
Thursday 10 July – Great Hall
Julie Bindel
Linda Grant
71 10am Great Hall £10
Julie Bindel Being Gay in the 21st Century
72 11.45am Great Hall £10
Linda Grant Evie / Stevie
More than four decades after the start of the gay liberation movement, lesbians and homosexual men can legally marry, adopt children and enjoy the same rights and respect as heterosexuals - or can they? Expect controversy when Guardian journalist and political activist Julie Bindel tackles these issues.
Linda Grant, best-selling novelist and journalist, discusses her novel, ‘Upstairs at the Party’, in which an androgynous couple arrive from nowhere at an isolated, concrete, university campus in the early 70s. To the group of teenagers experimenting with radicalism whose lives they burst in on, they seem to represent a glamorous and unsettling future.
Day Ticket: £42 (not including event 77)
Andrew Wilson
Michael Meacher
73 1.30pm Great Hall £10
Andrew Wilson The Secret Life of a Biographer
74 3.15pm Great Hall £10
Michael Meacher The State of the State
How does a biographer choose his or her subjects? How do life writers go about researching their books? What goes on behind the scenes? Andrew Wilson, biographer of Patricia Highsmith, Harold Robbins, the Titanic survivors, the young Sylvia Plath, and author of ‘The Lying Tongue’, a novel about the darker side of life writing, reveals some of the secrets of the biographer’s craft.
Politics in the West are in dire need of reinvention. How do we overcome a failed business model? How do we create a form of capitalism which acts as though people matter? Labour MP and former Minister for the Environment, Michael Meacher, offers a blueprint for the future - one where market forces sit beside equity, social justice and democratic accountability.
Thursday 10 July – Great Hall
Jennifer Worth
Peter Marsh
75 5pm Great Hall £10
Philip Worth and Suzannah Hart Letters to the Midwife
76 6.30pm Great Hall £10
Peter Marsh Industry: Past, Present and Future
sponsored by
When Jennifer Worth, the author of ‘Call the Midwife’, died, a collection of letters was found from people who had written to her about their memories of the East End in the 50s. Her husband and daughter present the correspondence to illuminate the life of that long-lost world.
In a thrilling display of ingenuity, the world’s factories every year produce 10bn types of products from a limited stock of materials. Now manufacturing is undergoing a revolution from which Britain, unexpectedly, is poised to benefit. Peter Marsh tells the fascinating story of industrial change, from the Iron Age to the biochip.
Day Ticket: £42 (not including event 77)
Harrison Birtwistle
77 8pm Great Hall £10
Fiona Maddocks
Harrison Birtwistle and Fiona Maddocks Life, Composition and the Future of Music Sir Harrison Birtwistle, one of the world’s greatest living composers, is notoriously reticent about discussing his work, or himself. In this illuminating discussion, he talks candidly to distinguished writer and critic Fiona Maddocks about the challenges, uncertainties and rewards that have shaped his work and remain with him as he enters his ninth decade.
Friday 11 July – Great Hall
John Tusa
78 10am Great Hall £10
79 11.45am Great Hall £10
Paddy Ashdown
Sandi Toksvig
John Tusa In Defense of the Arts
80 1.30pm Great Hall £10
Should the arts be useful before they are excellent? Can they turn their backs on the past if they are to be creative in the present? Sir John Tusa, Director of the Clore Leadership Programme, former Managing Director of the BBC World Service and of the Barbican Centre, examines how the arts can survive in a financial downturn. He explains why they should never fear to make the case that they deserve special treatment.
Paddy Ashdown The D-Day Story In early 1941, three separate groups of plotters - one military, one political, one intellectual emerged. The aims of the groups were the same: to get rid of the Germans and to build a new France. Besides being former leader of the Liberal Party Lord Ashdown has had a distinguished military career and is a prominent military historian.
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 83)
Sandi Toksvig Just Call Them ‘Darling’ What do you do if you forget an acquaintance’s name? How do you get rid of unwanted guests? How should you eat peas? Sandi Toksvig offers an entertaining guide to the confusing world of modern manners. With characteristic wit and perceptiveness, she highlights decency over convention in this essential guide to 21st century behaviour. Supported by The Ronald Duncan Literary Foundation which exists to encourage and support creative excellence in the arts, especially poetry, drama and literature and to sustain interest and research in the work associated with its namesake, the poet and playwright, Ronald Duncan.
Friday 11 July – Great Hall
Michael Holroyd
Salley Vickers
81 3.15pm Great Hall £10
Michael Holroyd Comedy into Tragedy
82 5pm Great Hall £10
Salley Vickers How and Why We Read
Michael Holroyd wrote ‘A Dog’s Life’ in the late 50s / early 60s, but UK publication was delayed following threats of legal action from his father. Set in 1950s England the novel focuses on one day in the life of an eccentric family and their dog, and is published now with a devastating Afterword that recasts the comedy as tragedy.
A subject close to the hearts of all Ways With Words audiences who love words, ideas and learning. Salley Vickers, highly respected novelist and speaker, has thought-provoking and impressive views on the matter.
Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 83)
Claire Tomalin
83 Claire Tomalin Nelly Ternan – 7.30pm Great Hall The Invisible Woman Award-winning biographer Claire £10 Tomalin tells the story of Nelly (or £15 Ternan and her relationship with to include Charles Dickens, which was kept the film on a secret until the death of his last Friday 4 July surviving son in 1933. Dickens at 4pm) referred to Ternan as his ‘magic circle of one’. This scholarly and compelling work restores the neglected actress to her rightful place in history.
Friday 11 July – Barn – Appreciating the Wild
Tristan Gooley
Philip Lymbery
84 Bridget Holding Passion for the Wild 10am Bridget Holding, writer, Barn psychotherapist, and tutor of £10 creative writing for The University (or £20 of Exeter and The Open University to include explains how the wildness of nature the writing provides a powerful metaphor and workshop at model for tracking and reclaiming the 11.30am) instinctual part of ourselves. Learn to unlock passion and aliveness, and to move from block to flow in your life and writing. (See also the workshop at 11.30am) 85 11.45am Barn £10
Tristan Gooley Navigating Life Outdoors Tristan Gooley reveals a cornucopia of clues for the natural navigator. His impressive knowledge - the result of two decades of outdoors experience - provides an enlightening guide to what the sun, stars, moon, animals, plants and trees can reveal, when you’re properly attuned to them.
Day Ticket: £40
86 1.30pm Barn £10
Philip Lymbery A Closer Look at Cheap Meat
87 3.15pm Barn £10
Nick Groom Appreciating the Seasons
88 5pm Barn £10
Pascal Wick and Tinker Mather (Translator) The Diary of a Nomadic Herder
Acclaimed environmental campaigner Philip Lymbery offers a shocking examination of the real cost of mega-farming. Not only an urgent wake-up call, but a careful attempt to forge a better farming future and to examine the reality of our current eating habits.
For millennia, the passing seasons have marked our progress through the year. But what do they mean to us now that we lead increasingly atomised and urban lives? Will it matter if we no longer notice the first cuckoo call? Nick Groom, Professor of English at the University of Exeter, offers an unabashed celebration of the seasons.
The extraordinary story of a man who alone herded 1,800 sheep for several months in almost virgin territory and, thanks to his guard dogs, was able to limit the threat of coyote, grizzly bears, black bears and mountain lions. Pascal Wick shares his lifelong passion for the untamed margins of our world.
Saturday 12 July – Barn – Women’s Lives 89 10am Barn £10
Naomi Wood Hemingway’s Women
90 11.30am Barn £10
Judith Mackrell Fabulous Flappers
91 1pm Barn £10
92 2.30pm Barn £10
Naomi Wood discusses her novel ‘Mrs Hemingway’, in which four women discover, in quick succession, what it means to love, and marry, the most famous writer of a generation.
Through the turbulent lives of six women who exemplified the spirit of the 1920s, Judith Mackrell traces the era of Charleston dancing, glamour and excess. Set against a backdrop of reckless parties and the thrill of the new, she tells a remarkable and tragic story of histories transcended and futures re-written.
Helen Rappaport The Romanov Sisters Helen Rappaport offers a compelling contribution to the multi-faceted history of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Teasing out the story of the four Romanov Sisters, she chronicles their lives of opulent splendour, and their tragic and brutal deaths.
Rachel Holmes Eleanor Marx Rachel Holmes discusses the history of Eleanor Marx (1855-98) who was the first woman to lead the British dock workers’ and gas workers’ trade unions. Her most notable contribution to British life was her pioneering feminism. For her, social justice without sexual equality was unthinkable.
Day Ticket: £48
Naomi Wood
93 4pm Barn £10
Mary Talbot
Mary Talbot The Inside Story of the Fight for the Vote Costa Award-winner Mary Talbot tells the story of maid-of-all-work and militant feminist, Sally Heathcote, and her involvement in the battle to secure the vote for women. She tells of Sally’s life and times and explores how her work shaped the lives of women today.
94 Daisy Goodwin 5.30pm Love in the Nineteenth Century Daisy Goodwin is a TV producer and Barn presenter known for ‘Reader I Married £10 Him’, ‘Bookworm’ and ‘The Nation’s Favourite Poems’; she is also the creator of Grand Designs. She has edited numerous poetry anthologies, including the bestselling ‘101 Poems That Could Save Your Life’. Her first novel, ‘My Last Duchess’, the story of an American heiress, was published to critical acclaim. Her latest novel ‘The Fortune Hunter’ tells the true story of a nineteenth century Queen of Hearts and a cavalry captain, and the struggle between love and duty.
Saturday 12 July – Great Hall – President’s Day
Michael Frayn
126 10am Great Hall £10
96 11.30am Great Hall £10
Penelope Lively
Michael Frayn, Claire Tomalin and Roy Hattersley Time Past These distinguished writers discuss, the role of history in their writings. All of them use characters and events from the past in their books. What draws them to history? Do they find the past explains the present? Inspiration, interpretation, illumination: how do they combine these three to produce their memorable books? (This event replaces event 95 in the printed brochure.)
Penelope Lively A Life in Time One of our greatest writers remembers a life through the 20th century. Dame Penelope Lively, in conversation with Kay Dunbar (Ways With Words Director), describes what ‘arriving’ into old age feels like, and considers the world history that has led her there - World War II, the Suez Crisis, the Cold War.
Day Ticket: £48 (not including event 101)
Margaret MacMillan
Helena Kennedy
97 1pm Great Hall £10
Margaret MacMillan Approaching World War One
98 2.30pm Great Hall £10
Helena Kennedy Whose Human Rights Are They Anyway?
Prof. Margaret MacMillan discusses her award-winning history, ‘War That Ended Peace’. Beginning in the early 19th century and ending with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Margaret MacMillan uncovers the global challenges and human weaknesses that led Europe from peace and stability to disaster.
Baroness Kennedy is a British barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She is a former chair of the Human Genetics Commission, which advised the UK Government on ethical, social, and legal issues arising from developments in genetic science. She has made her name fighting for the underdog and defending civil liberties.
Saturday 12 July – Great Hall
David McKie
Anthony King
99 4pm Great Hall £10
David McKie Decoding Surnames
100 5.30pm Great Hall £10
Anthony King Government Gaffs
More than simple identity tags, surnames are coded messages that contain family secrets. McKie is by turns elegiac and amusing as he recounts his tour of Britain in search of the hidden history of family names. He celebrates not just the Smiths and Joneses of the Island, but the Chaceporcs and Swetinbeddes, too.
With unrivalled political savvy and a keen sense of irony, distinguished political scientist Prof. Anthony King discusses his recent exposé of the gaffs and blunders made by government. More than just a comedy of errors, his razor sharp analysis offers both diagnosis and spirited prescriptions for more foolproof policy-making.
Today has been programmed by Roy Hattersley, President of The Telegraph Ways With Words Festival, to include some of his favourite writers and thinkers.
Day Ticket: £48 (not including event 101)
Jeremy Hardy
101 8 - 10pm (inc. interval) Great Hall £15
Jeremy Hardy on Tour Not Raving but Frowning Jeremy Hardy has been a stand-up comic since 1984 and will be one until he dies or wins the Lottery. Best known for his work on Radio 4, notably on ‘The News Quiz’ and ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’. In 2010, he published a book, ‘My Family and Other Strangers’, chronicling his desperate search for interesting ancestors. (Suitable for 16+) ‘In an ideal world, Jeremy Hardy would be extremely famous, but an ideal world would leave him without most of his best material.’ The Guardian ‘A comic genius.’ Sandi Toksvig
Saturday 12 July – Oxford Short Talks Writers from the popular Oxford University Press’ Very Short Introductions will be giving 30 minute talks. 102 1 - 1.30pm Dukes Room £5
Alan Winfield Robotics
103 2 - 2.30pm Dukes Room £5
Russell Stannard Relativity
Alan Winfield talks about how it is that robotics can be both a success story and a disappointment; how robots can be both ordinary and remarkable. He looks at their important developments in science and their applications to everyday life.
100 years ago Einstein’s Theory of Relativity shattered the world of physics. Our comforting Newtonian ideas of space and time were replaced by bizarre and counter-intuitive conclusions. Russell Stannard explains the important concepts of relativity, from E = mc2 to black holes, and explores the theory’s impact on science and on our understanding of the universe.
Alan Winfield
Day Ticket: £16
Russell Stannard
104 2.45 3.15pm Dukes Room £5
Charles Townshend Terrorism
105 3.30 - 4pm Dukes Room £5
Rana Mitter Modern China
Charles Townshend explores terrorism in relation to revolutionary power, nationalism, and religious extremism, considering the successes of specific terrorist and anti-terrorist campaigns both in the past and in more recent years. He tackles the on-going debate about the erosion of civil liberties in response to increased terrorist activities and addresses the question we are all facing: how does terrorism end?
Rana Mitter looks at a variety of ways to understand the world’s most populous nation, giving a short, integrated picture of modern Chinese society, culture, economy, politics and art: an heir to an ancient civilization that is still trying to find a modern identity.
Charles Townshend
Rana Mitter
Sunday 13 July – Barn – Conflict 106 11.30am Barn £10
James Crowden The Language of War – The Boer War
107 1pm Barn £10
David Belton After Rwanda
108 2.30pm Barn £10
West Country poet, historian and cider expert James Crowden has put together a collection of poems, anecdotes, diaries, letters, newspaper reports and verbatim accounts to chart the origins and progress of this long-forgotten war.
Twenty years after the bloody horrors of Rwanda’s genocide, former BBC Newsnight producer David Belton, one of the first journalists to survey the conflict, returns in search of survivors. His journey traces a personal quest into the heart of forgiveness and the limits of bravery.
James Copnall Splitting Sudan James Copnall was the BBC Sudan correspondent from 2009-12, covering South Sudan’s independence, the Darfur war, rebellions, and clashes between the Sudans. He has reported from over twenty African countries and will discuss his book, ‘A Poisonous Thorn in Our Hearts: Sudan and South Sudan’s Bitter and Incomplete Divorce’.
Day Ticket: £40
David Belton
James Copnall
109 4pm Barn £10
James Long War and Love
110 5.30pm Barn £10
Taylor Downing Intelligence Wars
James Long’s latest historical novel, ‘The Balloonist’, tells a passionate story of love during the First World War. Informed by wartime memoirs, he tells of the perils of war as a balloon observer on the Western Front - a most dangerous job that has become almost forgotten.
Normally portrayed as a brutal war fought from the trenches, World War I is one of history’s most retold events. Taylor Downing offers a fresh history of the era by profiling key engineers, chemists, physicists, doctors, mathematicians and intelligence gatherers who made scientific and intellectual advances to the benefit of 20th century Britain.
Sunday 13 July – Great Hall
Roy Hattersley
Peter Snow
111 10am Great Hall £10
Roy Hattersley In Praise of Political Ideology
112 11.30am Great Hall £10
Peter Snow Britain and America – A Special Relationship?
Modern politics is too concerned with personalities and too little a battle between rival programmes, policies and philosophies. Democracy demands that voters are offered conflicting views of the good society. Men and women who reject ideology - even regard it as a handicap to good government - suffer from the condition which gives politics a bad name - lack of conviction.
Two hundred years ago the US president and his wife had just enough time to pack and escape from the White House before the British entered and set fire to the place. Peter Snow, former Diplomatic and Defence Correspondent for ITN, presenter of BBC Newsnight and an indispensable part of election nights, tells the story with his usual enthusiasm and vigour.
Day Ticket: £48 (not including event 117)
Michael Rosen
David Owen
113 1pm Great Hall £10
Michael Rosen Alphabetical – How Every Letter Tells a Story
114 2.30pm Great Hall £10
David Owen Failed Diplomacy and the Military Conversations
From minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, language expert, former Children’s Laureate and BBC Radio 4 ‘Word of Mouth’ presenter, Michael Rosen takes us through the history of the alphabet from the mysterious Phoenicians to nonsense poems, through our 5 lost letters and the tyranny of spelling.
In this scholarly and eloquent work Lord Owen argues that the outbreak of war in 1914 was far from inevitable, and instead represented eight years of failed diplomacy. Britain was the only country with the strength to force Germany and France to negotiate, and as a result of political shortsightedness, was stuck in the mud of the Continent.
Sunday 13 July – Great Hall
Simon Jenkins
115 4pm Great Hall £10
116 5.30pm Great Hall £10
Chris Bryant
James Long
Simon Jenkins Viewing England Sir Simon Jenkins is Chairman of the National Trust, a journalist and author. He writes for the Guardian and London Evening Standard as well as broadcasting for the BBC. Previously he was editor of both London Evening Standard and The Times. He has compiled an illustrated collection of 100 of the most remarkable views in England and reveals the fascinating stories behind some of England’s most exquisite land and city-scapes.
Chris Bryant The Parliamentary Stage Labour MP, Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform and previously the Minister of State for Europe and the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Chris Bryant tells the history of the United Kingdom through the lens of its parliament. His story features a cast of players
Day Ticket: £48 (not including event 117)
Taylor Downing
ranging from the visionary and altruistic to the violent and selfserving, and traces the rowdy confrontations and unstable alliances that have framed British democracy. 117 7.30pm Great Hall £10
David Owen, James Long and Taylor Downing War – Futile or Glorious? Expect a heated discussion from some fine minds. Lord Owen was Labour’s spokesman on defence. Taylor Downing co-produced the major series ‘Cold War’ and is author of a book, ‘The World at War’, which documents the making of the eponymous TV series. James Long was a BBC TV news correspondent and, after running an international TV station from Zurich, he returned to England to concentrate on writing. He will chair the event while taking part in the discussion.
. . . but Saturday 5 July FE1
11.30am - 1pm
Dukes Room
£12
Clive Fairweather A Man That Looks on Glass – A Masterclass on the Poetry of George Herbert The odd, quirky, lucid phrases of George Herbert’s poetry linger for a lifetime in the minds of those that read it. Why should this be so? Join Clive Fairweather for a masterclass to investigate the unique qualities of Herbert’s writing. Copies of the poems to be explored will be provided on booking. 118
3.15pm
Dukes Room
£6
Moor Poets Every Poem Paints a Picture
Moor Poets, the Devon-based writers’ collective, recently published their third anthology featuring 32 Southwest poets representing a wide range of styles and subjects. Contributors will present poetry from the anthology and beyond, with accompanying projection of work from local artists. Poets reading include Graham Burchell, Julie-ann Rowell, Jennie Osborne, Ian Chamberlain, Pat Fleming and others. Artwork from Anita Reynolds and other Devon artists. 119
5pm
Dukes Room
£6
Susan Taylor and Simon Williams The Weather House Susan Taylor and Simon Williams run the gauntlet of our changeable climate in their new poetry show. They will look at this through the interplay of a little wooden weather man and wife stood in the doorways of an antique weather house on a farmhouse mantel piece.
also
If we didn’t have a sense of irony we’d call these events ‘niche’. We do and they’re not; they just take place in other venues at unpredictable times. So don’t dismiss them. Take a look.
Tuesday 8 July – The Creative Process 120
11.45am
Dukes Room
Rebecca Gethin Creating Historical Fiction
£6
‘Writing of the past is a resurrection; the past lives in your words and you are free.’ (Jessamyn West) The words ‘historical fiction’ suggest two opposite intentions pulling in different directions so how can they be reconciled? Why would anyone write a historical novel? And why do people love to read them? Rebecca Gethin will be discussing some of these questions as well as reading from and talking about the genesis of her latest novel, ‘What the horses heard’ – set before, during and after World War One. 121
2pm
Dukes Room
What is Creativity?
122
4pm
Dukes Room
Jill Treseder Novel Ideas
£6
‘The Hatmaker’s Secret’ is a novel by Jill Treseder based on her family history. Now she is following quite a different lead for her next novel. What is the process that leads from inspiration to fiction and what are the pitfalls along the way?
£6
A discussion panel investigating creativity across varying disciplines, seeking common ground and what it means to cultivate the creative process. Audience participation welcomed. Chair: Luke Shepherd is a portrait sculptor and has a profound interest in the nature of perception. He is a Member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and South West Sculptors Association. Ani Buckland is an artist, sculptor, art psychotherapist and a writer and a member of South West Sculptors Association. Mo Cohen is a writer, poet, performer and coach and founder of Nearly Real Theatre, promoting Solo Autobiographical Drama. Katheryn Trenshaw, creative director of the Passionate Presence Center for Creative Expression, is an artist, writer, filmmaker and teacher who has been exhibiting and facilitating groups for over 30 years.
Luke Shepherd
Wednesday 9 July FE2
2 - 3.30pm
Dukes Room
Rebecca Gethin Poetry Writing Workshop
£12
‘Poetry trickles in between the fault lines of this working and family life; like water it finds openings.’ (Philip Gross, Iota 88) This workshop will help you find lasting ways of letting poetry into your life by exploring places where poems might be secreted. We will search places, objects and interests to see what comes to light. For beginners and those who want to regenerate their writing practice.
Thursday 10 July FE3
10am - 12.30pm
Dukes Room
Mo Cohen Workshop SOLO - Telling the Story of Your Life
£12
Mo Cohen is the founder of Nearly Real Theatre, a theatre organisation committed to the promotion of Solo Autobiographical Drama. He organised the first Totnes Solo Festival last summer and is planning the second festival for early July. He is a writer, poet, performer and coach. 1pm
Dukes Room
Free
Performance of stories from SOLO Workshop FE4
2.30 - 4pm
Dukes Room
£12
Katheryn Trenshaw Film / Talk / Discussion / Workshop
What is true about you but not obvious to strangers? That which was hidden is revealed through interview and autobiographies on skin in this multi-media project bridging the worlds of art, poetry and body. This lively workshop is an antidote to human separation. Come and explore what this means to you personally, and worldwide.
Friday 11 July 123
10am
Dukes Room
Ruth Brooks The Secret Life of Snails
£6
Ruth Brooks recounts her voyage of discovery into the slow and surprising life of the garden snail. A journey that began as a ruthless vendetta against hosta-decimating villains, transforms into a delightful obsession that sees grandmother-turnedscientist embarking on nighttime adventures and garden missions to uncover the lives of these slimy gastropods. FE5 11.30am - 1pm Meet under the archway £12 (or £20 to include event 84)
Bridget Holding Wild Words Workshop
Make contact with qualities of wildness, directly in nature, and record those experiences in words for a more vivid experience of life. Weather permitting, the workshop will take place outdoors, in the secret wild places of Dartington. Please dress appropriately. Skills learnt on the course will strengthen writing in all genres.
Sunday 13 July 124
11.30am
Ruth Brooks Nine Lives
Dukes Room
£6
What happens when a phobic child refuses school, or after a violent teenager is excluded? With luck, each will be assigned an LEA home tutor. Telling the stories of eight vulnerable children, Ruth Brooks reveals how family dysfunction, abuse, illness, irrational fears, all severely affect learning.
Bursaries to Ways With Words
There’s Lots to do at Dartington
Each year at the Dartington festival we give away about 20 Bursary Passes to young people between the ages of 17 – 25 so that they can attend all (10 days) or some (5 days) of the festival FREE OF CHARGE.
Study The History of Dartington – Find out about the medieval hall, built between 1388 and 1400 for John Holand, half-brother to Richard II. It was restored by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst who commissioned architect William Weir to renovate the buildings, restoring the magnificent hammerbeam roof on the Great Hall where most of Ways With Words’ events take place.
This is a fantastic opportunity to become immersed in the festival, be introduced to new ideas, new authors and make new friends. All for NOTHING – What’s not to like?
Explore The Dartington Gardens – The gardens feature a tiltyard (thought actually to be the remains of an Elizabethan water garden) and major sculptures, including examples by Henry Moore, Willi Soukop and Peter Randall-Page. Many visitors to the festival enjoy walks in the gardens which are very close to the literary action. Walk by The River Dart which flows through the Dartington Hall estate in a beautiful tree lined valley. Watch Films – Besides the film of The Invisible Woman, which we are showing as part of the festival programme, the Barn Cinema shows films each night of the festival. Browse Books – there is a bigger than ever popup Waterstones shop on-site in the Upper Gatehouse. The Ship Studio This is situated in the courtyard at Dartington. Here you will find stalls selling second hand and antiquarian books and quality locally made crafts open each day from 10am - 5.30pm. Ways Without Words Sculpture Exhibition (10am - 6pm each day). For five one-hour slots there will be a chance to meet the artists to find out more about their craft. Look out for further information on the blackboard.
For details and application procedure email admin@wayswithwords.co.uk
The Shops at Dartington A short walk from the festival site you will find shops selling Crafts and Glassware, Farm Foods, Stationery, Toys and Gifts. (Open Mon - Sat, 9.30am - 5.30pm and Sun, 10am - 5pm)
General Information – Travelling to Dartington
• • •
Dartington is roughly 25 miles southwest of Exeter and about a four hour drive from London. By car, take the M5, A38 and A384, then follow yellow AA signs to the festival. From the west, take the A38 from Plymouth, the A385 and then follow the AA signs. By train – Paddington is the mainline station from London. Totnes is the station nearest to Dartington Hall. Dartington Hall is a five minute taxi ride from the station.
Parking
Parking charges now apply on the Dartington Estate. Please leave plenty of time to get to your event as you may need to park at a distance from the venues and there may be queues at the ticket machines. (NB. Residents will receive a permit on booking which entitles the holder to free parking in the designated car parks during your stay.) Accessible parking is provided in the main car park (8 spaces) and in the Barn car park. A drop off point for the Barn is situated in front of the archway approximately 30 metres from the Barn. A drop off point for the Great Hall is situated at the White Hart approx. 50 metres from the Hall.
Mobility Access
There is wheelchair access to the Great Hall, Barn and Upper Gatehouse, but please let us know when you buy your tickets as wheelchair spaces are limited and must be reserved in advance. There is no wheelchair access to the Dukes Room. There is access to the White Hart bar and dining rooms and to some bedrooms.
Hearing Impairment
There is a loop system in place in the Great Hall (please ask the stewards where to sit to take advantage of this) and an Infra Red assited hearing system in the Barn.
With thanks to . . . The Publishers
Atlantic Books, Biteback Publishing, Black Dog Publishing, Bloomsbury Publishing, Cannongate Books, Cinnamon Press, Ebury Publishing, Faber and Faber, Flagdon Press, Fourth Estate, Frances Lincoln, Gibson Square Books, Green Leaf Publishing, Guardian Press, Harper Collins, Haus Publishing, Headline Publishing Group, Hodder & Stoughton, Hurst Publishers, I.B. Taurus, Impress Books, Leaping Hare Press, Little Brown Book Group, Lund Humphries, Oneworld Publications, Orion Publishing Group, Oxford University Press, Oversteps, Pan Macmillan, Penguin, Princeton University Press, Profile Books, Quercus Books, Random House (Chatto & Windus, Harvill Secker, Jonathan Cape, Vintage, Yellow Jersey Press), Reaktion Books, Rolling Dice Ink, Routledge, Simon & Schuster, Thames & Hudson, Transworld Publishers, Verso, Yale University Press.
Ways With Words’ Patrons
Jonathan Dimbleby, Nicholas Evans, Sir Michael Holroyd, Dame Penelope Lively, James Long, Blake Morrison, The Rt. Hon. The Lord Owen, The Lord O’Hagan, Peter Stanford, Salley Vickers
Good, Close and Best Friends
Colin Goldsmith, Marlene Eyre, Mrs E. Piercey, Moira Sykes, Brenda & John Wynn
Ways With Words Staff
Box Office Managers: Bryony Tilsley and Philip John Programme Assistants: Alice Ling, Jane Fitzgerald and Leah Varnell Copy Assistant: Polly Rodgers Venue Managers: Jess Morris, Charlie Ansell, Caroline Wilson Technical Advice: Chris Edwards Technicians: Ollie Webb, Ninian Harding and all at the Barn Cinema Thank you to the generous and energetic team of volunteers who support the festival in a variety of ways before, during and after the festival. Tej Walia and his team at Dartington Accommodation and Catering Services Ltd. Sam Macaulay - Senior Events Manager at Dartington Hall
Photo credits
Timothy Allen - Jane Bown - Laurence Cendrowicz - Dale Cherry - Dan Chung - Deej - Steven Draper - Hans Feurer - Caroline Forbes - Sophie Gooley - Jon Halliday - Christine Hardy - Simon Harsent - Barrie Harwood Peter Helme - Charlie Hopkinson - Alice Hunt - Barney Jones - Sarah Lee - Sandy Lovelock - Wolf Marloh - Jordan Matter - Rob Judges - Richard Maude - Tom Medwell - Dan Mersh - Laura Pannack - Kate Raworth Jonathan Ring - Graeme Robertson - University of Exeter
JANE MARTIN JEWELLERY
jane.jeweller@virgin.net is proud to support
The Telegraph Ways With Words Festival 4 - 14 July
in the SHIP STUDIO at Dartington Hall 12 5 daily
Dartington International Summer School 2014
JulY & august
Gospel & Chamber Choir Courses. From £150 per week for non-residential www.dartington.org/summer-school
BAILLIE GIFFORD LITERARY FESTIVAL SPONSORSHIP
AT BAILLIE GIFFORD WE BELIEVE IN THE VALUE OF GREAT LITERATURE AND IN LONG-LASTING SUCCESS STORIES.
We love great work that stands the test of time.
Baillie Gifford is delighted to continue to sponsor some of the most renowned literary festivals throughout the UK. We believe that, much like a classic piece of literature, a great investment philosophy will stand the test of time. Baillie Gifford is one of the UK’s largest independent investment trust managers. In our daily work in investments we do our very best to emulate the imagination, insight and intelligence that successful writers bring to the creative process. In our own way we’re publishers too. Our free, award-winning Trust magazine provides you with an engaging and insightful overview of the investment world, along with details of our literary festival activity throughout the UK.
To find out more or to take out a free subscription for Trust magazine, please call us on 0800 280 2820 or visit us at www.bgtrustonline.com Baillie Gifford – long-term investment partners Your call may be recorded for training or monitoring purposes. Baillie Gifford Savings Management Limited (BGSM) produces Trust magazine and is wholly owned by Baillie Gifford & Co, which is the manager and secretary of eight investment trusts. Your personal data is held and used by BGSM in accordance with data protection legislation. We may use your information to send you details about Baillie Gifford products, funds or special offers and to contact you for business research purposes. We will only disclose your information to other companies within the Baillie Gifford group and to agents appointed by us for these purposes. You can withdraw your consent to receiving further marketing communications from us and to being contacted for business research purposes at any time. You also have the right to review and amend your data at any time.
Diary Dates
Join us this autumn in
Over the next 12 months Ways With Words will be running events in the UK and in Italy.
20 – 27 September and 27 September – 4 October 2014
Umbria, Italy
or later in the year on the east coast in
Southwold, Suffolk 6 – 10 November 2014
or next spring in
Keswick, Cumbria 6 – 15 March 2015
or for our next summer festival at Dartington 3 – 13 July 2015
wayswithwords.co.uk 01803 867373
Kate Adie Jonathan Aitken Paddy Ashdown Harrison Birtwistle Chris Bryant Jung Chang Helen Dunmore Liam Fox Rebecca Front Jane Gardam Daisy Goodwin Linda Grant Jeremy Hardy Roy Hattersley Natalie Haynes Simon Heffer Simon Jenkins Helena Kennedy HRH Princess Michael of Kent Satish Kumar James Lovelock Martyn Lewis Francesca Martinez Michael Meacher Jonathan Miller George Monbiot David Owen Peter Snow Sandi Toksvig Claire Tomalin John Tusa Salley Vickers Ann Widdecombe