Ways With Words 2016 Brochure

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Ways With Words Festival of Words and Ideas Dartington, Devon 8 – 18 July 2016

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President’s Introduction

Dartington has long been one of Britain¹s most prestigious festivals – two weeks in which distinguished speakers combine with lively and knowledgable audiences in a celebration of reading and writing and the examination of (often controversial) ideas. Now, after twenty five years of success, Dartington has become a literary institution. But year after year it comes up with a new and exciting programme which – added to the festival¹s beautiful venue – makes Dartington one of the highlights of my summer. I look forward to seeing you.

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Kay Dunbar, Stephen Bristow Chloë and Videl Bar-Kar Festival Directors

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WELCOME.

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Be silver, be happy, be grateful – we are!

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It is thanks to your commitment to the festival that we have continued for so long. (To find out more about how Ways With Words started and develops come to our ‘Chosen Songs’ on the last night of the festival – Sunday 17 July at 7.30pm.)

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It is impossible to believe that we have been organising a book-based festival for 25 years at Dartington. When we started we thought that we’d probably last one year but such was the curiosity and appetite of the audiences for words and ideas that we carried on – and on – and on.

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Welcome to our 25th Ways With Words

Roy Hattersley Festival President

@ways_with_words

#www16

www.facebook.com/wayswithwords


Friday 8 July – Great Hall

Roy Hattersley

1 2pm Great Hall £10

2 3.30pm Great Hall £10

Melvyn Bragg

Roy Hattersley The Future for Socialism Lord Hattersley was a socialist from his youth. He was a councillor at the age of 23, an MP at 31, and a minister by the age of 33 who became deputy leader of the Labour Party. Hattersley was long regarded as being on the right of the party, but with New Labour in power he found himself on the left claiming that “Blair’s Labour Party is not the Labour Party I joined”. Who better to address this topic?

Melvyn Bragg The Powerful and the Powerless of the Peasants’ Revolt Lord Bragg’s latest novel ‘Now is the Time’ is set in 1381 at the time of The Peasants’ Revolt, the biggest rebellion in English History. The novel is a powerful re-telling of this extraordinary episode and captures all the drama, passion, patriotism and anger of that time.

Day Ticket: £24 (not including event 4)

Joan Bakewell

3 5pm Great Hall £10

sponsored by

Mark Watson

Joan Bakewell Defying Time Joan Bakewell looks back at the time in which she grew up – from being taught domestic skills, to the wider lessons learnt through politics, lovers and betrayal. She considers how the world has changed and the people and values she will be leaving behind.

4 Mark Watson I’m Not Here 8 - 10pm A seemingly minor problem at an (inc interval) airport is the starting point for a Great Hall spiralling examination of identity in £16 the digital age. (14+ Be prepared for a torrent of jokes, may contain Watson’s customary flailing about, adult chaotic audience interaction and language) general mayhem. If you enjoy comedy but ignore this show you’re acting very oddly. ‘Terrifyingly funny’ (The Times) ‘Belly laugh brilliant...the audience was weeping with laughter’ (Time Out)


Saturday 9 July – Great Hall

5 10am Great Hall £10

Joseph Stiglitz

Mark Watson Telling Stories Award-winning comedian, sports pundit and author, Mark Watson divides his time between stand-up work and writing novels. His latest publication explores where the truth really lies in a world that blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality.

6 11.45am Great Hall £10

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Roy Hattersley Joan Bakewell

Joan Bakewell, Roy Hattersley and Joseph Stiglitz The Next 25 Years in Politics

Join three of the most eminent political pundits for this lively discussion on the what, why and wherefore of politics today. Joan Bakewell is a journalist, television presenter and Labour Party Peer. Roy Hattersley is a Labour politician, author and journalist. Joseph Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

25 25 25 25 25 Things to look out for at the 25th festival

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Mark Watson

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25th Anniversary, Word Circus

25th Anniversary, Word School

A performance space offering a programme of short, snappy, unticketed, FREE fringe events in the Upper Gatehouse. The events in Word Circus will be advertised via a notice board outside the venue.

A series of writing workshops to facilitate those who want to improve or to make a start at writing. They will cover a range of genres. This programme includes full details of dates, times, tutors, costs.

KEEP LOOKING FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 9)


Saturday 9 July – Great Hall

Sunil Khilnani

7 1.30pm Great Hall £10

sponsored by

8 3.15pm Great Hall £10

Michael Billington

Sunil Khilnani Understanding India BBC Radio 4 presenter Sunil Khilnani has travelled extensively across India visiting Bollywood studios, ayurvedic call centres and slum temples. He explores the lives of Indian emperors, philosophers, poets, stars and corporate titans and charts how they continue to shape the nation.

Michael Billington What Makes a Great Play? Michael Billington, Britain’s longestserving theatre critic, shares his personal selection of great plays ranging from Greek drama to the present-day. After a lifetime spent watching theatre he unveils his list and explores his inclusions as well as his omissions.

Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 9)

Phillipe Sands

9 5.30pm 6.30pm Great Hall £15 (to include the film at 8pm)

Philippe Sands Generational Scars of Genocide The final day of the Nuremberg trial of Hitler’s personal lawyer, Hans Frank, revealed that he may have been responsible for the murder of the entire families of the two prosecutors, Hersch Lauterpacht and Rafael Lemkin. Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands QC explores their interconnected stories. 8pm, Great Hall The documentary film, “My Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did”, follows Philippe as he travels with Niklas Frank and Horst von Wachter, the septuagenarian sons of Nazi leaders. The film explores their opposing views on the legacy of their fathers’ actions. (Running time, 96 mins – Cert. PG)


Saturday 9 July – Barn – Reporting Back 10 10am Barn £10

Anya Schiffrin Investigative Journalists

11 11.45am Barn £10

Rod Nordland Love Story

12 1.30pm Barn £10

Anya Schiffrin’s latest book, ‘Global Muckraking’, is about the power of investigative journalism and describes some of the reporters who have exposed problems in developing countries over the last 150 years.

As correspondent for the New York Times, Rod Nordland encountered a young Afghan couple from different ethnic sects struggling to stay together despite the danger of death that their union posed. He tells this Romeo and Juliet-esque story against the backdrop of the horrific practices to which Afghan women are subjected.

Christina Lamb

13 3.15pm Barn £10

Christina Lamb Leaving Kabul

14 5.15pm Barn £10

Troubles Seen A Performance by Sian Webber Script by Jack Klaff

Ben Rawlence Inside Dadaab – the World’s Largest Refugee Camp To charity workers Dadaab is a humanitarian crisis; to the Kenyan government it’s a nursery for terrorists; but to its half a million residents it’s their last resort. Former Human Rights Watch researcher, Ben Rawlence, who has spent a considerable time in the camp, tells astonishing stories.

Day Ticket: £40

Rod Norland

Leading foreign correspondent Christina Lamb reflects on Afghanistan – a fierce country of pomegranates and war – and one she loves and has reported from for thirty years. She discusses the human cost of political failure and how the prosecution of illthought-out wars has led to the spread of terrorism.

Martha Gellhorn wrote unmatched despatches about the major stories of the 20th century, always siding with the ordinary folk, railing against governments and the powerful. Her lovers included Ernest Hemingway, but laughter with friends was what she loved best. Enjoy an evening of whisky, cigarettes, name-dropping, wit, rage and dreadful cooking. Martha Gellhorn’s words used by kind permission of The Martha Gellhorn Estate.


BAILLIE GIFFORD LITERARY FESTIVAL SPONSORSHIP

AT BAILLIE GIFFORD WE BELIEVE IN THE VALUE OF GREAT LITERATURE AND IN LONG-STANDING 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.bailliegifford.com/sponsorship

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 an affiliate of Baillie Gifford & Co Limited, which is the manager and secretary of seven investment trusts.


Sunday 10 July – Great Hall

A.C. Grayling

15 11am Great Hall £10

16 12.45pm Great Hall £10

Helen Dunmore

A.C. Grayling Progress in Troubled Times: Learning from “The Age of Genius” The 17th century was witness to a scientific revolution – from the alchemy and astrology of John Dee to the scientific observation and astronomy of Galileo. Professor A.C. Grayling (of New College of the Humanities) charts the birth of the modern mind and considers how traditional ways of thinking lingered amongst the luminaries of the period.

Helen Dunmore Secrets and Spies Bestselling author and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Helen Dunmore discusses forbidden love, cover-ups, spying, and betrayal during the Cold War era in 1960s Britain. In her fourteenth novel she explores the devastation that the uncovering of long-held secrets can bring.

Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 19)

17 2.30pm Great Hall £10 (or £15 to include the film - event no. 24)

sponsored by

18 4.15pm Great Hall £10

John Dermot Turing

John Dermot Turing Decoding Alan Turing While working at Bletchley Park, code breaker and pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing invented the machine that cracked the Enigma Code. He is now widely regarded as a British war hero mistreated by an unappreciative country. His nephew, Sir John Dermot Turing, takes a fresh look at Alan Turing’s life, innovation and the creation of a legend.

Oliver James Nature Versus Nurture Are parents responsible for the course their children’s lives take, or do genes mean individuals have a pre-determined personality? Psychologist Oliver James explores the idea of nature versus nurture.


Sunday 10 July – Great Hall

Oliver James

19 8pm Great Hall £10

Matt Harvey QWERTY Something Poet, lyricist, Resurgence columnist, Matt Harvey’s way with words has taken him from Totnes to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships via Saturday Live, the Edinburgh Festival and the Work section of the Guardian. He brings new poems about animals, vegetables, hands and sperm banks and speaks of the pressures and pains of writing to order. All interspersed with illustrations by Claudia Schmid from his new book, working title, ‘Oh Dog’.

Matt Harvey

Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 19)


Sunday 10 July – Barn – Inner Selves 20 10am Barn £10

Julia Shaw Remembering and Forgetting

21 11.45am Barn £10

Decca Aitkenhead Love and Loss

22 1.30pm Barn £10

Charles Fernyhough How We Talk to Ourselves

Forensic psychologist and memory expert Dr Julia Shaw explores the centrality of memory to our existence and the ways in which it can go awry – from the puzzling occurrence of not being able to recall a name you’ve used hundreds of times, to more extreme examples such as people with false memories of committing a violent crime.

Guardian journalist and author, Decca Aitkenhead’s new memoir reflects deeply on her relationship with her partner Tony who drowned while saving their son during a holiday in Jamaica. Exploring race, privilege and prejudice, Decca will tell her remarkable story of love and sudden loss.

What we call ‘thinking’ is a kind of conversation with the multiple voices of our consciousness. Professor of Psychology at Durham University Charles Fernyhough suggests this inner speech could have an importance far beyond our previous perception.

Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 24)

Julia Shaw

23 3pm Barn £10

Decca Aitkenhead

Polly Morland Transformations What would you choose to change about your life and how could you make it happen? Polly Morland unravels the mysteries and the mechanisms of human change, how and why people change, and how the imagination can become the engine of metamorphosis.

FILM: The Imitation Game 24 During World War II, mathematician 4.30pm Alan Turing tries to crack the Barn Enigma Code with help from fellow £7 mathematicians. (or £15 Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, to include Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode event no.17 (Running Time: 112 mins. Cert 12) at 2.30pm in the Great Hall)


Sunday 10 July – Dukes Room

Sophie Pierce and Matt Newbury

25 11am Dukes Room £6

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Richard Ryder

Andy Christian A History of Pottery in Twenty Five Objects To celebrate 25 years of Ways With Words Andy Christian explores a collection of 25 objects. This eclectic tour de force of ceramic history ranges from an 8000 BCE Venus to a Picasso bowl and the work of 20th century Dartington ceramicists. The audience will be encouraged to handle each example.

Sophie Pierce and Matt Newbury Walks and Water Aquatic adventurers Sophie Pierce and Matt Newbury share the stories and secrets of some of Devon’s best wild swimming spots, from Sharrah Pool, where the ‘Cry of the Dart’ may be heard, to the ruined coastal village of Hallsands.

27 2.30pm Dukes Room £6

Richard Ryder Psychobiographies

5pm Dukes Room Free (no ticket required)

Trade Winds

6.30pm Dukes Room Free (no ticket required)

Susan Taylor, Simon Williams and Simon Barron Well Met – Poems and Songs of Sea and Shore

The lives of twenty celebrities (including Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Margaret Thatcher) have been analysed by the eminent psychologist, Dr. Richard Ryder. He explores their motives and their sex lives and raises many questions about their achievements.

Trade Winds is a long established seeding ground for poets, singersongwriters and storytellers, new and experienced. Turn up at the start with a short performance piece to get a spot in the show. All welcome.

Well Met indeed: these three have been busy beachcombing their way around the South West to bring ocean-inspired ballads and windswept, seascape stanzas to add some sea salt into the Dart Valley air. Taylor and Williams each have six published collections of poetry. Barron has appeared at many major UK festivals. He is a guitar virtuoso, with a ballistic finger style that suits his songs of land and sea.


Monday 11 July – Great Hall

Juliet Barker

Chris Rapley

28 10am Great Hall £10

Juliet Barker Demolishing the Myth of the Brontës

29 11.45am Great Hall £10

Chris Rapley The Changing Climate

The story of the Brontës is well documented as a doomed family of genius. Biographer and historian Juliet Barker sheds new light on this literary family, challenges some commonly held misconceptions and shares her first-hand research from Brontë manuscripts and historical documents previously overlooked.

In 2015 the world’s nations met to determine a course of action to respond to climate change. Chris Rapley, one of the most distinguished climate scientists, has written ‘2071, The World We’ll Leave Our Grandchildren’. ‘2071’ started off as a sell-out play at the Royal Court. The Times wrote: “If you’re in any doubt that climate change is the most urgent issue of the century, I urge you to see this theatrical lecture.”

Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 32)

Max Porter

Ben Wilson

30 2.30pm Great Hall £10

Max Porter A Portrait of Grief and Recovery

31 4.15pm Great Hall £10

Ben Wilson The Shaping of the Modern World

Max Porter’s first novel has been met with widespread critical acclaim and flits between the weighty idea of grief and loss as he charts the lives of a father and his sons and how they face life without their most beloved mother and wife. He discusses his creative processes and the influence of Ted Hughes on his work.

Historian Ben Wilson explores the 1850s – a decade of explosive energy and dizzying change as the world was reshaped by technology, trade, mass migration and war. It was a period that was fundamental, not only in in the making of Britain, but of the modern world.


Monday 11 July – Great Hall

Official festival bookseller George Monbiot

32 7pm 8.30pm Great Hall £10

George Monbiot How Did We Get Into This Mess? What is the dominant ideology that has penetrated so far into our lives that we can no longer see it? Environmentalist, political activist and Guardian columnist George Monbiot unmasks it, explains it, and suggests how it might best be confronted.

We look forward to welcoming you to our festival shop for a range of titles by the guest authors, and opportunities to have your books signed.

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Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 32)

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– not forgetting the creation of a lasting document of your journey as a pleasure in itself.

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FE1 Christopher North A Journey into the 9.30am Travel Journal 11.30am, A workshop exploring the 2pm - 4pm travel journal: World Cruise, Dukes Room weekend away or crossing your £25 bedroom. This two session workshop will open up exciting techniques to enliven your writing with exercises, field work and a look at developing the journal further into other creative writing areas such as poetry, fiction, reportage, blogs

19/04/2016 12:40

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Monday 11 July – Barn – The Science of Mind and Body

Ian Robertson

33 10am Barn £10

34 11.45am Barn £10

Fay Bound Alberti

Laura Dawes A Quiet Victory Wartime medical experts predicted epidemics on the home front; that rationing would decimate the nation’s health; and air raid shelters would spread diseases. Yet Britain emerged from the Second World War in better health than ever before. Medical historian Laura Dawes tells the story of pioneering individuals who battled to keep the nation fit in wartime and paved the way for the birth of the NHS.

Dean Burnett What Is Your Head Really Up To? Guardian ‘Brain Flapping’ science blogger Dean Burnett examines why and how the brain sabotages our behaviour. From attention mechanisms to memory processing, the neuroscience of sleep and the psychology of superstition, Burnett reveals ways in which the brain is flawed and how these flaws impact upon our lives (and how it’s OK to laugh about it).

Day Ticket: £40

35 1.30pm Barn £10

Ian Robertson The Sweet Spot

36 3.15pm Barn £10

Andrew Lees The William Burroughs Experiment

37 5pm Barn £10

Fay Bound Alberti Modern Bodies

Neuroscientist Ian Robertson discusses how and why our brains react to stress in the way they do. Why do some people function more effectively when forced into difficult situations, while others fall apart? And can the right level of stress help people to flourish and achieve more than they thought possible?

Professor of Neurology at the National Hospital, London, Andrew Lees is highly regarded in the field of research into Parkinson’s disease. He explains how William Burroughs, troubled drug addict and author of Naked Lunch, played an unlikely part in his medical career.

Demolishing the idea of the body as an unchanging constant in a changing world, Fay Bound Alberti tells a cultural story of the human body. How the way we move, feel, breathe and engage with the world has differed radically over time. She takes the body apart to put it back together from the inside out.


Tuesday 12 July – Barn – Ways of Seeing 38 10am Barn £10

Tony Garnett My Life’s Work

39 11.45am Barn £10

Chris Wadsworth Behind the Scenes of the Gallery

40 1.30pm Barn £10

Richard Lappas talks to his editor Jane Blanchard More By Luck Than Judgement

From his roots in working class Birmingham to producing radical BBC dramas of the 1960s and 70s including ‘Cathy Come Home’ and ‘Up the Junction’, Tony Garnett’s influence on TV drama is enduring. He discusses his groundbreaking work in television, the ‘painful’ process of writing his memoir and what makes him angry.

Chris Wadsworth, a born storyteller, draws from her 25 years running a gallery to tell stories about great artists, eccentric clients and her travels around the world. Hear about: the Knob man, the reluctant Exhibitionist and the enforced purchase of Magic Knickers – all part of ‘The Life Class’, her latest book.

Fleet Street photographer Richard Lappas has been covering major news stories, capturing celebrities and politicians on camera for 40 years. His book reveals fascinating and often hilarious stories behind pictures that have themselves made front page news.

Day Ticket: £40

Tony Garnett

Michael Bird

41 3.15pm Barn £10

Michael Bird St Ives Modernists

42 5pm Barn £10

Katy Norris Christopher Wood

Between the Second World War and the 1970s, many progressive artists chose to come to the far west of Cornwall. Michael Bird investigates how St Ives became a post-war hub of international modernism and why modernist abstract art came to be so important to Frost, Heron and their contemporaries in this small Cornish town at that particular time.

Curator of Pallant House Gallery, Katy Norris brings a fresh perspective to the short life and remarkable work of English painter Christopher Wood (1901-30). Wood drew upon many influences in the development of his fauxnaïve style including the Parisian avant-garde and the simpler life he encountered in Cornwall, Cumbria and Brittany.


Tuesday 12 July – Great Hall

Diana Darke

43 10am Great Hall £10

44 11.45am Great Hall £10

David Crystal

Diana Darke Inside Syria

In 2005 Diana Darke, Middle-East specialist, bought a crumbling Ottoman house in the old city of Damascus. Later it became a sanctuary to friends until it was stolen from her by war profiteers; so she returned to retake it. Diana Darke offers an inside view of Syria – its culture and complex religious and ethnic communities – and presents a picture of the realities of living there.

David Crystal Original Shakespeare The movement to present the plays of Shakespeare using ‘original pronunciation’ has grown in the past ten years. Linguist David Crystal describes the history, illustrates the accent, explains how we know, and discusses future trends.

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 48)

Fay Weldon

Alice Roberts

45 1.30pm Great Hall £10

Fay Weldon The Spoils of War

46 3.15pm Great Hall £10

Alice Roberts The Lost Stories of the Celts

Author, essayist and playwright, Fay Weldon has been writing about the war between the sexes for five decades. She discusses her latest tale of love and death in interwar London; and how international tensions mirror family dysfunction in a city brimming with change.

Unlike the Romans the Celts did not write their own history, so the stories of many heroic Celtic men and women have been lost. Following the popular BBC series Professor Alice Roberts reveals the remarkable story of the Celts: their origins, how they lived and thrived and their enduring legacy.


Tuesday 12 July – Great Hall

Diarmaid MacCulloch

47 Jill Dawson The Royal Literary Fund Lecture – 5pm Great Hall Faction Many of Jill Dawson’s nine past novels £10 have their origins in real events or real people. Her latest, ‘The Crime Writer’, is about the novelist Patricia Highsmith. Another writer who inspired her is the poet Rupert Brooke. Other novels draw upon notable events. Today she talks about how fact inspires her fiction. The Royal Literary Fund was set up in 1790 to help professional authors. Past beneficiaries have included Coleridge, DH Lawrence and Dylan Thomas. Last year it helped 200 writers, though not all www.rlf.org.uk of them are quite so famous - yet. 48 8pm Great Hall £10

Diarmaid MacCulloch The Soul of the Church

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 48)

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Diarmaid MacCulloch explores the turbulent 16th century, the evolution of the English Prayer Book and Bible, the impact of the Reformation on Catholicism and re-examines some of the major players: Henry VIII, William Byrd, John Calvin and Richard Hooker.

FE2 Debbie Warne Memoir Writing About 9.30am Your Kith and Kin 11.30am, Bring your black sheep, illicit 2pm - 4pm loves, heroes and heroines Dukes Room and even the odd skeleton £25 to these two workshops. While the tradition of sitting around the fire or the kitchen table telling stories of our ancestors has all but disappeared, Debbie Warne promotes the idea that no one is more eligible than kith and kin to write about their own bloodline, arriving, as it will, from the heart.

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Jill Dawson

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Wednesday 13 July – Great Hall

Raymond Tallis

49 10am Great Hall £10

50 11.45am Great Hall £10

A.L. Kennedy

Raymond Tallis God, Free Will and the NHS In his latest collection of essays, physician and humanist philosopher Raymond Tallis meditates on the complexity of human consciousness, free will, mathematics, God and eternity – until his thoughts are interrupted by discovering Tory barbarians destroying the NHS, tearing apart the welfare state, and turning England into an undeveloping country.

A.L. Kennedy Novel of our Times Prize-winning author, fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, stand-up comic and essayist, A.L. Kennedy has written 17 books to date: novels, short stories, non-fiction, science fiction. She discusses her latest creation and the craft of writing.

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 54)

Ken Livingstone

Jonathan Dimbleby

51 1.30pm Great Hall £10

Ken Livingstone How Should the Left Govern?

52 3.15pm Great Hall £10

Jonathan Dimbleby Battle on the High Seas

In the light of the recent grassroots surge of interest in the Labour Party, former Leader of the GLC and the first elected London mayor, Ken Livingstone offers an insider’s account of the party and reflects on its future.

Political commentator and presenter of ‘Any Questions’, Jonathan Dimbleby explores the decisions that led to victory in the Battle of the Atlantic through the diaries and letters of both the Allied and German leaders and sailors.


Wednesday 13 July – Great Hall

53 5pm Great Hall £10

sponsored by

Anne Sebba Why French Women Wore Lipstick They couldn’t vote, own property without a man’s consent, or have a bank account, so what was it like to be a woman living in Paris under German occupation? Anna Sebba gives an insight into the lives of collaborators and resisters – women making life-and-death decisions every day and doing whatever they needed to survive.

Marcus du Sautoy Not Knowing Science is giving us unprecedented insight into the big questions that have challenged humanity. Where did we come from? What is the ultimate destiny of the universe? Mathematician and media presenter, Marcus du Sautoy, asks what are the limits to what we can discover about our universe?

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 54)

FE3 Katrina Naomi Poetry Writing for All 2 - 4pm Gain confidence in both Dukes Room your reading and writing £14 of poetry with the help of award-winning poet, tutor and poetry mentor Katrina Naomi. In this workshop, for new and experienced poets, learn techniques to sharpen and strengthen your poetic voice.

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54 8pm Great Hall £10

Marcus du Sautoy

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Anne Sebba

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Wednesday 13 July – Barn – Writing About Writers

Edward Wilson

55 10am Barn £10

56 11.45am Barn £10

Lucinda Hawksley

Jeremy Lewis David Astor – A Believer in Doubt and Hesitation David Astor’s family were millionaires and he grew up at Clivedon, a country house on the Thames. When he took over the Observer, its circulation was 360,000. He doubled it in a decade. Former publisher and editor of the Oldie, Jeremy Lewis gives an illuminating account of a good man and a great editor who helped set up Amnesty International and was the first President of Ways With Words.

Edward Wilson-Lee The Bard in Africa Shakespeare’s plays were carried into the lake regions of Africa by Burton and Stanley; performed in Mombasa by travelling Indian troupes; read by boy soldiers in the Sudanese civil wars. Edward Wilson-Lee relates his adventures in East Africa in search of an answer to why Shakespeare should be so adored – in the most unlikely of places.

Day Ticket: £37

57 1.30pm Barn £10

Lucinda Hawksley Dickens & Co

58 3.15pm 4pm Barn £15 (talk and film)

Jill Dawson and Andrew Wilson The Troubled Life of Patricia Highsmith

Historian Lucinda Hawksley reveals surprising aspects of her great-greatgreat grandfather, Charles Dickens through his extensive circle of friends and associates that included Lord Tennyson, William Makepeace Thackeray, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell.

Patricia Highsmith is the subject of Jill Dawson’s latest novel and a biography of Andrew Wilson’s. Together they discuss what went on in the head of this extraordinary woman. 4.30pm FILM: Carol Starring Cate Blanchett, the film ‘Carol’ is based on the novel ‘The Price of Salt’ by Patricia Highsmith. ‘Carol’ tells the story of a forbidden love affair between a young photographer and an older woman going through a difficult divorce. (Running time - 118 mins. Cert. 15)


TICKET SALES

Name Address

• ONLINE www.wayswithwords.co.uk (from 18 May)

• BY PHONE Tel: 01803 867373 Telephone lines are open from 10am - 5pm, Monday - Friday. Please have your event numbers and your payment card ready before phoning. We accept Visa and Mastercard.

• BY POST Please complete this form and send with cheque and stamped s.a.e. to: Ways With Words Festival Box Office, Droridge Farm, Dartington, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6JG Please make cheques payable to ‘Ways With Words’.

• IN PERSON During the festival the box office, on-site at Dartington Hall, will open 30mins. before the first event of the day and will close after the start of the last event of the day. Please note: Before the festival starts the box office operates off-site and is open for telephone, postal and online sales only. (See above)

Postcode Tel. E-mail BOOKING FOR FRIENDS STARTS WEDNESDAY 11 MAY - max. 2 tickets per event. - for phone and postal bookings only. GENERAL BOOKING STARTS WEDNESDAY 18 MAY 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. We operate a ‘carers go free’ policy for people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance. Proof of entitlement for the above 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.


eg

event

£

no.

total

event

A.N. Author

10

3

30

MONDAY 11 JULY

FRIDAY 8 JULY 1

Roy Hattersley

10

£

28

Juliet Barker

10

29

Chris Rapley

10

2

Melvyn Bragg

10

30

Max Porter

10

3

Joan Bakewell

10

31

Ben Wilson

10

Mark Watson (1)

16

32

GH Day Ticket (1 - 3)

24

4

SATURDAY 9 JULY

George Monbiot

10

GH Day Ticket (28 - 31)

32 10

33

Laura Dawes

5

Mark Watson (2)

10

34

Dean Burnett

10

6

Bakewell, Hattersley & Stiglitz

10

35

Ian Robertson

10 10

7

Sunil Khilnani

10

36

Andrew Lees

8

Michael Billington

10

37

Fay Bound Alberti

10

9

Philippe Sands + Film

15

Barn Day Ticket (33 - 37)

40

GH Day Ticket (5 - 8)

32

10

Anya Schiffrin

10

38

Tony Garnett

11

Rod Norland

10

39

Chris Wadsworth

10

12

Ben Rawlence

10

40

Lappas & Blanchard

10

13

Christina Lamb

10

41

Michael Bird

10

14

Troubles Seen

10

42

Katy Norris

10

Barn Day Ticket (10 - 14)

40

Barn Day Ticket (38 - 42)

40

SUNDAY 10 JULY

TUESDAY 12 JULY 10

43

Diana Darke

10

15

A.C. Grayling

10

44

David Crystal

10

16

Helen Dunmore

10

45

Fay Weldon

10

17

John Dermot Turing

10

46

Alice Roberts

10

Events 17 & 24 (Talk + Film)

15

47

Jill Dawson

10

Oliver James

10

48

Diarmaid MacCulloch

10 40

18 19

Matt Harvey

10

GH Day Ticket (43 - 47)

GH Day Ticket (15 - 18)

32

WEDNESDAY 13 JULY

20

Julia Shaw

10

49

Raymond Tallis

21

Decca Aitkenhead

10

50

A.L. Kennedy

10

22

Charles Fernyhough

10

51

Ken Livingstone

10

23

Polly Morland

10

52

Jonathan Dimbleby

10

24

The Imitation Game - Film

10

53

Anne Sebba

10

Barn Day Ticket (20 - 23)

32

54

Marcus du Sautoy

10

25

Andy Christian

6

GH Day Ticket (49 - 53)

40

26

Pierce & Newbury

6

55

Jeremy Lewis

10

27

Richard Ryder

6

56

Edward Wilson-Lee

10

57

Lucinda Hawksley

10

58

10

Dawson & Wilson + Film

15

Barn Day Ticket (55 - 58)

37

no.

total


event

£

THURSDAY 14 JULY

no.

total 93

event

£

Welcome to Oversteps

6

59

Francis Beckett

10

94

Happy Returns

6

60

Anthony Loyd

10

95

Globe-Trotting

6

61

Shirley Williams

10

96

62

David Aaronovitch

10

Partners in Poetry

6

Dukes Day Ticket (93 - 96)

12

Ruchir Sharma

10

64

John Lister-Kaye

10

97

Shaw, Griffiths & Kingsnorth

65

Richard Stokes

10

98

Jonathan Bate

10

GH Day Ticket (59 - 63)

40

99

Laura Thompson

10 10

10

66

James Macdonald Lockhart

10

100

Satish Kumar

67

Tristan Gooley

10

101

Dunbar & Bristow

5

68

Richard Fortey

10

GH Day Ticket (97 - 100)

32

69

Oliver Balch

10

102

Miranda Sawyer

10

70

Anna Pavord

10

103

Frances Borzello

10

Barn Day Ticket (66 - 70)

40

104

Paula Byrne

10

105

Juliet Nicolson

10

Barn Day Ticket (102 - 105)

32

71

Pearson & Ward

10

72

Harry Parker

10

73

Rosa Prince

10

FE1

Christopher North

25

74

Daniel Todman

10

FE2

Debbie Warne

25

75

Andrew Lownie

10

FE3

Katrina Naomi

14

Barn Day Ticket (71 - 75)

40

FE4

Clive Fairweather

12

Vince Cable

10

76 77

Rosie Millard

10

78

Andrew Davies

10

79

Mark Haddon

10

80

Salley Vickers

10

81

Mitch Benn

12.50

GH Day Ticket (76 - 80)

40

total

SUNDAY 17 JULY

63

FRIDAY 15 JULY

no.

WORD SCHOOL

TICKET TOTAL

£

Add Annual Friends’ Membership (£15)* TOTAL

£

SATURDAY 16 JULY 82

Steve Jones

10

83

Franny Moyle

10 10

84

Norma Percy

85

Irving Finkel

10

86

Julian Baggini

10 10

87

Ben Miller

FE5

Dartmoor Skies

3

FE5

Dartmoor Skies (under 16)

FREE

GH Day Ticket (82 - 86)

40

88

Chris Bickerton

10

89

Charlotte McDonald-Gibson

10

90

John Gimlette

10

91

Xinran

10

92

Luke Harding

10

Barn Day Ticket (88 - 92)

40

* Friends receive, by post, a printed copy of each programme for Ways With Words in Dartington, Cumbria and Southwold.


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 £915 - £1644 pp) and two 5-night packages (from £524 - £879 pp) in Higher Close or in the Courtyard at Dartington Hall. We also offer two 3-night weekend packages (from £340 pp) and a 4-night midweek package (from £478 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 (see above) 5-day Rover ticket (Price: £240) • 1st 5-day Rovers begin with event 1 on Friday 8 July and end at 12.45pm on Wednesday 13 July. • 2nd 5-day Rovers begin with the 1.30pm event on Wednesday 13 July until the end of Sunday 17 July. • Midweek 5-day Rovers run from Monday 11 July to Friday 15 July. Weekend Rover tickets (Price: £155) • 1st weekend Rovers begin with event 1 on Friday 8 July and end with the last event on Sunday 10 July. • 2nd weekend Rovers begin on Friday 15 July at 1.30pm until the end of Sunday 17 July.

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 dinner, or lunch and 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 £33 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.


Dartington International Summer School & Festival 2016 30 July – 27 August @DartingtonArts DartingtonArts www.dartington.org/summer-school Tel: 01803 847070


Thursday 14 July – Great Hall

Francis Beckett

Anthony Loyd

59 10am Great Hall £10

Francis Beckett The Architect of the NHS: A Clem Attlee Biography

60 11.45am Great Hall £10

Anthony Loyd The Adrenaline of Conflict

In 1945 Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee created the NHS and the Welfare State. Author, journalist and historian Francis Beckett maps how Attlee’s Labour government turned their socialist ideals into legislation that has changed the society in which we live.

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 64 or 65)

61 1.30pm Great Hall £10

Clive Fairweather

Shirley Williams Politics – the UK and the US

FE4 2 - 4pm Dukes Room £12

S C H WORD O L 25

25

Two years ago roving Foreign Correspondent for The Times Anthony Loyd was kidnapped, beaten and shot by a rebel gang in Syria. From his experience of covering conflicts around the world over 21 years the multi award winning writer discusses the brutal yet thrilling reality of life as a war journalist.

Shirley Williams

After a lifetime of service in politics the Rt. Hon. Shirley Williams discusses the UK’s place in the world and the US elections. She is currently Professor Emerita of Electoral Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, among numerous other activities. We are very lucky to have this eminent politician and academic with us.

Clive Fairweather A Masterclass on Walter De La Mare: A Slice of Peacock Pie What is it that makes Walter De La Mare’s haunted, oldfashioned verses linger in the mind? Clive Fairweather, teacher and storyteller, explores and celebrates the ambivalent world of De La Mare’s imagination and the influences that shaped it.


Thursday 14 July – Great Hall

David Aaronovitch

Ruchir Sharma

62 3.15pm Great Hall £10

David Aaronovitch Life Among the Communists

63 5pm Great Hall £10

Ruchir Sharma Financial Winners and Losers

Journalist, broadcaster and sometime chair on Radio 4’s Moral Maze David Aaronovitch was brought up watching Russian movies and attending Socialist Sunday School whilst his peers went to church and watched American TV. He reflects on his early life among communists; his family’s hopes, beliefs and traditions.

A golden era of prosperity ended with the crisis of 2008. In a world now racked by slowing growth and mounting unrest Ruchir Sharma, Head of the Emerging Markets Equity team for Morgan Stanley, identifies ten rules by which we can identify which nations will thrive and which will fail.

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 64 or 65)

John Lister-Kaye

Richard Stokes

64 6.30pm Great Hall £10

John Lister-Kaye My Wild Life at Aigas

65 8pm Great Hall £10

Richard Stokes The Art of Song

Aigas – where golden eagles drift overhead and osprey crash into the loch – was Scotland’s first field centre. For 40 years it has been the home of distinguished naturalist Sir John Lister-Kaye who explains how birds have been at the heart of his work and life, and how they are important indicators of environmental health and change.

What sort of poetry translates well into song? Professor of Leider at the Royal Academy of Music Richard Stokes explores English poetry that has been set to music – from Jane Taylor’s ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ to Henry Francis Lyte’s ‘Abide with Me’. A must for all who delight in the fusion of words and music.


Thursday 14 July – Barn – In The Wild

Richard Fortey

66 10am Barn £10

67 11.45am Barn £10

Anna Pavord

James Macdonald Lockhart Birds of Prey Of all the birds of the British Isles, the raptor reigns supreme, sparking the imagination like no other. James Macdonald Lockhart relates his journey in search of raptors from harriers drifting along the horizon in Orkney, to buzzards circling over Dartmoor. He will change how we think of our skies.

Tristan Gooley Reading Water Natural navigator Tristan Gooley unlocks the secrets of water. Drawing on his adventures, from canoeing in Borneo to wild swimming in Sussex he reveals the secrets of ponds, puddles and oceans and shares skills, tips and observations to help us understand the lure of water.

Day Ticket: £40

68 1.30pm Barn £10

Richard Fortey Biography of a Woodland

69 3.15pm Barn £10

Oliver Balch Real Life on the Welsh Borders

70 5pm Barn £10

Anna Pavord The Nature of the British Landscape

From his observations of a four-acre beech and bluebell woodland in the Chiltern Hills, former senior palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum, Richard Fortey maps a wider story of the changing British landscape, the human influence on the countryside over centuries and interactions between flora, fauna and fungi.

When Oliver Balch arrived ‘from off’ to the Welsh Marches he was in search of a place he could truly belong; to be a thread in the social fabric. He gives an honest account of his family attempting to put down roots in Hay-on-Wye and assesses country life in the 21st century.

As gardening correspondent for the Independent and chair of the Gardens Panel for the National Trust Anna Pavord has journeyed widely around the UK. She reflects upon the relationship between earth and people and the landscape’s potential to comfort, awe and mesmerise.


Friday 15 July – Barn – Who We Are: British Society 71 10am Barn £10

sponsored by

Helen Pearson In Conversation With David Ward Ordinary Lives In 1946 scientists recorded the birth of almost every British baby born during one cold week in March and ever since they have been tracking these individuals, who turned 70 this year. More studies followed at 12-year intervals. Science journalist Helen Pearson and David Ward (one of the babies observed in the study) reveal what has emerged.

72 11.45am Barn £10

Harry Parker 45 Objects

73 1.30pm Barn £10

Rosa Prince Corbyn – An Accidental Leader

Harry Parker joined the British Army when he was 23 and served in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he sustained life-changing injuries. He discusses the writing of his debut novel – a story of patriotism, heroism and humanism with characters’ stories told through a series of inanimate objects.

He’s a middle-aged middle-class former grammar schoolboy who honed his radicalism on the streets of rural Shropshire. Yet Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership of a party he has rebelled against for 40 years. Political journalist Rosa Prince presents a portrait of the MP for Islington North and asks how he managed to seize the leadership and breathe new life into socialist ideals.

Day Ticket: £40

Rosa Prince

Harry Parker

74 3.15pm Barn £10

Daniel Todman A Total War

75 5pm Barn £10

Andrew Lownie A Colourful Traitor

Bringing a fresh perspective to the Second World War, historian Daniel Todman weaves the experience of the British people with the political and operational decisions that governed their fate. He explores how war was represented at the time and how people understood (and misunderstood) what was happening to them.

Guy Burgess was an upper class Englishman, Foreign Office expert on Communism and propaganda and a Soviet spy. To some he was a charming companion, to others a ruthless manipulator. Intelligence expert Andrew Lownie casts new light on the life and lies of the notorious Cambridge Spy.


Friday 15 July – Great Hall

Vince Cable

Rosie Millard

76 10am Great Hall £10

Vince Cable Balancing the Books

77 11.45am Great Hall £10

Rosie Millard Middle Class and Middle Aged

Can Britain rebalance its economy in an increasingly uncertain global market while also raising living standards? Former Business Secretary Vince Cable looks at the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis and considers how the British economy should best be managed over the next decade and beyond.

Former BBC Arts correspondent, journalist and writer, Rosie Millard discusses her latest novel ‘The Square’. Drawing from her experiences living in an affluent garden square in North London she shares tales from dinner parties, scandalous liasons and reveals what goes on behind closed doors.

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 81)

Andrew Davies

78 1.30pm Great Hall £10

Andrew Davies Adapting the Classics Andrew Davies is a prolific writer of film scripts, adaptations, screenplays, novels and books for children. His work includes adaptations of literary classics such as Michael Dobb’s ‘House of Cards’, Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’, Charles Dickens’ ‘Little Dorrit’ (winner of 7 out of its 11 Emmy nominations) and the recent triumphant adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’. He talks about the extent and range of his work.


Friday 15 July – Great Hall

Mark Haddon

Salley Vickers

79 3.15pm Great Hall £10

Mark Haddon Short But Not Sweet

80 5pm Great Hall £10

Salley Vickers Shakespeare – 400 Years On

Author, illustrator and screenwriter of works including the massively successful novel ‘The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The NightTime’ (now a National Theatre production), Mark Haddon talks about the process of writing and his first collection of short stories, written in a new and darker register.

What does Shakespeare mean to us today? What is his influence on contemporary writers? Salley Vickers was a university lecturer in English Literature then became a Jungian Psychoanalyst. After the success of her first novel, ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’, she began writing full time and now lectures widely on many subjects, particularly the connections between art, literature, psychology and religion.

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 81)

Mitch Benn

81 8pm 10pm (inc. interval) Great Hall £12.50

Mitch Benn Don’t Believe a Word Mitch Benn is a sceptic. But don’t take his word for it. Nor ours. Or indeed anybody’s. For anything . . . This is the basic premise of Mitch Benn’s new critically acclaimed show. It’s a show that will make you laugh a lot and think a bit as he debunks myths, exposes nonsense and grapples with the very nature of knowledge. He extolls the virtues of an evidence-based approach to life . . . with amusing consequences and, of course, a few songs along the way. Best known for his appearances on Radio 4’s ‘The Now Show’, Mitch Benn has also written two novels. ‘Britain’s leading musical satirist’ (The Times)


Saturday 16 July – Great Hall

Steve Jones

82 10am Great Hall £10

83 11.45am Great Hall £10

Franny Moyle

Steve Jones Paris – A City of Revolution and Science In the century around the French Revolution of 1789 Paris was hailed as the world capital of science with the invention of the stethoscope, the first lightning conductor and the first flight. Geneticist Steve Jones discusses the scholars who laid the foundations of today’s physics, chemistry and biology.

Franny Moyle A Surprising Genius JMW Turner’s visionary work paved the way for a revolution in landscape painting. His own life too embodied astonishing transformation. Born the son of a barber, he was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral. Despite professional success, his personal life remained fraught. Franny Moyle unveils the public and private sides of one of Britain’s most admired, misunderstood and celebrated artists.

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 87)

Norma Percy

84 1.30pm Great Hall £10

Norma Percy Obama’s White House

85 3.15pm Great Hall £10

Irving Finkel The Oldest Form of Writing

The BAFTA winning documentary maker Norma Percy throws new light onto Barack Obama’s tenure as the 44th President of the US. She draws upon behind-the-scenes glimpses and interviews with the major players in Obama’s White House.

Irving Finkel, from the Department of the Middle East in the British Museum, tells of the world’s oldest and most interesting writing system. He will demonstrate, with the aid of stunning images, the extraordinary ideas, thoughts and messages that have come down to us on tablets of clay, written in cuneiform script.


Saturday 16 July – Great Hall

Irving Finkel

86 5pm Great Hall £10

87 8pm Great Hall £10

Julian Baggini

Julian Baggini A Sense of Personal Freedom Do we have free will? Are we products of our culture, or free agents within it? By drawing on scientific research and encounters with expert witnesses, artists, addicts, prisoners and dissidents, Julian Baggini wrestles with questions that have puzzled philosophers and theologians for centuries.

Ben Miller Life Beyond Earth Are we alone in the universe? Recently, scientists have made exciting strides towards answering that question. Comedian (one half of comedy double act Armstrong and Miller) and bestselling science writer Ben Miller explores the beginnings of life on Earth and discusses the latest search for alien intelligence.

Day Ticket: £40 (not including event 87)

Ben Miller

FE5 9.30pm Dukes Room £3 (under 16 FREE, but ticketed)

Dartmoor Skies What Lies Above? Stargazing with Dartmoor Skies This is the science lesson we wish we could have had at school. Dartmoor Skies (Bryony and Rob Tilsley) pitch their telescopes and take a tour of the universe, revealing some of the many gems hidden in the night sky. Stars, planets, moons, galaxies and more await.


Saturday 16 July – Barn – International Politics

Luke Harding

88 10am Barn £10

89 11.45am Barn £10

90 1.30pm Barn £10

John Gimlette Sri Lanka – Country of Contradictions

91 3.15pm Barn £10

Xinran China’s One-child Legacy

Xinran

Chris Bickerton Europe, Britain and the EU For most of us, ‘Europe’ refers to the European Union. Political scientist and Official Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge Christopher Bickerton offers a guide to the EU at a time when understanding what the EU is and Britain’s relationship to it is more important than ever before.

Charlotte McDonald-Gibson Stories of Survival Charlotte McDonald-Gibson spent many years reporting on Europe’s refugee crisis. She offers an insight into the personal dilemmas, pressures and choices of individuals forced to flee their homeland. She brings to life the human consequences of the most urgent humanitarian issue of our time.

Day Ticket: £40

sponsored by

92 5pm Barn £10

Sri Lanka is the size of Ireland and home to 5,000 elephants. It hosts an alluring tourist industry but also a savage civil war. John Gimlette recalls encounters with expresidents, cricketers, tea planters and terrorists, takes us on a journey through battlefields, deep jungle, and beguiling cities, and explains why Sri Lanka can be both heavenly and hellish.

One in five of the world’s population is Chinese, 300 million Chinese are under 30, and of these, most are only children as a result of the One Child Policy. What do these only children think and do? Author and journalist, Xinran will discuss their lives and dissect the psyche of modern China.

Luke Harding The Inside Story of Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko was brutally poisoned by polonium – a lethal and highly radioactive substance – in London in 2006. Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding, who spent nearly a decade reporting on the Litvinenko case, sheds light on the man who made some powerful enemies in Russia.


Saturday 16 July – Dukes Room – Oversteps Day A day of events by OVERSTEPS POETS arranged and introduced by Alwyn Marriage 93

10am

Dukes Room

Sally Festing, Wendy Klein, Janet Loverseed, Sue Boyle Welcome to Oversteps

£6

11.30am Dukes Room

Jane Spiro, Jennie Osborne, John Daniel, Angela Stoner Happy Returns

2pm

Dukes Room

£6

Rebecca Bilkau, Alwyn Marriage, Christopher North, Joan McGavin and Company Globe-Trotting

Join us as we travel far and wide, celebrating some specific destinations.

We welcome four new poets to Oversteps, and are sure that you will enjoy their work. 94

95

£6

Regular visitors to the Oversteps Day at Dartington might well have enjoyed readings by one or other of these poets before, and will therefore be keen to discover these new Oversteps collections.

96

3.30pm

Dukes Room

£6

Susan Taylor and Simon Williams, John Daniel and Jane Spiro Partners in Poetry There are not very many couples who both write poetry, so we are delighted to have published work by two such partnerships. These Oversteps poets will read some of their individual and collaborative work, and also talk about the challenges, opportunities, delights and difficulties of such close poetic relationships.

Day Ticket: £12


Sunday 17 July – Great Hall

Paul Kingsnorth

97 11am Great Hall £10

98 12.45pm Great Hall £10

Jonathan Bate

Martin Shaw, Jay Griffiths and Paul Kingsnorth Rogue Bards Jay Griffiths talks about an aspect of the psyche, as described in her book ‘Tristimania: A Diary of Manic Depression’. Paul Kingsnorth addresses the topic of animism; the nature of the mind and the mind of the Earth. Martin Shaw talks about the ancient relationship of story to landscape. In association with Schumacher College

Jonathan Bate The Life and Times of Ted Hughes Ted Hughes, the long-serving Poet Laureate, is widely recognised as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Renowned scholar Sir Jonathan Bate shares the five years he spent exploring the extensive Hughes’ archives unearthing new material, to tell the story of Ted Hughes’ life and work.

Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 101)

Laura Thompson

Satish Kumar

99 2.30pm Great Hall £10

Laura Thompson The Stylish and Scandalous Lives of the Mitford Sisters

100 4.15pm Great Hall £10

Satish Kumar Resurgence and the Ecologist at 50

The Mitford sisters – Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah were ‘bright young things’ of interwar London enjoying stylish and scandalous lives. Biographer Laura Thompson offers insights into the sisters as war loomed over Europe.

For the last 50 years Resurgence has been a forum for environmental, spiritual and social issues. Satish Kumar, the editor of Resurgence, is a former monk and long-term peace and environment activist. This year the paperback of his book ‘Soil, Soul and Society’ is published. He appears regularly in the media including Thought for the Day and previously on Desert Island Discs.


Sunday 17 July – Great Hall

Kay Dunbar and Stephen Bristow 2016 and 1992 (Stop laughing!)

Kay Dunbar and Stephen Bristow (Ways With Words’ directors) talk to Leah Varnell about how the festival started 25 years ago – and how it has developed. Interspersed with this interview will be a selection of their Chosen Songs.

Day Ticket: £32 (not including event 101)

25

Festival Finale – 25th Anniversary Celebration Chosen Songs with Ways With Words’ Directors

25

101 7.30 - 9pm Great Hall £5 (to include a glass of something fizzy)

25 5 2 25

Their choices will be sung by Global Harmony, a 50-strong Totnes community choir, led by Roz Walker, with a reputation for bringing fun and energy to its events.

After this last event the audience is invited to join the organisers of Ways With Words for a glass of something fizzy.


Sunday 17 July – Barn – Women’s Lives

Miranda Sawyer

Paula Byrne

102 11am Barn £10

Miranda Sawyer Mid-Life Crisis – Truth and Lies

103 1pm Barn £10

Frances Borzello In Our Own Image

Highly respected Observer writer Miranda Sawyer takes a funny, insightful look at the mid-life crisis. Hers began “as a sort of queasiness. I felt uncomfortable, as though I had the wrong coat on… Perhaps, I should have left the family for a Portuguese waiter… But I didn’t want to leave my husband. I like my husband. And my kids.”

From the 16th century female artists manipulated their own images knowingly and skilfully. Art historian Frances Borzello considers the rich history of self-portraiture by women who, flouting the restrictions of `femininity’, have insisted on making their own image.

Day Ticket: £32

Juliet Nicholson

104 2.30pm Barn £10

Paula Byrne Kick Kennedy – The Forgotten Sister of JFK

105 4.15pm Barn £10

Juliet Nicolson Seven Generations of Women

Kick Kennedy was born into the most powerful political dynasties in American history. Biographer Paula Byrne explores the life of this freespirited, rebellious and bewitching member of the Kennedy clan and how her family attempted to cover up her untimely death at 28.

Through researching seven generations of strong yet vulnerable mothers and daughters in her family history Juliet Nicolson (granddaughter of Vita SackvilleWest) makes significant discoveries about herself and sees uncomfortable patterns repeated in her own life. She asks what effect does the past really have on the present?


Bursaries to Ways With Words Each year at the Dartington Festival we give away about 30 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. This is a fantastic opportunity to become immersed in the festival, be introduced to new ideas, new authors and make new friends. For details and application procedure email admin@wayswithwords.co.uk

Once again the Ship Studio is hosting Craft workers and Booksellers Dartington Print Makers and Bookbinders Prints & Book Arts Paula Cloonan - Original Artwork & Cards Heidron Guest of PaperWorks, Totnes Paper Crafts Collectable, Secondhand and Antiquarian Books from Colin Baker, Yealmpton Books and Richard Wells.

Eating and Drinking at Dartington Inbetween events there is a range of places on site where you can relax and have a drink, a quick snack or a full meal.

Food Groove Café Locally sourced, freshly prepared, lunches and dinners offering from 9.30am organic coffee, fair-trade teas and sumptuous cakes, with last dinner serving at 7.30pm. Cash payment only, sorry. www.thefoodgroove.co.uk @FoodGrooveCafe

The White Hart Bar and Restaurant – open from 12 - 9pm. With an emphasis on locally sourced food, and value for money, The White Hart is a place to enjoy a great meal in comfortable surroundings.

The Roundhouse Café – open from 9am - 8pm.


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 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 arrival 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 an indiction loop system in place in the Great Hall (please ask the stewards where to sit to take advantage of this) and an Infra Red assisted hearing system in the Barn. The Dukes Room is unamplified.

With thanks to . . . Official Bookselling Partner

Sponsors

The Publishers

Atlantic Books, Biteback Publishing, Bloomsbury, Canongate, Cornerstone, Faber, 4th Estate, Granta Books, Guardian, Halsgrove Publishing, Hamish Hamilton, Harper Collins, Haus Publishing Ltd, Headline, Head of Zeus, Hodder & Stoughton, Ivy Press, Legend Press, Little Brown, Lund Humphries, National Portrait Gallery, Notting Hill Editions, Orion, Oversteps, Oxford University Press, Pan Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Pluto Press, Profile Books, Quercus, Sceptre, September Publishing, Seren Books, Thames & Hudson, The British Museum Press, The History Press, The New Press, Verso, Virago, White Cloud Press, Wild Things Publishing.

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

Ways With Words Staff

The Start of the Next 25 Years . . . Over the next 12 months Ways With Words will be heading off to other, equally splendid, parts of the world. You’d be very welcome to join us in:

Technical Advice: Chris Edwards Technicians: Olly Webb and Ninian Harding

Umbria, Italy for the Ways With Words Writing and Painting Holiday Courses 24 September – 1 October 2016 1 October – 8 October 2016

Colin Goldsmith, Marlene Eyre, Mrs E. Piercey, Brenda & John Wynn

General Manager: Leah Varnell Festival Curators: Chloe Dunbar, Leah Varnell, Jane Fitzgerald Customer Relations and Box Office Manager: Philip John Venue Managers: Jess Morris, Charlie Ansell, Thomasin Marshall Our team of Festival Interns.

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.

Dartington Hall Staff

Tej Walia and his team at Dartington Accommodation and Catering Services Ltd. Jim Whittle and staff at the Barn Cinema.

Photo credits

• Photos of Dartington © Tom Hanks • Photos of Cumbria © Jessica Bracken • 25 Years © Kate Mount, Gill Goddard & Oliver Edwards • Author Photos © Matt Austin, Nigel Barklie, Davina Bell, Jane Bown, Dale Cherry, Gemma Day, Lucy Dickens, Jonny Donovan, Caroline Forbes, Chris Gibbions, Chris Gilbert, Axel Hasslenberg, Caroline Irby, Chris Jelley, Geraint Lewis, Warwick Lister-Kaye, Claire McNamee, Sheetal Mallar, David Plas, Georgina Stewart, Colin Wagg, Helen Warner, Sebastian Willnow, Scott Wishart

Southwold, Suffolk for the Ways With Words Southwold Literature Festival 10 – 14 November 2016

Keswick, Cumbria for the Words by the Water Festival of Words and Ideas 3 – 12 March 2017

And back in Dartington from 7 – 17 July 2017


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David Aaronovitch Decca Aitkenhead Joan Bakewell Juliet Barker Jonathan Bate Mitch Benn Melvyn Bragg Michael Billington Vince Cable David Crystal Andrew Davies Jonathan Dimbleby Helen Dunmore Irving Finkel A.C. Grayling Mark Haddon Roy Hattersley Oliver James Steve Jones A.L. Kennedy Ken Livingstone Rosie Millard Ben Miller George Monbiot Anna Pavord Alice Roberts Philippe Sands Marcus du Sautoy Joseph Stiglitz Mark Watson Fay Weldon Shirley Williams


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