Southwold Literature Festival 6 – 10 November 2014
Ways With Words
Festival Facts Most of the festival events (except events 19 and 20) take place in St Edmund’s Hall which is situated on Cumberland Road, IP18 6JW. There is on-road parking around the Hall and the town’s car parks are no more than a 10 minute walk. There will be a small café running at the Hall during the festival serving hot drinks, cakes, soup, quiches, salads.
Glow at Ways With Words in Southwold . . . or GOS as we call it (Good Ol’ Southwold) or GOSS as we called it this June (Good Ol’ Sunny Southwold). But whether it is GOS or GOSS (and it is unlikely to be the latter in November) we feel certain that a visit to Ways With Words will make you glow. It might be that you leave a talk fired up from the ideas you have heard or warmed from the goodwill of the people you meet at the festival. Maybe you will sparkle after a bracing walk by the sea or maybe from a glass of Adnams beer or wine. There’s much pleasure to be had listening to talks inside St. Edmund’s Hall; exploring the charming town of Southwold with its church, museum, galleries and lighthouse; watching the waves crash on the shingle, as well as relaxing in the comfortable Swan or Crown Hotel. Whether enjoying the festival inside or outdoors this November, Ways With Words will make you glow – physically, mentally and emotionally. Kay Dunbar, Stephen Bristow Chloë and Videl Bar-Kar Festival Directors
proudly supports Ways With Words Festival, Southwold Literature Festival 6 - 10 November
We look forward to seeing you at our festival bookshop.
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16/06/2014 09:49
Around Britain on a Barge
1) 1.30pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 After surviving leukaemia, the famous actor, Timothy Spall, (who recently won acclaim and awards in Cannes for his role as the painter Turner) celebrated life, love and living by taking a Dutch barge, The Princess Matilda, round the coast of Britain, with his wife, Shane. Their travels were the subject of three BBC2 series. They recount the adventures from the second leg of their epic journey.
Richard Coles
Melvyn Bragg
2) 3.15pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 Musician, journalist, Church of England priest, author and BBC radio presenter: Richard Coles’ life is as varied as these roles suggest. The Reverend Richard Coles is the popular presenter of the Radio 4 programme, ‘Saturday Live’. He was the inspiration for BBC2’s comedy, ‘Rev’, and for the gay friend, Tom, in the Bridget Jones’ films. Today he will be an inspiration to everyone!
3) 5pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 Broadcaster and novelist Melvyn Bragg talks about his latest novel, ‘Grace and Mary’. A man mourns his mother’s decaying mind. Hoping to shore up her memory, he prompts her with songs, photographs and questions about when she was a young woman. This sets him on a deeply moving, elegiac story that stretches back to the 19th century and the time of his great grandmother.
Life’s Lessons
Family Fiction
Thursday Day Ticket : £27
THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER
Timothy and Shane Spall
The Royal Literary Fund Talk James Long
FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER
War and Love 6) 1.30pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 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.
Cate Haste
Craigie Aitchison: his life and art 4) 10am St Edmund’s Hall £11 Cate Haste has written political biography (‘The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister’ – with Cherie Blair; a memoir of Clarissa Eden and ‘Nazi Women’). She won the Lakeland Book of the Year Award for her illustrated book on the artist Sheila Fell. Now she has tackled the life of the Scottish artist Craigie Aitchison. His poetic use of vibrant colour; his interest in shape and design and his fascination with Tuscan icons have made him one of the most popular contemporary artists.
Friday Day Ticket : £45
Charles Spencer
King Charles I’s Killers 5) 11.45am St Edmund’s Hall £11 Charles Spencer is a well-known figure, a bestselling author and a compelling speaker. He tells with verve and authority a powerful tale of revenge from the dark heart of royal history and offers a fascinating insight into the dangers of political and religious allegiance in Stuart England.
The Royal Literary Fund was set up in 1790 to help professional authors. Past beneficiaries have included Coleridge, Joseph Conrad, D H Lawrence and Dylan Thomas. Last year it helped 200 writers, though not all of them are quite so famous yet. www.rlf.org.uk
On Friday 7 November from 6.30pm - 8pm Adnams invites all festival-goers to call in to the Cellar & Kitchen Store on Victoria Street for a drinks reception and a chance to browse round the store. Perfect for Christmas.
Tessa Newcomb talks to Kay Dunbar
Painting As Part of My Life
7) 3.15pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 Tessa Newcomb is reluctant to call herself an artist but rather sees her work as a record of her daily life. Her books combine art and writing and are celebrations of what she loves. She is the daughter of the painter Mary Newcomb, and it was by using offcuts of board and card discarded by her mother that she began painting. She has exhibited in many venues including Crane Kalman Gallery, London.
Martin Bell
National Service 8) 5pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 Following the discovery of a pile of old letters in his attic, Martin Bell has written a book about National Service and his time in the Suffolk Regiment in Cyprus from 1957 to 1959. Martin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and independent politician.
Friday Day Ticket : £45
FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER
Adnams’ Cellar & Kitchen Store
SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER
Juliet Barker
The Peasants’ Revolt 9) 10am St Edmund’s Hall £11 Why did a diverse group of ordinary men and women unite in armed rebellion against church and state to demand a radical political agenda? The dramatic and shocking events of the Peasants’ Revolt provide the backdrop to Juliet Barker’s latest fascinating book. The acclaimed historian and distinguished biographer of the Brontës and Wordsworth will talk of this colourful incident in medieval England with her usual authority and style.
Saturday Day Ticket : £45
John Julius Norwich
Cities That Shaped the Ancient World 10) 11.45am St Edmund’s Hall £11 Cities marked the earliest development of civilization. John Julius Norwich, the magisterial historian and writer, gives an illuminating tour with spectacular images of some of the urban centres as they are today.
A Writers’ Life 11) 1.30pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 It is impossible to classify Julia Blackburn. Her books have spanned many genres. Recently she has written a long poem on starlings about the death of her husband. She says of her work, “. . . If I look back at what I have done there is a common thread which connects my novels, biographies (if that is what they are) and memoirs, I am interested in predicaments.”
Saturday Day Ticket : £45
Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Andrew Davies
12) 3.15pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 In 1919 the poet and dabbling politician Gabriele D’Annunzio declared himself Commandante of the city of Fiume in modern-day Croatia. Lucy HughesHallett charts the story of the right-wing revolutionary, romantic artist and utopianseeking figure who set his dreams against a backdrop of rising Fascism. Her book was the winner of the 2013 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction and the 2013 Costa Award for biography of the year.
13) 5pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 Andrew Davies is one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful screen writers in the UK today, famous for his adaptations of many classical period dramas including ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Bleak House’, ‘Little Dorrit’, ‘Middlemarch’. His latest drama, ‘A Poet In New York’, was about fellow Welshman Dylan Thomas’ fateful final visit to America in 1953. He is currently adapting Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ for the BBC.
The Poet, the Fascist, the Revolutionary
Adaptations and Achievements
SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER
Julia Blackburn
SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER
Esther Freud
Norma Percy
Steve Jones
14) 10am St Edmund’s Hall £11 Charles Rennie Mackintosh spent time painting and drawing the Suffolk coast. Some of these famous works can be bought as postcards from Southwold shops. Esther Freud has used his time in Suffolk as inspiration for her latest novel, ‘Mr Mac and Me’. She will talk about her fiction and its blend of fact and fiction.
15) 11.45am St Edmund’s Hall £11 A Guardian leader “In praise of Norma Percy” said, “Every significant international story seems to have its Percy film”. Watergate; 2nd Russian Revolution; Death of Yugoslavia; the Iraq War; Putin, Russia and the West have all won Baftas, Emmys and dozens of major awards. She retells momentous events from the recent past with meticulous objectivity. How do they rate as history?
16) 1.30pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 In his latest book, ‘The Serpent’s Promise: The Bible Retold as Science’, geneticist Professor Steve Jones rewrites the Bible in light of modern science. Are Adam and Eve our ancestors? Did the Great Flood signal the end of the Ice Age? Discover how much science can tell us about who we are.
Mackintosh’s Visit to the Suffolk Coast
Can TV Make History?
Sunday Day Ticket : £45 (not including event 19)
Science and the Bible
The World of Conan Doyle
17) 3.15pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 Anthony Horowitz created ‘Midsomer Murders’ and ‘Foyles War’. He has received great acclaim – and fame – through his many children’s books. Also he has breathed new life into the world of Conan Doyle to weave thrilling page-turners. Horowitz’s latest book, ‘Moriarty’, seems set to be a global bestseller like his other Sherlock Holmes novel, ‘The House of Silk’. He unravels the appeal of mystery, suspense and Conan Doyle.
Alistair Carr
Blake Morrison
18) 5pm St Edmund’s Hall £11 Alistair Carr takes us on a dangerous and unusual journey across the remote and inhospitable Sahel in North Africa. He tells tales of rebellion, lost civilizations and explorers. His book of these ambitious travels, ‘The Nomad’s Path: Travels in the Sahel’, is evocatively written and as Colin Thubron said, “it makes you want to go.”
News that Stays News
Desert Travel
Literary Dinner – 19) 7 for 7.30pm The Swan Hotel £50 Bankers, tax havens, call centres, hacking, surveillance, the coalition: Blake Morrison’s satirical poems shed a new light on events we have lived through in recent times, as well as covering a number of more personal issues. Witty and astute, they’re a topical tour de force. Ticket holders will receive a copy of Blake Morrison’s book, ‘This Poem’, at the event.
Sunday Day Ticket : £45 (not including event 19)
SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER
Anthony Horowitz
MONDAY 10 NOVEMBER
Alan Johnson
The Sequel 20) 10.30am St Edmund’s Church £11 By the age of 18 Alan Johnson was married, a father and working as a postman in Slough. ‘Please, Mr. Postman’, the sequel to his bestselling memoir, ‘This Boy’, describes the next period in his life with every bit as much honesty, humour and emotional impact as his bestselling debut. ‘Please, Mr Postman’ paints a vivid picture of a bygone era – Britain in the 1970s was a very different country to the one we know today – and reveals another fascinating chapter in the life of one of our best-loved public figures.
Become a Friend of Ways With Words Many people use the Friends’ early booking scheme when applying for tickets for Southwold. Call 01803 867373 or email admin@wayswithwords.co.uk TERMS & CONDITIONS Ways With Words (WWW) reserves the right without prior warning to alter the programme if circumstances dictate. For full details of our policy on event cancellations, ticket refunds, exchanges and re-sales please refer to the website www.wayswithwords.co.uk/terms LOST TICKETS: Please take great care of your tickets. WWW will not replace lost tickets. No unauthorised photographing or recording of events.
Dates for your Diary: Words by the Water in the Lake District 6 – 15 March 2015
Holiday Courses with Ways With Words
Writing and Art Course and Discussion Groups in Italy Villa Pia, Umbria, Italy Week one: 20 – 27 Sept. 2014 Week two: 27 Sept. – 4 Oct. 2014 Art Tutor (both weeks) : Mary Knott Writing Tutor
(week one) : Mark McCrum (week two) : Blake Morrison
Ways With Words at Dartington Hall, Devon 3 – 13 July 2015
And back in Southwold, Suffolk The Southwold Literature Festival 5 – 9 November 2015
Inspiring landscapes • lovely local walks • delicious food All abilities are catered for. All activities are optional. www.wayswithwords.co.uk
PACKAGES
Ways With Words offers half-board (dinner, B&B) packages inclusive of tickets at both the Swan Hotel and the Crown Hotel in Southwold. The Swan package is for 4 nights (Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun) and includes tickets for all events during the festival and the literary dinner. The Crown package is for 4 nights (as the Swan above) or 3 nights (Fri, Sat, Sun) including tickets for all events on Sat, Sun & Mon and the literary dinner. In each room there will be Buy One Get One Free vouchers for use in Adnams’ Hotels. Guests also receive a complimentary newspaper each day. Packages can be booked at any time using the form opposite or by telephone 01803 867373 (NB. The Ways With Words office will have limited opening during August.) Both hotels are offering a free dinner for guests wishing to stay on Wednesday 5th and/or Monday 10th. Please phone the hotel where you are staying quoting ‘WWW 5th Night’. Swan Hotel: 01502 722186 Crown Hotel: 01502 722275 These must be booked in advance.
HOW TO BOOK
The booking form opposite can be used to book packages and tickets for individual events. Please send with s.a.e. to: Ways With Words, Droridge Farm, Dartington, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6JG Payments by cheque (to ‘Ways With Words’) Please date and sign the cheque but leave the rest blank. On the crossed section (where it says A/C Payee) write: “not to exceed: (the amount of your order in words)”. This is in case some of your order is not available, in which case we shall complete your cheque for the lesser amount unless you tell us to do otherwise. Bookings using credit/debit card can be made on this form, by telephone: 01803 867373 and online: www.wayswithwords.co.uk (online ticket sales available from 16 Sept.) PLEASE NOTE: Friends’ booking will start on Tuesday 9 September (post & phone only) (2 tickets per event limit). General booking will start on Tuesday 16 September Any postal bookings received before these dates will be filed but will not be processed until booking opens.
INDIVIDUAL AND DAY TICKETS
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Booking Conditions Payment in full is required at the time of booking. Cancellations cannot be refunded. Customers are strongly advised to take out holiday insurance.
Event 1) Timothy & Shane Spall 2) Richard Coles 3) Melvyn Bragg All-day Thursday 4) Cate Haste 5) Charles Spencer 6) James Long 7) Tessa Newcomb 8) Martin Bell All-day Friday 9) Juliet Barker 10) John Julius Norwich 11) Julia Blackburn 12) Lucy Hughes-Hallett 13) Andrew Davies All-day Saturday 14) Esther Freud 15) Norma Percy 16) Steve Jones 17) Anthony Horowitz 18) Alistair Carr All-day Sunday 19) Literary Dinner - B. Morrison 20) Alan Johnson
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Prices are per person sharing twin / double. Please circle the package you would like. Swan Crown Crown 4 night 4 night 3 night Classic £690 630 472 single occ. £939 N/A N/A Superior £745 £678 £507 Premier £820 £728 £545 Single Room £757 £759 £550
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PACKAGES
Juliet Barker Martin Bell Julia Blackburn Melvyn Bragg Alistair Carr Richard Coles Andrew Davies Esther Freud Cate Haste Anthony Horowitz Lucy Hughes-Hallett Alan Johnson Steve Jones James Long Blake Morrison Tessa Newcomb John Julius Norwich Norma Percy Timothy & Shane Spall Charles Spencer
Tickets & Information 01803 867373 wayswithwords.co.uk