9 - 15 MAY IPSWICH
Where will the stories take you? Bookseast Festival Funders, Supporters And Partners Books East gratefully acknowledges the support of the following organisaitons without whom our inaugural festival would not have been possible: Our Supporters
Festival Sponsor:
Festival Bookseller
engagement programme LET'S TALK BOOKS Media Partners
Event Sponsors
James Campbell see page 4
Alison Weir see page 10
Sir Ranulph Fiennes see page 12
David Millar see page 20
Our generous in-kind supporters
With special thanks to Suffolk County Coucillors Bryony Rudkin and Inga Lockington, Councillors Kathy Bole, Helen Armitage, Mandy Gaylard, Bill Quinton and Kim Clements. for their support through their locality funds. Additional thanks to Ipswich Building Society, Ipswich Central, Le Tower Cycle Cafe, Brian Morron and David Ryland at Suffolk Book League, Ed Broom and the Ipswich Writers' Cafe, Sara Nicholl, Sonia Mermagen, Simon Bretherton, New Wolsey Theatre, Eastern Angles and DanceEast and Chris Gribble and Sam Ruddock, Writers’ Centre Norwich and our many other supporters and volunteers. BooksEast official charity - St Elizabeth's Hospice BooksEast is a Community Interest Company, Number 9899309.
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Welcome to BooksEast, Ipswich's newest festival. This May we celebrate the written word and bring you beloved writers to share the wonder, magic and laughter of their writing. Accessible and wide ranging, BooksEast is a journey that introduces you to dozens of new adventures; including workshops and author visits to schools; a literary pub crawl; a Writers’ Cafe for budding writers; and an evening with Sir Christopher Frayling discussing his passion for Spaghetti Westerns with a screening of the seminal Sergio Leone film, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. From 13-15 May, the Town Hall and Corn Exchange are the hub of activity, where writers from across the UK and further afield join us here in Ipswich. There is definitely something for everyone, from Francesca Simon discussing her newest book and Meg Rosoff launching her first adult novel, to the world's most intrepid adventurer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Learn about John Peel from biographer David Cavanagh and meet one of the world's most popular historical novelists, Alison Weir. The Festival concludes with a fantastic late afternoon hosted by comedian Katy Brand, with co-writers of TV’s Miranda, Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley, the duo behind the new adult tongue-in-cheek Ladybird Books for Grown Ups as they demonstrate that what lies between the covers is never predictable!
Controversial, challenging, fun and thought provoking, our line-up of authors share their passions, writing secrets and thoughts with all of you. We are thrilled to be working in partnership with our hosts Ipswich Borough Council and the Ipswich Film Theatre. It is a chance to spend the weekend in one location, buy books from our Waterstones pop up shop and relax in the Town Hall cafe all in the heart of central Ipswich.
Do come along and join us for an event or an entire weekend - bring the family or come on your own. There is definitely something for everyone at the inaugural BooksEast Festival! I very much looking forward to seeing you at BooksEast! Warmest wishes, ASSIS CARREIRO - FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
PS - there are so very many people and
organisations to thank for making this Festival become a reality! Special thanks to Arts Council England, Ipswich Borough Council and the amazing BooksEast Team who have worked beyond the call of duty and with a great passion to see the festival realised!
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FAMILY & CHILDREN
FAMILY & CHILDREN
James Campbell
Tracey Corderoy
Come and meet James Campbell, author of the hugely popular Boyface series. Boyface Antelope has been waiting his whole life to turn ten and be allowed to enter his parents’ stripemongering shop so he can take stripes off animals and put them on something different. Like tartan onto badgers, or removing the stripes of zebras to make ponies. On the morning of his tenth birthday he finds his parents ill, and they ask him not just to go in the shop but to look after it on his own! Will he be able to keep the stripemongery running smoothly?
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam are two hapless robber dogs who decide on career change after one bungled burglary too many – proving that crime doesn’t pay, but cupcakes certainly do! Meet the author of this hugely popular children’s book, beautifully illustrated by Steve Lenton.
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10am 11am
Town Hall Gallery 3
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FAMILY & CHILDREN
FAMILY & CHILDREN
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Ruth Fitzgerald
Kevin Crossley-Holland
Ruth Fitzgerald’s Emily Sparkes and the Friendship Fiasco has been shortlisted for the inaugural Laugh Out Aloud Awards [Lollies] Award! Ruth will be talking about her books, a bit and reading from her books, a bit - but mostly explaining how she is going to get extremely rich with the help of her uniquely talented dog. Warning - show contains scenes of extreme giggling.
Kevin Crossley-Holland presents Heartsong, a spell-binding tale about the healing power of music set against the mystery and beauty of Venice. Kevin was brought up on a diet of East Anglian folk-tales. He won the Carnegie Medal for Storm and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award for The Seeing Stone, now translated into 25 languages. This short novel is exquisitely illustrated by acclaimed artist, Jane Ray. Her work is inspired by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the real girls and boys who lived and laughed and worked in the Venetian Orphanage.
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1:30pm 2:30pm
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3pm 4pm
Town Hall Gallery 3
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BOOKS & FILM
CHILDREN & FAMILY
Paddington (pg)
Francesca Simon
Spend your Sunday morning in the company of everyone’s favourite bear, the marmaladeloving Paddington, with a screening of this Bafta nominated film whose stars include Hugh Bonneville and Julie Walters… A young Peruvian bear with a passion for all things British travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined - until he meets the kind Brown family, who read the label around his neck (‘Please look after this bear. Thank you.’) and offer him a temporary haven. It looks as though his luck has changed until this rarest of bears catches the eye of a museum taxidermist…
Francesa Simon will be talking about her first teen novel The Monstrous Child. Younger readers may have enjoyed the misbehaviour of Horrid Henry, but Francesca's new heroine is a teenager who also happens to be ruler of the underworld. Hel is far past being just 'horrid' and there's a whole new world for readers to explore
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Ipswich Film Theatre
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£8 £6 Under 16s
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£11 Adults £8.50 Children £29 Family
(4 people including at least 2 children)
TAKE PART
SHORT STORY COMPETITION All aspiring writers aged 11 to 16 at the time of entering are invited to share their talents by creating a short story on the theme ‘WAVES’. Your story can be from your own experience. It could be historical, science fiction, a love story, a thriller, a monologue, or anything in between. Feel free to interpret the theme of ‘WAVES’ as imaginatively as you would like! To take part, simply email your entry – which should be no longer than 250 words – by XXX date to YYY EMAIL ADDRESS – remember to include Waves in the email Subject Line plus, in the email, your name, a contact telephone number and your date of birth. By entering, you retain copyright of your work and give permission for BooksEast to publish the winning entry. If you win, you will also be invited to attend a special awards ceremony during the festival. Employees of media partners EADT / Ipswich Star & BBC Radio Suffolk and their families are not eligible to enter.
The competition will be judged by the Ipswich Childen’s Book Group which this year celebrates its fortieth year. There is no entry fee and the judge’s decision is final.
Good luck – and have fun!
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TAKE PART
GET INVOLVED! As well as meeting a fantastic line-up of authors, the BooksEast Festival offers plenty of opportunities for you to get involved… ADULT COLOURING COMPETITION
Buy a ticket to any event within the 2016 BooksEast Festival and claim your free illustration from Millie Marotta’s hugely popular adult colouring book Wild Savannah, which you can pick up in person from the Town Hall from Monday 4 April. Colour it in and hand it in to any member of BooksEast staff or volunteers during the festival, making sure to include your name, email address and a contact phone number. We will publish a selection of the winning entries immediately after this year’s festival – and the overall winner – chosen by festival director Assis Carreiro – will receive a FREE FESTIVAL PASS for all events in next year’s BooksEast Festival!
SHORT STORY COMPETITION See page 7 for details.
If you’re aged 11 to 16 or know someone who is, why not take part in our free-to-enter Short Story Competition?
ST ELIZABETH’S HOSPICE POP-UP BOOKSHOP Our official festival charity, St Elizabeth’s Hospice, is arranging for dozens of book-shops to appear throughout the town in the weeks leading up to and during the festival. Donate a book, or buy a book and make a donation to St Elizabeth’s Hospice and make a real difference to their invaluable work today!
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Mon 9
WRITERS’ CAFÉ
Bring along a piece of creative writing that you’d like to read aloud. Could be a short story, poem, novel extract or monologue, but please try to stay within five minutes. Scribble your name, pop it into the hat and, when your names comes out, enjoy your five minutes of fame. After each batch of five or six readers, we’ll break to chat, exchange contact details and refill our cups. No booking required. Free entry. Spectators welcome. See you there!
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7:30pm La Tour 9:30pm Cyle Café 17 tower st, ipswich ip1 3be please note: there is only a capacity of approximately 50 places at this café and entry will be on a first come, first served basis so turn up early to avoid disappointment.
TAKE PART
Your chance to join them, and get well and truly into the festival spirit!
Wed 11 & Thu 12 LITERARY PUB CRAWL
Eastern Angles’ Artistic Director Ivan Cutting has created Red Skies, a literary pub crawl, specially commissioned by BooksEast. George Orwell and Arthur Ransome two world famous writers with very different links to Ipswich. Orwell, who took his name from the river, and Ransome, now resident on it, go on a fictional pub crawl in the town. The two men are in search of answers, both political and personal whilst the former is about to write Animal Farm, the latter is married to Trotsky’s secretary, so sparks could fly. This is your chance to join them, and get well and truly into the festival spirit! Meeting at The Thomas Wolsey pub on St Peters Street, we will journey to the Lord Nelson and The Dove in the company of these writers as they work out their differences and ambitions. start/finish
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QUIZ NIGHT
Join fellow bookworms for a Quiz Night and get into festival mood with this fun event organised by Suffolk Libraries.
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FICTION
FICTION
Fiona Neill
IN CONVERSATION WITH BOOKSEAST FESTIVAL DIRECTOR ASSIS CARREIRO Bestselling author Fiona Neill (author of the Slummy Mummy books) is back with The Good Girl - a dark, compelling and controversial novel of one family’s darkest secrets. start/finish
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12noon 1pm
Town Hall Gallery 3
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£8 £6 Under 16s
Alison Weir
IN CONVERSATION WITH BEN GUMMER MP The lives of Henry VIII’s queens make for dramatic stories. In her new novel Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen, the first in a series of six, Alison Weir tells the poignant story of Katherine of Aragon, the King’s first wife, drawing on new research and keeping closely to the historical record. She approaches her tale from Katherine’s point of view, which affords an intimate psychological perspective on this indomitable, courageous and principled woman.
“I loved every page. Katherine was truly admirable and totally believable. It is a great book, a truly marvellous book – never falters, never fails to deliver.” (h.r.h. princess michael of kent) venue/room
1pm 2pm
Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
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NON FICTION
Dame Fiona Reynolds IN CONVERSATION WITH DR SIMON LYSTER - The Case for Beauty
Jill Dawson
WRITING WORKSHOP Open to writers of all levels of experience. Place and Setting in Fiction - how to bring landscapes to life? A dynamic, practical workshop suitable for beginners and more experienced writers to consider the way that place, nature, settings - both urban and rural - and landscape can be explored in their writing. If you have a novel on the go, or short stories under the bed, this is the workshop for you. Dawson is known for her inspirational workshops and for mentoring many new writers and first time authors via the scheme she runs, Gold Dust. Come with an open mind, be ready to talk, listen... and write. start/finish
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2pm 4:30pm
Town Hall Giles Room Under 16s
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£22 £16.50
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Conservationist and campaigner Dame Fiona Reynolds makes the case for the power of beauty and how it can lead us towards solutions to present crises. She demonstrates the irresistible way in which it forces its way into our decisions and debates. A stirring polemic, The Case for Beauty warns of the dark future ahead but also demonstrates that this isn’t inevitable – an alternative future is within our reach, if there is a will and a want to work hard enough to achieve it. A lawyer by background, Dr Simon Lyster has always been passionate about wildlife and has worked for environmental organisations for most of his professional life. He worked for WWF for 10 years and went on to become Director General of the Wildlife Trusts, one of the largest conservation organisations in the UK. start/finish
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2:30pm 3:30pm
Town Hall Council
dr simon lyster
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NON FICTION
FICTION
Kate Pullinger
Tassos Stevens
Sarah Ellis
Digital Storytelling Panel
Life At The Limits
AN EVENING WITH SIR RANULPH FIENNES
Sarah Ellis, head of digital at the Royal Shakespeare Company, chairs and participates in an illuminating panel discussion about Digital Storytelling with fellow panellists Kate Pullinger (award winning novelist and pioneer of digital literary works) and Tassos Stevens. Tassos Stevens is founder, director and artist frequently representing Coney. Coney makes all kinds of play where the audience can take meaningful part, often using digital platforms to talk with people wherever they are in the experience. start/finish
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t @tassosstevens / @agencyofconey
Legendary explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes discusses his extraordinary life, from his ancestral heritage to the present day, with long-time friend and expedition partner Anton Bowring. From light-hearted to strikingly poignant, A Life at the Limits covers Sir Ranulph’s childhood, misdemeanours at school, army life and early expeditions, right through to the Transglobe Expedition, Mt Everest, the Coldest Journey and the world’s toughest foot race - the Marathon des Sables. start/finish venue/room tickets /e 7:30pm Corn £22 9:45pm Exchange £18 Under 16s
e includes £2 / £1.50 booking fee per ticket Ranulph Fiennes will be signing copies of his books after the event, including Cold and his latest book Heat.
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continued overleaf
TAKE PART
FICTION
Jill Dawson
IN CONVERSATION WITH BOOKSEAST FESTIVAL DIRECTOR ASSIS CARREIRO What goes on in the heads of novelists who write about sociopaths and murderers? What divides those who can imagine killing someone from those who actually kill? Could someone like the eccentric American novelist Patricia Highsmith, creator of some of the most chilling characters in twentieth entury literature have ever crossed that line? These are some of the questions Jill Dawson explores in this fascinating, clever novel, a seamless blend of fact and fiction in which Highsmith is both subject and protagonist. The story is set in 1964, and sees Highsmith hiding out in a cottage in Suffolk, to concentrate on her writing and escape her fans, as well as a stalker. She has another motive too – a secret romance with a married lover based in London. This is a tour de force from the Orange Prize-shortlisted Dawson – at once a pitch perfect portrait of Patricia Highsmith and a riveting tale of duplicity, madness and murder. start/finish
10am 11am
venue/room tickets* Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
assis carreiro
Bali Rai
WRITING WORKSHOP Learn how to create realistic teenage characters, capture their voices, and construct engaging plots around their lives. With a firm focus on contemporary British lives and culture, Bali will give you insights into his own working methods and pass on a few secrets too! A session for anyone interested in writing great YA fiction with a realistic edge. Bali Rai has written many novels for teenagers and younger readers. He grew up in Leicester, England where he returned after studying in London. His working-class, British Asian background influences and inspires his writing and his novels capture the unique ethnic mix of the UK, of which he is proud to be a part. start/finish
10am 12:30pm
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Town Hall Giles Room
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£22 £18 Under 16s
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14
NON FICTION
NON FICTION
Edward Lucas
JOHN PEEL BIOGRAPHER
IN CONVERSATION WITH JEFFREY KOFMAN Cyberphobia and The New Cold War In Cyberphobia, Edward Lucas reveals the ways in which cyberspace is not the secure zone we may hope, how passwords provide no significant obstacle to anyone intent on getting past them, and how anonymity is easily accessible to anyone – malign or benign – willing to take a little time covering their tracks. Now updated with an incisive analysis of Russia’s seizure of Crimea and its destabilisation of Ukraine, The New Cold War unpicks the roots of the Kremlin’s ideology and exposes the West’s naive belief that Putin’s sinister and authoritarian regime might ever be a friend or partner. Edward Lucas discusses both of these thought-provoking books with investigative journalist Jeffrey Kofman. start/finish
11:30pm 12:30pm
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venue/room tickets* Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
jeffrey kofman
David Cavanagh
IN CONVERSATION WITH BBC RADIO SUFFOLK’S STEPHEN FOSTER Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Britain is a social history, a diary of a nation’s changing culture, and an in-depth appraisal of one of our greatest broadcasters, a man who can legitimately be called the most influential figure in post-war British popular music. The book focuses on some 300 shows between 1967 and 2004, giving a thorough overview of Peel’s broadcasting career and placing it in its cultural and social contexts. David Cavanagh was a feature writer for Select and Q, and is the author of the acclaimed history of Creation Records My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize. start/finish
1pm 2pm
venue/room tickets* Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
stephen foster
NON FICTION
NON FICTION
Tim Ewart
Sir Christopher Frayling
Join ITV’s Royal Correspondent Tim Ewart as he discusses his book Queen Elizabeth II – a celebration of Her Majesty’s 90th year, in conversation with BooksEast festival patron Nina Nannar.
Sir Christopher Frayling gives a fascinating insight into the life one of the twentieth century’s most enigmatic and original writers. He is perhaps the most wide-ranging cultural historian of our times: the author of numerous publications on subjects ranging from vampires to Westerns; the writer and presenter of successful television series, whether on advertising, the Middle Ages or Tutankhamun. He is a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, and was Rector of the Royal College of Art, London, from 1996 to 2009, where he remains Professor Emeritus of Cultural History. His many public appointments have included Chairman of Arts Council England; Chairman of the Design Council; and the longest-serving Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
IN CONVERSATION WITH NINA NANNAR Queen Elizabeth II
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2:30pm 3:30pm
Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
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Inside the Bloody Chamber; on Angela Cater, the Gothic and other weird tales
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nina nannar
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NON FICTION
FICTION
Sir Christopher Frayling Helen Simonson
IN CONVERSATION WITH BBC RADIO SUFFOLK’S LESLEY DOLPHIN The Summer Before the War Witty, heart-warming and profoundly moving, The Summer Before the War is the story of an unexpected heroine and an unassuming village, caught up in an unimaginable war – by the bestselling author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. start/finish
5:30pm 6:30pm
venue/room tickets* Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
IN CONVERSATION WITH NEIL MCGLONE Once Upon a Time in Italy followed by film The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Sir Christopher Frayling discusses his 2008 book Once Upon a Time in Italy: The Westerns of Sergio Leone. This insightful talk will be followed, at 7:15pm, by a screening of Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Sir Christopher Frayling is perhaps the most wide-ranging cultural historian of our times. Neil McGlone was born in Ipswich and grew up in nearby Woodbridge. He is a contributor to the film magazine Sight and Sound and freelance researcher for the New York DVD label, The Criterion Collection. Neil is currently curating a year-long programme of film related events at Woodbridge’s The Riverside. start/finish
venue/room 6:30pm Ipswich 10:15pm Film Theatre
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lesley dolphin
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neil mcglone
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£11 £8.50 Under 16s
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NON FICTION
© elizabeth handy
NON FICTION
Charles Handy
IN CONVERSATION WITH MARK GOYDER The Second Curve Charles Handy is one of the giants of contemporary thought. His books on management thinking have changed the way we do business, as well as how business is taught. In The Second Curve, Handy builds on a life’s work to glimpse into the future and see what challenges and opportunities lie ahead. He looks at current trends in capitalism and asks whether it is a sustainable system. He explores the dangers of a society built on credit. He challenges the myth that remorseless growth is essential. He even asks if we should rethink our roles in life – as students, parents, workers and voters – and what the aims of an ideal society of the future should be. In conversation with Mark Goyder, a broadcaster, writer and business visionary who has addressed business, investor, policymaker and academic audiences worldwide. start/finish
10am 11am
venue/room tickets* Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
mark goyder
Roger Hermiston
IN CONVERSATION WITH SIR NICHOLAS YOUNG - All Behind You, Winston Churchill’s Great Coalition 1940-45 Roger Hermiston is a writer and journalist. He is the author of three books - Clough and Revie, The Greatest Traitor and his latest, All Behind You, Winston - Churchill’s Great Coalition 1940-45. After a decade as a newspaper reporter he joined the BBC, where he was Assistant Editor on the Today programme, BBC Radio 4, from 1998-2010. He lives in Cavendish, Suffolk, with partner Eileen, two cats, two donkeys and a pony. Sir Nicholas Young worked in the charity sector for Macmillan Cancer Relief and British Red Cross where he was Chief Executive until his retirement in 2014. He remains an honorary vice president. start/finish
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Town Hall Gallery 3
sir nicholas young
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NON FICTION
photo: patrickphotos.co.uk
FICTION
Meg Rosoff
IN CONVERSATION WITH NINA NANNAR Jonathan Unleashed Meg Rosoff’s recently published adult fiction debut Jonathan Unleashed has been received with rapturous acclaim by press and public alike. Join Meg in conversation with BooksEast Festival patron Nina Nannar about this extraordinary achievement.
‘No one writes the way Rosoff does — as if she’s thrown away the rules. I love her fizzy honesty, her pluck, her way of untangling emotion through words’ guardian ‘Genius!’ anthony horowitz ‘Completely, completely wonderful’ lucy mangan start/finish
11:30pm 12:30pm
18
venue/room tickets* Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
nina nannar
Laura Dodsworth
IN CONVERSATION WITH REBECCA SMITHERS - Bare Reality: 100 women, their breasts, their stories Public debate about breasts has become big news. From Free The Nipple and No More Page 3, to breastfeeding selfies on Facebook and Rihanna on the red carpet, everyone has an opinion on how and where breasts should be viewed. Now, in the ground-breaking Bare Reality project and compelling new book, we hear for the first time how women really feel about their breasts, and see how they really look. In this beautiful and inspirational book, 100 women, aged from 19 to 101, share un-airbrushed pictures of their breasts alongside honest, courageous and moving stories about their breasts, their lives and what it means to be a woman. start/finish
1pm 2:30pm
venue/room tickets* Town Hall £8 Council Chamber £6 Under 16s
rebecca smithers
NON FICTION
FICTION
Eimer McBride
Andrew Michael Hurley
Sam Jordison
Bright Futures
THREE OUTSTANDING AUTHORS WITH UNIQUE VOICES
Lyndsey Winship BEING A DANCER
Eimear McBride (A Girl is a Half Formed Thing); Andrew Michael Hurley (The Loney); and Jessica Cornwell (The Serpent Papers) – are in conversation with Sam Jordison. Eimear McBride took the literary world by storm with her novel which won several prizes including the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Goldsmith’s Prize. Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney won the Costa First Book Award and Jessica Cornwell’s The Serpent Papers, the first in a projected trilogy, was at the centre of an international bidding war. Sam Jordison is the co-director of Galley Beggar Press, an author and journalist. He writes regularly for the Guardian and occasionally reviews for the TLS. He is responsible for the best-selling Crap Towns series of books and is currently working on a book about HG Wells, cycling and socialism. start/finish
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1:30pm 2:30pm
Town Hall Gallery 3
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How do I get a job as a dancer? Where and when should I train? How can I protect my body from injury? How do I become a choreographer? These and many more such questions asked by young or aspiring dancers are answered in this book – the most revealing and instructive book yet on what it means to be a dancer. Lyndsey Winship is Dance Critic of the London Evening Standard and a regular contributor to the Guardian. She was dance editor at Time Out for five years and has written for The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Times, TES, Metro, The Stage, Easyjet magazine, Sinfinimusic.com and many other publications, on the arts, education, travel and TV.
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£8 £6 Under 16s
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NON FICTION
FICTION
Xiaolu Guo
David Millar
Join Granta ‘Best of British’ novelist Xiaolu Guo discussing her book I Am China with former Essex Book Festival director Belinda Farrell. Xiaolu Guo was born in China and now lives in London. She is also the author of Village of Stone (the translation was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award); A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers which was shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction and has been translated into twenty-four languages, 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth which was long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize, UFO in her Eyes, recently made into an award-winning film by Xiaolu herself, and a collection of short stories, Lovers in the Age of Indifference.
What is it really like to be a racer? David Millar offers us a unique insight into the mind of a professional cyclist during his last year before retirement. Over the course of a season on the World Tour, Millar puts us in touch with the sights, smells and sounds of the sport. This is a book about youth and age, fresh-faced excitement and hard-earned experience. It is a love letter to cycling. David Millar was a professional cyclist for eighteen years, and was the first Briton to wear the leader’s jerseys in the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia. He is now part of the ITV cycling commentary team and a key spokesman on anti-doping. His first book Racing Through the Dark was a bestseller and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.
IN CONVERSATION WITH BELINDA FARRELL I Am China
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3pm 4pm
Town Hall Gallery 3
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belinda farrell
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£8 £6 Under 16s
IN CONVERSATION WITH BBC RADIO SUFFOLK’S JON WRIGHT - The Racer: The Inside Story of Life on the Road
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venue/room 3pm Corn 4pm Exchange
jon wright
sponsored by
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£8 £6 Under 16s
OUT OF LEFT FIELD
NON FICTION
NON FICTION
photo: simon harries
BOOKS & FILM
Jason Hazeley & Joel Morris
IN CONVERSATION WITH KATY BRAND Ladybird Books for Grown Ups
Toni Harman & Alex Wakeford THE MICROBIOME PROJECT Toni Harman and Alex Wakeford are documentary filmmakers based in Brighton. Their film Microbirth has been screened throughout Europe and North America. Join them for a fascinating talk about The Microbiome Effect, the first book to explore the emerging science of how our microbiome is impacted by the way that we are born. start/finish
venue/room 4pm Ipswich 5:30pm Film Theatre
e including screening of Microbirth
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£11 £8.50 Under 16s
Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris are co-writers of the Ladybirds Books for Grown Ups which have taken the UK by storm and remained in the hard back best seller lists since publication. Co-authors of The Framley Examiner and the best-selling Bollocks to Alton Towers, they have written also for a frankly stupid number of radio and TV comedy shows including Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe, Miranda, That Mitchell and Webb Look, The Armstrong and Miller Show, as well as a modestly successful film called Paddington. As huge Ladybird fans themselves, these books have been a great labour of love for Jason and Joel, and they feel enormously privileged to have been allowed inside Ladybird towers to muck about with a genuine national treasure. Join them in conversation with friend, writer, actor and comedian Katy Brand for our final event of the first ever BooksEast Festival!
“Laugh out loud hilarious.”
josh weinstein, writer, the simpsons start/finish
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katy brand
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