25–29 September 2014 Welcome to the Th Marlborough Literature Festival
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marlborough literature festival 25–29 september 2014 welcome to the th marlborough literature festival Many good things come in fives - the five senses, the five vowels of the alphabet, Chanel No.5 - and we can add to that - for here we are in the fifth year of the Marlborough Literature Festival with a programme as varied and all-embracing as anyone who loves reading could possibly wish for. And an enormous thank you in our fifth year to our lead sponsor, Brewin Dolphin, who have supported us from the very beginning. This year, of course, we join with others to mark the centenary of the First World War. Rowan Williams has always been a defender of peace and a lover of poetry - we are so pleased that he is coming to this year’s Festival. There is more poetry with our opening event, sponsored for the fifth year by Marlborough College - Zena Edwards with her performance of music, drama and words - not to be missed. Our Golding Speaker this year is Louis de Bernières. I had the pleasure of sharing a platform with him a year or two ago and I can promise you that he is funny, lively, and thought provoking. And the same can be said of Lynne Truss whose wide range of writing more than backs up our Festival’s undertaking to support literature in all its guises. History is here with the extraordinary story of Richard III’s reappearance - and with Jenny Uglow, one of my writing heroines, whose very personal story of her Cumbrian heroine will enchant you. We have new crime and ancient crime, we have philosophy, we have the story of a hawk that will win your hearts, and so much more… Finally, the warmest of welcomes from the Literature Festival to the new dawn in the White Horse Bookshop which we (and you) must support and cherish to the hilt. Welcome to all this in our fifth programme of delights. Enjoy it all and, if you will, tell us what you liked and what Photo: Ben Phillips Photo: you did not. We love to hear from you. Zena Edwards Zena Edwards describes her work as “making the ordinary extraordinary”, and extraordinarily talented she certainly is. Discover this for yourself as she lights up the stage in Marlborough College’s stunning Ellis Theatre. Zena blends spoken word poetry with music and visuals – conversations between poet and musicians. She has worked with Hugh Masekela, Baaba Maal, Pops Mohamed, Larry Willis and Soweto Kinch among others, fusing poetry, rap, jazz and acting, in a thoroughly contemporary and captivating style. If you ever thought poetry was losing its relevance in today’s world, be prepared to change your mind. Born in Hackney and raised in Tottenham, Zena has a love/hate relationship with London which she finds both tense and vibrant. She toured and performed extensively in South Africa, including work with an a capella girl group, honing Tickets £8/£3 Under 18s Venue Ellis Theatre Marlborough College her skills before bringing a more fully Date Thursday 25 September 7.15pm developed act back to the UK. Box Office 01249 701628 3 Chris Lloyd School event Why weren’t history lessons in school this launched the first online editions for The much fun? Times and subsequently was Editorial Director of LineOne. Then he became CEO We’re not sure if this is a book, a large of Immersive Education. poster or a teaching aid. One thing is certain – it gets children enthralled about In 2005 he and his wife began home- history. Adults find it tremendous fun too. educating their children. On a four month family camper van tour of Europe Chris What on Earth Happened? The Complete Story came up with the idea of reconnecting of Planet, Life and People from The Big Bang to natural and human history through a the Present Day is an innovative and detailed single illustrative narrative. illustrated history of the world displayed on a 2.3m long timeline that can be read like a Chris will collapse the history of the world book or hung on a wall. into 45 exhilarating minutes as he covers Marlborough Town Hall with his posters/ Chris is the great nephew of gardening wallcharts/books or whatever they are. You guru Christopher Lloyd, with whom he decide! spent many happy days at Great Dixter. After graduating from Cambridge, Chris School Event FREE Venue Assembly Room, Town Hall Date Fri 26 September 11am & 1pm 4 www.marlboroughlitfest.org Louis de Bernières The Golding Speaker Louis de Bernières is best known as saw a return to a UK setting which he now the author of the worldwide bestseller deems to be as exotic and full of eccentrics Captain Corelli’s Mandolin which won the as anywhere in the world. Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best Book. The novel spawned a Hollywood His latest work, Imagining Alexandria, is blockbuster, launched both Penelope a poetry collection and we are thrilled Cruz and Nicholas Cage to fame and to welcome Louis as our third Golding created a brand new tourist destination Speaker, an event sponsored by the in Cephalonia. It has been translated into William Golding estate in honour of over 11 languages. Marlborough’s greatest literary son. Yet many familiar with his other works regard Birds Without Wings as his greatest novel and Louis has in fact penned nine highly successful books to date, mostly set in foreign locations. Louis has travelled and worked widely including a period as an English teacher in Columbia which inspired his Latin American trilogy. His surname is derived from a French Huguenot forefather. Tickets £10 Interestingly however, both his last novel, Venue Assembly Room, Town Hall A Partisan’s Daughter, and his recent Date Friday 26 September 7.30pm collection of short stories, Notwithstanding, Box Office 01249 701628 5 Tours of Libanus Press When we first offered tours of this hidden treasure of a publishing house we never intended it to become a mainstay of the Festival. While we can’t guarantee to bring it back in 2015, there seems to be a high demand each year. Perhaps this is due to the very limited numbers allowable within its elegant and welcoming premises. Libanus Press design beautifully illustrated editions, art books and exhibition catalogues. They also work on popular and mass market novels. Who would have thought the typesetting for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was executed in Marlborough? The studio houses an exhibition of books designed by the press since its inception thirty years ago. Numbers are limited to enable everyone to see clearly the many processes involved Tickets £8 - there are only ten places for each of the Venue Rose Tree House, 8 Silverless Street two sessions - so it may be wise to book Date Fri 26 Sept 2.30pm Sat 27 Sept 11am early. 6 www.marlboroughlitfest.org Caroline Lawrence With seventeen volumes of The Roman Mysteries in just eight years, to call Caroline prolific would be an under- statement. So what’s her speedy secret? In this fun and interactive talk Caroline will inspire and enthuse potential young authors to get ideas quickly, asking them to do one-minute exercises based around such techniques as Recipe for a Hero, How to Plunder the Greek Myths and Seven Plot Beats of a Great Story. The characters in Caroline’s much loved Roman Mysteries all have their quirks and problems to overcome and it’s this non- stereotyping treatment of the young which helps children to identify so readily with them, even if the setting is Rome 2000 years ago. Be warned though, Caroline likes to use archaeological props, so if there’s a strange odour in the room it’s not impossible that she’s brought along an original Roman Tickets £7/£3 Under 18s Venue sponge on a stick - they didn’t have toilet Assembly Room, Town Hall Date Saturday 27 September 10.30am paper in AD79! Box Office 01249 701628 7 Richard III Introduced by Dr Norman Hammond Mike Pitts This March Mike Pitts spent two days at publications. He was curator of the The Royal Courts of Justice for a judicial Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury review. The case was 529 years old and where he also opened a ground breaking still unresolved despite the identification vegetarian restaurant. He is editor of of Richard III’s skeleton under a Leicester the Council for British Archaeology’s car park. magazine. Is scientific evidence beneficial for creating Dr Norman Hammond is the Archaeology a love of history or are myths and folklore Correspondent for The Times. more important in creating a sense of wonder? As the debates continue to rage about the most controversial English king, Mike’s latest book, Richard III: How Archaeology Found The King, is a forensic examination that reads like a gripping detective story. It puts some flesh on the bones of an enigma that has fascinated writers down the ages, from Shakespeare to Josephine Tey to Paul Murray Kendall. Mike is a writer and broadcaster who began as a professional archaeologist and has directed excavations at Stonehenge. Tickets £8 He has written for the Times, Telegraph, Venue St. Mary’s Church Sunday Times, Guardian, New Scientist, Date Saturday 27 September 10.30am BBC History Magazine and other 8 www.marlboroughlitfest.org Jenny Uglow Hidden in a Cumbrian valley between a one gives us the feel of past life as she motorway and railway line is a shrine to does” writes A. S. Byatt of Nature’s Engraver: personal memories, local mythology and A Life of Thomas Bewick.