HEXHAM BOOK FESTIVAL 24th April – 3rd May 2020 www.hexhambookfestival.co.ukwww.queenshall.co.uk 01 Welcome to Hexham Book Festival 2020 Life, O Henry said, is mainly laughter and sniffles. We’ve plenty of each at this year’s Hexham Book Festival alongside doses of insight and illumination, geography, biography, geology, ecology and cookery. Sir Oliver Letwin and Paul Mason share their concerns about the way tech is shaping our world. John Suchet and A.N Wilson reveal the darkness in the lives of two of the artistic giants of the nineteenth century. Shifting – slightly – from reality, the irrepressible Jenny Eclair talks about a novel that endorses O Henry’s maxim, there’s a chance to sample a trio of the biggest forthcoming books of 2020 at The Proof Party and Holly McNish delivers a storming poetry set. And then, inevitably, there’s Brexit. Ed Stourton and Gavin Esler are on hand to offer their views of the gift that keeps on giving. This year we are also delighted to welcome the Spiegeltent to the Festival. Situated in the Abbey Grounds, this quirky, cosy Belgian mirrored tent will be hosting The Gillian Dickinson Trust Children’s Festival with events for children, young people and their families. We’re excited to have Specsavers Hexham as principal sponsor of the 2020 Festival – helping us all to see and hear more clearly and supporting us with a fabulous offer – see P2. Remember, you can buy all your tickets online – and receive 15% discount when you buy tickets to 4 events. See page 44 for details. Please note, there are planned roadworks on the A69 at the Hexham roundabout both east and west bound, please make allowances for your journey time. Jung Chang Paul Mason Jenny Eclair George Alagiah © Xiao-hong Zhang © Ray Burminston © Jeff Overs Media partners for 2020: Principal Sponsor: Hexham Book Festival is a Community Interest Company working in partnership with Queen’s Hall Arts. 02 www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 03 THE GILLIAN DICKINSON TRUST CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL THURSDAY 19 MARCH – Pre Festival Event The Gillian Dickinson Trust Children’s Festival will be in a 6.30pm-9.30pm Spiegeltent on the Abbey Grounds from 24th – 30th April, coinciding with the Spring Fair on 25th April. Horatio Clare – Icebreaker Talk followed by screening of Chasing Ice (2012), Look out for an exciting programme for all ages including as part of Tyne Valley Film Festival Roald Dahl & the Imagination Seekers, a brand new Circus Show Will Mackie and a host of children’s authors – see page 37 for full details. Forum Cinema £10 | Includes talk and film. Tickets from Forum Cinema forumhexham.com A joint event with Northumberland Libraries & Read Regional After an invitation from the Finnish embassy to spend time on board government icebreaker Otso, travel writer Horatio Clare set out on a voyage around a fabulous and mysterious seascape, the frozen Gulf of Bothnia, just below the Arctic Circle. From the crew of the icebreaker, Clare heard epic stories of Finland, her seamen and the untamed, snowbound north. He came to appreciate the delicate beauty of ice, a near-miraculous substance which cools the planet, Special Offer gives the stars their sparkle and which may hold all our futures in its from Specsavers crystals. Visit www.tynevalleyfilmfestival.com for TVFF programme. Struggling to read this programme? This offer could be just for you! We are delighted to welcome Specsavers Hexham as our principal sponsor for 2020. FRIDAY 24 APRIL As part of this exciting new partnership Specsavers Hexham are generously offering the first 1000 ticket holders a very special discount on a new pair of glasses*. 7.30pm-10pm Find out more at hexhambookfestival.co.uk or ask in store for details. Hexham Book Festival Funny Words Comedy Gala *Terms and conditions apply. Spiegeltent £15 | Suitable for 16+ Launching an evening programme of events in the Spiegeltent with our partners Queen’s Hall. This fabulous new venue hosts © Steve Ullathorne a line-up of top comedians showcasing the best of UK comedy, NEW WRITING STAGETEXT all of whom are headliners in their own right. COMMISSIONS 2020 Featuring: This year we have been supported by Britain’s Got Talent winner Lost Voice Guy – he may not be able As part of our new Festival for young people, private donations to bring a whole day to talk but he definitely has something to say. Arts Council England have supported eight new of Stagetext to the Festival. On Saturday commissions over two years. This year we are BGT semi finalistJonny Awsum – author of three hit Edinburgh 2nd May all our events in Queen’s Hall Festival Fringe shows. delighted to present work from some wonderful Theatre will be transcribed by Stagetext Northumberland based writers, three of whom are Award winning Ada Campe – true variety at its very best. also known as speech-to-text transcription yet to be published. Come and hear the new work Top Geordie comic Gavin Webster – bold provocative from Sarah Davy, Gwennie Frazer, Hilary Elder (STT), helping those in the audience who and charming. are hard of hearing and making the events and Angela Readman in the Spiegeltent on Steve Shanyaski – “Like a mixture between Eddie Izzard Monday 27th April. more accessible to all. and Peter Kay…..with a guitar”. FREE but ticketed (includes glass of wine) Star of Channel 4’s ‘The Tez O’Clock Show’ Tez Ilyas. 04 Box OfficeT: 01434 652 477 | www.queenshall.co.uk www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 05 SATURDAY 25 APRIL 12pm-1pm Chris Mullin The Remarkable Rise and Inevitable Fall of Jeremy Corbyn Theatre, Queen’s Hall £9/£7 Former government minister and author, Chris Mullin, on why Labour lost and what must be done if it is to stand any chance of © Pablo Strong © Anna Tochter regaining power. Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, he says, has been 1.45pm-2.45pm 3pm-4.30pm an interesting experiment, but one that was always destined to end badly. To stand any chance of winning again Labour must Lauren Bravo New Voices recapture the centre ground. How to Break Up with Proof Party Fast Fashion Liv Chapman 1.30pm-2.30pm Liv Chapman Theatre, Queen’s Hall £9 | Includes a copy of all 3 books Library, Queen’s Hall 3.15pm-4.15pm £8/£6 Jung Chang A genuine chance to get Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister Learn how to refresh your ahead of the crowd. This is a Jake Jones clothes rack the environmentally unique opportunity to hear the Dr Eleanor Spencer-Regan, Durham University Can You Hear Me? -friendly way with style journalist authors of a trio of the most Theatre, Queen’s Hall Lauren Bravo. Approximately eagerly anticipated UK novels Sheilagh Matheson £9/£7 300,000 tonnes of discarded of the summer talk about their Library, Queen’s Hall £8/£6 ‘One loved money, one loved power and one loved her country.’ clothing are dumped into Britain’s forthcoming books. Hazel Barkworth gives the lowdown © Xiao-hong Zhang International bestselling Chinese author, Jung Chang’s brilliant landfill sites every year, making For ten years Jake Jones has on her heady and compulsive new biography Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at ‘fast fashion’ a genuinely toxic worked in the UK Ambulance dark romance, Heatstroke, a the Heart of Twentieth-Century China tells the gripping story of the problem. Drawing on her own Service. Every day, he sees scorching story of obsession, extraordinary Soong sisters from Shanghai. These three remarkable experience as a planet-aware dozens of the sort of scenes power and betrayal. Janet women would, via their own and their husbands’ positions of power, fashion-devotee, Bravo outlines most of us hope never to come Skeslian Charles reveals the help shape events in twentieth-century China, leaving an indelible how we can find sustainable across in a lifetime. Can You amazing facts that lie behind mark on history. This is a compelling story of love, war, exile, intrigue, ways of shopping without Hear Me? is an account of the her gripping and poignant tale glamour and betrayal, told with Chang’s unique blend of the sacrificing personal style, chaos, intensity and occasional of courage and human decency intimate and the epic. discusses how to change your comedy of life on the frontlines in Nazi-occupied France, mind-set when shopping for of medicine. Featuring dozens Jung Chang is the acclaimed author of three previous non-fiction The Paris Library, while Holly clothes and reveals lots of of extraordinary encounters – books including Wild Swans, a group biography of Chang’s mother Miller previews her eagerly fresh ways to give those old the hoarder who won’t move and grandmother, and of herself, which has been translated into awaited debut, a moving and garments in your wardrobe his collection to let his ailing 37 languages and is one of the biggest selling non-fiction works unforgettable high-concept a new lease of life. father leave the house, the of all-time. It remains banned in her native China. love story about fear of the blood-soaked man who tries future and terror of the past, to escape from the ambulance The Sight of You. All three – Can You Hear Me? is a novels created a massive buzz painfully honest examination amongst British publishers and of the highs and lows of doing are destined to be the most a life or death job. talked about books of the year. Attendees will each receive special proof copies of the novels to take home. 06 Box OfficeT: 01434 652 477 | www.queenshall.co.uk www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 07 SATURDAY 25 APRIL (cont.) 5pm-6pm 6.15pm-7.15pm Gavin Esler Daisy Waugh Brexit without In the Crypt with the Bullsh*t a Candlestick Theatre, Queen’s Hall Sheilagh Matheson £10/£8 Library, Queen’s Hall 4.45pm-5.45pm £8/£6 Will Brexit create more jobs? Mike Cawthorne Or punch holes in the NHS? Best known for her engaging Walking Through And what about food and drug series of Tarot Card crime yarns, shortages? Mixing personal with the inherited wit of her Shadows anecdotes, reportage and expert grandfather Evelyn Waugh, Caroline Beck reports, the former-Newsnight novelist Daisy Waugh presents Library, Queen’s Hall presenter discusses the impact a new and original twist on the £8/£6 of Brexit on everything from ever popular country house Kent market stalls to hospital murder mystery.