ways with words @ dartington 14 - 18 July, 2021 A 5 - D A Y F E S T I V A L I N T H E H E A R T O F D E V O N C E L E B R A T I N G W O R D S A N D I D E A S Words of Welcome e live in a time of a global Wpandemic and political turbulence with the most vulnerable being the most effected. And yet there are also books. The startling growth of festivals such as this, the keen appetite of audiences for talks, exchange of ideas and debate, means that Ways With Words is a place where diversity, talent and difference can be explored and celebrated. Polly Toynbee & David Walker (Festival Presidents) ell…here we are. Who could have Wthought that the last year would mean no contact with family, no meeting up with friends and no festivals. We are utterly thrilled to be able to offer live events this July - something that seemed impossible at times during 2020. We are delighted to welcome a small live audience and also a remote audience via live streaming. Sharing ideas and coming together (whether in the festival or from the comfort of your own home) has never been more important. We have worked our socks off to bring the programme together in incredibly short order and only in response to the Government green light. We hope you enjoy the programme whether in a live venue or from the comfort of your sofa. Thank you all for your support. It has been a very difficult year for the festival and we can’t express how grateful we are to Friends for supporting us and all of you who generously donated to keep the Ways With Words going. Anyway….here is hoping for good weather, good company and good times. Leah Varnell (Managing Director) W e d n e s d a y 1 4 t h J u l y G r e a t H a l l Rock RosePhotography 1 0 a m 1 S a s h a S w i r e £ 1 4 A P o l i t i c a l P l u s - O n e G r e a t H a l l What is it like to be the partner of a British politician in modern Britain? For over two decades Sasha Swire diarised the trials and tribulations of her time as a partner to an MP. She pulls back the curtain on her Westminster life and key political moments including the election of David Cameron and the Brexit referendum. The big reveal is frank, wonderfully indiscreet and humorous. D i a r y o f a n M P ’ s W i f e ( L i t t l e , B r o w n ) 1 2 p m 2 I s y S u t t i e 1 4 A N e w S t a r t G r e a t H a l l £ Musical comedian, actor and writer Isy Suttie played Dobby in the sitcom Peep Show, has written for the Guardian and Observer and appeared as regular contributor to Radio 4. Isy’s new novel explores the trials and tribulations of a 30-something working part time in an eccentric bookshop who struggles to find her path after a traumatic breakup and move back to the childhood home in the Peak District. J a n e i s T r y i n g ( W e i d e n f e l d & N i c o l s o n ) P o l l y T o y n b e e & D a v i d W a l k e r 2 p m 3 £ 1 4 What Lies Ahead? G r e a t H a l l Post Covid euphoria will soon burn off. What lies ahead includes climate change, flooding, the massive task of decarbonising the UK, huge shifts in how cars are powered, and how we cook our food and heat our homes. We should be preparing for the next pandemic says Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief science adviser. Journalists and festival presidents, Polly Toynbee and David Walker, explore what it will take if, by 2030, an already hugely unequal Britain is not to become more unbalanced. The Lost Decade 2010–2020, and What Lies Ahead for Britain (Guardian Faber Publishing) W e d n e s d a y 1 4 t h J u l y G r e a t H a l l 4 p m 4 S a l l e y V i c k e r s £ 1 4 L a y i n g O p e n t h e H u m a n H e a r t G r e a t H a l l In her latest work, ‘Grandmothers’, novelist Salley Vickers explores how three women subtly alter when, through their encounters with each other, they discover that the past is always with us and that we go on learning and changing until the very end. "Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand. She’s a presence worth cherishing in the ranks of modern novelists.” Philip Pullman G r a n d m o t h e r s ( V i k i n g ) A n n e S e b b a 6 p m 5 £ 1 4 A Failure of Humanity G r e a t H a l l Ethel Rosenberg was executed in 1953 for espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union, a crime she almost certainly did not commit. She was 37 and the mother of two children. Her story is a catastrophic failure of justice and the nature of her conviction makes her story controversial even today. Biographer and journalist, Anne Sebba, uses Ethel’s prison correspondence and interviews with those who knew her to unravel the tragic story. E t h e l R o s e n b e r g : A n A m e r i c a n T r a g e d y ( O r i o n ) 8 p m 6 N a t a l i e H a y n e s £ 1 4 Looking Inside Pandora's Jar G r e a t H a l l Gods, men and monsters are the mainstay of Greek myths, their tales endlessly retold across millennia. Rarely do their retellings focus on the women at the heart of these ancient stories and, if they do, the women are often monstrous, vengeful or vain. Natalie Haynes, a passionate classicist, redresses this. From Pandora and Hera to Athena and Artemis, we are reintroduced to the women of Greek legend in all their glory and nuance. P a n d o r a ' s J a r : W o m e n i n G r e e k M y t h s ( P a n M a c m i l l a n ) W e d n e s d a y 1 4 t h J u l y S t u d i o O n e 7 P h i l i p M a r s d e n 9 . 4 5 a m 1 4 A V o y a g e o f t h e I m a g i n a t i o n S t u d i o O n e £ Travel writer Philip Marsden had never skippered a boat anywhere he couldn’t reach by lunchtime. Yet he sailed north from his home in Cornwall to the Summer Isles, near the top of Scotland, in an old wooden sloop. On the way, he navigates the choppy waters of Ireland and the Western Isles of Scotland. He learns about their deep history through the people he meets and the tales he uncovers. Prepare for adventure and mythical islands. T h e S u m m e r I s l e s ( G r a n t a ) 1 1 . 3 0 a m 8 F r a n c e s W i l s o n £ 1 4 T h e R e h a b i l i t a t i o n o f D H L a w r e n c e S t u d i o O n e One hundred years after the publication of Women in Love, biographer and critic Frances Wilson discusses the rehabilitation of DH Lawrence. He is remembered as a nostalgic modernist, a Priest of Love, a misogynist, a critic of genius, and a sceptic who pioneered the genre we now celebrate as autofiction. Frances Wilson presents a complex, courageous and often comic fugitive, careering around a world in the grip of apocalypse.. B u r n i n g M a n : T h e A s c e n t o f D H L a w r e n c e ( B l o o m s b u r y ) 1 . 1 5 p m 9 C h r i s B r y a n t £ 1 4 T h e S e c r e t S t o r y o f t h e G l a m o u r B o y s S t u d i o O n e MP for Rhondda, Chris Bryant tells the astonishing story of a group of young, queer MPs, whose visits to Berlin changed the course of WW2.