Bridport Literary Festival: Day 4
Event Details
Day Four: Wednesday 05 November
Event 19 | Colin Heber Percy | Lost In The Forest
10.30am at The Bull Hotel, 34 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LF
Tickets: £12.00 THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT
This book is a hymn to getting lost. Drawing on his experience as a troubled schoolboy, a burnt-out screenwriter, and an ‘awkward’ Church of England priest, Colin Heber-Percy reflects on the value of not belonging. There is reassurance and safety in knowing who we are and where we fit in, but at significant moments in our lives – a new job, new school or just in the ruts of everyday life – we can experience a sense of dislocation, of being lost in a forest. Rather than fearing the forest, Colin discovers great value and creativity there. He encourages us to relish the liberation of losing our way. Blending anecdotes from parish life, with philosophy, literature and tales from his local Savernake Forest, Colin argues that there is an overlooked richness to be found outside the boundary lines.
Event 20 | Marion Boswall | The Kindest Garden
12noon at The Bull Hotel, 34 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LF
Tickets: £12.00 THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT
Leading landscape designer Marian Boswall has worked on some of the UK’s most ambitious and innovative regenerative landscape projects, and now she shares her wisdom in this guide. Regenerative gardening is about making an active contribution to the health of the planet: nurturing and replenishing biodiversity and ourselves through our gardens. Drawing on lessons from forward-thinking farmers, foresters, rewilders and nature itself, The Kindest Garden shows you how to make a garden that is both a beautiful sanctuary and a place where nature can thrive. A beautifully-written text, with clear explanations and practical takeaways – Boswall teaches how to apply in-depth practical knowledge, and plan planting to nourish the soil, yourself and others.
Event 21 | Frances Wilson | Electric Spark
2pm at The Bull Hotel, 34 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LF
Tickets: £12.00 THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT
From leading biographer and critic Frances Wilson comes a revealing, exhilarating, and landmark new look at Muriel Spark. Often descibed as ‘puzzling’, her books deal in word games, tricks and ciphers; her life was composed of weird accidents and strange coincidences. Using a wealth of archival materials, and following the clues, riddles, and instructions Spark planted in her writing, Frances Wilson aims to piece together this puzzle. We learn from her early years how her experiences became the material of her art.
Event 22 | Andrew Blick | Could It Happen Here?
3.30pm at The Bull Hotel, 34 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LF
Tickets: £12.00 THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT
Does the UK’s constitution sufficiently protect our democracy from a rogue prime minister? With the resurgence of the far Right across Europe and some of the rhetoric of the 2024 General Election, Andrew Blick explores the possible consequences of a British prime minister refusing to leave office. Mapping out the processes which might occur after such an eventuality, the UK’s ‘unwritten’ constitution comes under the microscope. Could It Happen Here? provides a crucial appraisal, advocating for the protection of our parliamentary democracy.
Event 23 | Marina Warner | Sanctuary
5pm at The Bull Hotel, 34 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LF
Tickets: £12.00 THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT
Sanctuary is an ancient right. In the classical world, it offered immunity to fugitives from justice; in medieval Europe it extended a reprieve to all who sought it in a church or holy site. But what does sanctuary mean in today’s world? With the growth of nationalism and individualism, the concept has drifted away from a place of openness and welcome towards privacy: home as sanctuaries against strangers, migrants, incomers. Marina Warner navigates the principles that underpin the tradition of sanctuary and argues that storytelling offers a salve, a route to mutual understanding.
Event 24 | Horatio Clare | We Came By Sea
6.30pm at The Bull Hotel, 34 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LF
Tickets: £12.00 THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
Written with his trademark compassion and humanity, Horatio Clare’s We Came by Sea is an untold story of the small boats crisis – a story which shows the best of us. It is the story of the volunteers who help thousands of refugees in Calais, of the lifeboat crews mounting one of the great search and rescue operations of all time, of an unrecognised, uncelebrated, all but unknown, Britain, giving its all to help the vulnerable and desperate. This journey through an unexamined nation, a nation which is as truly great and good as the people in the dinghies believe Britain to be, is not the story we have been told, but it is a true story
Event 25 | Anna Whitwham | Writing Workshop
6pm at Human Nature, 25 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LJ
Tickets: £40.00 THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT
The Johnson era will be remembered for a series of scandals that severely eroded trust in the British Government. But this is not the overall reason for the decline in public standards. John Bowers fearlessly examines the institutions responsible for holding the government accountable, exposing how they have been bypassed by prime ministers and how the next goverment can and should restore integrity. Confronting failings presents concrete proposals for creating a more transparent and accountable system for those in power.
More information about the festival can be found at http://www.bridlit.com
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