Bridport Literary Festival | Wednesday 11 November

For over five decades, Brian Jackman has reported from the front lines of African wildlife conservation. In Lion Song, Britain’s foremost safari writer reflects on a lifetime tracking the continent’s megafauna, from his first encounter with a roaring lion in the Maasai Mara to the famous Marsh Lions, which he documented for the BBC’s Big Cat Diary. Blending vivid field reporting with reverence for the natural world, Jackman chronicles Africa’s changing wilderness through meetings with legendary naturalists like George Adamson and firsthand accounts of the war against poaching.

Part memoir and part call to action, this narrative charts the retreat of wild spaces while celebrating a continent where, for now at least, the rulers of the savanna are still free to greet the dawn. Chaired by Sam Rose.

Julian Baggini has long been fascinated by the philosophical ideas behind how we eat and drink. The chance discovery in Tokyo of a copy of The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura (published in 1906) led him on a journey to explore our relationship with coffee. In The Book of Coffee

(co-authored with James Hoffmann), Baggini considers how a humble bean transformed global commerce and fuelled the European Enlightenment, continuing to influence the way we work and socialise. What can the world’s favourite hot drink teach us about the art of living?

Ticket price includes a freshly brewed cup of hot coffee and a biscotto, served within the delightfully informal setting of Mercato Italiano.

Historian, artist, musician and author of the Sunday Times bestsellers Storyland and Wild, Dr Amy Jeffs turns her focus to Britain’s most enduring legend. Known for bringing ancient folklore to life through meticulous research and her own beautifully bold line drawings, Jeffs gives fresh form to a story we only think we know.

Drawing from early medieval Welsh, Latin and French sources, she strips away Victorian romanticism to resurrect an earlier, earthier Arthur: a warlord raised by fairies, leader of the Wild Hunt and monster-slayer. Journeying from deep forests to the underworld, Jeffs explores how these ancient stories were continually reshaped to serve the political needs of their day.

1.30pm at The Bull Hotel, 34 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LF

Tickets: £12.00 from Bridport Tourist Information Centre 01308 424901 or online via our Ticket Page

Few novelists capture the “state of the nationˮ better than Amanda Craig, who we’re delighted to welcome back to the festival.

High and Low is the latest in her gripping and eagle-eyed depictions of Britain today. Set in a six-hour timeframe, a small group of writers, bakers and shopkeepers are under siege from an armed mob. Inside a café, they have nothing but books and flour to defend not just themselves, but a child being hunted by a gang.

This is a fascinating novel about moral choices made in extreme situations. What do we owe strangers, neighbours or even our enemies? Amanda Craig is the author of 10 novels, including A Vicious Circle, The Three Graces, Hearts and Minds and The Lie of the Land.

Event 40 | Judith Mackrell | Artists, Siblings, Visionaries

3pm at Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South Street, Bridport DT6 3NR

Tickets: £14.00 from Bridport Tourist Information Centre 01308 424901 or online Bridport Arts Centre

Acclaimed biographer and former Guardian critic Judith Mackrell examines the entwined lives of two artistic giants. While Augustus achieved early fame as a bohemian prodigy, his reclusive sister Gwen combined a devotion to her subtle portraits with a series of obsessive romantic affairs in Paris.

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, Mackrell’s exceptional dual biography explores their fierce sibling rivalry, shared obsession with absolute creative freedom and complex private lives. She reveals how two strikingly different personalities, reshaped British art. Chaired by Gill Pyrah.

 

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