Preparations are underway for the start of this year’s Marlborough LitFest (28 Sept – 1 Oct), with more than 40 events over the festival weekend for all ages, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, workshops and children’s events. Click here to find out more and to book tickets.
There are tickets available for FRANK COTTRELL-BOYCE, 1pm, Sunday 1 October, Town Hall, £5. The award-winning master storyteller waves his literary magic wand as he talks about his latest children’s book, ‘The Wonder Brothers’. However, the talk is not just for children – Frank will be sharing showbiz anecdotes, writing wisdom and a few magic tricks. A screenwriter and novelist, he scripted the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, as well as the 2022 Queen Elizabeth and Paddington Bear sketch and has contributed as a writer to ‘Doctor Who’.
Other highlights include:
ST JOHN’S SIXTH FORM DEBATE, 4pm, Thursday 28 September, Town Hall, FREE event but tickets need to be booked. Twelve St John’s 6th Form students take part in this popular annual debate, this year focusing on: “Can male writers ever really write accurately about women in love?”
POETRY IN THE PUB, 5pm, Saturday 30 September, The Green Dragon pub, Marlborough.Join Alex Hickman, writer and poet, at The Green Dragon for our popular annual open mic poetry event. Poets new and established are invited along; this year’s theme is: ‘Always be a poet, even in prose.’ Submit your poems in advance to general@marlboroughlitfest.org or just turn up on the day.
FOOTBALL SHORTS, 11.30am, Sunday 1 October, Marlborough Town Hall, £12. A trio of top writers on their favourite sport – join comedian, novelist and TV and radio writer Andy Hamilton, along with the former chief executive of Women in Football, Jane Purdon, and former Sports Journalist of the Year, Ian Ridley, as they discuss football!
ED GILLETT – PARTY LINES, 2.30pm, Sunday 1 October, The White Horse Bookshop, £12. A fascinating history of the social and political impact of UK dance counter-cultures.
AMANDA CRAIG – THE THREE GRACES, 4pm, Sunday 1 October, Marlborough Town Hall, £12. Three English women in their eighties grapple with present dangers and past lives in Tuscany.
KATE SUMMERSCALE – THE BOOK OF PHOBIAS, 5.30pm, Sunday 1 October, Marlborough Town Hall, £12. An A-Z list of 99 obsessions that reveal our inner landscape, from the bestselling author of ‘The Suspicions of Mr Whicher’.
NATASHA SOLOMONS – FAIR ROSALINE, 5.30pm, Sunday 1 October, The White Horse Bookshop, £12. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ turned on its head to tell the story of Rosaline, Juliet’s shadowy cousin turned sassy heroine.
Open letter to Danny Kruger MP from Professor Dave Waltham
