Hexham
Book
Festival
2014
April/May
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Warmer weather, lighter nights,
smiling faces – it can only mean the
return of the Hexham Book Festival,
now in its ninth glorious year.
From the beginning we’ve sought out the best writers, thinkers
and speakers and this year is no exception. Globetrot with
a fearless explorer; hear politicians turned novelists and
biographers; listen to crime writers mashing it up, philosophers
arguing about food and foodies arguing about philosophy,
economists arguing about who’s to blame for the mess we’re
in, an iconic potter, historians bringing up the bodies, poets
reflecting on the Northumberland landscape and feminists
calling for men to become converts. All this and badgers, birds
and Henry ‘Blowers’ Blofeld. What’s not to like? It starts on
April 24th and runs until May 8th – we’d love to see you there.
Hexham Book Festival is a Community Interest Company working
in partnership with Queen’s Hall Arts.
Ian Rankin
Tracy Chevalier
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
Kirsty Wark
www.queenshall.co.uk
Yurt In the Park
Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd May
Thanks to sponsorship from the Gillian Dickinson
Charitable Trust we will be holding a varied
selection of events for all ages in a fabulous
new venue – quirky and intimate this alternative
space on the Abbey Grounds will lend special
depth to our workshops and authors’ talks.
Don’t think tipi think luxurious circular tent
fitted out to protect us from whatever the
May weather brings.
Venues
We are working in partnership with the following
venues in 2014, we are extremely grateful for
their support:
Queen’s Hall, Beaumont Street,
Hexham NE46 3LS
www.queenshall.co.uk
Forum Cinema, Market Place,
Hexham, NE46 1HF
www.forumhexham.co.uk
Robinson Gay Gallery,
3A Market St, Hexham, NE46 3NS
www.northumberlandartgallery.co.uk
Beaumont Hotel, Beaumont Street,
Hexham, NE46 3LT
www.bw-beaumonthotel.co.uk
Exhibition, Queen’s Hall
Gallery 1 Honey, mein Liebchen
Claudia Sacher is a visual artist from
Essen, Germany. She lives and works in
Northumberland. Her texts are illustrated through
installations involving drawings, performances
and video. As part of her exhibition Claudia
has created some work especially for Queen’s
Hall and the Hexham Book Festival including a
performance entitled ‘Honey, mein Liebchen’.
Everyone Welcome
Queen’s Hall welcomes visitors with disabilities and
aims to ensure that your visit is safe and enjoyable.
If you require help, please contact Queen’s Hall
in advance. Companions of wheelchair users
may attend events free of charge. Guide dogs
are welcome in all areas of the building.
Concessions
Hexham Abbey, Hexham NE46 3NB
www.hexhamabbey.org.uk
Tyneside Cinema, 10 Pilgrim Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6QG
www.tynesidecinema.co.uk
Thursday 3rd April
6.30pm Val McDermid Northanger Abbey
The Queen of Crime meets the Mistress of
Manners in this re-working of an Austen classic.
Young Catherine Moreland, enthralled by gothic
romance, is invited by the mysterious Tilney
family to stay at their crumbling mansion in
the Scottish borders. Thrills, danger and
dark secrets amongst the torn petticoats.
Chaired by Fiona Shaw
Forum Cinema
£8.00/£6.00 (concs)
Our concession tickets are available to Friends
of the Festival, those on benefits and students.
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
www.queenshall.co.uk
Thursday 24th April
Saturday 26th April
6.30pm James Runcie - Sidney
Chambers and The Shadow
of Death (The Grantchester
Mysteries) Book Group Event
7.30pm Hugh Pym - Inside the
Banking Crisis
Join the region’s book groups for this popular
event, read the book, meet the multi-talented
James Runcie – film-maker and author- and
discuss the first in his series of six detective
novels. Barchester Towers meets Inspector
Clouseau.
Library Queen’s Hall
£4 (Free to book group members)
8pm Lit Quiz
The UK economy is still scarred from the
2008 banking crash, yet credible answers
to what really happened are few with still no
comprehensive investigation into the whole
catastrophe. This is an authoritative account
by the BBC Chief Economics Correspondent,
who has covered the unfolding crisis since the
beginning.
Chaired by Richard Moss, BBC Political
Editor for the North East and Cumbria
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
Can you distinguish between George Herbert
and James Herbert? Who is the only character
to appear in three of Shakespeare’s plays? And
what does T.S Eliot spell backwards? Sharpen
your wits at the literary quiz – come on your own
or with a team (teams of 4 to 6 people) with
prizes to include a free festival pass.
Beaumont Hotel
£7.50 inc glass of wine & nibbles
Audio
Book Group
Audio Book Group for those who
have a vision impairment, meets
in Hexham Library and Ponteland
Library once a month. To join
email or call us.
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 2/3
Sunday 27th April
Monday 28th April
4.30pm The Invisible Woman
7.30pm Tracy Chevalier The Last Runaway
Meet two of the team behind the making of
this remarkable insight into the private life of
one of our greatest writers, Charles Dickens.
Taken from the book by Claire Tomalin this is
an opportunity to hear from the film’s producer
Stewart MacKinnon and Adrian Gifford,
Chairman of Headline Pictures.
Chaired by Michael Chaplin
Forum Cinema
£6/£4
Talk & film £10 / £8
5.30pm Film:
The Invisible Woman
Author of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ Tracy
Chevalier here moves her focus to 1850’s Ohio
and runaway slaves heading north to freedom,
hunted down by cold-blooded white men.
Young English Quaker Honor Bright wrestles
with her new life and conscience as she
witnesses the daily barbarity. Should she defy
the law and help the slaves, or turn a blind eye?
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£9/£7 (concs)
Tuesday 29th April
7pm Alison Weir - Elizabeth of
York: The First Tudor Queen
Nelly (Felicity Jones), a happily-married mother
and schoolteacher, is haunted by her past. Her
memories take us back in time to follow the
story of her relationship with Charles Dickens
(Ralph Fiennes) – famous, controlling and
emotionally isolated within his success.
As Nelly becomes the focus of Dickens’
passion and his muse, for both of them secrecy
is the price, and for Nelly a life of “invisibility”.
Forum Cinema
£6/£4
Talk & film £10/£8
One of our very best historical novelists, Alison
Weir has perfected the art of bringing history
to life. Here she tells of the Queen who united
the warring Houses of York and Lancaster
by her marriage to Henry Vll long regarded
as a subjugated consort without power or
influence. In this engaging biography Elizabeth
is brought out of the shadows and revealed
as much more than a decorative Tudor rose.
Hexham Abbey
£8/£6 (concs)
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
www.queenshall.co.uk
Wednesday 30th April
>> Wednesday
1.30pm Lindsey Davis Enemies at Home
8pm Robin Hanbury-Tenison
The Modern Explorers
Bloody treachery, Roman Empire style, mixed
with domestic double dealings are the modus
operandi of this detective novel set in Ancient
Rome. Investigator Flavia Albia tries to unravel
who murdered the wealthy newlyweds and
uncovers a web of complex divisions deep
within the troubled household.
With our interconnected world shrunk to the
size of a smart-phone screen, what is left to
explore? “Plenty,” says one of our most intrepid
adventurers. From ocean depths to towering
peaks the world is a lot more remote than you
might consider. Come, feel the wind on your
face. Illustrated talk.
Hexham Abbey
£6/£4 (concs)
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
6.30pm Tristan Gooley
The Walker’s guide to outdoor
Clues and Signs
30th April
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Book now for our exciting programme of film
and theatre on www.forumhexham.co.uk or
01434 601144
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
 Company
Royal Shakespeare
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Wed 14th Mayy 7pm
An illustrated talk by the Natural Navigator.
Tristan’s new book is the result of two decades
of pioneering outdoors experience and the most
comprehensive guide to natural navigation ever,
containing clues for natural weather forecasting
and tracking. What can land, sun, moon, stars,
trees, plants, animals, sky, clouds and weather
reveal?
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£6/£4 (concs)
Henry IV pt 1
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Wed 18th June 7pm
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Henry IV pt 2
Live from Glyndebourne
Sun 8th June
Ju
Der Rosenkavalier
Sun 10th Aug
La Traviata
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www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 4/5
Thursday 1st May
>> Thursday
10.30am Jans Ondaatje Rolls The Bloomsbury Cookbook:
Recipes for Life, Love and Art.
6.30pm Anne Dickson & Melissa
Benn - The ‘F’ Word - Twenty
First Century Feminism.
The tangled group of intellectuals, artists, lovers,
siblings and writers known as the Bloomsbury
Group often discussed their radical ideas across
the dining room table. Beautifully illustrated with
photographs, sketches and paintings, this quirky
cook book weaves together ideas about how to live
with recipes on how to eat. Chaired by Lynn Curtis.
Two leading writers, campaigners and feminists
debate how sexual politics impact upon our lives
and that the cost of ignorance is social, political
and economic inequality. How do we teach our
daughters to resist casual sexism in an age of
vicious internet misogyny? And can men ever
be feminists?
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£6/£4 (concs)
Special Ticket Offer; Enjoy both Jans and
Emma’s event followed by a 2 course lunch and
a glass of wine at Bouchon Bistrot for just £29
Chaired by Sheilagh Matheson
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£6/£4 (concs)
12pm Emma Bridgewater - Toast
& Marmalade and Other Stories
Emma has been making quintessentially English
pottery depicting trailing sweet peas, blue hens,
ripe figs and blown roses since she set up her
business in 1985. Here she reveals the stories
behind the designs, of childhood picnics, camping
out under the stars and her mother’s dresser full
of mismatched china. Chaired by Lynn Curtis
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
Special Ticket Offer; Enjoy both Jans and
Emma’s event followed by a 2 course lunch and
a glass of wine at Bouchon Bistrot for just £29.
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
1st May
8-10 pm An evening with
Jeremy Hardy
Jeremy Hardy has been a stand-up comic since
1984 and will be one until he dies or wins the
lottery, best known for his work on Radio 4,
notably on News Quiz, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a
Clue and Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation.
In 2010, he published a book, My Family and
Other Strangers, chronicling his desperate
search for interesting ancestors.
“In an ideal world, Jeremy Hardy would be
extremely famous, but an ideal world would
leave him without most of his best material.”
The Guardian. “A comic genius.” Sandi Toksvig.
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£14/£12 (Concs), £5 students and unwaged
www.queenshall.co.uk
Friday 2nd May
10.30am Tony de Saulles
Horrible Science illustrator Tony De Saulles’
horribly enjoyable cartoon-illustration workshop.
Discover how to draw things that look smelly,
cut in half, exploding or even dead, learn stacks
of horrible facts too.
Theatre Queen’s Hall
Schools’ event
10.30am and 1.30pm Childrens’
Writing Workshops - Schools
events with Jonathan Meres
Yurt
Schools’ Event
12pm George Goodwin Fatal Rivalry: Flodden 1513
THE
MAGAZINE
FOR WOMEN
WHO WRITE
Inspiration, debate
and opinion, insider
news and interviews,
competitions, grants
and events – plus an
exhilarating selection of
new poetry and prose,
and lively need-to-know
newsletter
When the English and the Scots clashed on the
fields of Flodden 500 years ago it was a bloody
battle for supremacy and nationhood. But it was
also the culmination of decades of intense rivalry
‘Stars on our door,
between two young powerful Kings anxious
stars in our eyes,
stars exploding
to prove themselves to each other and
in the bits of our
‘Stars on our door,
brains where the
their people.
stars in our eyes,
common sense
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£6/£4 (concs)
stars exploding should have been’
in the bits of ourANGELA CARTER
brains where the
common sense
should have been’
www.mslexia.co.uk
[email protected]
0191 204 8860
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 6/7
>> Friday
2nd May
3.30pm Bernard MacLaverty
‘Writing Stories’ Workshop
The master of the short story, with five
collections published over the last 30 years,
Bernard Maclaverty will share his insight
into what makes a story work. Whether you
are a new or aspiring writer or honing your
accomplishments this two hour treat is a must.
Places limited so book early
Yurt
£15
Sponsored by
Northumbria University
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
>> Friday
2nd May
6pm Katharine Grant
Talented Glasgow based author Katharine
introduces her first novel for adults. Sedition
is fierce and bawdy, uproarious and exquisite.
Set in London, 1794 with Revolution creeping
across the channel, coffee houses seething with
gossip and the City full of upstarts, émigrés and
speculators. But even in unruly times, daughters
need husbands. For five City men, the question
is how to get them.
Yurt
£6/£4 (concs)
www.queenshall.co.uk
>> Friday
2nd May
>> Saturday
3rd May
7.30pm Penelope Lively Ammonites and Leaping Fish
10.30am Brett Westwood and
Sarah Blunt - Tweet of the Day
A wise view of old age, the place where
“one arrives with surprise”. One of this country’s
best loved writers surveys the twentieth century
through the prism of her own life, along with a
few valuable objects that have accompanied
her; a cat, two ammonites and a pair of
American ducks.
When BBC Radio 4 started a daily dawn “Tweet’
in May 2013, it became an avian phenomenon
with sales of bird books doubling overnight.
Here, one of the presenters and the series’
producer will talk about its astonishing success
and why as a nation we’re so fascinated by
birdsong.
Chaired by Caroline Beck
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
Saturday 3rd May
12pm Sally Magnusson Where Memories Go
10.30am Storytelling for
3-6 year olds
We’re going on a bear hunt! Bring your bear
along to enjoy our bear themed stories and
rhymes, with Jenny Kinnear.
Yurt
£3.00 per child
(parents free)
In a desperate attempt to understand the
dementia ravaging her mother’s life, the
journalist Sally Magnusson describes the life of
Maimie Baird Magnusson, regarded as one of
the finest journalists of her generation. Mother
and daughter fight the illness with talk, song,
and family stories to rescue the diminishing
memories.
Chaired by Claire Malcolm
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 8/9
>> Saturday
3rd May
>> Saturday
3rd May
12pm Tony Singh The Incredible Spice Man
1.30pm Bernard MacLaverty Collected Stories
Leith-born chef, Tony Singh, one half of the BBC
2 series The Incredible Spice Men joins us from
his native Edinburgh, a leading personality in the
Scottish restaurant industry Tony has pushed
the boundaries of culinary innovation for over
16 years. A funny and engaging approach to
all things spicy from a man who still cites his
favourite meal as being his Mum’s curry.
Widely regarded as one of the most gifted
writers of his generation, Bernard MacLaverty
makes the hard graft of short story writing seem
effortless. He has been compared to Yeats and
Joyce, his sharp eye and acutely attuned ear
producing a weightless balance between
poetry and prose.
Yurt
£8/£6 (concs)
1.30pm Lucinda Hawksley
Chaired by Caroline Beck
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
3pm Patrick Barkham Badgerlands
Lucinda is not only great great great
granddaughter of Charles and Catherine Dickens
but a writer and lecturer who brings the secrets
of Queen Victoria’s sixth child, Princess Louise,
vividly to life; a life that was documented more
by rumour and gossip than hard facts. The story
of a fascinating woman, artistic, tempestuous
and modern before her time.
Badgers have always occupied an ambivalent
role in the British countryside, from the wise old
badger of ‘Wind in the Willows’ to the dangerous
carrier of Bovine TB. Naturalist and Guardian
feature writer Patrick Barkham unearths the
badger and our uneasy relationship with this
supremely shy mammal.
Chaired by Rebecca Jenkins
Yurt
£6/£4 (concs)
Chaired by Caroline Beck
Yurt
£6/£4 (concs)
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
www.queenshall.co.uk
>> Saturday
3rd May
>> Saturday
3rd May
3pm Anne de Courcy - The Fishing
Fleet: Husband Hunting in the Raj
5pm Douglas Hurd - Disraeli:
Or the Two Lives
A dazzling history of an international marriage
market between young ‘gels’ and single men
shipped abroad to serve the British Empire in
India. Why did prospective brides need their
waist size to be less than their age? And why
were “clever“ girls advised to be “clever enough
to hide it”?
Conservative grandee Douglas Hurd debunks
the myth of esteemed Tory Prime Minister, and
favourite of Queen Victoria, Benjamin Disraeli.
How did a school drop-out and populist
Victorian novelist become a towering reforming
Prime Minister? A riveting reassessment of the
dual life of a ruthless charmer and devoted
public servant.
Chaired by Dr Simon J James, Senior
Lecturer, Department of English,
Durham University
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
Chaired by Gerard Foley,
Political Journalist and Broadcaster
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£9/£7 (concs)
5pm Janette Jenkins - Firefly
Beautiful Yurts for
Events. 14ft to 33ft
Janette’s colourful and contemplative novel
about Noel Coward and his last years at his
Jamaican House –Firefly. Between sundowners
and sunsets, brandies and cigarettes, the
seventy one year old Coward dreams of a
London, long gone or imagined, peopled
with glamorous friends and picture
postcard elegance.
Yurt
£6/£4 (concs)
For Further information
please contact Tom Sterne
E: [email protected]
T: 01423 410 030
www.yorkshireyurts.co.uk
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 10/11
>> Saturday
3rd May
6.30pm Philippa Langley - The
King’s Grave: the Search for
Richard lll
Remember when the body of Richard lll was
dug up in a Leicestershire carpark? Meet one
half of the pair of historians who went on a ten
year quest to identify the final resting place of
the much-maligned Monarch. A remarkable
story of tenacity and historical detective work.
Chaired by Sheilagh Matheson
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
8pm Nadine Dorries The Four Streets
The Four Streets are in the heart of the Catholic
community of 1950’s Liverpool, where poor
immigrant Irish families come to seek a better
life. This is a tough, but uplifting story of financial
hardship and strong friendships based on
Nadine Dorries’ own experiences of growing
up on Merseyside.
Chaired by Gerard Foley,
Political Journalist and Broadcaster
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
Sunday 4th May
10.30am-12.30pm Steve Chambers
- Writing for Radio Workshop
What makes a riveting radio play? Steve
Chambers, who has written award-winning
drama, comedy and literary adaptations for BBC
Radio, will guide you through the writing pitfalls
of this unique medium, from the vital opening
seconds to the final word. Come and find your
writing voice on the radio.
Beaumont Hotel
£15
Sponsored by
Northumbria University
11.30am Kate Waldegrave The Poets’ Daughters
Dora Wordsworth and Sara Coleridge were
life-long friends, but both lived in the shadows
of their famous fathers, William Wordsworth and
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The young women
dedicated themselves to the literary reputation
of the two poets, but at a huge personal cost
of depression, drug-addiction and anorexia.
Chaired by Lynn Curtis
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£6/£4 (concs)
www.queenshall.co.uk
>> Sunday
4th May
1pm Jim Ring - Storming the
Eagle’s Nest
When we think of the Alps today, we think of
skiing and hiking in an unparalleled landscape,
but during the Second World War the Alps
played a pivotal role, as a refuge for resistance
fighters, as hazardous passages of escape and
an important cultural touchstone for nations
in conflict.
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£6/£4 (concs)
2.30pm Julian Baggini The Virtues of the Table:
How to Eat and Think
Festival Friends
Become a Friend of Hexham
Book Festival before 31st March
and enter into our prize draw
to win three pairs of tickets to
events of your choice from the
2014 programme.
Membership runs until 31st January
2015 and benefits include £2 off most
ticket prices throughout the festival
and an invitation to an exclusive
Friends event.
Apply online at www.hexhambook
festival.co.uk/friends and for only £20
single and £30 double membership
(two people at one address), you’ll be
supporting the Festival and helping us
to move forward into 2015.
Does what we eat help us decide how to live?
Our choice of the food we put on our tables
expresses much more than simple hunger;
it’s a cultural, intellectual, emotional and social
statement of who we are. A thought-provoking
book on the values and vices of our appetites.
Chaired by Gerard Foley, Political Journalist
and Broadcaster
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
Author interviews and events
in Yorkshire and the North East
from February to May 2014
www.readregional.com
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 12/13
>> Sunday
4th May
4pm Kirsty Wark - The
Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle
Monday 5th May
11am-4pm Crime-writing
Workshop
Commit the perfect literary crime with two of the
best and brightest crime fiction writers around.
William Ryan and M.R Hall will take you through
what readers and agents are looking for, how
to avoid cliche and what to reveal and when,
without giving it all away.
A debut novel set on the Scottish island of
Arran about the ambiguities of ordinary lives.
Upon her death, the solitary Elizabeth Pringle
bequeaths her remote home to a seeming
stranger, but why? And what lies behind this
peculiar legacy? A tale of fierce female loyalties
and family secrets.
Chaired by Jacqui Hodgeson
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£9/£7 (concs)
Library Queen’s Hall
£30 inc light lunch
Numbers restricted so please book early.
Sponsored by Northumbria University
3pm Henry ‘Blowers’ Blofeld Squeezing the Orange
6pm Faisal Islam The Default Line
How did the world’s financial institutions
tip from boom-fueled optimism into fiscal
madness resulting in economic meltdown?
In extensive interviews with authoritative
global figures and award-winning Economics
journalists Faisal Islam reveals the mayhem
and misdemeanors that have caused all
our pockets to be squeezed.
Chaired by Richard Moss, BBC Political
Editor for the North East and Cumbria
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
What summer is complete without the clubbable
tones of legendary cricketing commentator
Henry ‘Blowers’ Blofeld on the wireless? In over
forty years with Test Match Special, Blowers has
swapped more stories, drunk more wine and
eaten more listeners’ cake than is good for
him. Hear ‘My Dear Old Thing’ in action!
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
New for Autumn 2014
We’re teaming up with The Alnwick
Garden to host some exclusive Literary
Lunches – sign up for our newsletter
to receive up to date information
on these and other exciting events
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk
www.queenshall.co.uk
>> Monday
5th May
5.30pm M R Hall’s - The Burning
& William Ryan’s - The Twelfth
Department
The paranoia of 1930’s Stalinist Russia and a
terrible arson attack in a quiet English village
are the incendiary settings for two of the most
intriguing crime writers currently on the page.
Come and share their secrets, and discover
how their legal backgrounds fuel their
literary plots.
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£6/£4 (concs)
>> Monday
5th May
7pm Ian Rankin - Standing
in Another Man’s Grave
Detective Inspector John Rebus is back, and
as compellingly complex as ever. His forensic
attention is gripped by a series of seemingly
unconnected disappearances stretching back
fourteen years, and as he brushes up against
Edinburgh adversaries old and new,he
discovers that he’s being blocked on
all sides.
Chaired by Craig Robertson
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£10/£8 (concs)
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 14/15
Tuesday 6th May
Wednesday 7th May
1pm Sarah Stovell - The Night
Flower & Stephanie Butland Surrounded by Water
1pm Max Adams The King in the North
Two new novelists, both based in Northumberland,
talk about their very different styles and subject
matter, why writing matters and the experience
of being published. Sarah Stovell is one of New
Writing North’s Read Regional authors.
Robinson Gay Gallery
Free but tickets essential
Sponsored by Fentimans
7pm Writing Motherhood
Does having a baby impact on a woman’s
creativity? Children’s writer and illustrator Debi
Gliori, award-winning poet Kathryn Simmonds
and poet and novelist Carolyn Jess-Cooke
speak frankly about the tensions between family
life and creative life. Features the launch of
Carolyn’s new collection of poetry ‘BOOM!’
Chaired by Claire Malcolm
Library Queen’s Hall
£5/£3 (concs)
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
Oswald Whiteblade was a seventh century
Christian King of Northumbria and the model
for J.R.R Tolkien’s Aragorn in ‘Lord of the
Rings’. Recognised as the most powerful
overlord in England, his reign saw the building of
the monastery on Lindisfarne and religious and
scholarly ideas spreading throughout Europe.
Robinson Gay Gallery
Free but tickets essential
Sponsored by Fentimans
6.30pm Richard Crewdson Dorothea’s War
This poignant first-hand account of the everyday
horror of nursing during the First World War,
written and illustrated by a young VAD, Dorothea
Crewdson, only came to light a few years ago.
Her nephew, Richard, unearthed the seven
volumes of diaries and painstakingly edited
them into this unforgettable book.
Chaired by Rebecca Jenkins
Library Queen’s Hall
£6/£4 (concs)
www.queenshall.co.uk
A Missed Perspective...
...is a collaborative venture, devised by
Hexham Book Festival and supported by the
Heritage Lottery Fund and Queen’s Hall Arts,
working with children from Middle Schools
across Northumberland, Public Libraries
and professional authors. Drawing together
the strands of creative writing, research and
storytelling focussing on the history of the
people in Northumberland during the
years of the Great War.
Get involved: Hexham Library
Mon 12th May 5pm-7pm
Do you have a story, photographs, letters,
memorabilia from World War 1 that you
would like to share? Author and historian
Rebecca Jenkins will be hosting a drop in
session at Hexham Library so please come
along and contribute to this project.
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 16/17
>> Wednesday
7th May
>> Thursday
8th May
8pm Jenny Uglow - The Pinecone
5.45pm Wally Olins - Brand New
In a tiny village near Carlisle is an incongruous
Romanesque church, crammed with gargoyles,
fossils, pre-Christian carvings and above all
pinecones, an ancient symbol of regeneration.
The architect was Sarah Losh, whose family
story resonates with the industrial and
intellectual history of northern England
in the early nineteenth century.
Wally Olins’s fascinating book looks at every
aspect of the world of branding.
Chaired by Caroline Beck
Library Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
With his customary flair and no-nonsense
prose, he analyses the problems facing today’s
organisations. Incisive, invigorating and visionary,
no one interested in branding, marketing,
business or contemporary culture will want
to be without it.
Tyneside Cinema
£8.80 (see Tyneside Cinema website for
concessions) Box Office: 0845 217 9909
[email protected]
Thursday 8th May
1pm Steve Chambers
Steve is an accomplished dramatist and script
writer whose credits include episodes of
Casualty and Byker Grove and many classic
adaptations for radio. Now he has written his
first novel – part quirky thriller part gritty love
story ‘GLADIO – We Can Neither Confirm Nor
Deny’ is a compelling and fast moving read.
Robinson Gay Gallery
Free but tickets essential
Sponsored by Fentimans
7.30pm ‘Cold Vision’ - Three
writers’ experiences of the
Northumberland landscape.
Last year, as part of the Hexham Book Festival,
three prestigious nature-writers writers, Paul Farley,
Esther Woolfson and Kathleen Jamie spent time
at Kielder in writing residencies. Poems, prose
and reflections on landscape, isolation and the
natural world have been collected into a luminous
anthology, join the three authors for
this evening’s launch.
Chaired by Claire Malcolm
Theatre Queen’s Hall
£8/£6 (concs)
4 events for the price of 3 Box Office T: 01434 652 477
www.queenshall.co.uk
Proudly supporting
Hexham Book Festival
Visit our gallery
on Market Street
for original artworks
and furniture.
3a Market St, Hexham, Northumberland. NE46 3NS
Tel: 01434 601972
www.northumberlandartgallery.co.uk
School
Transport
Fund
Over the past two years we have
noticed that transport for rural schools
is becoming prohibitively expensive
resulting in many schools simply being
unable to attend inspirational author
events. As a result we have created a
school transport fund which allows us
to help schools pay for coach travel.
We are asking for between £50 and
£100 from companies and organisations
to put towards the fund, if you’d like
information about how to do this, please
email [email protected]
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk 18/19
Contact Us
Ticket Information
Thanks
If you have any questions
or would like to make a
suggestion about the festival,
please send an email to info@
hexhambookfestival.co.uk
Tickets for all events (apart from
those at Tyneside Cinema) can
be booked directly through
the Queen’s Hall Box Office on
01434 652477, or book online
at www.queenshall.co.uk
Adrian Portlock
Ballinger Charitable Trust
Beaumont Hotel
Bond Dickinson
Catherine Cookson
Charitable Trust
Caroline Beck
Christopher Rowbotham
Charitable Trust
Chromazone Digital Imaging
Cogito Books
Ernest Cook Trust
Fentimans
Forum Cinema
Gillian Dickinson Trust
Hadrian Trust
Hexham Community
Partnership
Joicey Trust
Mark Stanton
Newcastle University
New Writing North
Northumbria University
Peter Sharpe
Queen’s Hall Arts
Robinson Gay Gallery
Sintons
The Alnwick Garden
The Roundhouse
Tyneside Cinema
To subscribe to our e-newsletter
for updates from the Hexham
Book Festival and information
about one-off events, visit
www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk
Follow us on Facebook
and Twitter.
@hexhambookfest
facebook.com/
hexhambookfestival
Opening Hours:
Monday - Friday
10.00am - 5.00pm
Saturday
10.00am - 4.00pm
Free events will require tickets
as places are limited, so please
remember to book your place
to avoid being disappointed.
Queen’s Hall
Beaumont Street
Hexham
NE46 3LS
HASLAM’S of HALLGATE
Art Gallery, Antiques & Art Materials
UBS
Three beautifully refurbished galleries feature
the very best regions Art & Crafts led by
Landscape artist Ben Haslam BA.
Browse period paintings from the 18th-20th century
in the Alder Rooms. Admire period furniture in the
delightful Hallgate Antiques & interiors purchase
supplies in the well stocked Art shop.
Find us next to the Old Gaol, 22-24 Hallgate,
Hexham NE461XD T: 01434603884
www.tynedalefineartproducts.co.uk
Designed by
Creative Writing & Events
@ School of English, Newcastle University
◆ Intensive writing workshops in poetry, fiction and scriptwriting
◆ Study under some of the most exciting writers in the UK:
William Fiennes, W.N. Herbert, Jackie Kay and Sean O’Brien
◆ Meet with editors, publishers and agents to prepare for
a career in writing
◆ Take the opportunity to attend world class literary events at
Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla),
and join the vibrant literary community in the North East!
◆ Further information: [email protected], 0191 222 7619
Personal & Family
How can we help you?
FOR YOU & YOUR
Generations of families have benefited from our legal advice
so you can help those you care about most.
Talk to us about Wills, Trusts, Probate, Property, Lasting Powers
of Attorney, Family & Divorce, Inheritance Planning, Charities.
For further advice and information, please contact:
Julie Garbutt 0191 226 3131 [email protected]
Law
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Sintons LLP, The Cube, Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 6DB.
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Programme Listing
Thursday 3rd April
6.30pm-7.30pm
Val McDermid
Forum Cinema
Thursday 24th April
6.30pm-7.30pm
Book Group event
Library QH
8pm-10pm
Literary Quiz
Beaumont Hotel
Saturday 26th April
7.30pm-8.30pm
Hugh Pym
Theatre QH
Sunday 27th April
4.30pm-5.30pm
The Invisible Woman talk
Forum Cinema
5.30pm-7.30pm
The Invisible Woman film
Forum Cinema
Monday 28th April
7.30pm-8.30pm
Tracy Chevalier
Theatre QH
Tuesday 29th April
7pm-8pm
Alison Weir
Hexham Abbey
Wednesday 30th April
1.30pm-2.30pm
Lindsey Davis
Hexham Abbey
6.30pm-7.30pm
Tristan Gooley
Theatre QH
8pm-9pm
Robin Hanbury-Tenison
Theatre QH
Thursday 1st May
10.30am-11.30am
Jans Ondaatje Rolls
Theatre QH
12pm-1pm
Emma Bridgewater
Theatre QH
6.30pm-7.30pm
Anne Dickson and Melissa Benn
Theatre QH
8pm-10pm
Jeremy Hardy
Theatre QH
Friday 2nd May
10.30am-11.30am
Tony de Saulles
Theatre QH
Cover image by Nancy Campbell.
10.30am-12pm
Literacy Workshop
Yurt
12pm-1pm
George Goodwin
Theatre QH
1.30pm-3pm
Literacy Workshop
Yurt
3.30pm-5.30pm
Writing Stories Workshop
Bernard MacLaverty
Yurt
6pm-7pm
Katharine Grant
Yurt
7.30pm-8.30pm
Penelope Lively
Theatre QH
Saturday 3rd May
10.30am-11.30am
Storytelling
Yurt
10.30am-11.30am
Tweet of the Day
Brett Westwood and Sarah Blunt
Theatre QH
12pm-1pm
Sally Magnusson
Theatre QH
12pm-1pm
Tony Singh
Yurt
1.30pm-2.30pm
Lucinda Hawksley
Yurt
1.30pm-2.30pm
Bernard MacLaverty
Theatre QH
3pm-4pm
Patrick Barkham
Yurt
3pm-4pm
Anne de Courcy
Theatre QH
5pm-6pm
Janette Jenkins
Yurt
5pm-6pm
Douglas Hurd
Theatre QH
6.30pm-7.30pm
Philippa Langley
Theatre QH
8pm-9pm
Nadine Dorries
Theatre QH
Sunday 4th May
10.30am-12.30pm
Creative Writing Workshop
Steve Chambers
Beaumont Hotel
11.30am-12.30pm
Kate Waldegrave
Theatre QH
1pm-2pm
Jim Ring
Theatre QH
2.30pm-3.30pm
Julian Baggini
Theatre QH
4pm-5pm
Kirsty Wark
Theatre QH
6pm-7pm
Faisal Islam
Theatre QH
Monday 5th May
11am-4pm
Crime Writing Workshop
William Ryan and M R Hall
Library QH
3pm-4pm
Henry ‘Blowers’ Blofeld
Theatre QH
5.30pm-6.30pm
M R Hall & William Ryan
Theatre QH
7pm-8pm
Ian Rankin
Theatre QH
Tuesday 6th May
1pm-2pm
Sarah Stovell & Stephanie Butland
Robinson Gay Gallery
7pm-8pm
Writing Motherhood
Library QH
Wednesday 7th May
1pm-2pm
Max Adams
Robinson Gay Gallery
6.30pm-7.30pm
Richard Crewdson
Library QH
8pm-9pm
Jenny Uglow
Library QH
Thursday 8th May
1pm-2pm
Steve Chambers
Robinson Gay Gallery
5.45pm-8.20pm
Wally Olins
Tyneside Cinema
7.30pm-8.30pm
Kielder Anthology Launch Event
Theatre QH