WHERE BOOKS, IDEAS & CREATIVITY BLOOM
19-29 MAY 2017
INCLUDING:
Nick Clegg
Richard Ford
David Grossman
Harriet Harman
Stephen Hawking
Barry Humphries
David Olusoga
Ann Patchett
Vanessa Redgrave
Tamara Rojo
Philippe Sands
John Simpson
Elizabeth Strout
Colm Tóibín
and many more…
C H A R L E S TO N . O R G . U K / F E S T I VA L
AT A GLANCE
FRI 19 May 12pm HERALDING THE HOGARTH PRESS - Hermione Lee, Deborah Levy and Juliet Nicolson £17
FRI 19 May 2.30pm A WOMAN’S WORK - Harriet Harman with Lennie Goodings
£20
IN THE WINGS - Simon Morrison and Tamara Rojo with Judith Mackrell
£20
FRI 19 May 5pm FRI 19 May 7.30pm BRINGING HOME THE NEWS - John Simpson with Christina Lamb
£20
SAT 20 May 11.30am HAUNTINGS - Lauren Elkin and Deborah Levy£14
LES PARISIENNES - Anne Sebba with Carmen Callil
£17
SAT 20 May 1.45pm
SAT 20 May 4pm FEMMES FATALES - Artemis Cooper and Edmund Gordon
£17
£14
SAT 20 May 6.15pm RUSSIAN ROULETTE - Anna Pasternak and Douglas Smith
SAT 20 May 8.15pm TURNER V MONET - Franny Moyle and Ross King with Virginia Nicholson
£17
SUN 21 May 11.30am BABYBOOMER BLUES - William Nicholson and Miranda Sawyer with Imogen Lycett Green £14
£20
SUN 21 May 1.45pm THE EMPATHY INSTINCT - Peter Bazalgette with Jon Snow
THE LAST TABOO - Julia Samuel and Cathy Rentzenbrink with Bella Pollen £14
SUN 21 May 4pm SUN 21 May 6.15pm BETWEEN THEM - Richard Ford with Olivia Cole £20
£17
SUN 21 May 8.15pm SPIRITUAL SPLENDOUR - Simon Jenkins and Christopher de Hamel
MON 22 May 1pm WHAT WE CANNOT KNOW - Marcus du Sautoy
£20
£30
MON 22 May 3.30pm THE CHARLESTON-EFG JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES PRIZE Professor Stephen Hawking
TUES 23 May 6.30pm CHARLESTON FESTIVAL DINNER - Nick Clegg and Min Kym
£110
£17
WED 24 May 1pm AFTER J’ACCUSE - Michael Rosen with Caroline Lucas
WED 24 May 3.30pm TOUCH - Maggi Hambling with Simon Martin
£20
£20
WED 24 May 6pm BEYOND LUCY BARTON - Elizabeth Strout with Claire Armitstead
£17
WED 24 May 8pm EAST WEST STREET - Philippe Sands with Maureen Freely
THUR 25 May 1pm DESIGN MUSEUM 2.0 - Deyan Sudjic with Dinah Casson £14
THUR 25 May 3.30pm REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST - Elif Shafak and Madeleine Thien with Arifa Akbar £20
£20
THUR 25 May 6pm COMMONWEALTH - Ann Patchett with Claire Armitstead
THUR 25 May 8pm TRAGI-COMIC - David Grossman and Giles Fraser
£17
FRI 26 May 10.30am TOUR: BEHIND THE HOARDINGS - Jamie Fobert, Alistair Burtenshaw and Nick Rose £15
FRI 26 May 11.30am TEA AND TEQUILA - Joanna Moorhead with Joanna Biggs
£14
DEBATE: ORIGINALITY IN LITERATURE IS OVERRATED
£17
FRI 26 May 1.45pm Maggie Gee and John Mullan moderated by Christina Patterson
LES MISÉRABLES - David Bellos with William Nicholson
£17
FRI 26 May 4pm FRI 26 May 6.15pm HOUSE OF NAMES - Colm Tóibín and Robert Icke with Charlotte Higgins
£20
£14
FRI 26 May 8.15pm EYEWITNESS TO REVOLUTION - Helen Rappaport and Robert Skidelsky
£14
SAT 27 May 11.30am ROGUES’ GALLERY - Philip Hook with Georgina Adam
SAT 27 May 1.45pm LABOURS OF LOVE - Rebecca John and John Spencer with Jane Ridley
£14
CIVILISATION - David Olusoga and James Stourton with Frances Spalding
£17
SAT 27 May 4pm SAT 27 May 6.15pm THE ESSEX SERPENT - Sarah Perry with Lucy Atkins
£20
£14
SAT 27 May 8.15pm THE ROBBER OF YOUTH - Linda Grant and Kathryn Lougheed with Michael Farthing
SUN 28 May 12pm MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT - William Dalrymple and Anita Anand
£20
£17
SUN 28 May 2.30pm HARPER’S 150TH - Justine Picardie and Erdem Moralioglu
SUN 28 May 5pm HAMLET GLOBE TO GLOBE - Dominic Dromgoole with Michael Farthing
£17
£30
SUN 28 May 7.30pm VANESSA ON VANESSA - Vanessa Redgrave and Virginia Nicholson
MON 29 May 12pm HABITATS - Nicholas Crane and Adrian Tinniswood with Tom Stuart-Smith £14
£14
MON 29 May 2.30pm STILL LIFE - Susan Fletcher and Bernadette Murphy
MON 29 May 5pm SOLACE - Helen Macdonald and Fiona Stafford with Sue Stuart-Smith
£20
£30
MON 29 May 7pm HUMPHRIES’ CHOICE - Barry Humphries with Juliet Nicolson
2 charleston.org.uk/festival
WELCOME
This year’s Festival reflects turbulent
times as well as the humanising power
of literature, art and culture. We have
gathered a cast of remarkable writers,
thinkers, artists and performers to help
us celebrate creativity in all its forms and
to interrogate history, politics, science,
literature and society.
We proudly mark the 100th anniversary of
the Hogarth Press, founded by Leonard
and Virginia Woolf. The centenary of the
Russian Revolution is scrutinised and its
contemporary relevance examined.
Frontiers are crossed, both literal and
metaphorical – from France to Mexico, China
to Turkey, Ukraine to Korea, Israel to India
– and we follow Hamlet around the globe.
The journey is bound to be enlightening. The
craft of biography is analysed; the classics are
reinterpreted; art and design are debated;
civilisation itself reconsidered.
In a year in which America has been
turned upside down, we welcome a host of
outstanding writers from the USA.
Will they help us understand the New
World, past and present?
Topics range from ancient manuscripts to
modern fiction, human rights to empathy,
drama to ballet, humour to fashion, nature
to nurture, myths to physics.
The Keynes Prize is presented to the
world-renowned cosmologist, Professor
Stephen Hawking. Expect to be in awe.
And we will be delighted by some
exceptional performers: Vanessa Redgrave
reading the letters of Vanessa Bell; Barry
Humphries sharing his love for books and
music; Min Kym playing her violin.
Don’t miss the opportunity to be surprised
and stimulated by our largest ever group
of mind-expanding authors, artists and
entertainers. You, the audience, are the extra
ingredient that makes the Festival buzz.
Diana Reich
Artistic Director, Charleston Festivals
charleston.org.uk/festival 3
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4 charleston.org.uk/festival
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 5
FRIDAY 19 MAY
12pm • Tickets £17
HERALDING THE HOGARTH PRESS
Hermione Lee, Deborah Levy and Juliet Nicolson
SUPPORTED BY NIRA WRIGHT
FRIDAY 19 MAY
2.30pm • Tickets £20
A WOMAN’S WORK
Harriet Harman with Lennie Goodings
Bloomsbury is associated with independent-minded and creative women
with a strong feminist streak. Harriet Harman’s long-standing life in British
politics is inspired by and perpetuates that tradition. Joining a House of
Commons which was 97% male in 1982, she became a lifelong campaigner
for women’s rights. She reflects on the hurdles she faced, fought and
overcame, including bringing up three children whilst in Parliament.
In conversation with Lennie Goodings, Editorial Director of Virago
Press she also discusses how much she was influenced by historic
and cultural legacies, and the current state of feminism in an
unpredictable world, both domestically and internationally.
SUPPORTED BY HURSTPIERPOINT COLLEGE
6 charleston.org.uk/festival
FRIDAY 19 MAY
5pm • Tickets £20
7.30pm • Tickets £20
IN THE
WINGS
BRINGING
HOME THE NEWS
Simon Morrison
and Tamara Rojo
John Simpson
Tamara Rojo photo © Jeff Gilbert
with Judith Mackrell
Mrs Dalloway jacket © Victoria University Library, Toronto. Copyright Estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy Henrietta Garnett.
The establishment of the Hogarth Press by Leonard and Virginia
Woolf, one hundred years ago, grew out of their desire to publish
works that might not have been accepted elsewhere. Its list
included T.S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, W.H. Auden, Christopher
Isherwood, Vita Sackville-West, Virginia
Woolf, translations of Russian novelists
and the collected papers of Sigmund
Freud. Hermione Lee, Deborah Levy and
Juliet Nicolson discuss this remarkable
achievement. Hermione Lee, President
of Wolfson College, Oxford, is the
biographer of Virginia Woolf; Deborah
Levy’s most recent novel is Hot Milk; Juliet Nicolson, author of
A House Full of Daughters, is the granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West.
FRIDAY 19 MAY
Is the elegant world of ballet a
hotbed of scandal? Simon Morrison’s
Bolshoi Confidential reveals the secrets of the
Russian Ballet from the Tsars to today: a cocktail
of sex, violence, even acid attacks - mirroring the
tempestuous history of the nation. He discusses
the contrast between what happens behind
the scenes and what unfolds on the stage with
Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of
English National Ballet and Lead
Principal with the company, and
Judith Mackrell, Dance Critic
of the Guardian. Tamara Rojo
danced with the Royal Ballet
for 12 years. Simon Morrison is
Professor of Music at Princeton.
Judith Mackrell’s new book is The
Unfinished Palazzo.
SUPPORTED BY
MAYFIELD SCHOOL
with Christina Lamb
John Simpson, the BBC’s World Affairs
Editor, is the most distinguished foreign
correspondent of our time, having
covered international conflicts over
almost half a century. In 2001, he
famously donned a burqa to become
the first reporter to broadcast from
Taliban-held Afghanistan. His current
book, We Chose to Speak of War and
Strife, is a fascinating account of what
it takes to risk life and limb in order to
inform the public. He discusses pivotal
moments in history, from Crimea
to Vietnam and Sarajevo, and pays
tribute to some of his great forebears.
In conversation with Christina Lamb,
multi award-winning foreign
correspondent and co-author
of I Am Malala.
SUPPORTED BY
HURSTPIERPOINT
COLLEGE
John Simpson photo
© Jonathan Ring
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 7
SATURDAY 20 MAY
SATURDAY 20 MAY
11.30am • Tickets £14
4pm • Tickets £17
HAUNTINGS
FEMMES
FATALES
Lauren Elkin and
Deborah Levy
Lauren Elkin and Deborah
Levy consider the impact on
their work of Virginia Woolf’s
presiding spirit. Lauren Elkin’s
book Flâneuse discusses the creative stimulus of walking
in the city. The idea for To the Lighthouse came to Woolf
while strolling in Tavistock Square; Mrs Dalloway’s first
words are “I love walking in London”. Deborah Levy’s
novel, Hot Milk, was inspired by To the Lighthouse.
Her autobiographical essay, Things I Don’t Want to Know,
is a response to Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.
SUPPORTED BY THE BLOOMSBURY,
A DOYLE COLLECTION HOTEL
SATURDAY 20 MAY
1.45pm • Tickets £17
LES PARISIENNES
Anne Sebba with Carmen Callil
Anne Sebba’s book, Les Parisiennes, is a
chronicle, based on personal interviews,
of the experience of Parisian women
who lived, loved and died in the city
in the 1940s during the Occupation
and its aftermath. The tension between
resistance and collaboration is explored
through the stories of women from all
walks of life. Being Paris, even in the
darkest moments, fashion and style
were seen as acts of defiance. Carmen
Callil is the founder of Virago Press,
author of Bad Faith and champion of the
French writer Irène Némirovsky.
SUPPORTED BY PELHAM HOUSE HOTEL
8 charleston.org.uk/festival
Artemis Cooper
and Edmund Gordon
The lives of novelists Elizabeth
Jane Howard (whose books
include the five volume
The Cazalet Chronicles) and
Angela Carter (whose
work includes Nights at
the Circus and Wise
Children) have recently
been reappraised in
biographies by Artemis
Cooper (Howard) and Edmund
Gordon (Carter). Artemis Cooper
was able to interview Elizabeth Jane
Howard; Edmund Gordon was barely
a toddler when Angela Carter died
in 1992. What are the advantages
and disadvantages of knowing your
biographical subject?
SUPPORTED BY MERCHANT GOURMET
SATURDAY 20 MAY
6.15pm • Tickets £14
RUSSIAN ROULETTE
Anna Pasternak and Douglas Smith
Two of the best known figures in Russian history flirted with disaster. Rasputin, the holy
man who mesmerised the doomed Romanovs, was assassinated. Historian Douglas Smith
separates fact from sensational fiction to portray the true life of the charlatan monk. When
Boris Pasternak handed over the manuscript of Doctor Zhivago to be smuggled out of the
Soviet Union, he exclaimed: “You are hereby invited to take part in my own execution”.
Anna Pasternak, great-niece of Boris, unravels Pasternak’s tragic romance with his mistress,
the model for Lara, heroine of Doctor Zhivago.
SUPPORTED BY MAYER BROWN
SATURDAY 20 MAY
8.15pm • Tickets £17
TURNER V MONET
Franny Moyle and Ross King
with Virginia Nicholson
The reputation of Turner (1775-1851) is nearmythical and Claude Monet (1840-1926) is one
of the world’s most beloved artists. Ross King’s
Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting
of the Water Lilies explores the floating paradise
the artist created at Giverny. Franny Moyle’s
The Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of J.M.W. Turner illuminates
the personal life of the seascape painter who prefigured Impressionism.
Which artist was the greater genius? The audience will have the final say.
Moderator Virginia Nicholson, social historian, is entirely impartial.
SUPPORTED BY ART FUND
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 9
SUNDAY 21 MAY
SUNDAY 21 MAY
11.30am • Tickets £14
BABYBOOMER BLUES
BETWEEN THEM
William Nicholson and Miranda Sawyer
Richard Ford with Olivia Cole
with Imogen Lycett Green
SUPPORTED BY HARWOODS LAND ROVER
SUNDAY 21 MAY
1.45pm • Tickets £20
4pm • Tickets £14
THE EMPATHY
INSTINCT
THE LAST
TABOO
Peter Bazalgette
with Jon Snow
Julia Samuel
and Cathy
Rentzenbrink
Empathy is an act of the
imagination: the ability to
put oneself into a different
person’s shoes. It is a major
attribute of creative art. Understanding
how this instinct is cultivated, and why it
is stifled, could not be more important
in our divided times. In The Empathy
Instinct Peter Bazalgette explores the
consequences of breakdowns of empathy
and what science has discovered about
its origins. Jon Snow, Channel 4’s News
anchor, has witnessed the collapse of
empathy in war and strife. Peter Bazalgette
was Chair of Arts Council England.
Love and loss are two sides of the same coin,
yet grief is overwhelming. Julia Samuel is a grief
psychotherapist who works with bereaved
families. Her book Grief Works is a compassionate
guide to handling loss, based on case stories.
Cathy Rentzenbrink’s The Last Act of Love
describes how she coped with the devastating
loss of her brother, who was in a coma for a
decade after being knocked down by a car. Her
forthcoming book is A Manual for Heartache.
Journalist Bella Pollen’s new memoir is Meet Me
in the In-Between.
SUPPORTED BY THE SIGRID RAUSING TRUST
SUPPORTED BY MAYER BROWN
10 charleston.org.uk/festival
with Bella Pollen
Richard Ford photo © Greta Rybus
For some, life begins in middle age; for others, it is a time to dread.
Journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer’s mid-life crisis struck in
her forties. The sudden jolt prompted her book Out of Time based on
interviews to discover how others dealt with the experience. Novelist and
screenwriter William Nicholson believes that mid-life is a time for positive
re-invention. His new novel, Adventures in Modern Marriage, set over the weekend of the 2015
election, dissects the ups and downs of a long-term relationship. Chaired by Imogen Lycett Green.
SUNDAY 21 MAY
6.15pm • Tickets £20
Richard Ford is one of America’s greatest writers.
His novels include The Sportswriter, the Pulitzer prizewinning Independence Day and Canada. His new book,
Between Them, is his first work of non-fiction, a portrait of
mid-century American life and a love letter to his parents.
He describes his freewheeling parents’ life on the road in the
South during the Depression, following his father’s salesman job.
It is an archetypal American story. Does it shed any light on the divided
United States of today? Chaired by journalist Olivia Cole, literary editor for
British GQ, poet and journalist.
SUPPORTED BY BRIGHTON GIN
SUNDAY 21 MAY
8.15pm • Tickets £17
SPIRITUAL SPLENDOUR
Simon Jenkins and Christopher de Hamel
Christopher de Hamel’s Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts
brings a relatively obscure subject to dazzling light. A Sotheby’s
expert, now Librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, de
Hamel tells the stories of a dozen illuminated manuscripts with a
rare blend of accessibility, passion and scholarship. Simon Jenkins’
England’s Cathedrals is a personal guide to one of the nation’s most
visible glories, told with his customary zeal and relish for strong opinions. They discuss the ability
of illuminated manuscripts and cathedrals to lift the spirits in turbulent times.
SUPPORTED BY THE ONDAATJE FOUNDATION
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 11
C H A RLE S TO N
TO
C H A RLE S TO N
MONDAY 22 MAY
1pm • Tickets £20
WHAT WE CANNOT KNOW
Marcus du Sautoy
3 TO 5 NOVEMBER 2017
In his new book, What We Cannot Know, Marcus du Sautoy, Professor
of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, asks whether it is possible
that one day we will understand everything or whether there are
fields of research that will always lie beyond human comprehension.
Bill Bryson described it as “brilliant and fascinating”. Expect an exciting
journey to the edge of knowledge. Marcus du Sautoy is also Simonyi
Chair for the Public Understanding of Science – a post previously held
by Professor Richard Dawkins.
Charleston, South Carolina, USA
SUPPORTED BY EFG PRIVATE BANK
L I T E R A RY F E S T I V A L
The CHARLESTON TO CHARLESTON Literary Festival
signals the launch of a collaboration between
The Charleston Trust and the Charleston Library Society.
The new festival will make its home in historic Charleston,
South Carolina. The Charleston Library Society is the oldest
cultural institution in the southern States, and the second
oldest circulating library in America.
MONDAY 22 MAY
3.30pm • Tickets £30
THE CHARLESTON-EFG
JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES PRIZE
Professor Stephen Hawking
We are honoured to present the Keynes Prize to Professor Stephen Hawking.
Professor Stephen Hawking is a theoretical cosmologist who holds the Stephen W Hawking
chair of cosmology at Cambridge University. His 50-year career has been exceptionally
distinguished, with too many honours and prizes to name. His groundbreaking book
A Brief History of Time was a bestseller. In 2013, his extraordinary life story was turned into
an Oscar-winning film, The Theory of Everything. In recent years he has turned his attention to
science in school education, co-authoring with his daughter the George book series for young
readers. A prolific commentator on important public, cultural
and scientific issues, Professor Hawking has highlighted the
dangers of global warming, overpopulation, artificial intelligence
and the risks to science of the UK leaving the European Union.
SUPPORTED BY EFG PRIVATE BANK
Details to follow on
The Prize was established to award an individual of exceptional talents
in the spirit of John Maynard Keynes’ work and legacy. The panel of
advisors comprises: Dame Liz Forgan (Chair); Andrew McQuillan,
Strategic Marketing and Communications, EFG International; Professor
Simon Keynes; Professor Simon Proctor, Provost of King’s College,
Cambridge; Keith Gapp; Lord Robert Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of
Political Economy and author of the definitive Keynes biography.
CHARL ESTO N TO C H A R LE STON . C OM
12 charleston.org.uk/festival
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 13
Inspiring creativity
for generations
TUESDAY 23 MAY
6.30pm to 10pm • Tickets £110 / Tables of 10 £990
CHARLESTON FESTIVAL DINNER
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well”.
(Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own)
We are delighted to announce two exceptional speakers for the Charleston Festival Dinner, an
opportunity to dine, listen, think, enjoy and engage in convivial conversation, à la Bloomsbury.
Lancing College
Senior School & Sixth Form
AN EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATION FOR BOYS AND GIRLS AGED 13 TO 18
www.lancingcollege.co.uk
Tel 01273 465805
14 charleston.org.uk/festival
West Sussex BN15 0RW
Registered Charity Number 1076483
Min Kym
Nick Clegg
Min Kym is a child prodigy
violinist whose story
went global when her
rare 1696 Stradivarius
violin was stolen at a
train station café. Born in
Korea, educated in the
UK, she was the youngest
ever pupil at the Purcell
School of Music and
subsequently the youngest ever foundation scholar
at the Royal College of Music. She had embarked
on a soaring performing and recording career when
her Stradivarius was lost. In an instant, her world
collapsed and she was no longer able to play.
Using episodes from her book Gone, Min Kym
illustrates key stages in her life by playing pieces
connected with her experiences - from her earliest
days as a child prodigy, via international competitive
success to her debut recordings. Combining readings
with playing gives the listener a unique insight into
Min’s journey; told in the language of music and
words. Accompanied on the piano by Ian Brown.
Introduced by David Pickard, Director of the BBC
Proms and Charleston Trustee.
Nick Clegg PC MP is a Liberal
Democrat politician who was Deputy
Prime Minister and Lord President of
the Council from 2010-2015 in the
coalition government. He was the
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
(2007-2015) and has been a Member
of Parliament since 2005.
Nick Clegg’s book, Politics: Between the
Extremes, was widely admired across
the political spectrum. It is a bird’s-eye
view of the recent dramatic changes
in politics as well as a candid account
of his rise and fall as Deputy Prime
Minister. He speaks frankly about his
regrets and lifts the lid on the arcane
world of Westminster.
With nationalism resurgent
and stark new divisions
in society, he argues for a
renewed belief in ‘the politics
of reason’, cross-party
collaboration and
the values
of liberalism.
Guests will be wined and dined, stimulated and entertained
by two remarkable speakers and have the opportunity to
purchase their books.
This event is NOT included within the ALL EVENT ticket
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY LANCING COLLEGE
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 15
WEDNESDAY 24 MAY
WEDNESDAY 24 MAY
1pm • Tickets £17
6pm • Tickets £20
AFTER J’ACCUSE
BEYOND
LUCY BARTON
Michael Rosen with Caroline Lucas
SUPPORTED BY SCOOP MAGAZINE
WEDNESDAY 24 MAY
3.30pm • Tickets £20
TOUCH
Elizabeth Strout photo © Leonard Cendamo
Elizabeth Strout with Claire Armitstead
Maggi Hambling photo © Axel Hesslenberg
Poet and broadcaster Michael Rosen’s The
Disappearance of Émile Zola: Love, Literature and the
Dreyfus Case tells a gripping and little known story.
At the height of his popularity, the French writer
Émile Zola fled to London, having been prosecuted
for libel in France for writing an open letter, J’Accuse, in
defence of the Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus who had
been wrongly convicted of spying. Michael Rosen charts
the unhappy period that Zola spent in London, fearful that
he would be exposed. Rosen’s book has personal resonance:
his great-uncle was on the same train to Auschwitz as Dreyfus’s
granddaughter. Chaired by Caroline Lucas, Co-Leader of the Green Party.
Elizabeth Strout’s My Name is Lucy Barton was
one of the literary sensations of 2016. Number
1 New York Times bestseller and picked in the UK as the
stand-out novel of the year. The story describes the intense
relationship between a mother and daughter.
Set in New York and the midwest, it explores a
harsh rural background particularly topical
in the light of current American politics.
Strout’s new publication Anything
is Possible deals with some of the
characters whom Lucy and her
mother discuss in the earlier
book. Elizabeth Strout won the
Pulitzer Prize for Olive Kitteridge.
In conversation with Claire Armitstead,
Guardian Associate Editor, Culture.
SUPPORTED BY NIRA WRIGHT
Maggi Hambling with Simon Martin
Maggi Hambling, one of Britain’s foremost
contemporary artists, is renowned for her portraits,
paintings of the sea and public sculpture – both
celebrated and controversial. Less familiar, but
equally important, are her works on paper,
recently the subject of a British Museum
exhibition. She believes that drawing is an
artist’s “most direct and intimate response to
the world. The touch of charcoal, graphite or
ink on paper is full of endless possibilities”.
The concept of ‘touch’ pervades her work.
In conversation with Simon Martin, Director,
Pallant House Gallery.
SUPPORTED BY HERBERT SCOTT LTD
16 charleston.org.uk/festival
WEDNESDAY 24 MAY
8pm • Tickets £17
EAST WEST STREET
Philippe Sands with Maureen Freely
Philippe Sands’ East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and
Crimes Against Humanity, won the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2016.
Weaving together historical, legal and family narratives, it is a
double detective story: a search to unlock family secrets and
comprehend the events that overwhelmed his mother’s family
in Europe during WW2 and a quest to understand the roots
of international law. On accepting the Prize, Philippe Sands
announced that he would donate the £30,000 to a refugee charity.
As a practising barrister, he has been involved in many of the most important international
cases in recent years. Maureen Freely is Chair of English PEN.
SUPPORTED BY UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 17
DESIGN MUSEUM 2.0
Deyan Sudjic with Dinah Casson
The reopened Design Museum brings back to life an
iconic building, the former Commonwealth Institute, with
its spectacular roof. A classic example of contemporary
collaborative design in practice, the new museum lives up
to Director Deyan Sudjic’s concept of design as “borderless,
international in scope and a vital means of understanding the world
around us”. The expanded permanent collection ranges from signage
through consumer electronics to 3D prototyping, not forgetting quirkier
crafts such as the vernacular art of the hand-stitched boot. Deyan Sudjic’s
new book is The Language of Cities. In conversation with Dinah Casson whose
design company specialises in museum installations.
THURSDAY 25 MAY
Ann Patchett photo © Heidi Ross
1pm • Tickets £14
Design Museum photo © Luke Hayes
THURSDAY 25 MAY
6pm • Tickets £20
COMMONWEALTH
Ann Patchett
with Claire Armitstead
Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth centres
on the consequences of an adulterous
affair which brings two Californian families
uneasily together in a story set over five decades,
starting in the 1960s. During one ‘blended’ holiday a catastrophe
occurs which reverberates throughout the future. “When the
whole tragic power of her story hits the reader, about two thirds of the way through, the effect
is physically breathtaking” (the Guardian). Ann Patchett is the author of six novels and three
works of non-fiction. She is the co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, where
she lives. Chaired by Claire Armitstead, Guardian Associate Editor, Culture.
SUPPORTED BY MCR MEDIA SOLUTIONS LTD
SUPPORTED BY THE CHARLESTON TO CHARLESTON FESTIVAL
THURSDAY 25 MAY
3.30pm • Tickets £20
THURSDAY 25 MAY
REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST
TRAGI-COMIC
SUPPORTED BY SUPPORTED BY VIVA MAGAZINES
David Grossman photo © Peter Andreas Hassiepen
Elif Shafak and Madeleine Thien with Arifa Akbar
Two powerful novels shed light on cultures currently in the headlines.
Elif Shafak’s Three Daughters of Eve, set in Istanbul and Oxford,
illuminates the relationship between Islam and the West. It revolves
around a love story and a scandal. Elif Shafak is the acclaimed author of
nine novels and an influential cultural commentator. Madeleine Thien’s
Do Not Say We Have Nothing is set in China and Canada. Shortlisted
for the Man Booker Prize, it brings to life revolutionary China and its traumatic legacy through
the fate of one family and set of friends. Chaired by Arifa Akbar, reviewer and curator of a new
Muslim literature festival: M-Fest.
8pm • Tickets £17
David Grossman and Giles Fraser
David Grossman is an Israeli novelist whose fiction and
non-fiction have received international acclaim. His new book,
A Horse Walks into a Bar, is a heartbreaking, visceral novel about
a stand-up comedian. “David Grossman’s
tale about a comic falling apart is a
masterpiece” (The Sunday Times).
His previous novels include See
Under: Love, To the End of the Land and
Falling Out of Time. He cites Virginia Woolf
as one of his influences. In conversation with
Revd. Dr. Giles Fraser, priest-in-charge at St Mary’s,
Newington, writer of the Loose Canon column for the
Guardian and contributor to Thought for the Day and Moral
Maze. He was formally Canon at St Paul’s Cathedral.
SUPPORTED BY CITY BOOKS
18 charleston.org.uk/festival
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 19
11.30am • Tickets £14
1.45pm • Tickets £17
TEA AND
TEQUILA
FESTIVAL DEBATE
Joanna Moorhead
Originality in Literature
is Overrated
with Joanna Biggs
Maggie Gee and John Mullan
The painter and writer
Leonora Carrington (19172011) was a key figure in
the surrealist movement.
Joanna Moorhead discovered
in 2006 that Leonora was her
father’s cousin and tracked
her down in Mexico. Leonora
regaled Joanna with stories
about living in war-torn France
with her lover Max Ernst,
incarceration in an asylum and
escaping to Mexico. Joanna
Moorhead, author of The Surreal
Life of Leonora Carrington, is in
conversation with Joanna Biggs,
co-publisher of the collected
short stories of Leonora
Carrington and author of
All Day Long: A Portrait of
Britain at Work.
moderated by Christina Patterson
20 charleston.org.uk/festival
John Mullan is Professor of English Literature at University
College, London. A specialist in 18th century literature, he is
the author of What Matters in Jane Austen?
Maggie Gee has written 14 innovative books including The
White Family, The Ice People and Virginia Woolf in Manhattan.
She is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.
Moderated by writer and columnist Christina Patterson.
FRIDAY 26 MAY
6.15pm • Tickets £20
HOUSE OF NAMES
Colm Tóibín and Robert Icke with Charlotte Higgins
Colm Tóibín’s new book, House of Names, is a re-imagining of the Greek
story of the Oresteia. He breathes new life into the classical saga of a family
at war with itself as siblings Electra and Orestes seek to right the wrongs of
their parents, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Robert Icke is Associate Director
of the Almeida Theatre in London where he has directed The Odyssey, The Iliad
and the multiple award-winning Oresteia. Chaired by Charlotte Higgins, author of
It’s All Greek to Me and Chief Culture Writer of the Guardian, they will discuss
re-interpreting the classics.
SUPPORTED BY BEDE’S SCHOOL
SUPPORTED BY LANCING COLLEGE
FRIDAY 26 MAY
FRIDAY 26 MAY
EYEWITNESS TO REVOLUTION
4pm • Tickets £17
8.15pm • Tickets £14
LES MISÉRABLES
Helen Rappaport and Robert Skidelsky
David Bellos
In March 1917 Nicholas II abdicated and the dynasty that had ruled an empire for
three hundred years was swept away by the Revolution. Helen Rappaport’s
Caught in the Revolution describes the chaos in Petrograd from the perspective
of the surprisingly wide range of foreigners who
were resident in the city at the time. Robert
Skidelsky, the distinguished biographer of Keynes,
has spent long periods in Russia since the fall
of communism and has written extensively
on its collapse and the current Putin
regime. A hundred years after the
Revolution, has Russia returned
to its traditional rule by Tsar?
with William Nicholson
Les Misérables is one of the major
novels of the 19th century. The history
behind its writing in the middle of
a revolution and a coup d’etat is as
dramatic as the book. Exiled from
France, Victor Hugo wrote most
of the novel in the Channel Islands. His aim was to teach his
readers to empathise with the downtrodden and their right to
justice. Immediately after publication in 1862, it was adapted for
the stage and has gone on inspiring music, theatre and drama
ever since. It is about to become a new BBC TV series. Chaired
by William Nicholson, screenwriter on Les Misérables.
SUPPORTED BY CHARLOTTE STREET HOTEL
Robert Skidelsky photo © Axel Hesslenberg
SUPPORTED BY ARTS COUNCIL
ENGLAND V&A MUSEUM
PURCHASE GRANT FUND
Does the cult of originality neglect the fact that
great literature derives from a canon and working within
a tradition; or if current work is to encourage imaginative
practitioners and reach new audiences, must it break rules?
Colm Tóibín photo © Brigitte Lacombe
FRIDAY 26 MAY
James Joyce illustration © Delphine Lebourgeois
FRIDAY 26 MAY
SUPPORTED BY
HARVEYS OF LEWES
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 21
SATURDAY 27 MAY
SATURDAY 27 MAY
SATURDAY 27 MAY
SATURDAY 27 MAY
11.30am • Tickets £14
1.45pm• Tickets £14
6.15pm • Tickets £20
8.15pm • Tickets £14
ROGUES’ GALLERY
LABOURS
OF LOVE
THE ESSEX
SERPENT
THE ROBBER
OF YOUTH
Rebecca John
and John Spencer
Sarah Perry
Linda Grant and
Kathryn Lougheed
with Jane Ridley
Sarah Perry’s The Essex
Serpent is “one of the most
memorable historic novels of
the past decade” (The Sunday
Times) and Waterstones Book
of the Year 2016. Set in the
19th century, it follows the
story of an enterprising recent
widow who hopes to make
her mark as a fossil hunter in
the manner of her heroine,
the pioneer female scientist
Mary Anning. Instead, she is
sidetracked by rumours of a
mythological Essex serpent,
by a passionate relationship
with a married local vicar and
a doomed romance with an
early heart surgeon. Chaired
by Lucy Atkins, critic and
award-winning author whose
new novel is The Night Visitor.
Philip Hook with Georgina Adam
Who better than Philip Hook, a Director
at Sotheby’s, to expose the inner workings
of the art world? Is it characterised by
discretion and decorum, or is it riddled
with corruption and scandal? Philip Hook’s
book Rogues’ Gallery is a history of artdealing that is unrivalled for its insight,
anecdotes and gossip. Philip
Hook appears regularly on
Antiques Roadshow and is
the author of Breakfast at
Sotheby’s. Chaired by
Georgina Adam, author
of Big Bucks: The Explosion
of the Art Market in the
21st Century.
SUPPORTED BY
ART FUND
SATURDAY 27 MAY
Rebecca John is the granddaughter
of Augustus and Ida John, the artist’s first wife.
Her book The Good Bohemian consists of Ida John’s
letters, edited with Michael Holroyd. They reveal
Ida’s strong spirit and acceptance of a ménage
à trois. John Spencer is the grandson of Stanley
Spencer. Looking to Heaven is the first volume of a
biography compiled from the papers of the artist,
who also conducted a three-way relationship.
Spencer’s archive consists of over two million
words. Ida John wrote copious letters.
How will biographers fare in the digital age?
Chaired by biographer and historian Jane Ridley.
SUPPORTED BY THE ONDAATJE FOUNDATION
4pm • Tickets £17
CIVILISATION
David Olusoga and James Stourton with Frances Spalding
Kenneth Clark’s groundbreaking glories of western art
series Civilisation, broadcast in the late 1960s, is part of
BBC TV’s mythology, although it was challenged by John
Berger’s Ways of Seeing. James Stourton, biographer
of Clark, reveals the man behind the patrician TV
presenter exterior. David Olusoga is one of three new
presenters for a remake of Civilisation, focusing on
great artworks created across continents. Historian David Olusoga also
presented the Black and British Series on BBC2. James Stourton is an art
historian. Chaired by Frances Spalding, art historian and biographer.
with Lucy Atkins
with Michael Farthing
The scourge of TB has almost
disappeared from the national
consciousness but two current
books put it under the microscope:
Linda Grant’s novel The Dark Circle
and Kathryn Lougheed’s non-fiction
Catching Breath. Grant’s novel,
which takes place just post World
War 2, focuses on young adult East
End twins incarcerated in a rural
sanatorium. It is a microcosm of
the world outside, compounded
by the brutal treatment regime.
Kathryn Lougheed has worked in
tuberculosis research for over ten years. She reveals
that TB has not been confined to history. Chaired by
Michael Farthing, Professor of Medicine and Chair of
The Charleston Trust.
SUPPORTED BY PELHAM HOUSE HOTEL
SUPPORTED BY CITY BOOKS
SUPPORTED BY THE CUTHBERT HORN TRUST
22 charleston.org.uk/festival
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 23
SUNDAY 28 MAY
12pm • Tickets £20
MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT
William Dalrymple and Anita Anand
Even those who can’t tell precious stones from
costume jewellery know of the famous Koh-i-Noor
diamond and its setting in the crown of the
Queen Mother. However, its history has been
shrouded in mythology. In 1849 the child Maharaja
of Punjab handed over the diamond to the British East
India Company in a formal Act of Submission to Queen
Victoria. Its acquisition entailed greed, murder, torture and
colonial machinations. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand bring
the dramatic story to light for the first time in their book, Koh-i-Noor.
William Dalrymple is the distinguished author of The Last Mughal.
Anita Anand is the author of Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary.
Justine Picardie and Erdem Moralioglu
Join Justine Picardie and Erdem Moralioglu to celebrate this year’s 150th
anniversary of Harper’s Bazaar, and the magazine’s longstanding
relationship with artists and writers, including Virginia Woolf, Vita
Sackville-West, and other members of the Bloomsbury group.
Justine Picardie is the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar.
Her books include the bestselling biography Coco Chanel:
The Legend and the Life. Erdem Moralioglu is one of the
world’s leading fashion designers; his numerous awards,
since he established his label in London in 2005, include the
British Fashion Council’s Womenswear Designer of the Year
Award in 2014, and most recently, the 2016 Fashion Group
International Fashion Star Award.
SUPPORTED BY HARPER’S BAZAAR
24 charleston.org.uk/festival
7.30pm • Tickets £30
HAMLET
GLOBE TO GLOBE
VANESSA ON VANESSA
with Michael Farthing
William Dalrymple photo © Jonathan Ring
HARPER’S 150
5pm • Tickets £17
Dominic Dromgoole,
artistic director of
the Globe Theatre
for 11 years, came
up with the idea of
taking Hamlet to
every country on
the planet to mark
the 400th anniversary
of Shakespeare’s
death. Over two full
years, Dromgoole and the company toured
seven continents, despite food poisoning in
Mexico, Ebola in Africa, political upheaval
in Ukraine and many other midadventures.
One of the highlights was performing in the
middle of the Calais ‘Jungle’ refugee camp.
Dominic Dromgoole, one of our foremost
Shakespeare scholars, brings the stories of
his strolling players to Charleston. Chaired by
Michael Farthing, Professor of Medicine and
Chair of The Charleston Trust.
Vanessa Redgrave
and Virginia Nicholson
Just over a hundred years ago, Vanessa
Bell moved to Charleston. Over forty-odd
years, her letters chronicle the life, loves
and work, the triumphs and tragedies, of a
brave, insightful, unconventional woman and
an exceptional artist. Often eclipsed by her
sister Virginia Woolf, a new side of Vanessa
Bell emerges from the letters: humorous
and emotional. This reading by stage and
screen legend Vanessa Redgrave has been
selected by Virginia Nicholson, who joins
her on the Charleston platform to place her
grandmother Vanessa Bell’s letters in context.
Vanessa Redgrave CBE is a celebrated actress
of stage, screen and television. She is a 2003
American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee and
received the 2010 BAFTA Fellowship.
Virginia Nicholson is a social historian and has
been a long-standing Charleston Trustee.
SUPPORTED
BY RATHFINNY
WINE ESTATE
SUPPORTED BY BEDE’S SCHOOL
Justine Picardie photo © Harper’s
2.30pm • Tickets £17
TH
SUNDAY 28 MAY
Dominic Dromgoole
SUPPORTED BY SOTHEBY’S
SUNDAY 28 MAY
SUNDAY 28 MAY
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 25
MONDAY 29 MAY
MONDAY 29 MAY
12pm • Tickets £14
SOLACE
HABITATS
Helen Macdonald
and Fiona Stafford
Nicholas Crane and
Adrian Tinniswood
with Sue Stuart-Smith
with Tom Stuart-Smith
MONDAY 29 MAY
The landscape and stately homes within it
represent continuity, yet both are works
in progress. Nicholas Crane’s The Making
of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age
to the Present demonstrates how we are
constantly shaping our landscape as it is
shaping us. Adrian Tinniswood’s The Long
Weekend: Life in the English Country House
Between the Wars extols the resilience
of the English mansion-owning class and
its adaptability.
Nicholas Crane
is President
of the Royal
Geographical
Society and
a presenter
on BBC’s
Coast. Adrian
Tinniswood
worked with the National Trust for
many years. A Bank Holiday weekend
treat chaired by landscape designer
Tom Stuart-Smith.
2.30pm • Tickets £14
26 charleston.org.uk/festival
Helen Macdonald’s account of grief
and falconry became an instant classic.
H is for Hawk describes decline and
redemption and struck a chord in
readers who knew nothing about birds of
prey. Fiona Stafford’s The Long, Long Life of Trees is a lyrical homage to trees
as our constant companions. “Beautifully produced, each chapter describes
a different species, from the dark yew to the friendly apple. A chapter a
day of this calming book will keep panic away” (Margaret Drabble).
Both books are replete with cultural history, poetry and myths.
They discuss finding inspiration in the natural world. Chaired by
Sue Stuart-Smith, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and author
of the forthcoming The Well Gardened Mind.
STILL LIFE
Susan Fletcher and
Bernadette Murphy
The mystery of Van
Gogh’s madness still
intrigues. Susan Fletcher’s
novel, Let Me Tell You
About a Man I Knew, explores the relationship
between the painter and the wife of the warden
of the institution where Van Gogh stayed after
one of his breakdowns. It weaves fact and fiction
to reconstruct a painful period in the artist’s
life. Bernadette Murphy set out on a quest
to discover the truth behind Van Gogh’s selfharming. Her detective work was the subject
of a television documentary and appears in her
book, Van Gogh’s Ear. The two authors share
their fascination for the tortured artist.
SUPPORTED BY SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY
MONDAY 29 MAY
7pm • Tickets £30
HUMPHRIES’ CHOICE
Barry Humphries with Juliet Nicolson
SUPPORTED BY SOTHEBY’S
Barry Humphries photo © Greg Gorman
SUPPORTED BY
SUSSEX COUNTRY GARDENER
5pm • Tickets £20
A unique opportunity to hear one of our great
entertainers discuss his reading and musical influences.
Barry Humphries studied law, philosophy and fine arts
in Melbourne. In 1956 he created the character of Mrs
Everage, a Melbourne housewife who is now a megastar
(Dame Edna). He is the author of several books and plays.
His autobiography won the PEN Ackerley Prize in 1993.
He is also one of Australia’s most admired painters.
He has had a lifelong fascination with the music of the
Weimar Republic, with its experimentalism, defiance and mix
of classical and jazz. He is married to Lizzie Spender, daughter of
the English poet, Stephen Spender. Chaired by Juliet Nicolson, author
of A House Full of Daughters.
SUPPORTED BY RATHFINNY WINE ESTATE
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 27
Congratulations to Professor
Stephen Hawking, winner of the
Charleston-EFG John Maynard
Keynes Prize 2017.
Talisker
Lower Sixth
Politician
You are warmly invited to our
Senior School Open Morning
Saturday 16 September 2017
9.30am to noon
(Entry at 13 and 16)
HMC – Day, weekly and full boarding
Boys and girls 13 to 18
EFG is the marketing name for EFG International and its subsidiaries. In the UK: EFG Private Bank Limited,
Leconfield House, Curzon Street, London W1J 5JB, T + 44 20 7491 9111. EFG Private Bank Limited is authorised
by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential
Regulation Authority. EFG Private Bank Limited is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Registered in England
and Wales no. 2321802. Registered office as above. Member of EFG International. www.efginternational.com
28 charleston.org.uk/festival
EFG - Short Story Award - 210 x 148 mm - quadri - publication: Charleston Souvenir Programme III (25.01.2017)
To register please contact:
[email protected]
T 01323 843252
or online at bedes.org
Bede’s Senior School
Upper Dicker
East Sussex BN27 3QH
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 29
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Herbert Scott Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
30 charleston.org.uk/festival
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 31
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32 charleston.org.uk/festival
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 33
Throughout history, trees have served humankind in countless
practical ways, but they are also sources of great symbolism and
creativity. In this lyrical tribute to the rich diversity of trees,
Fiona Stafford explores seventeen specific species that have
inspired stories, songs, poems, paintings, religious and patriotic
devotion, and much more.
‘Beautifully produced, and each
chapter describes a different species,
from the dark yew to the friendly
apple … A chapter a day of this
calming book will keep panic away.’
– Margaret Drabble, Guardian
Books of the Year 2016
‘A fascinating, impeccably written
look at man’s millennia-long
relationship with trees.’
– John Carey, The Sunday Times
The Long, Long Life of Trees
by Fiona Stafford
now In PaPerback
YaleBooks
@yalebooks
www.yalebooks.co.uk
34 charleston.org.uk/festival
Charleston-Yale prog ad 2017.indd 1
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 35
24/01/2017 17:06
CITY BOOKS
City Books are proud
to be a sponsor of
Charleston Festival and
the official bookseller
For a Silver Service and a price you will be amazed at, give MCR Media
a call for a no obligation chat about your next marketing campaign.
We will listen to your objectives and give expert advice on
proven strategies which can take your business to the next level.
Visit our independent
shop in the Regency
Brunswick area of
Brighton & Hove
CITY BOOKS, 23 WESTERN ROAD, HOVE. EAST SUSSEX BN3 1AF
TEL: 01273 725306 • WWW.CITY-BOOKS.CO.UK
MCR Media Solutions Ltd
[email protected] or call 01273 233558
BECOME A FRIEND
FREE ENTRY TO THE HOUSE
P RIORITY BOOKING FOR
CHARLESTON FESTIVAL
D ISCOUNTS ON CREATIVE
WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS
E XCLUSIVE FRIENDS
MAGAZINE, CANVAS
THE OMEGA GROUP
For all the benefits of Friends plus
• Complimentary Festival tickets
• Invites to cultural events
CHARLESTON.ORG.UK/FRIENDS
36 charleston.org.uk/festival
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 37
FRIDAY 26 MAY
10.30am • Tickets £15
BEHIND THE HOARDINGS:
THE CHARLESTON CENTENARY PROJECT TOUR
Jamie Fobert, Alistair Burtenshaw, Nick Rose and Terry Reeves
Join us for a fascinating insight into Charleston’s most ambitious undertaking ever – The Centenary
Project – with a hard hat tour of the site itself. Accompanied by our on-site project manager Terry
Reeves, architect Jamie Fobert and Charleston’s Director Alistair Burtenshaw, this will be wonderful
chance to see the work being undertaken at Charleston and understand the vision that drives it.
OUR SPONSORS
Charleston would like to give special thanks
to our generous Associate Partners:
Our official sponsors:
PLAN YOUR VISIT
HOW TO BOOK
Events: Events take place in a marquee in
the grounds of Charleston and last just over
an hour, unless otherwise stated. Please dress
warmly for evening sessions.
Tickets available from
20 February 2017.
Bookshop: Run by City Books, the Festival
bookshop stocks a wide range of related
titles. Most events will be followed by a
book-signing session.
House visits: House tours are available
Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm to 5pm.
Self-guided entry (Bank Holiday Monday).
We advise booking in advance to avoid
disappointment.
Charleston Shop: Open throughout
the Festival and stocking a varied range of
Bloomsbury-inspired books, ceramics, textiles,
jewellery, prints and gift ideas.
Food & Drink: The Festival Tea Tent will
serve a selection of cakes, drinks, sandwiches
and light bites. For something more hearty,
hot food options will be on offer from
gourmet catering vans. Drinks and snacks are
also available from the Festival Bar inside the
main marquee. All open one hour before the
first event until the start of the last event.
Picnics: There are many nice spots to picnic at
Charleston and we politely request that furniture
is only used in designated areas to protect
the delicate historic planting in the gardens.
Pre-order a luxury Festival picnic hamper by
contacting [email protected].
Nira Wright • The Ondaatje Foundation • The Cuthbert Horn Trust
• The Charleston to Charleston Festival
AUTHOR GREEN ROOM AND SPONSORS’ AREA SUPPORTED BY
BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC
38 charleston.org.uk/festival
Access: There are designated disabled parking
spaces. The marquee, bar and bookshop are
accessible to wheelchair users though some
surfaces may be slightly uneven. An induction
loop is fitted in the marquee. For further
information or assistance please call 01323
811626 or email [email protected]
CHARLESTON BOX OFFICE
Online (24hrs): www.charleston.org.uk/festival
By phone: 01323 815150
(Mon to Fri, 10am to 5pm)
In person: Charleston Shop, Firle, East Sussex,
BN8 6LL (Wed to Sun, 11am to 5pm) from 1 March
*Customers can opt for their tickets to be sent
by post (£2 fee), or collected at the Festival Box
Office (free).
Priority booking - 13 to 17 February
Friends and Omega members can book Festival
tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
Booking forms to be submitted by post or email
to Charleston, Firle, East Sussex, BN8 6LL, or
[email protected]. Forms can be
downloaded from the Festival website from
7 February.
Become a Friend of Charleston
Memberships start at just £40 (or £25 for
under 26s). For details call 01323 815151 or
email [email protected]
PRICES
Individual Tickets
Prices are listed beside each event.
Day Tickets:
Fri 19 May
£70
Sat 20 May £70
Sun 21 May £75
Wed 24 May £65
Thurs 25 May £65
Fri 26 May
Sat 27 May
Sun 28 May
Mon 29 May
£75
£70
£75
£70
All Events Ticket: £550
Includes entry to 42 events, reserved seating, VIP
parking, invitation to a Festival drinks reception.
Dinner and Centenary Tour not included.
The Charleston Festival is a fundraising event in aid of The Charleston Trust (Bloomsbury in Sussex), a registered charity (no. 1107313) and a non-profit
making company limited by guarantee and registered in England & Wales (no. 5212725). Registered office: Charleston, Firle, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 6LL.
Shuttle bus to/from Lewes train station 39
Located in the glorious South Downs National Park in East
Sussex, Charleston was the home of Bloomsbury group artists
Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and a hub of creative and
intellectual activity. The House is the last surviving example
of a complete Bloomsbury-decorated interior.
Today, Charleston is open to the public as a house museum and
provides the stunning setting for the Festival. All of its activities
are looked after by The Charleston Trust, an independent
registered charity that receives no public or government funding for its everyday running costs.
The House and Garden will be open from 1 March until 29 October 2017.
GETTING HERE
Charleston is halfway between
Brighton and Eastbourne, only
6 miles east of Lewes, off the A27.
Give yourself plenty of time: Access to
Charleston is via a single lane farm road and
traffic flow will be controlled at peak times.
We recommend you arrive at least 30 minutes
before each event.
Lewes
Glyndebourne
Selmeston
Berwick
Monks
Firle
Station
House
Charleston
Brighton
Berwick
A26
Church
Newhaven
Alfriston
Eastbourne
A23/M23
Minibus shuttle service: Cuckmere
Community Bus run a shuttle service from
Lewes train station direct to Charleston
for all events. For timetables and fares, visit
charleston.org.uk/festival.
By road: Look out for signs along the A27.
Car parking is in adjacent fields so practical
footwear is recommended. As on-site parking is
limited, please consider car sharing or using the
minibus shuttle service.
Rail: Services run regularly from London
Victoria, Brighton and Eastbourne to Lewes
station. Taxis are available at Lewes station.
Local information: For accommodation
and other local information contact the Lewes
Tourist Information Centre on 01273 483448.
C H A RL E STO N .O R G.UK/FE S TIVA L
For up-to-date information on all events, please refer to our website. The information in the brochure was correct at
the time of printing. Charleston reserves the right to alter the programme if necessary. © 2017 The Charleston Trust.
Photographs © Axel Hesslenberg unless otherwise stated. Brochure design by www.wheeldesign.co.uk.
Printed by MCR Media official print partner to The Charleston Trust mcrmedia.co.uk
Cover illustration by Vanessa Bell © Estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy of Henrietta Garnett.