Sunday 25th July - Saturday 31st July 2010
E-mail: enquiry@holtsummerfestival.org
Tuesday 27th July
Poetry Evening
Martin Figura, Helen Ivory, Jehane Markham & George Szirtes
7.00pm – Gresham’s Preparatory School
Tickets £10 Concessions £8
Four published poets come together for an evening of poetry and discussion, chaired by John Smart. Martin Figura works at the Writers’ Centre in Norwich and is Chair of the Café Writers Live Literature organisation in Norwich. His new collection ‘Whistle’ has recently been published by Arrowhead Press. Helen Ivory has three collections of poetry published by Bloodaxe books, the latest of which is The Breakfast Machine’. She is currently studying for a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at UEA. Jehane Markham has written for radio, television and theatre and wrote her first poem when she was eight. Since her first reading at Wells-next-the-Sea in 1980 she has been regularly published and her work appears in the 2010 200th double edition of ‘Ambit’ magazine. George Szirtes has many publications to his name including ‘The Burning of the Books and Other Poems’ (2009), which was shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize. He is Reader in Creative Writing at UEA.
Friday 30th July
UNFORTUNATELY THIS EVENT HAS HAD TO BE CANCELLEDThe Holt Bookshop will be hosting a Literary Lunch with Shirley Williams and Peter Hennessy at Gresham's School on September 25th. Please contact the Holt Bookshop for further details.Website >
Literary Lunch with Chris Mullin and Harry Sidebottom
Hosted by Steve Benson
12.30 pm for 1.00pm – Gresham’s Preparatory School
Tickets £30 available only from The Holt Bookshop: 01263 715858
Chris Mullin, author, journalist and politician was elected Labour MP for Sunderland South in 1987, standing down in May 2010. During his time in office he chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee and was minister in three departments, Environment, Transport and Regions. His writing includes his highly acclaimed diaries 'A View From the Foothills' published in 2009, and described by the Mail on Sunday as "The most wickedly indiscreet and elegant memoirs since those of Alan Clark". His next volume 'Decline and Fall' will follow in autumn 2010. He is also author of three novels, including the classic political thriller 'A Very British Coup', the television version of which won BAFTA and Emmy awards and has been shown in more than 30 countries. His book 'Error of Judgement - the truth about the Birmingham Bombings' led to the correction of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history. This was also made into a drama documentary by Granada Television in which Chris Mullin was played by John Hurt.
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Best-selling historical novelist and Oxford Don Harry Sidebottom is proving it’s possible to combine a career as a writer of fiction with that of a leading academic. He has used his knowledge of the ancient world to write two action-packed novels about the Roman Empire, both of which made the top five in the list of British hardback fiction sales. His main scholarly research interests are Greek culture under the Roman Empire and warfare in classical antiquity. Harry has published widely on ancient war, classical art and the cultural history of the Roman Empire. His appearance at the Festival coincides with the publication of the third book in his Warrior of Rome fiction series ‘Lion of the Sun’. He will be talking about the book and signing copies at the lunch. An expert in his field with a great sense of fun, Harry truly loves his subject and what he doesn’t know about Rome isn’t worth knowing!
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