A host of world-famous authors including J K Rowling and Hilary Mantel are preparing to descend of Bath as final preparations for the city’s renowned 10-day Literary Festival get underway.
With more than 170 events scheduled at venues across the city, this year’s inspirational
Independent Bath Literary Festival looks set to beat last year’s ticket sales of over 16,000.
Artistic director James Runcie, an acclaimed novelist, documentary film-maker, TV producer, theatre director and journalist, has attracted some of the biggest names in contemporary literature, thanks to his impressive contacts book.
Organisers say advanced tickets sales are on target to beat last year’s record, and some events, including J K Rowling’s talk which will focus on her novel, A Casual Vacancy, are, as anticipated, sold out.
Other big names in this year’s line-up include top crime writer P D James, Kate Mosse, whose best-selling series of novels are set in Carcassonne, Polly Toynbee, Bristol-based Helen Dunmore and dancer Darcy Bussell. There are still a few seats left to see revered Turkish author Elif Shafak, who explores Kurdish culture in her book, Honour.
It will be the director’s fourth (and last) Independent Bath Literally Festival as he will be moving to London’s Southbank. His three main themes this time around include the topics of freedom, landscapes and, a look back 100 years to a Europe on the verge of World War I.
Also key is the idea of an ’interactive’, or conversational aspect to the festival and, as part of Friday’s opening day events, there will be poems in pubs around the city from 7-11pm.
On Saturday, Middle East correspondent and award-winning journalist Robert Fisk who writes for the Independent, media partners for the festival, will be focussing on the current political situation in Syria.
Kate Mosse will discuss the moving conclusion to her internationally acclaimed trilogy while psychologist Kevin Dutton will reveal how psychopaths may have something to teach us.
Other events on offer during the week include a folk song session describing the complexities of love in the Holburne Museum and a morning walk to uncover the secrets of medieval Bath and its transformation from 1713.
Elsewhere there will be workshops explaining how to Make an App, and a scientific debate on the brain, examining whether we are genetically programmed to be happy or sad.
Meanwhile Man Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel, whose recent comments about the Duchess of Cambridge caused something of media storm, will reveal secrets from the third book in her much-awaited trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell following on from Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies.
There are still a few tickets available for her talk at 8pm on the final weekend of the festival, Saturday, March 9.
The closing event in the Guildhall on Sunday, March 10 returns to the freedom theme. Here actress Harriet Walker will be joined by a gospel choir to recreate the famous court scene from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird which will sets to be a festival highlight.
- Bath’s Independent Literary Festival runs from March 1-10. For details of events and tickets, see the festival website at www.bathfestivals.org.uk
