The theme of this year’s exciting Chalfont St Giles & Jordans Literary Festival (10-22 May) is ‘Lives in Words’. Sharing their insights into their own or others’ lives will be a stellar line-up of guest speakers.
Participants will include Professor (Sir) Robert Winston, examining ways in which science may increase our happiness, and diplomat Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, sharing his experiences as a British Ambassador.
Anna Jacobs outlines the background to her best-selling novels, whilst poetry lovers will be well served by the wit of award-winning poet Wendy Cope. American poet Robert Frost will be the subject of a discussion led by Gabriel Woolf and Linda Hart, and Claire de Carle and Dr Sarah Rutherford will discuss Capability Brown.
Ffion Hague examines the relationship between Robert Walpole and poet Thomas Gray, and Vernon Bogdanor describes the constitutional crisis of 1936 caused by Edward VIII’s relationship with American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
In a joint presentation entitled Spooks & Spooks, Denise Beddows, aka author DJ Kelly, explores our county’s 600 year history of spooks of the spy variety, as featured in her book Buckinghamshire Spies & Subversives; Catriona Troth describes the inspiration for her book Ghost Town and the way The Specials’ chart-topping song of that name eerily reflected the 1980’s urban decay, unemployment and racial violence, and Margaret Whittock recounts the spooky circumstances leading to her discovering the Gallipoli graves of her two great uncles and to her novel Ghost of Gallipoli.
With coffees, teas, homemade cakes and books on sale, readers and budding writers are invited to pop in to browse books and seek writing and publishing tips from 8 published authors at the Writers’ Café and Pop-up Book Shop (10-1pm Sat 21stMay in The Reading Room, High Street, Chalfont St Giles – admission free). See:www.chalfontstgilesliteraryfestival.org.uk