Dorchester Literary Festival

Peter Hart – Footsloggers
2023-10-17 16:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
The Ben Shephard Memorial Lecture

An Infantry Battalion at War, 1939

The only way to truly understand what it was like to fight in the Second World War is to listen to the experiences of those men who were there. And often, there was nowhere more dangerous than on the ground.

In Footsloggers, Peter Hart reconstructs one infantry battalion’s war in staggering detail. Based on his interviews with members of the 16th Durham Light Infantry, Hart bears witness not only to their comradeship, suffering, dreadful losses and individual tragedies, but also their courage and self-sacrifice as they fought their way across North Africa, Italy and Greece. It might be said that they were an ‘ordinary’ battalion, but there was nothing ordinary about the experiences they collectively faced in the war against fascism. Most of the men were civilians until the onset of war threw them into the maelstrom; few of them ever considered themselves as natural soldiers. They had to learn from scratch the fundamentals of military discipline and acquire the manifold skills required of the infantryman. Some learnt quickly and prospered; far more struggled in this harsh environment, enduring untold privations and humiliations. But most did in the end become effective soldiers, capable of facing their opponentsserving the Third Reich.

This is a human look at the inhuman nature of war from the acclaimed author of At Close Range and Burning Steel.

Peter Hart was the oral historian at the Imperial War Museum for nearly 40 years. A prolific military history author, he has appeared in various television programmes, acted as a guide for the army, runs his own battlefield tour company and has a successful weekly podcast series Pete & Gary’s Military History.

Ben Shephard (1948-2017) was a writer, historian, lecturer and TV producer – The World at War and The Nuclear Age. Ben had a lifelong interest in the history of psychiatry and he studied the psychological effects of war in a series of highly regarded books, A War of Nerves – about PTSD, After Daybreak – the liberation of Belsen and The Long Road Home – the resettlement of displaced persons after WW2. This lecture remembers Ben’s life and work.

Sponsored by Sue Shephard

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC – Unlawful Killings
2023-10-17 14:00 - 15:00 | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
Detailing six high profile murder and manslaughter cases over which they have presided, an Old Bailey judge reveals the inner workings of a crown court and how we should all be invested in the judicial process that transforms so many ordinary lives.

Every day in the UK lives are suddenly, brutally, wickedly taken away. Victims are shot or stabbed. Less often they are strangled or suffocated or beaten to death. Rarely they are poisoned, pushed off high buildings, drowned or set alight. Then there are the many who are killed by dangerous drivers, or corporate gross negligence. There are a lot of ways you can kill someone. I know because I’ve seen most of them at close quarters.

As one of just a few judges licensed to try murder cases at the Old Bailey, the author has presided over many of the high-profile cases that all too often grab our attention in dramatic media headlines – for every unlawful death tells a story. But, unlike most of us, a judge doesn’t get to turn the page and move on. Nor does the defendant, or the family of the victim, nor the many other people who populate the court room.

Peeling apart six dramatic murder and manslaughter cases, Unlawful Killings removes this distinction between ‘them’ and ‘us’. By detailing the inner workings of the Old Bailey and UK law, the author makes clear that each of us has a vested interest in what happens in the court room – especially when it comes to the death of a fellow human being. Any one of us could end up in the witness-box or even in the dock. And yet most people have only the sketchiest idea of what happens inside a Crown Court.

When Wendy Joseph move to the Old Bailey in 2012 she was the only woman amongst 16 judges and the third woman ever to hold a permanent position at the Old Bailey.

Wendy Joseph will be in conversation with Jason Goodwin.

Sponsored by Michael and Eve Bonham Cozens

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Joanna Quinn – The Whalebone Theatre
2023-10-17 12:00 - 13:00 | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
A ravishing coming-of-age story set in the shadow of an oncoming war, The Whalebone Theatre fizzes with invention and compassion as an ‘unmarriageable’ girl elects to defy convention and find her own path through life.

“Maudie, why are all the best characters men?”Maudie closes the book with a clllump. “We haven’t read all the books yet, Miss Cristabel. I can’t believe that every story is the same.”

Cristabel Seagrave has always wanted her life to be a story, but there are no girls in the books in her dusty family library. For an unwanted orphan who grows into an unmarriageable young woman, there is no place at all for her in a traditional English manor.

But from the day that a whale washes up on the beach at the Chilcombe estate in Dorset, and twelve-year-old Cristabel plants her flag and claims it as her own, she is determined to do things differently. With her step-parents blithely distracted by their endless party guests, Cristabel and her siblings, Flossie and Digby, scratch together an education from the plays they read in their freezing attic, drunken conversations eavesdropped through oak-panelled doors, and the esoteric lessons of Maudie their maid.

But as the children grow to adulthood and war approaches, jolting their lives on to very different tracks, it becomes clear that the roles they are expected to play are no longer those they want. As they find themselves drawn into the conflict, they must each find a way to write their own.

Joanna Quinn grew up in Dorset where the best-selling Whalebone Theatre is set. She has worked in the charity sector and journalism. The Whalebone Theatre is her first novel and was a book club pick from the Queen Consort’s Reading Room.

Joanna Quinn will be in conversation with Helen Stiles

Sponsored by the Thomas Hardy Society

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Anna Kent – Frontline Midwife
2023-10-17 10:30 - 11:30 | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
Anna Kent has delivered babies in war zones, caring for the most vulnerable women in the most vulnerable places in the world. At twenty-six years old, not yet a fully-trained midwife, she delivered a baby in a tropical storm by the light of a headtorch; the following year, she would be responsible for the female health of 30,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. But returning to the UK to work for the NHS, she soon learned that even at home the right to a safe birth was impossible to take for granted.

In Frontline Midwife, Kent shares her extraordinary experiences as a nurse, midwife and mother, illuminating the lives of women that are irreparably affected by compromised access to healthcare. This is at once an astonishing story of the realities of frontline humanitarian work, and a powerful reminder of the critical, life-giving work of nurses and doctors at home and around the world.

Anna Kent will be in conversation with Dr Helen Thomas

Sponsored by Summer Lodge

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Poetry Slam with Angie Porter
2023-10-16 18:00 - 19:30 | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
An open mic event for local writers and poets.

Join us to hear up to twenty poets and writers read and perform their work. To sign up to participate at this event please contact us directly via contact@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com or just come along listen and enjoy a glass of wine.

Angie Porter is a local poet, performer and painter who brings creativity to the fore in whatever she does. Her monthly “She Speaks” poetry slams are hugely popular and Angie is actively involved in promoting new poetry work. Originally from Melbourne Australia, Angie is currently researching her local roots and the immigration experience from rural Somerset to outback Australia in the early 1800’s.

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Angus Waycott – How to Self Publish Your Book
2023-10-16 16:00 - 17:00 | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
The Winterborne Journey

Angus Waycott is an author and narrator whose work has appeared in the UK, USA and elsewhere. During 15 years in Japan he wrote books about daily life and travel to remote areas, and was the voice of TV news, documentaries and characters in anime and video game productions. He has also worked as a script editor, copywriter, translator, lighting designer and staircase builder.

On 16th October he’ll be talking about his experiences in self-publishing. Is it worthwhile? What are the advantages? And the pitfalls? His own first attempt in 1981 did well enough to encourage further projects, some of which made more impact than others. But if success remains unpredictable, the digital age has at least made the how-to part of the job a lot easier than before.

His latest book, also self-published, is The Winterborne Journey, a lively and erudite account of the journey made by a small chalkstream just south of Dorchester. As well as insights into the placing of sarsens, long-ago medical treatments and the mystery of waters that vanish and then return, it uncovers a host of curiosities in geology, nature, farming, folklore, poetry, food, bats, lunatics, windmills, carving, fighting, fishing and dancing — all scattered along a few miles of streambank like scenes on a painted scroll. A tonic read for life’s quieter moments.

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Cathy Rentzenbrink – Write It All Down
2023-10-16 14:00 - 15:00 | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
Why do we want to write and what stops us?How does the urge to express ourselves fight with the worry that no-one will care or that we will get in trouble?How do we identify and overcome everything that gets in our way so we can start making work?

Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink shows you how to tackle all this and more in Write It All Down, a guide to putting your life on the page. This is a kind, encouraging and stimulating book that explores the nature of memoir writing and offers helpful guidance on how to write your life on paper. Rentzenbrink will help you to discover the pleasure and solace to be found in writing; the profound satisfaction of wrestling a story onto a page and seeing the events of your life transformed through the experience of writing the self.

Perfect for both seasoned writers as well as writing amateurs and everyone in between, this helpful handbook will steer you through the philosophical and practical challenges of writing the self. Intertwined with reflections, anecdotes and exercises, Write It All Down is at once an intimate and enjoyable narrative and an invitation to share your story.

Cathy Rentzenbrink is an acclaimed memoirist whose books include The Last Act of Love, How to Feel Better and Dear Reader. Her first novel is Everyone is Still Alive and Write It All Down is a friendly and down to earth guide to writing a memoir.

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Julian Unthank – How To Be A Screen Writer
2023-10-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
**Event Cancelled** We regret to say that this event has been cancelled. If you have purchased tickets, please contact us for a refund.

The dumbest guy in the Room: How a dyslexic who never read a book until he was twenty-one made a career as a screenwriter.

Using examples from his television, feature and short film work, Julian will examine the few highs and many humorous lows of his career as a professional screenwriter.

Julian Unthank is the writer and creator of Acorn TV’s Emmy™ nominated Queens of Mystery, an off-beat, Amélie-esque style take on the traditional world of cosy crime, the second season of which was released in the United States in January 2022.

As well as developing and adapting several shows for Producers in the UK and US, Julian is currently writing Season 2 of Suspect for Channel 4 and has recently completed writing on his fifth season of ITV’s worldwide hit Doc Martin.

He is the writer of the multi-award winning Oscar™ short-listed short Love at First Sight starring John Hurt, as well as being the writer of the zero award winning, 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, medieval slasher-fest Sword of Vengeance starring no one in particular.

Julian has also written on the BBC’s New Tricks and Robin Hood, ITV’s The Bill and Channel 5’s Family Affairs.

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Celia Brayfield – Becoming a Writer
2023-10-16 10:30 - 11:30 | Dorset Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA, United Kingdom
Becoming a Writer

A masterclass for those who are taking their first steps in writing fiction. If you want to start writing, this session will help you to explore your talent and strengthen your skills. With the help of a few short exercises you will learn how to develop a fresh, individual voice, create vivid characters, write spot-on dialogue and build an irresistible narrative. The session will also cover paths to publication for new writers and the practical support which can help you build writing into your life.

Celia Brayfield is an award-winning novelist, journalist and academic. She is the author of nine novels ranging from modern social fiction to international bestsellers, as well as two author biographies, Rebel Writers and the newly published Writing Black Beauty: Anna Sewell, the Creation of a Novel, and the Story of Animal Rights. Celia teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University.

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

A Walk Around Dorchester in the Footsteps of Thomas Hardy
2023-10-15 11:00 - 13:00 | The Town Pump, 1–7 Cornhill, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1BA, United Kingdom
Walking tour around Hardy’s Casterbridge (Dorchester) and Fordington (Durnover) reciting the poetry and prose of this great writer and discovering the places and buildings that inspired him to write The Mayor of Casterbridge. The walk will be guided by Mark Chutter, Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society.

The tour will finish with an afternoon cream tea at The Old Tea House.

Meet at the Town Pump opposite the Corn Exchange at 11.00

Dogs welcome. Walking boots recommended.

Tickets £12.00 (not including cream tea)

Cream tea £10.00 cash payable at the restaurant.

Robert Peston – Crash
2023-10-14 18:00 - 19:00 | The Dorford Centre, 2 Bridport Road, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1RR, United Kingdom
London, 2007. It’s summer in the City: the economy is booming, profits are up and the stock market hits near record highs.

But journalist Gil Peck is a lone voice worrying it can’t last. Deep in the plumbing of the financial system, he has noticed strange things happening which could threaten the whole economy. But nobody wants to hear it: not the politicians taking credit for an end to boom and bust, not the bankers pocketing vast bonuses, not even Gil’s bosses at the BBC, who think it’s irrelevant.

When Gil gets a tip-off that a small northern bank has run out of money, everything changes. His report sparks the first run on a UK bank in 140 years. The next day, Marilyn Krol, a director of the Bank of England dies in an apparent suicide.

For Gil, it’s personal. Marilyn was his lover: was his scoop connected to her suicide? Or is there something more sinister in her death? Gil is determined to find out.

The more he investigates, the more he is drawn into the rotten heart of the financial system, where old school ties and secret Oxbridge societies lubricate vast and illegal conflicts of interest. The whole economy has been built on a house of cards, and Gil is threatening to bring it down.

When simply reporting the facts can make or break fortunes, Gil has to ask himself: is he crossing the line between journalist and participant? Are his own conflicts of interest making him reckless? And in a world ruled by greed where nothing and no-one is too big to fail, what price will he pay for uncovering the truth?

Robert Peston is ITV’s political editor, presenter of the politics show ‘Peston’, founder of the education charity, Speakers for Schools (www.speakers4schools.org), and vice president ofHospice UK. He has written four critically acclaimed non-fiction books, How Do We Fix This Mess?, Who Runs Britain?, Brown’s Britain and his latest, WTF?, which was described by the Financial Times as ‘mandatory reading’ for anyone seeking to understand Brexit, Trump and the collapse of confidence in western liberalism. For a decade until the end of 2015, he was at the BBC, as economics editor and business editor, and in the 1990s he was at the Financial Times, as political editor, financial editor and head of investigations. At the BBC he played a prominent role in exposing the causes and consequences of the credit crunch, banking crisis and Great Recession. Peston has won more than 30 awards for his journalism, including Journalist of the Year and Scoop of the Year from the British TV Awards.

Robert Peston will be in conversation with Kate Adie.

Sponsored by Humphries Kirk

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)

Ray Mears – British Woodland
2023-10-14 16:00 - 17:00 | The Dorford Centre, 2 Bridport Road, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1RR, United Kingdom
Nobody sees and understands woodland better than Ray Mears.

With deep natural history knowledge and practical woodcraft skills, gained over a lifetime of learning from the world’s last remaining indigenous peoples, Ray offers a different way to experience our wooded landscapes. He challenges the old concepts. He looks to our ancestors and shows how man’s hand in shaping woodland is critical. We are not separate from nature, we just need to ensure that our interactions have a positive impact.

With the emphasis on interaction, British Woodland is structured by usage. We learn that sycamore and clematis are among the best woods for burning, pine and oak help us navigate, and hawthorn and beech have edible leaves. Rope can be made from willow, utensils and tools from hazel, and historically, weapons were made from yew and wych elm.

With Ray as our guide, encouraging this aboriginal sense of connection to individual trees, our appreciation of wooded landscapes will change. We can learn how to live inclusively in nature, for our own wellbeing and enjoyment, and also for the future of our planet.

Ray Mears has become recognised throughout the world as an authority on the subject of bushcraft and survival. TV series including Ray Mears’ Bushcraft, Ray Mears’ World of Survival, Extreme Survival and Ray Mears goes Walkabout have made him a household name over the past two decades, but he has spent his whole life learning.

Sponsored by Dorchester BID

Tickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)
