Thurs 5th - Sun 8th October 2017

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A UNIQUE HERITAGE. A UNIQUE ESTATE. A UNIQUE HOME

A UNIQUE FESTIVAL

A LITERARY FESTIVAL LIKE NO OTHER

The Althorp Literary Festival is a unique celebration of the written word that takes place against the backdrop of one of England’s most beautiful private, historic houses.

Indeed, it’s hard to think of a more perfect or authentic venue for one of England’s most enjoyable festivals – for literature is central to the story of Althorp.

George John, the 2nd Earl Spencer, amassed one of the greatest private libraries in Europe. By the time of his death in 1834, 43,000 volumes of the rarest first editions sprawled through Althorp’s ground floor rooms. Today, Althorp’s strong connection with literature remains very much alive for the current Earl, Charles Spencer, is a best-selling historian. In its first thirteen years, the Festival has been privileged to host over 300 novelists, historians, comedians, actors, politicians, sportsmen and television personalities, including Bill Bryson, Boris Johnson, Darcey Bussell, Sir Tom Stoppard, Brian Blessed, Sebastian Faulks, Helen Fielding, Julian Fellowes, Alastair Campbell and Twiggy. This year’s Festival continues to build on this success.

We hope you, along with your clients, friends and family enjoy a wonderful day at the 14th annual Althorp Literary Festival.

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THURSDAY 5TH OCTOBERJohn Challis Wigmore Abbey: The Treasure of Mortimer 10.30 – 11.30Judy Murray Knowing the Score 12.00 – 13.00Jamie Blackett The Enigma of Kidson: The Portrait of an Eton Schoolmaster 12.00 – 13.00Clare Mulley The Women who Flew for Hitler 13.30 – 14.15Amazon Academy for Authors Self-Publishing Workshop 13.30 – 14.15Jo Malone Jo Malone: My Story 14.30 – 15.30

James Runcie The Grantchester Diaries: Sidney Chambers and the Persistenceof Love 14.30 – 15.30

Ken Hom My Stir-Fried Life 16.00 – 17.00Kathy Lette Best Laid Plans 16.00 – 17.00Simon Thurley Houses of Power 17.30 – 18.30

SATURDAY 7TH OCTOBERJess Butterworth Running on the Roof of the World 10.30 – 11.30A.N. Wilson Charles Darwin, Victorian Mythmaker 10.30 – 11.30Ben Macintyre SAS: Rogue Heroes 12.00 – 13.00Jeremy Howick Doctor You 12.00 – 13.00Clare Balding The Racehorse who Disappeared 13.30 – 14.15Amazon Academy for Authors Self-Publishing Workshop 13.30 – 14.15Chris Ryan In Conversation with.. 14.30 – 15.30 Johnny Ball Wonders Beyond Numbers: A History of All Things Mathematical 14.30 – 15.30Jonathan Bate Ted Hughes 16.00 – 17.00Joanna Moorhead The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington: A Surreal Life 16.00 – 17.00Juliet Nicolson A House Full of Daughters 17.30 – 18.30Penny Vincenzi A Question of Trust 17.30 – 18.30

SUNDAY 8TH OCTOBERSue Bentley We Other 10.30 – 11.30Jane Isaac The Lies Within 10.30 – 11.30Lord Digby Jones Fixing Business 10.30 - 11.30

Evan Davis Post-Truth: Why We Have Reached Peak Bullshit and What We Can Do About It 12.00 – 13.00

Paula Byrne The Genius of Jane Austen 12.00 – 13.00Gilly Tompkins aka Gangsta Granny Gangsta Granny 13.30 – 14.15Stanley Johnson Kompromat 13.30 – 14.15Amazon Academy for Authors Self-Publishing Workshop 13.30 – 14.15Rev. Richard Coles Bringing in the Sheaves 14.30 – 15.30Allison Pataki SISI 14.30 – 15.30Kate Williams The Edge of Fall 16.00 – 17.00Henry Blofeld 78 Retired 16.00 – 17.00

FRIDAY 6TH OCTOBERSian Williams RISE 10.30 – 11.30Mich Turner Have Your Cake and Eat It 12.00 – 13.00Dan Jones The Templars 12.00 – 13.00Alex Preston As Kingfishers Catch Fire: Books & Birds 13.30 – 14.15Amazon Academy for Authors Self-Publishing Workshop 13.30 – 14.15Pam Ayres You Made Me Late Again 14.30 – 15.30David Owen British Foreign Policy after Brexit 14.30 – 15.30Charles Spencer To Catch a King 16.00 – 17.00Michael Pennington In Conversation 16.00 – 17.00Jon Connell, Editor of The Week In Conversation with Ben Macintyre, A.N Wilson and Jess Butterworth 17.30 – 18.30Anna Keay The Last Royal Rebel 17.30 – 18.30

SESSION SCHEDULE

Refers to Children’s Sessions

Actor John Challis is best known for his portrayal of ‘Boycie’ in Only Fools and Horses. He has recently turned author and published six titles with his own company Wigmore Books. Two volumes of autobiography were followed by John’s first novels in the REGGIE series, which were the inspiration for the TV show The Green Green Grass.In 1998 John bought a 12th century abbot’s lodging and the site of the former abbey at Wigmore. His latest book The Treasure of Mortimer is a record of the restoration of the house and the creation of a garden, illustrated by renowned photographer Alex Ramsay.

As mother to tennis champions Jamie and Andy Murray, Scottish National Coach, coach of the Fed Cup, and general all-round can-do woman of wonder, Judy Murray is the ultimate role model for believing in yourself and reaching out to ambition. As a parent, coach and leader, she is an inspiration who has revolutionised British tennis.From the soggy community courts of Dunblane to the white heat of Centre Court at Wimbledon, Judy Murray’s extraordinary memoir charts the challenges she has faced, from desperate finances and growing pains to entrenched sexism. We all need a story of ‘yes we can’ to make us believe great things are possible. Knowing the Score is that story.

Jamie Blackett is a former Army officer whose debut as a writer was sparked by a surprise commission to write the biography of his old tutor at Eton, Michael Kidson. The result is the biographical novel, The Enigma of Kidson, which traces the remarkable life story of an inspirational teacher. Kidson had an extraordinary influence on his pupils – David Cameron, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Nicky Henderson, Sir Matthew Pinsent, and Dominic West among them. Through Kidson’s life story we get a vivid social history of the latter part of the twentieth century where the themes of education, culture, teaching, adolescence, discipline, mentorship, pronunciation, parenting and old age are all examined.

WIGMORE ABBEY: THE TREASURE OF MORTIMER

THURSDAY 5TH OCTOBER

KNOWING THE SCORE

THE ENIGMA OF KIDSON: THE PORTRAIT OF AN ETON SCHOOLMASTER

10.30 – 11.30

12.00 – 13.00

12.00 – 13.00

Jo Malone MBE is an inspirational British businesswoman and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our age. Globally recognised for building the beauty brand eponymous with her name and most recently ‘Jo Loves’, Jo is responsible for revolutionising the beauty industry. Yet despite this, her personal journey has not been easy. For the first time, Jo tells her remarkable full-life story – from modest beginnings struggling with dyslexia and leaving school without qualifications, to turning her fortunes around to become one of the world’s most successful businesswoman.

Sidney James, the vicar of Grantchester, is a thirty-two-year-old clergyman with a difference: he is also a reluctant detective. Together with his roguish friend Enspector Geordie Keating, Sidney stumbles across a series of baffling cases. This is the sixth book in the Grantchester Mysteries series, now a prime-time ITV television series starring James Norton as Sidney Chambers. Author James Runcie is also an award-winning film-maker, Commissioning Editor for Arts at BBC Radio 4 and the author of nine previous novels.

Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg were talented, courageous and strikingly attractive women who fought convention to make their names in the male-dominated field of flight in 1930s Germany. Acclaimed biographer Clare Mulley gets under the skin of these two distinctive and unconventional women, giving a full account of their contrasting but strangely parallel lives. Clare is the award-winning author of two books, The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of One of Britain’s Bravest Wartime Heroines, and The Woman Who Saved the Children: A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb, which won the Daily Mail Biographers’ Club Prize. She has also contributed to The Arvon Book of Life-Writing.  

JO MALONE: MY STORY

THE GRANTCHESTER DIARIES: SIDNEY CHAMBERS AND THE PERSISTENCE OF LOVE

THE WOMEN WHO FLEW FOR HITLER 13.30 – 14.15

14.30 – 15.30

14.30 – 15.30

LITERARYFESTIVAL

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THURSDAY 5TH OCTOBER

Ken Hom OBE, is the man who showed the British how to cook Asian food. A leading authority on Chinese cuisine, he is one of the most respected and celebrated TV chefs of all time. Ken, who resides in France and in Thailand, but travels extensively, continues to appear regularly as a chef, write new books and keep an involvement with restaurants worldwide. Ken is the author of almost 40 books, which have inspired millions of home cooks around the world and his most recent book is his autobiography, My Stir-Fried Life, a high-spirited, life-enriching feast where the chopsticks never stock clattering.

MY STIR-FRIED LIFE16.00 – 17.00

Kathy Lette is a celebrated and outspoken comic writer who has an inimitable take on serious current issues. She is one of the pioneering voices of contemporary feminism, paving the way for Caitlin Moran and Lena Dunham. She first achieved ‘succès de scandale’ as a teenager with the novel Puberty Blues, which was made into a major film and a TV mini-series. After several years as a newspaper columnist and television sitcom writer for Columbia Pictures in America, she has written numerous international bestsellers in her characteristic witty voice. With plenty of comic twists and emotional turns, her latest book is a riotous yet heartrending novel tackling the taboo subject of sex for the ‘differently abled’.

Dr. Simon Thurley is a leading architectural historian, a regular broadcaster on television and radio, and was until 2015 the Chief Executive of English Heritage.Houses of Power: The Places that Shaped the Tudor World is the result of Simon Thurley’s thirty years of research, picking through architectural digs, and examining financial accounts, original plans and drawings to reconstruct the great Tudor houses and understand how these monarchs shaped their lives. Far more than simply an architectural history – a study of private life as well as politics, diplomacy and court – it gives an entirely new and remarkable insight into the Tudor world.

BEST LAID PLANS

HOUSES OF POWER

16.00 – 17.00

17.30 – 18.30

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FRIDAY 6TH OCTOBER

Renowned as a much-loved and highly respected journalist and broadcaster with thirty years’ experience, Sian Williams has studied the impact of acute stress for many years.In her first book, RISE: Surviving and Thriving After Trauma, Sian explores the science of resilience and growth after trauma, offers advice from experts, and learns from those who have emerged from horrific experiences with a new perspective on their life, their relationships and their work. She also documents her own path through breast cancer, with candid and unflinching honesty, a story that provides a narrative thread through a book designed to help others deal with all manner of adversity.

Dan Jones is a bestselling historian and award-winning journalist. His books, including The Plantagenets, have sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide. A columnist for the London Evening Standard, Dan writes and presents TV shows including the popular Netflix series Secrets of Great British Castles. In his latest novel, The Templars, Dan discusses how the Knights Templar were the wealthiest, most powerful and most secretive of the military orders that flourished in the crusading era, and how their story has left a comet’s tail of mystery that continues to fascinate and inspire historians, novelists and conspiracy theorists today.

Mich Turner MBE, is founder of the Little Venice Cake Company and is often described as ‘Queen of Couture Cakes’, thanks to her multi award-winning designs and A-list clientele – she has made over 10,000 cakes including those for Her Majesty the Queen, Madonna, Pierce Brosnan, among many others.In Have Your Cake and Eat It, Mich rises to the challenge with a smarter take on sweet bake. Her delicious recipes, which include cakes, cookies, meringues, bars, muffins and cupcakes, are made healthier and more nutritious by including fresh and dried fruits, nuts and seeds, and also alternatives for gluten, fats, sugars and dairy, to accommodate your personal diet and lifestyle.

RISE

THE TEMPLARS

HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT

10.30 – 11.30

12.00 – 13.00

12.00 – 13.00Pam Ayres has been making the nation laugh for over 40 years. In a world where poets and storytellers can be rude, crude, or just plain boring, Pam Ayres is a true, sparkling original, reflecting our lives, and making us laugh until we cry.A regular contestant on Radio 4’s Just a Minute, and presenter of Ayres on the Air, Pam will be at the Althorp Literary Festival discussing her recent works, You Made Me Late Again and The Necessary Aptitude, a beautifully written memoir of her early years.

At a time of alarming global instability, amid shocking terrorist attacks in Europe and mounting tensions between the USA and North Korea, a clear and focused foreign and defence policy is ever more critical. With the UK’s departure from the EU underway, what happens next? British Foreign Policy after Brexit examines what lies ahead, encompassing a diplomatic, security, development and trade agenda based on hard-headed realism.Former Foreign Secretary Sir David Owen puts forward an argument that Britain’s global role and influence can be enhanced, rather than diminished, post-Brexit. David Owen was a Member of Parliament for 26 years, now sitting as an independent social democrat in the House of Lords.

As Kingfishers Catch Fire is an illustrated and visually stunning exploration of birds in literature, from Ovid to Ted Hughes.Looking for moments ‘when heart and bird are one’, Preston weaves the very best writing about birds into a personal and eccentric narrative that is as much about the joy of reading and writing as it is about the thrill of wildlife. Moving from the ‘high requiem’ of Keats’ nightingale, to the crow-strewn sky at the end of Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, from Ted Hughes’s brooding Hawk in the Rain to the giddy anthropomorphism of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, this is a book that will make you look at birds in a newer, richer light.

THE NECESSARY APTITUDE

BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY AFTER BREXIT

AS KINGFISHERS CATCH FIRE: BOOKS & BIRDS

14.30 – 15.30

14.30 – 15.30

13.30 – 14.15

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The companion piece to Killers of the King, Charles Spencer’s Sunday Times bestseller from 2014, To Catch a King is the true tale of perhaps the greatest escape in English history – that of Charles II who, after being defeated at the Battle of Worcester, fled for his life.This is the story of the luck, grit and loyalty that helped Charles evade Parliamentary enemies keen to quickly catch and execute the Stuart heir who had risked everything to gain the crown of England. Punctuated with unforgettable characters, To Catch a King brings to life one of the most thrilling chapters in royal history.

Recently a triumphant King Lear in both New York and the UK, Michael Pennington has been a leading actor for fifty years.  He has played a number of title roles in Royal Shakespeare Company productions including; Hamlet, Timon of Athens, Richard II, Coriolanus, Macbeth and Henry V. Together with director Michael Bogdanov, he founded the English Shakespeare Company in 1986.Michael Pennington joins the Althorp Literary Festival to entertain you with readings and performances from his books Sweet Williams and King Lear, as well as providing a valuable insight into life on stage.

Join Jon Connell, Founder of The Week, conducting a literary round-up of the Festival. Jon will be joined by best-selling author and historian Ben Macintyre, award-winning biographer A.N Wilson and first-time author Jess Butterworth as they select their favourite books and tell us why they chose them.

TO CATCH A KING

FRIDAY 6TH OCTOBER

IN CONVERSATION

16.00 – 17.00

16.00 – 17.00

17.30 – 18.30

Long-listed for the ‘HWA Non-Fiction Crown 2017′, Anna Keay’s The Last Royal Rebel tells the story of James, Duke of Monmouth, the adored illegitimate son of Charles II, born in exile the year his grandfather was executed and the English monarchy abolished.In this biography, Anna Keay matches rigorous scholarship with a storyteller’s gift to enrapturing effect. She brings to life the warm, courageous and handsome Duke of Monmouth, a man who by his own admission ‘lived a very dissolute and irregular life’, but who was ultimately prepared to risk everything for honour and justice.

THE LAST ROYAL REBEL17.30 – 18.30

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Join debut children’s author Jess Butterworth for an adventurous tale across the Himalayas. Running on the Roof of the World follows the extraordinary journey of 12-year-old Tash and her best friend Sam, as they seek the help of the Dalai Lama after Tash’s parents are seized by Chinese soldiers.Jess will share photos and artifacts from her time in Tibet, from yak bells to prayer wheels, giving a fascinating insight into the setting which inspired her book.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, A.N. Wilson holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is a prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist.In his latest, applauded piece of work, Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker, A.N. Wilson goes in search of the celebrated but contradictory figure Charles Darwin. Was he the man who discovered evolution? The man who killed off God? Or a flawed man of his age, part genius, part ruthless careerist who would not acknowledge his debts to other thinkers?

British author, historian, reviewer and columnist for The Times, bestselling author Ben Macintyre has written several books including A Spy Among Friends, Operation Mincemeat and Agent Zigzag. Ben’s latest book, SAS: Rogue Heroes is the first ever authorised history of the SAS, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Regiment, the most celebrated and mysterious military organisation in the world. The history of the SAS is an exhilarating tale of fearlessness and heroism, recklessness and tragedy; of extraordinary men who were willing to take monumental risks.

RUNNING ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD

SATURDAY 7TH OCTOBER

CHARLES DARWIN, VICTORIAN MYTHMAKER

SAS: ROGUE HEROES

10.30 – 11.30

12.00 – 13.00

10.30 – 11.30

JESS BUTTERWORTH-CHILDREN’S SESSION

When she was young, Clare Balding thought she was a dog. Disappointed to discover she was only human, she did her best to spend every waking hour with dogs and ponies. She could ride before she could walk and growing up surrounded by racehorses trained by her father, she dreamt of winning the Grand National or riding for Great Britain at the Olympics. Those dreams never came true but the consolation prize hasn’t been bad. As a television presenter and radio presenter, Clare has worked at six Olympic Games as well as the Winter Olympics, Paralympics, Commonwealth Games, the Grand National, Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and the Ryder Cup. As an award-winning writer, we are delighted to welcome Clare to Althorp to discuss her children’s novel The Racehorse Who Disappeared.

Born in Newcastle in 1961, Chris Ryan joined the SAS in 1984. Spending ten years with the Regiment, he is also known as the only man to escape death or capture during the Bravo Two Zero operation, in the 1991 Gulf War.2017 sees the publication of two books: WARLORD – based on true events and set in 2011 in Mexico and London where the hero Danny Black, leads an SAS squad on loan to the CIA, and SAFE, a guide to staying safe in a dangerous world, in which Chris has compiled his personal security expertise, analysing real-life incidents such as the Manchester Arena bombing, the London Bridge terror attack and explaining how ordinary people should act if they find themselves in similar scenarios.

Oxford philosopher and medical researcher Dr. Jeremy Howick has had over 70 academic articles published in top journals such as the British Medical Journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, and The Lancet.In Dr You,  Jeremy provides an accessible and thoughtful explanation of what it means to be healthy and how modern health care can lead us astray. Through engaging storytelling, he weaves together a vast body medical science, fascinating psychological research, and philosophical insights about mind and body. An ambitious and integrative book that is perfect if you are looking to intelligently navigate the maze of modern health care.

THE RACEHORSE WHO DISAPPEARED

IN CONVERSATION WITH PAUL BLEZARD

DOCTOR YOU12.00 – 13.00

14.30 – 15.30

13.30 – 14.15

CLARE BALDING-CHILDREN’S SESSION

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Renowned scholar Sir Jonathan Bate is one of the world’s leading literary scholars and the author of acclaimed and prize-winning biographies of Shakespeare, Ted Hughes and the Northamptonshire “peasant poet” John Clare.In his session The Art of Biography, Jonathan talks about the varying challenges of writing the lives of writers who are very famous, rather infamous or long neglected.  Jonathan Bate CBE is Provost of Worcester College and Professor of English Literature at Oxford University.

In 2006, journalist Joanna Moorhead discovered that her father’s cousin, Leonora, who had disappeared many decades earlier, was now a famous artist in Mexico. She was rarely spoken of in her own family, regarded as a black sheep, a wild child; someone they were better off without. Joanna was intrigued and set off to Mexico City to find her lost relation.The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington, Moorhead’s first book, is the extraordinary story of Leonora’s life, and of the friendship between two women, related by blood but previously unknown to one another, whose encounters were to change both their lives.

Johnny has been entertaining the nation for 60 years - as a stand-up comedian, on television and in education. However, Johnny is possibly best known for his award-winning TV shows, which he wrote and presented, including; Think of a Number, Think Again and Johnny Ball Reveals All which inspired a generation towards confidence in mathematics and science.In his latest book, Wonders Beyond Numbers, Johnny slowly unravels the tale of how humanity built up a knowledge and understanding of shapes, numbers and patterns from ancient times, a story that leads directly to the technological wonderland we live in today.

SATURDAY 7TH OCTOBER

THE ART OF BIOGRAPHY

THE SURREAL LIFE OF LEONORA CARRINGTON

WONDERS BEYOND NUMBERS: A HISTORY OF ALL THINGS MATHEMATICAL

16.00 – 17.00

16.00 – 17.00

14.30 – 15.30

A Question of Trust is vintage Penny Vincenzi: rich with characters, life-changing decisions, glamour, love, desire and conflict. 1950s London. Tom Knelston is charismatic, working class and driven by ambition, ideals and passion. He is a man to watch and his wife Alice shares his vision, it seems they are the perfect match. Then out of the blue, Tom meets beautiful and unhappily married Diana Southcott, a fashion model. An exciting but dangerous affair is inevitable and potentially damaging to their careers and when a child becomes ill, Tom is forced to make decisions about his principles, his reputation, his marriage, and most of all, his love for his child.

All families have their myths and Juliet Nicolson’s was no different; her flamenco dancing great-great-grandmother Pepita, the flirty manipulation of her great-grandmother Victoria, the infamous eccentricity of her grandmother Vita and her mother’s Tory-conventional background.Juliet’s book, A House Full of Daughters takes us through seven generations of women from the nineteenth-century slums of Malaga, the salons of fin-de-siècle Washington DC, an English boarding school during the Second World War and Chelsea in the 1960s. These women emerge for Juliet as people in their own right, but also as part of who she is and where she has come from.

A QUESTION OF TRUST

A HOUSE FULL OF DAUGHTERS

17.30 – 18.30

17.30 – 18.30

LITERARYFESTIVAL

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Sue Bentley has written over 70 books for adults and children but is best known for her worldwide, million-selling magical animal series and best-loved characters, Flame the Magic Kitten and Storm the Magic Puppy.At this year’s Althorp Literary Festival, Sue invites families to come and find out how she came to create Flame and Storm and brought them to life in her books, with some great tips on how to start building your own characters in a fun interactive session and an opportunity to take away lots of ideas to use in your own stories.

Something is wrong and it′s everybody′s business, one of the most important institutions in modern Britain is facing a crisis.In Fixing Business, the follow–up to Digby Jones’ widely acclaimed Fixing Britain, he turns his eye to business, by proposing a way to salvage this often maligned world and make profit creation a socially–beneficial act, whilst pulling no punches in addressing the major factors that influence, and are influenced by, business today.Digby Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham is a British businessman and politician, who has served as Director General of the CBI and Minister of State for Trade and Investment.

Grace Bannister is distraught after her daughter’s body is found in the Leicestershire country lane. With her family falling apart and the investigation going nowhere, Grace’s only solace is the re-emergence of Faye, an old friend who seems to understand her loss. DI Will Jackman delves into the case until a family tragedy and a figure from his past threaten to derail him. When the police discover another victim, the spotlight falls on Grace. Can Jackman find the killer before she is convicted of a crime she didn’t commit?Jane Isaac is a Northamptonshire based author, with a cult following for her crime novels. Don’t miss Jane in conversation with Helen Blaby from BBC Radio Northampton.

WE OTHER

FIXING BUSINESS

SUNDAY 8TH OCTOBER

THE LIES WITHIN

10.30 – 11.30

10.30 - 11.30

10.30 – 11.30

SUE BENTLEY-CHILDREN’S SESSION

LITERARYFESTIVAL

ALTHORP

THE REV. RICHARD COLES

2017 sees the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death and her depiction on the new £10 note. Austen expert Paula Byrne follows her heroine from stage to page to screen, introducing new readers and old, to stage and film versions of the novels. The Genius of Jane Austen presents an Austen not of prim manners and genteel calm, but filled with wild comedy and outrageous behaviour. Dramatic dialogue, comic characters, theatrical plotting, exits and entrances; these are the very essence of Austen’s genius and why she has been adapted so successfully on screen – ensuring her continuing fame.

Come and meet actress Gilly Tompkins who starred as Gangsta Granny in the premiere stage production of Gangsta Granny on National tour and in London’s West End.Gilly will read extracts from some of David Walliams best-loved books and there will be a Q&A – where you can ask Gilly anything about being an actress and of course Gangsta Granny. Just so you know – Gilly may need some help reading the books!

Evan Davis is an English economist, journalist, and presenter for the BBC. In October 2001, Davis took over from Peter Jay as the BBC’s economics editor but left this post in April 2008 to become a presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Evan’s latest book, the brilliantly insightful; Post-Truth: Why We Have Reached Peak Bullshit and What We Can Do About It, steps inside the panoply of deception employed in all walks of life and assesses how it has come to this. It sets out the surprising logic which explains why bullshit is both pervasive and persistent.

SUNDAY 8TH OCTOBER

THE GENIUS OF JANE AUSTEN

GANGSTA GRANNY

POST-TRUTH: WHY WE HAVE REACHED PEAK BULLSHIT AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

12.00 – 13.00

13.30 – 14.15

12.00 – 13.00Former politician, environmental campaigner, journalist and author of twenty-five books, Stanley Johnson’s latest book Kompromat is a brilliant satirical thriller that tells the story of 2016’s seismic and unexpected political events on both sides of the Atlantic.Now in development for a major new TV series, Kompromat is a fast-paced thriller from a true political insider, and provides a brilliant alternative account of the events that end with Britain’s new PM attempting to seek her own mandate to deal with the Brexit related crisis and America welcoming its own new leader. Who knows, it just might all be true!

Musician, journalist, Church of England priest, BBC radio presenter and one of this year’s superb contestants on Strictly Come Dancing, the Reverend Richard Coles’ life has been one of surprising variety. He first came to public attention in the 1980s band The Communards, and is now the regular host of BBC Radio 4‘s Saturday Live.  Since leaving The Communards, Richard has been appointed as a parish priest in Northamptonshire. Richard charts his pilgrimage from a sheltered middle-England upbringing to London’s gay scene, through a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle of sex and drugs, as well as surviving the band’s tours and tantrums, to a life devoted to God and Christianity.

KOMPROMAT

BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES

13.30 – 14.15

14.30 – 15.30

Allison Pataki is the author of the bestselling novels The Traitor’s Wife and The Accidental Empress. The daughter of former New York State governor George E Pataki, she was inspired to write about Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (Sisi), thanks to her family’s deep roots in the former Hapsburg Empire. Sisi tells the story of a woman fighting to assert her right to the throne beside her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph, to win the love of her people, and to save an empire amidst the gathering tumult of the First World War.

SISI14.30 – 15.30

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THESTAMFORD NOTEBOOK

Co.

Henry Blofeld is an English sports journalist, whose rich, plummy tones are known and loved worldwide thanks to his extensive cricket commentary career on both television and radio. As a broadcaster, he has been a regular member of the prestigious Test Match Special cricket commentary before finally retiring in September 2017. Henry is also a prolific writer, with published cricketing books including Cricket and All That, A Thirst For Life, Cricket in Three Moods, The Packer Affair, Squeezing The Orange and Cricket’s Greatest Entertainers, as well as writing for publications including The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, and  The Express.His new book Over & Out will be released in October 2017.

An utterly spellbinding novel of the 1920s in London and Paris, The Edge of the Fall is bestselling author Kate Williams’s, follow-up to her beloved and universally praised novel The Storms of War: an epic, cinematic historical saga that follows the de Witt family through the drama and tumult of the post–World War I world.Kate studied her BA at Somerville College, Oxford where she was a College Scholar and received the Violet Vaughan Morgan University Scholarship. She is the social historian on BBC2‘s Restoration Home, the royal and historical expert for CNN and she appears regularly on TV and radio discussing historical matters.

SUNDAY 8TH OCTOBER

78 RETIRED

THE EDGE OF FALL

16.00 – 17.00

16.00 – 17.00

THE INTERVIEWERS

BERNIE KEITH

SUZI FEAY

HELEN BLABY

PAUL BLEZARD

ANNA MURBY

Bernie Keith is the star presenter on BBC Radio Northampton. His midmorning show has attracted national media attention, with his wit and all-round excellence consistently exceeding that of many Radio 1 or Radio 2 shows.

Suzi Feay is a literary critic and broadcaster, a member of the Author’s Club and the chair of the books section of the Critic’s Circle. She teaches journalism to creative writing students at Brunel University.

Helen Blaby is the popular BBC Radio Northampton presenter who spent the last 13 years guiding the people of the UK to work as the morning traffic reporter at BBC Radio 5live. In addition to her Monday-Friday show on BBC Radio Northampton, Helen is a columnist for the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.

Broadcaster and author Paul Blezard presented all 2,000 editions of the daily author interview show Between the Lines that helped Oneworld Radio win 2 Sony gold awards, and has chaired or moderated live events at numerous literary festivals around the world.

Former BBC Radio Northampton presenter and compère for a host of high-profile Northamptonshire events such as the annual Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards, Anna Murby will be joining us to interview Sian Williams and John Challis

LITERARYFESTIVAL

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ENTERTAINMENT

KEY

CHILDREN’S WORKSHOPS

INFO

FIRST AID

PICNIC AREA

MAIN ENTRANCE (WOOTON HALL)

BOOK SIGNING & RETAIL MARQUEE

NYETIMBER WINE BAR

45 WEST DISTILLERS G&T POP UP BAR

THE ROASTERY COFFEE SHOP

STATE DINING ROOM ENTRANCE

YOUR ROUTES

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RETAILERS MARQUEE

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MAIN AUDITORIUM

STATE DINING ROOM

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STABLES GIFT SHOP

STABLES CAFE

EXHIBITIONS

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STABLESCOURTYARD

EAST GATE(A428)

TO THEROUND OVAL

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In addition to the main Festival programme, a variety of fringe events will be taking place each day. Please keep an eye on our website for further details, and check the on-site information boards on the day.

AMAZON ACADEMY FOR AUTHORS

Learn firsthand how to self-publish your book and reach millions of readers on Amazon with Kindle Direct Publishing. Join successful independently published KDP authors including LJ Ross and Mark Dawson and the Amazon team as they answer your questions, describe the publishing process and explain their own journey.

These workshops will be taking place daily at 1.30pm, and are free to all festival-goers to attend.

WRITERS WORKSHOPThe Chocolate Poetry Club is a chocolate coat-ed carnival of words; a place for writers, read-ers and chocolate eaters. Their 1 hr workshop will be followed by a performance showcase on Thursday 5th October. SEASONAL EXHIBITIONSFestival go-ers are invited to browse our 2017 seasonal exhibitions, Diana, Princess of Wales and Walking in Her Shoes, located within the Stables Courtyard.

GARDENS AND ROUND OVALThe grounds and Round Oval are open for visitors to enjoy during the Literary Festival.

BIRD DISPLAYSWatch remarkable birds in action on Saturday and Sunday October, and get a close-up glimpse of our avian guests throughout the day.

POETRY READINGSThere will be live poetry readings from local and national poets on each day of the Festival, within the Stables Courtyard.

LIVE MUSICLive, acoustic music will fill the courtyard throughout each day of the Festival.

AT THE FESTIVALCHILDREN’S FESTIVALSAT 7TH & SUN 8TH

This year sees the inaugural Children’s Festival sponsored by Sheaffer and supported by First for Wellbeing. Taking place on Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 2pm, the festival features a variety of children’s authors alongside story-telling, chocolate tastings and poetry readings. Children can also create their own newspaper courtesy of The Week Junior, and participate in a live debate!

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

OPENING TIMESThe gates will open each day at 9.30am and close no later than 7pm.

VENUESTalks at the Festival will be held in three venues. The main auditorium is a marquee situated on the back lawns of Althorp, whilst the more intimate venues are within the House – The State Dining Room and The South Drawing Room. Blackboards and signage will be present on the day, stating where your chosen talk(s) will be taking place.

BOOK SIGNINGSAll of the authors speaking in the main auditorium on the back lawn, will be signing books within the Waterstones bookshop and book signing marquee on the side lawn. Authors speaking in the house will sign their books in The Saloon.

VISITORS WITH DISABILITIESPlease contact 01604 770 107 should wheelchair access be required. Wheelchairs are available free of charge, but must be booked in advance. There is a disabled parking area within the main car park and a courtesy shuttlebus operates throughout the Festival between the West Gate entrance and the Stables Courtyard. Please be advised that disabled parking facilities are available to Blue Badge holders, near to the House. Please be advised that guide dogs only are permitted on to the Estate.

TICKET OFFICESubject to availability, tickets will be available for additional sessions on-site at the Festival Ticket Office.

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FOOD, DRINK AND SHOPPING EVENTS

ALTHORP STABLES CAFÉJoin us for freshly made sandwiches, pastries, soups and cakes, along with a varied selection of hot and cold drinks.

POP-UP FOOD STALLSIn addition to the Althorp Stables Café there will be alternative street food pop-ups located in the Stables Courtyard.

NYETIMBER BUSHop on the 1968 Nyetimber Routemaster Bus for a chilled glass of their award-winning sparkling wine. Whilst on board, why not discover the artistry and craftsmanship behind every bottle of Nyetimber, with a masterclass tasting of their award-winning collection of sparkling wines - £10 per person.

45 WEST DISTILLERS GIN & TONIC BAR Located in the Stables Courtyard, enjoy sampling or a glass of the finest, local G&T.

WATERSTONES BOOKSHOPThe primary festival bookshop will be located in a marquee on the back lawns. A secondary Waterstones bookshop will be stationed in the Saloon, at the heart of the House.

WINSER LONDONThe Althorp Literary Festival will once again become home to Winser London’s pop-up boutique, offering chic cashmere, luxurious silks, as well as weekend and workwear that will become wardrobe favourites.

THE STAMFORD NOTEBOOK COMPANYBrowse the beautiful collection of hand-bound books at The Stamford Notebook Company pop-up store, with a personal embossing service onsite.

TIELLE LOVES LUXURY BY TRADELINENSTielle loves Luxury will be bringing their pop-up boutique to Althorp for the first time this year, sharing tips on how to achieve a great night’s sleep. Make sure you speak to one of their experts who will offer advice on creating the perfect bedroom.

A.T. CROSSAlongside their pop-up shop in the retail marquee, featuring a selection of high-quality pens and pencils, festival partner A.T Cross will be providing a variety of fringe events during the festival around the art of writing. Friday sees a graphologist on-site to analyse your handwriting, whilst calligraphy workshops will take place on Saturday and Sunday at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. A live mural will be created throughout Saturday which both adults and children are invited to participate in!

Graphology Expert: Friday 6th OctoberCalligraphy Workshops:11am, 1pm, 3pm – Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th OctoberLive Mural Drawing:Saturday 7th October

We are delighted to bring our pop-up shop of beautiful dresses, silk tops and luxurious knitwear to the Althorp Literar y Festival again this year. As a treat, we are offering our new one-size ponchos and our favourite cashmere jumpers at ver y special prices. Do come and see us!

K I M W I N S E R O B E . F O U N D E R & C E O.W I N S E R L O N D O N

TRAVELLING TO ALTHORP

TRAVELLING BY CARAlthorp is located 7 miles north-west of Northampton off the A428.

FROM THE SOUTH: Althorp is clearly signed as you approach Northampton from Junction 16 of the M1.

FROM THE NORTH: Leave the M1 at Junction 18. Take the first left at the roundabout and follow signs to Northampton.

FROM THE EAST: from A14 Junction 1, follow the A5199 south to Chapel Brampton and turn off to Althorp.

TRAVELLING BY TRAINThere are two mainline stations nearby. Northampton train station is approximately 15 minutes away by car. Long Buckby station is 10 minutes by car. Taxis are readily available outside Northampton station.

PARKINGAll visitors are required to park in the car park by Althorp’s West Gate. This is located on Chinkwell Lane, on the road to Great Brington – postcode: NN7 4HQ. For further information on how to find us, please visit our website www.spencerofalthorp.com

There will be a courtesy shuttlebus running from the West Gate entrance to the Stables Courtyard for festival-goers to use.

Alternatively, we advise guests to allow 15 minutes to walk from the car park to the House.

ACCOMMODATIONOur official hotel partner is Fawsley Hall Hotel & Spa (NN11 3BA) For alternative places to stay, please see ‘Visiting Althorp’ on our website: www.spencerofalthorp.com

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COMING SOON TO ROYAL & DERNGATE

Box O� ce 01604 624811 www.royalandderngate.co.uk /royalandderngate @royalderngate

TUE 17 – SAT 28 OCTOBERStarring Patrice Naiambana (Othello, RSC), this bold new production explores the paranoia of living in an ever-changing landscape.

TUE 27 FEBRUARY – SAT 3 MARCHFollowing a critically acclaimed run at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Paapa Essiedu stars in this riveting and contemporary take on Hamlet.

TUE 28 NOVEMBER – SAT 2 DECEMBERThis acclaimed new production, adapted by Olivier Award-winning playwright Patrick Marber, enjoyed a sold out run at the National Theatre.

THU 11 – SAT 20 JANUARYThis new adaptation features original music performed live by award-winning composer Kuljit Bhamra (Bend It Like Beckham).

BASED ON THE NOVEL A PASSAGE TO INDIA BY E. M. FORSTER

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An award-winning, two-day food and drink extravaganza,

held at the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire.

Celebrating all of the very best producers and suppliers of

the finest food and drink available, locally.

To find out more about the

Althorp Food and Drink Festival, visit

www.althorpfoodanddrinkfestival.com

@ALTHORPFOODFEST /ALTHORPFOODFEST ALTHORPFOODFEST

SATURDAY 12 – SUNDAY 13MAY 2018

SATURDAY 12 – SUNDAY 13MAY 2018

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2017 SPONSORS &SUPPORTERS

FESTIVAL SUPORTERS

FESTIVAL CHARITY PARTNER

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The Week magazine takes only the best articles from the global online and print media and expertly edits them together to give you a refreshingly balanced, concise and witty view of the news from the past seven days. You’ll stay up-to-date and entertained with The Week.

To fi nd out more visit subscription.theweek.co.uk

To fi nd out more visit theweekjunior.co.uk

The Week Junior is a brilliant current a� airs magazine for children aged 8 - 14. It’s fi lled with fascinating stories and information, written to engage curious young minds and encourage them to explore and understand the world around them.

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