Bridport Literary Festival is held at venues around town from Sunday 4 to Sunday 11 November
Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War II
4 November
Broadcaster James Holland’s narrative history of the massive airborne assault that was unleashed in February 1944 to clear the skies for the Allied invasion of France.
11am, Bull Hotel Ballroom
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In Search of Mary Shelley
5 November
While still a teenager, Mary composed her extraordinary novel, Frankenstein. What were her influences? Prize-winning writer and poet Fiona Sampson reveals the real Mary Shelley and her passionate commitment to writing when to be a woman writer was a costly anomaly
10am, Bull Hotel Ballroom
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Spirit of Place
5 November
Abi Andrews and Gregory Norminton draw on landscapes both familiar and unfamiliar, and the history of the natural world to shape their narratives. They talk about the art of fiction and how places as diverse as the Arctic and Bagshot Heath have inspired them. 6pm, Literary &
Scientific Institute
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A Lab of One’s Own
6 November
Many extraordinary female scientists, doctors and engineers tasted independence for the first time in 1918 as Patricia Fara reveals. 10am,
Bull Hotel Ballroom
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Among the Summer Snows
6 November
Christopher Nicholson’s novel, Winter, about Thomas Hardy’s last love, won enormous critical acclaim. Nicholson discusses his latest book - a profound meditation on nature and mortality. 11.30am, Bull Hotel Ballroom
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A West Country Trilogy
6 November
Prize-winning author Tim Pears takes us from the agricultural world at the turn of the century in The Horseman, through the devastation of World War I in The Wanderers to the resolution in The Redeemed. 2.30pm, Bull Hotel Ballroom
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My House of Sky: The Life of JA Baker
7 November
Hetty Saunders discusses her biography of the acclaimed naturalist, J.A. Baker, author of The Peregrine and The Hill of Summer. 6pm, Literary & Scientific Institute
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The Very White of Love
8 November
A powerful story of love and war based on Simon Worrall’s heart-wrenching family history and some love letters found hidden in a chocolate box. 10am,
Bull Hotel Ballroom
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Oscar: A Life
8 November
Oscar Wilde was both an early exponent and victim of ‘celebrity culture’. Matthew Sturgis brings alive the radical ideas, the distinctive characters and the flaring colours of the fin de siècle in the richest account of Wilde’s life to date. 2.30pm,
Bull Hotel Ballroom
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London Rules
9 November
Described by Val McDermid as ‘the John le Carre of our generation’ Mick Herron is the creator of Jackson Lamb, the most irresistible hero to emerge since Jack Reacher.
2.30pm, Electric Palace
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Prue Leith
10 November
Prue Leith is in conversation with Val Hudson at the Bridport Literary Festival at 2.30pm at The Electric Palace where she will be signing copies of her new book. Tickets cost £10 from Bridport Tourist Information Centre.
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Poetry to Please Children
10 November
Kate Wakeling’s collection of children’s poetry, Moon Juice, was described by The Sunday Times as ‘clever, funny and inspiring’. This interactive poetry reading also asks children to write a new poem with Kate.
2-3pm, The Lyric Theatre
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Bryony Gordon Eat, Drink, Run
10 November
Bryony Gordon began to recover from the emotional rollercoaster of laying her life bare in Mad Girl, by getting outside, moving her body and talking to others.
11.30am, Electric Palace
Bridport Literary Festival brochures are available at locations across the town and beyond. You can also find full listings at bridlit.com.
Tickets available online or from Bridport TIC, Town Hall, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3LF or call 01308 42490.
