From a swashbuckling adventurer to a paranoid android, the festival’s director Jules Bradburn reveals the smorgasbord of authors and speakers for this year’s event

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

10 & 14 October

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy began with a young struggling author, Douglas Adams, pounding the streets of nearby Stalbridge on his early morning run, before hammering the keys of an ancient manual typewriter in his bedroom.

Kevin Davies and friends bring together members of the original radio cast; Douglas’ family and special guests to reveal behind-the-scenes anecdotes, exclusive video clips and original props from the TV series including Marvin The Paranoid Android!

11am, Digby Hall, Hound Street (Part Two at noon on 14 October).

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Why Mummy Swears

10 October

Gill Sims author of Why Mummy Drinks - shortlisted for Debut Novel of the Year in the British Book Awards, talks about her hilarious second novel.

1.30pm Digby Hall, Hound Street

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Vietnam, An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975

10 October

Max Hastings chronicles Vietnam with the benefit of vivid personal memories including the final evacuation of Saigon in 1975.

7pm, Digby Hall, Hound Street

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Finding the Plot

11 October

Aimed at anyone with an urge to write - be it short stories, a novel, a memoir, or something in between - this all-day workshop, led by Susan Elderkin, will focus on how to generate a plot that takes off with a momentum and inevitability all of its own. Expect to write in the moment - and go home with a new project up and running; or with new material and direction for your ongoing work-in-progress.

Starts 9am at The Eastbury

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Sir Walter Raleigh talk & walk

11 October

Pirate, traitor, scholar, explorer, soldier, poet, scientist, botanist, fashionista and favourite of a queen, Maria Wingfield Digby reveals the extraordinary man behind the legend and the mark he left on Sherborne. After the talk join Cindy Chant (Sherborne’s Blue Badge Guide) for a Raleigh Ramble in the great man’s footsteps through Sherborne.

Starts from Digby Hall at 1pm. Talk starts at 11am Digby Hall, Hound Street

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Mandela: His Essential Life

11 October

From barefoot herd boy to world leader, Lord Peter Hain, a former British anti-apartheid leader born of South African parents, tells the extraordinary story of Nelson Mandela.

3pm, Digby Hall, Hound Street

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M: Maxwell Knight, MI5’s Greatest Spymaster

11 October

Featuring a song, and a game to find out which member of the audience would make the perfect spy, enjoy Henry Hemming’s gripping tale of two remarkable female spies and the animal-loving drop-out who became MI5’s greatest spymaster.

7pm, Digby Hall, Hound Street

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Van Gogh, Reader and Writer

12 October

In advance of Tate Britain’s upcoming exhibition Van Gogh and Britain (27 March – 11 August 2019), Jenny Newman explores Van Gogh’s many literary enthusiasms.

11am, The Eastbury Hotel

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The Women Who Flew for Hitler

12 October

Clare Mulley tells the extraordinary story of the two female test pilots who served Nazi Germany, yet ended their lives on opposite sides of history.

2.30pm, Digby Hall

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Nein: Standing up to Hitler 1934 - 1945

13 October

Prize-winning author Paddy Ashdown shares his revelatory new history of German opposition to Hitler from 1934 – 1945.

2.30pm, Digby Hall

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How Does It Feel? A Life of Musical Misadventures

13 October

“As a teenager I wanted two things: watch movies and be a pop star.” Mark Kermode recounts his foolhardy attempts to fulfil his dreams of stardom.

7pm, Sherborne Girls School

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Kites are Flying

14 October

Inspired by the many books, fiction and non-fiction, about kite flying, The Science Café provide the basic materials to build a kite - and supply the all important know-how. Suitable for adults and children aged 8-9 upwards. Weather and time permitting, we’ll fly the kites!

2 - 4 pm at Sherborne Primary School

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Cricket in the Eighties

14 October

Inside the dressing room, and out on the pitch, Derek Pringle witnessed at first hand an era of English cricket populated by characters such as Botham, Gooch, Lamb and Gower, one of English cricket’s most turbulent periods. 7pm, Digby Hall

Visit: www.sherborneliterarysociety.com/festival