Paddy Ashdown

David Peace Before his 2009 event, David Peace discusses how and why he creates fiction from real-life incidents, looking at, amongst other writings, his Tokyo Trilogy and Red Riding Quartet… Lucy Hawking Lucy Hawking talks about teaming up with her father Professor Stephen Hawking to create George?s Cosmic Treasure Hunt, the second in a trilogy of books designed to explain physics to children in a fun way… Billy Bragg (2016 Event) From ‘A New England’ to ‘Levi Stubbs’ Tears’, Billy Bragg’s songs have captured the mood of modern Britain. Since politics and pop became entwined in the anti-Thatcher Red Wedge movement of the 80s, Bragg’s voice… Andrew O'Hagan A magnificently intelligent essayist, novelist, critic, and a mesmerising speaker. Andrew O'Hagan talks to Magnus Linklater in this 2008 event about politics, Scotland and his recent collection of reportage on a declining Britain and a rising America, The… Sarah Howe & William Letford (2016 Event) We were thrilled to open the 2016 Festival with two of the most powerful young voices in British poetry. Sarah Howe's debut collection Loop of Jade won the 2016 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry and was described as ‘original, exquisite, erudite and adventurous.’… The Principle of Religion (2014 event) Richard Holloway, Rowan Williams, Rchard Sennett and Angela Zito explore the key ideas that have shaped humanity. In this event: the ideas and impact of religious belief… Michel Faber (2011 Event) The astonishing, triumphant television adaptation of Michel Faber's novel The Crimson Petal and the White represents a radical new step for the previously tired costume drama genre. In this event, Faber discussed his book with Lucinda Coxon… John O'Donoghue John O'Donoghue's highly personal memoir Sectioned: A Life Interrupted chronicles a decade of his life spent in and out of institutions as he battled with mental illness. Here he reveals how he came to write the book and get it published… Lola Olufemi & Minna Salami: Critical Reflections on Feminism (2020 Event) Since 2010, the award-winning blog MsAfropolitan has connected feminism with critical reflections on contemporary culture from an Africa-centred perspective. Its founder is Nigerian-Finnish writer and lecturer Minna Salami, a powerhouse of feminist… Denise Mina reading We Are All Waiting The popular Scottish crime-writer reading her story on the theme of Elsewhere…