Carol Ann Duffy (2010 event)

Lynn Barber (2014 event) Fearsomely incisive interviewer and journalist Lynn Barber faced a Twitter storm after an article on tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, but anonymous cyberhate is nothing for someone who has taken on the likes of Gore Vidal, James Stewart and Salvador Dali… Gill Arbuthnott reading Marilyn's Hands Listen to the author of the gripping Germ Wars and The Keepers Daughter and many other novels and fact-filled books based around science, as she reads her contribution to… Roddy Doyle reading Los San Patricios Roddy Doyle reading his story Los San Patricios (note: contains strong language). Part of an engaging series of podcasts of leading… Paul Mendez & Derek Owusu: Thorny Intersections (2020 Event) How do you get the upper hand on a world you don’t yet understand? That’s the burning question at the heart of two striking debuts that scrape away the coming-of-age clichés, breathing through the aches and pains of growing up. With echoes of early… Raja Shehadeh A breathtaking 2007 event with Palestinian human rights lawyer and writer Raja Shehadeh. He here launches his new book Palestinian Walks in which he crosses his land on foot; conflicts and history revealed in the beautiful and battered landscapes. Chaired… Paul Merton (2015 Event) Not Always Clowning Around. One of the most intelligent and likeable comics in the land, Paul Merton has had his fair share of darkness and tragedy… Nate Silver (2013 event) Statistician, political forecaster and creator of the New York Times blog FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver shot to world fame when he predicted the outcome of all 50 states in the 2012 US Elections… Chris Packham (2016 Event) As the presenter of BBC's Springwatch, Chris Packham has become one of the nation’s favourite naturalists. But Packham was far from popular as a child: in his brave and lyrical memoir, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar, he recalls life as a solitary child… Alan Warner An immensely welcome visit in 2007 from one of Scotland's most dizzingly talented and original writers, now living in Spain. Listen as Alan Warner, author of Morvern Callar and The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven, discusses the scope and ambition of his work… Zakes Mda (2014 event) Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Zakes Mda is regarded as one of the most important novelists to have emerged on South Africa’s literary scene since the end of apartheid. The author of more than 20 novels and plays, Mda is now resident in the…