PETWORTH FESTIVAL LITERARY WEEK 2021 Saturday 30 October - Sunday 7 November
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PETWORTH FESTIVAL
LITERARY WEEK 2021
Saturday 30 October - Sunday 7 November
Featuring
JEFFREY ARCHER SEBASTIAN FAULKS
JOAN BAKEWELL LOYD GROSSMAN
GYLES BRANDRETH DAN JONES
TESSA DUNLOP ALISON WEIR
And many more…
BOX OFFICE OPENS ON SATURDAY 2 OCTOBER
SEE WWW.PETWORTHFESTIVAL.ORG.UK
FOR TICKETS AND MORE DETAILS
AT A GLANCE
Unless otherwise specified, events will also be available to view online.
Please see the Booking Information on p.2 for further details.
Sat 30 Oct
10.00am URC Harry Potter Wand Workshop (family event)*
11.30am St Mary’s Alison Weir Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife
2.00pm URC Workshop: How to write a perfect memoir with Nick Boulos*
2.30pm St Mary’s Kate Bailey of the V & A Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser
5.00pm St Mary’s A C Grayling The Frontiers of Knowledge
8.00pm St Mary’s Dan Jones Powers & Thrones
Sun 31 Oct
10.30am Leconfield Poetry Breakfast with Louis de Bernières*
2.30pm Seaford Gyles Brandreth Odd Boy Out / Philip: The Final Portrait
5.30pm Seaford Jeffrey Archer Over My Dead Body
8.00pm St Mary’s Hamish de Bretton-Gordon Chemical Warrior
Mon 1 Nov
11.30am St Mary’s Tom Bradby Triple Cross
3.00pm St Mary’s Tristan Gooley The Secret World of Weather
7.30pm St Mary’s Geordie Greig Breakfast with Lucian - A Portrait of the Artist
Tues 2 Nov
11.30am St Mary’s Gill Hornby Miss Austen
2.30pm St Mary’s Lucasta Miller Keats
5.00pm St Mary’s Lauren Cochrane The Ten: The Stories Behind the Fashion Classics
7.30pm St Mary’s Loyd Grossman An Elephant In Rome
Wed 3 Nov
11.30am St Mary’s Natasha Lunn Conversations on Love
2.30pm St Mary’s William Leith The Trick
5.00pm St Mary’s Isabel Hardman The Natural Health Service
7.30pm St Mary’s Barney Norris & David Owen Norris The Wellspring
Thur 4 Nov
11.30am St Mary’s Hugo Vickers Malice in Wonderland
2.30pm St Mary’s Richard Dawkins Flights of Fancy
5.00pm St Mary’s Gavin Esler How Britain Ends
7.30pm St Mary’s Joan Bakewell The Tick of Two Clocks
Fri 5 Nov
11.30am St Mary’s Tessa Dunlop with Joyce Wilding Army Girls
2.30pm St Mary’s John Kampfner Why the Germans Do it Better
5.00pm St Mary’s Roger Morgan-Grenville Shearwater
7.30pm St Mary’s Victoria Glendinning Family Business
Sat 6 Nov
11.00am Leconfield Listified quiz (family event)*
11.30am St Mary’s Christina Riggs Treasured
2.00pm URC Drop-in Memoir Clinic by Master Storytellers*
2.30pm St Mary’s Sebastian Faulks Snow Country
5.00pm St Mary’s Luke Harding Shadow State
7.30pm St Mary’s Jeremy Vine The Diver and the Lover
Sun 7 Nov
11.30am Leconfield Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu This is Why I Resist
3.00pm St Mary’s Jonathan Aitken A Rollercoaster Ride…
6.00pm St Mary’s Max Egremont The Glass Wall
* Live event only - not available to view online
Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576
WELCOME TO THE 2021
PETWORTH FESTIVAL
LITERARY WEEK
W
hilst it would be unwise to say that it’s completely back
to business as usual following the last 18 months,
it is nonetheless very exciting to be in a position to
announce a Literary Week that proudly follows in the footsteps
of the previous editions and one which, crucially, continues to
build on what we have created in Petworth over the last ten
years.
Our aim with the literary week is to stimulate, stimulate and
stimulate again with a succession of events that focus on the deep thinking that
goes into the creation of a book, whatever the subject matter. And that, of course,
is exactly what all our featured books and authors do – thoroughly examine a story
or a subject with endlessly fascinating, often entertaining, sometimes sobering and,
yes, always stimulating results.
Welcome to Petworth whether in person or, once again, online. What a week it
promises to be…
Stewart Collins
Artistic Director
FESTIVAL MANAGER
We would like to record a huge vote of gratitude to Kate Wardle who retires this year as
Festival Manager. Her contribution towards creating the festival we all know and love has
been immense and much of the goodwill that flows towards the festival has unquestionably
been generated by Kate during her time with us. We wish her the very best for her
retirement.
At the same time we would like to welcome with open arms Bethan Adelekan who has
recently assumed the Festival Manger’s responsibilities. Bethan brings with her the same
generosity of spirit and remarkable all round competence that you will all recognise from
before, and we look forward to a long and happy relationship with Bethan.
Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 1
BOOKING INFORMATION
All events will be held live in Petworth. All events in ONLINE VIEWING
St Mary’s Church and Seaford College, plus Dr Shola On booking an online ticket via the Petworth Festival
Mos-Shogbamimu’s Leconfield Hall event on Sunday website www.petworthfestival.org.uk, you will be sent
7 Nov, will also be available to watch online, either a link which will take you to the online event. Events
‘live’ or recorded. Recorded events will be available to may either be watched ‘live’, as they happen, or from
view from 24 hours after the event time shown in the 24 hours after the event time in the brochure. Please
brochure. note, it is not possible to pause or rewind events being
watched live. Tickets are valid for one viewing only,
PETWORTH FESTIVAL BOX OFFICE either of the live streamed event or the recording.
Box office opens on Events will be available to view online via the website
Saturday 2 October until midnight on Sunday 28 November. Online viewing
Online 24 hours a day www.petworthfestival.org.uk tickets may be purchased until this date.
Phone 01798 344 576
10.00am – 1.00pm, closed Sundays and Mondays COVID-19
Most credit and debit cards accepted. To ensure the safety of our audiences, staff and authors
Wheelchair/disabled customers please telephone we ask anyone who has not been doubly-vaccinated to
01798 343 055 do a lateral flow test before coming to the event. Please
do not attend if the test is positive. We would appreciate
TICKET PRICES if attendees would continue to wear masks. The
Ticket prices for both live events and online viewing majority of our events will be available to view online
are shown below the event information throughout this until 28 November.
brochure. Please choose the relevant ticket type on
ordering. FESTIVAL VENUES
Online viewing tickets must be purchased for the St Mary’s Church, Petworth GU28 0AD
specific event, and can be used once only. Leconfield Hall, Market Square, Petworth GU28 0AH
United Reformed Church, 3 Damer’s Bridge, Petworth
FESTIVAL PASSES GU28 0AW
All online events £45 The Johnson Centre, Seaford College GU28 0NB
The full Festival Pass is like a season ticket and can
only be used by the holder. The full Festival Pass holder No intervals in any events. All venues have toilet
will receive a link which will take them to a page where facilities. All venues other than the URC have wheelchair
they can view each individual online event once (either access. URC has a stair lift from street level to the
‘live’ or recorded). workshop spaces but regrettably the toilets are not
wheelchair accessible.
FORMAT OF EVENTS
Unless otherwise stated, each event will consist of a 40 PARKING
– 45-minute presentation from the author followed by an Parking for St Mary’s, the Leconfield Hall and the URC
opportunity for questions and answers. is in the Petworth town car park (GU28 0AP, 2 minutes
Online viewers who are watching ‘live’ may submit from the Leconfield Hall and 5 minutes from St Mary’s
questions via the Q&A box situated beneath the viewing Church) or additional free parking at the Sylvia Beaufoy
window. Centre (GU28 0ET). Please leave entrance to church
free for emergency vehicles. Outside church please do
Viewers will still be able to watch the event while not park half on the pavement – this is an offence. No
submitting questions, which will be relayed in real time parking in Lombard Street. Ample parking at Seaford
to the speaker/interviewer. College, but please leave extra time as Seaford’s private
drive is long and narrow, which can cause delays.
After each event (apart from those at the URC) audience
members may purchase the books and have them TERMS AND CONDITIONS
signed by the author at the Petworth Bookshop’s pop- Refunds are not given unless the event is cancelled.
up shop in the venue. Prof A C Grayling is appearing by The information contained in this leaflet is correct at
video link and will not be available to sign books. the time of printing, but may be subject to subsequent
alterations.
2 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576
Saturday 30 October 10.00am – 1.00pm | United Reformed Church Harry Potter Wand Workshop (family event) KIDS! Have you ever wanted your own magic wand? How about owning a charm to help with life’s little challenges? Well look no further than the URC from 10.00am to 1.00pm, when magic will be in the air! What better time for youngsters to get hands on, creating their own masterpiece? Mr Strange and Mrs Fete will be on hand to guide young witches and wizards, through the process and bring out their creative talents. Learn how to write your name or wish in a special secret code. What signs and symbols or emojis would be best on your charm? Wands, charms, and the materials needed to make them are included in the price of the ticket. Disclaimer – turning your sister into a frog is not encouraged. Each Wand Workshop lasts 30 minutes and is open to all ages. All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. All materials are included in the ticket price (one wand and one charm per child). Please book in advance to guaran- tee your place. Tickets: Adults £2 /18 and under £4 Saturday 30 October 11.30am – 12.30pm | St Mary’s Church Alison Weir Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife In conversation with Stewart Collins We welcome the UK’s top selling female historian Alison Weir. Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife is her latest novel and the last in the Six Tudor Queens series about the wives of Henry VIII, which was launched in 2016 to great critical acclaim. The earlier books in the series – Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen, Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession, Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen and Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets were all Sunday Times bestsellers. Katharine Parr - Two husbands dead; a life marred by sadness, and now Katharine is in love for the first time in her life. The eye of an ageing and dangerous king falls upon her. She cannot refuse him. She must stifle her feelings and never betray that she wanted another. And now she is the sixth wife. Her enemies are closing in. She must fight for her very life. Katharine Parr – the last of Henry’s queens. Alison Weir recounts the extraordinary story of a warm and kindly woman forced into a peril- ous situation and rising heroically to the challenge. Yet she will be betrayed by those she loves and trusts most. Too late, the truth will dawn on her. Alison Weir has sold over 3 million books worldwide. She has published twenty history books, including her most recent non-fiction book, Queens of the Crusades, the first in her England’s Medieval Queens quartet. She has also published ten historical novels. Alison is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary life patron of Historic Royal Palaces. Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 3
Saturday 30 October 2.00pm - 3.30pm | United Reformed Church Workshop: How to write the perfect memoir with Nick Boulos of Master Storytellers The first of two Saturday sessions focusing on the art of memoir writing. Memoir writing has never been more popular, with more people than ever before committing their own personal story to paper in a bid to preserve their tales for generations to come. But doing any story justice – particularly your own – is no mean feat. Packed with industry insight that can be applied to all forms of writing, Nick Boulos’ workshop will guide you through the entire process. Featuring a panel of their most prolific authors, each of whom have ghost-written bestselling celebrity memoirs, this event will arm you with all the tools and techniques to produce a mighty memoir. Topics covered include: - how to capture your unique tone of voice - how to structure the narrative and work through decades of memories - how to evoke a sense of place and describe people in dramatic detail - how to write dialogue effectively - how to convey emotions and control pace within the text This event will run for roughly 90 minutes – and to follow up your interest, do also book a one-to-one session next weekend (Saturday 6 November). An invaluable opportunity to kick start your interest in this increasingly popular activity. Tickets: Adults £8 / 18 and under £4 Saturday 30 October 2.30pm – 3.30pm | St Mary’s Church Kate Bailey Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser Continuing the festival’s association with the V&A, we welcome Kate Bailey, Senior Curator of Design and Scenography in the Theatre and Performance Department. Kate has recently published Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser to accompany the V&A’s acclaimed exhibition of the same name. Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is a cultural phenomenon. First published in 1865, it has never been out of print and has been translated into 170 languages. But why does it have such enduring and universal appeal for both adults and children? With a spectacular new visualisation by acclaimed illustrator Kristjana J Williams, Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser goes on to explore how Lewis Carroll’s celebrated Alice books have fuelled creative minds for over 150 Years - a journey whose scope ranges from art, literature, theatre and film through science and technology to fashion and politics, and ultimately asking whether we should all try to be more like Alice. Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 4 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576
Saturday 30 October 5.00pm – 6.00pm | St Mary’s Church, via video link
A C Grayling
The Frontiers of Knowledge
In recent times humanity has learnt an enormous amount about the universe, the past,
and itself. But as well as acquiring vast amounts of knowledge we have also learned how
much we have yet to learn: currently known science addresses just 5% of the universe;
pre-history is only just being revealed; and the new neurosciences of mind and brain are
just beginning. In The Frontiers of Knowledge, bestselling polymath and philosopher A C
Grayling seeks to answer them in three crucial areas: science, history, and psychology.
Professor A C Grayling is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a
Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books,
and for several years he wrote columns for The Guardian and The Times and was the chairman
of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE LIVE IN ST MARY’S CHURCH AND
AC GRAYLING WILL JOIN US LIVE BY VIDEO LINK.
Tickets: Adults £8 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Saturday 30 October 8.00pm – 9.00pm | St Mary’s Church
Dan Jones
Powers & Thrones
Dan Jones (photo: Peter Clark)
In conversation with Matt Stadlen
We welcome the historian, broadcaster and award-winning journalist Dan Jones to
Petworth.
From the bestselling author of The Templars, Powers and Thrones is an epic new history
that quite simply tells the story of how the world we know today came to be built - a
thousand-year adventure that moves from the ruins of the once-mighty city of Rome,
sacked by barbarians in AD 410, to the first contacts between the old and new worlds in the
sixteenth century. It shows how, from a state of crisis and collapse, the West was rebuilt and
came to dominate the entire globe. This is a book written about – and for – an age of profound
change, and it asks the biggest questions about the West both then and now. Where did we
come from? What made us? Where do we go from here?
Dan Jones’ books - including The Templars, Crusaders and, with Marina Amaral, The Colour
of Time and The World Aflame - have sold more than one million copies worldwide. He has
written and hosted dozens of TV shows including the acclaimed Netflix/Channel 5 series,
Secrets of Great British Castles. His writing has appeared in newspapers and magazines
including the London Evening Standard, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Wall Street
Journal, GQ and The Spectator.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 5Sunday 31 October 10.30am – 12 noon | Leconfield Hall
Poetry Breakfast with Louis de Bernières
The internationally-acclaimed author of Captain Corelli’s
Mandolin Louis de Bernières entertains with his inspiring poetry
and reflective songs in a programme of words and music. With
support from musical duo Mike Carey (piano), Clare Nichols
(accordion) and Sussex poet Barry Smith,
Petworth Festival Literary Week joins forces with the South
Downs Poetry Festival for a breakfast event where orange juice,
coffee, croissants, the Sunday newspapers, music and poetry
will be the name of the game.
Louis de Bernières shot to fame with his iconic story of love
and war set in Cephalonia, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, later
turned into a popular film. Louis has three full collections of
Louis de Bernières Barry Smith
(photo: Ivan Bartholomew) poetry to his name, Imagining Alexandria, Of Love and Desire
(photo: Chichester Observer)
and his latest collection, The Cat in the Treble Clef, which
features poems about family, places, love and time.
He is joined by South Downs Poetry Festival director, Barry Smith who reads from his new collection, Performance
Rites (Waterloo Press).
The morning session will also include a presentation by young poets from Petworth schools who have been
participating in workshops arranged in association with the West Sussex Arts Society, led by dynamic young
performance poet and musician Antosh Wojcik.
Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5
Sunday 31 October 2.30pm – 3.30pm | Seaford College
Gyles Brandreth
Odd Boy Out / Philip: The Final Portrait
The Odd Boy Out meets Prince Philip: who is Gyles Brandreth? Who was Prince Philip?
And how come Gyles ended up writing the Duke of Edinburgh’s biography? One writer
discusses two very different biographies and two very different stories … a fascinating
exploration of the world of biography and fathers and sons and their relationships …
The national treasure that is Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, performer, former
MP and Government Whip, now Chancellor of the University of Chester and probably best
known these days as a reporter on BBC1’s The One Show and a regular on Radio 4’s Just
A Minute. He claims among his forebears Jeremiah Brandreth, the last person to be beheaded in
England for treason (in 1817), and the Victorian and Edwardian journalist and playwright George
R Sims, author of Christmas Day in the Workhouse and a cousin of the Empress
Eugénie.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
6 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576Sunday 31 October 5.30pm – 6.30pm | Seaford College Jeffrey Archer Over My Dead Body In conversation with Gerry Foley Jeffrey Archer is a phenomenon. He has topped the bestseller lists around the world, with sales of over 275 million copies in 97 countries and more than 37 languages. He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (nineteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries). He gained a Blue in Athletics at Oxford, was President of the University Athletics Club, and went on to run the 100 yards in 9.6 seconds for Great Britain in 1966. Jeffrey has served five years in the House of Commons and twenty-nine years as a Member of the House of Lords. His novel, Nothing Ventured, the first of the William Warwick books, was published in 2019, and Over My Dead Body, the fourth Warwick novel, is published in October 2021. Popular Petworth Festival interviewer Gerry Foley will quiz him on this and much besides. Jeffrey Archer is an art collector and amateur auctioneer, conducting around 10 charity auctions a year, and has raised over £51m in the last 30 years for good causes. He has been married to Dame Mary Archer DBE, Chairman of the Science Museum Group, for 54 years, and they have two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons. Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Sunday 31 October 8.00pm – 9.00pm | St Mary’s Church Hamish de Bretton-Gordon Chemical Warrior In conversation with Stewart Collins If the 2020 literary week event featuring ‘War Doctor’ David Nott captured your attention, we invite you to discover another extraordinary tale of our times. For thirty years, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon has served and volunteered in conflict zones around the world. As the army’s foremost chemical weapons expert, he built a unique first-hand understanding of how to prevent attacks and train doctors on the frontline – saving countless lives in the process. After suffering near-death experiences time and again, Hamish discovered he had a ticking time bomb in his own chest: a heart condition called Sudden Death Syndrome that could kill him at any moment. But with a new awareness for the fragility of life, Hamish has unearthed evidence of multiple chemical attacks in Syria and continues to advise the government at the highest level, including after the 2018 Novichok poisoning in Salisbury. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE is co-founder and director of Doctors Under Fire with Professor David Nott, where he helps civilians with the threat from chemical weapons. He frequently appears in global media as an expert commentator and in 2020 took up the position of Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Magdalene College Cambridge. Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 7
Monday 1 November 11.30am – 12.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Tom Bradby
Tom Bradby (photo: Tony Ward)
Triple Cross
In conversation with Gerry Foley
Best known as the current Anchor of ITV’s News at Ten, Tom Bradby is the author of
eight previous novels, including most recently Secret Service and Double Agent. Triple
Cross is the final instalment in the bestselling Kate Henderson series.
Double Agent saw Kate retire from the Service, but it won’t last long... Attempting to
rebuild her shattered life in the South of France, the former MI6 operative receives an
unexpected and most unwelcome visit from an old adversary: the UK Prime Minister. He
has an extraordinary story to tell - and he needs her help.
Against her better judgement, Kate is forced back into the fray in a top-secret, deeply flawed
and dangerous investigation. But now she’s damaged goods. Her one-time allies no longer trust
her. And neither do her enemies.
Tom Bradby is a novelist, screenwriter and journalist. Tom has been with ITN for thirty years
and was successively Ireland Correspondent, Political Correspondent, Asia Correspondent
(during which time he was shot and seriously injured whilst covering a riot in Jakarta), Royal Correspondent,
UK Editor and Political Editor – a job he held for a decade – before being made the Anchor of News at Ten in 2015.
As an author, his book The Master of Rain was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Steel Dagger for Thriller
of the Year, and both The White Russian and The God of Chaos for the CWA Historical Crime Novel of the Year. He
adapted his first novel, Shadow Dancer, into a film, the script for which was nominated for Screenplay of the Year in
the Evening Standard Film Awards.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Monday 1 November 3.00pm – 4.00pm | St Mary’s Church
Tristan Gooley Tristan Gooley (photo: Sophie Gooley)
The Secret World of Weather
In conversation with Emily Jeffery
We welcome back the author of The Natural Navigator, Tristan Gooley.
Each day we pass dozens of small weather signs that reveal what the weather is doing
all around us. By understanding the microclimate - that is to say, the local weather - and
its relationship to the land around us, we can predict weather easily.
In The Secret World of Weather we discover the simple rules that explain the weather
signs and learn rare skills that should enhance every minute spent outdoors, whether in
a town, on a beach or in a wilder spot, including clues to:
- stop you from getting caught in a rainstorm
- help you predict where the breeze will come from on a boat
- understand how long the current weather will last by looking at clouds
- help you understand why a shady spot on a sunny day might in fact be the place to warm up
…and generally become closer to the phenomenon all around us.
Tristan Gooley is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author, navigator and
explorer. Through his journeys, teaching and writing, he has pioneered a renaissance in the
rare art of natural navigation. He is the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed singlehanded across the
Atlantic and is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Royal Geographical Society.
Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
8 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576Geordie Greig (photo: Sarah Lee/The Guardian) Monday 1 November 7.30pm - 8.30pm | St Mary’s Church Geordie Greig Breakfast with Lucian - A Portrait of the Artist In conversation with Gerry Foley For ten years Geordie Greig was among a very small group of friends who regularly met Lucian Freud for breakfast at Clarke’s restaurant on Kensington Church Street. Over tea and the morning papers, Freud would recount stories of his past and discuss art. It was, in effect, Freud’s private salon. In conversation with Gerry Foley, Greig talks about his kaleidoscopic memoir in which he recounts Freud’s stories: of death threats; escaping from Nazi Germany; falling out with his brother Clement; loathing his mother; painting David Hockney; sleeping with horses; escaping the Krays; painting the Queen; his controversial role as a father; and why Velázquez was the greatest painter. It is revelatory about his art, his lovers, his children, his enemies and his love of gambling. Freud dared never ‘to do dull’, speaking candidly of dancing with Garbo as well as painting Kate Moss naked. Geordie Greig is the Editor of the Mail on Sunday. He was previously the Editor of the Evening Standard and Editor of Tatler. He lives in London and is married with three children. His last book was The Kingmaker, the story of his grandfather’s friendship with King George V. Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Tuesday 2 November 11.30am – 12.30pm | St Mary’s Church Gill Hornby Miss Austen In conversation with Claire Armitstead Based on a literary mystery that has long puzzled biographers and academics, Gill Hornby’s Miss Austen is a wonderfully original and emotionally complex novel about the loves and lives of Cassandra and Jane Austen. The scenario? It’s 1840, twenty-three years after the death of her famous sister Jane, and Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury, and the home of her family’s friends, the Fowles. She knows that, in some dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, there is a cache of family letters which hold secrets she is desperate should not be revealed. As Cassandra recalls her youth and her relationship with her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together buried truths about Jane’s history, and her own. And she faces a stark choice: should she act to protect Jane’s reputation? Or leave the contents of the letters to go unguarded into posterity … Gill Hornby is the author of the novels The Hive and All Together Now, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers. She lives in Kintbury with her husband, author Robert Harris and their four children. Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 9
Tuesday 2 November 2.30pm – 3.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Lucasta Miller
Lucasta Miller (photo: Simone Ling)
Keats
In conversation with Miranda Seymour
The epitaph John Keats composed for his own gravestone - ‘Here lies one whose name
was writ in water’ - seemingly damned him to oblivion. When he died at the age of
twenty-five, having taken a battering from the conservative press, few critics imagined
he would be considered one of the great English poets two hundred years later, though
he himself had an inkling.
In conversation with Miranda Seymour, Lucasta Miller talks about Keats’s best-known poems
and excavates their backstories. In doing so, she resurrects the real Keats: a lower-middle-
class outsider from a tragic and dysfunctional family, whose extraordinary energy and love of
language allowed him to pummel his way into the heart of English literature; a freethinker and
a liberal at a time of repression; a human being who delighted in the sensation of the moment;
but a complex individual, not the ethereal figure of his posthumous myth.
Lucasta Miller is a biographer and critic, whose articles have appeared in The Guardian and
in a wide number of other publications. She is the author of two previous books on nineteenth-
century literature, The Brontë Myth and L.E.L.: the Lost Life and Mysterious Death of the ‘Female Byron’, and is
currently an Honorary Research Associate at University College, London and a Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Tuesday 2 November 5.00pm – 6.00pm | St Mary’s Church
Lauren Cochrane
The Ten: The Stories Behind the Fashion Classics
In conversation with Olivia Cole
Fashion writer Lauren Cochrane has produced a fascinating social and cultural history
of the 10 items we all wear every day in a beautifully illustrated new book complete with
high-quality photography.
In conversation with Olivia Cole, Lauren discusses what you are wearing. In all likelihood,
your outfit will feature at least one of her chosen 10 items, each an emblem of a certain
style, carrying its own connotations and historical significance. They aren’t just clothes - they’re
vessels that hold the history of style, politics and identity: while trends may come and go, these
are here to stay.
The Ten includes deep dive explorations into each item’s history, examining how it gained its
reputation, and what it means today, ranging from the miniskirt, the hoodie, the Breton top and,
among much else, the evolution of the white T-shirt from army staple to symbol of achingly cool
simplicity. In short, The Ten puts fashion in context
Lauren Cochrane is a senior fashion writer at The Guardian. She has written for i-D, Vogue,
The Telegraph, matchesfashion.com, Elle, Porter and The Gentlewoman. She regularly appears
on the radio, on podcasts and at events discussing fashion and culture. Lauren is the author of 50 Style Icons Who
Changed the World.
Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
10 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576Tuesday 2 November 7.30pm – 8.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Loyd Grossman
An Elephant In Rome
In conversation with Gerry Foley
We welcome one of the country’s most versatile of public figures, the polymath that is
Loyd Grossman. In his new book An Elephant In Rome he takes on the subject that first
kindled his love of Rome, the enigmatic monument to the relationship between the artist
Gian Lorenzo Bernini and pope Alexander VII: the elephant carrying an obelisk outside
Santa Maria sopra Minerva, just behind the Pantheon.
In 1655, as the new Pope, Alexander VII, fired with religious zeal, political guile and a mania
for building, determined to restore the prestige of his church by making Rome the must-visit
destination for Europe’s elite. To help him do so, he enlisted the talents of Bernini, already
celebrated as the most important artist of the age. Together, they made one of the greatest
artistic double acts in history, inventing the concept of soft power and the bucket list
destination. With the elephant as his starting point, Grossman’s richly illustrated book teases
out all the intertwined strands of history, power and art that make up the Baroque.
Loyd Grossman is an entrepreneur, author and broadcaster, well-known for presenting TV
programmes including MasterChef, Through the Keyhole and Behind the Headlines. He has a lifelong
interest in history, the arts and heritage, receiving a PhD from the University of Cambridge and serving on the board
of a number of cultural institutions including English Heritage, and the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association.
He is Chairman of The Royal Parks, President of The Arts Society and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. In
June 2015 he was appointed CBE in recognition of his services to Heritage.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
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Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 11Wednesday 3 November 11.30am – 12.30pm | St Mary’s Church Natasha Lunn Conversations on Love In conversation with Olivia Cole Love is one of the great universals. Maybe you are hoping to begin a new relationship, or in a secret place in your heart, gathering the courage to leave one. Maybe you’re in a long-term partnership, wondering how to sustain love through life’s many storms. Maybe you’re a parent and you want to be a better one; or you’ve lost a loved one, and that loss suddenly dwarves everything else. After years of interviewing people about their relationships, Natasha Lunn has learnt that these daily questions are often rooted in three bigger ones: how do we find love? How do we sustain it? And how do we survive when we lose it? In her fascinating and revealing compendium Conversations on Love Natasha reminds us that love is fragile, sturdy, mundane, beautiful; a thing always worth fighting for Featuring … Philippa Perry on falling in love slowly; Alain de Botton on the psychology of being alone; Dolly Alderton on vulnerability; Candice Carty-Williams on friendship; Diana Evans on parenthood; Lisa Taddeo on grief; and Roxane Gay on soulmates Natasha Lunn is the features director at RED magazine and the creator of a popular and acclaimed email newsletter, Conversations on Love. She completed a course on psychodynamic couples’ therapy at the Tavistock Centre. Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Wednesday 3 November 2.30pm – 3.30pm | St Mary’s Church William Leith William Leith (photo: Phil Fisk) The Trick - Why some people can make money… and other people can’t In conversation with Claire Armitstead The impulse to make money is in all of us. But why are some people terrible at it while others get filthy rich? It was this dilemma that set William Leith off on an adventure into the bizarre, morally dubious yet highly desirable world of the mega-rich. For years, Leith has travelled far and wide interviewing the rich and the super-rich to find answers. The Trick is a deep dive into the strange psyche of the super-wealthy and our own obsession with money; that beautiful, elusive thing that makes the world go round – and is leading to our downfall. Throughout his fascinating journey, he continually poses the question: ‘what makes these people wealthy? And how come I’m not!’ William Leith has worked as a columnist and feature writer at The Independent on Sunday, the Mail on Sunday and the Observer. His writing spans a wide range of subjects, from food to celebrity, cosmetic surgery, fashion and film. He is the author of two previous books, The Hungry Years and Bits of Me Are Falling Apart. Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 12 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576
Wednesday 3 November 5.00pm – 6.00pm | St Mary’s Church
Isabel Hardman
The Natural Health Service
In conversation with Megan Thomas
Isabel Hardman is the much-respected media and print journalist, currently Assistant
Editor of The Spectator and the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.
In 2016, her mind ‘stopped working’ as she fell prey to severe depression and anxiety.
She took time off on long-term sick leave and despite several relapses has returned to
work with a much-improved ability to cope. She has since become one of the UK’s most
prominent public voices on mental health.
She credits her better health to her passion for exercise, nature and the great outdoors -
from horse-riding and botany to cold-water swimming and running. In The Natural Health
Service, she draws on her own personal experience, interviews with mental illness sufferers
and psychologists, and the latest research to examine what role wildlife and exercise can
play in helping anyone cope with mental illness.
Isabel Hardman was named Journalist of the Year in 2015 at the Political Studies Associa-
tion’s annual awards. She is the author of the bestseller Why We Get the Wrong Politicians
which won at the 2018 Parliamentary Book Awards and was shortlisted for Waterstones’
Book of the Year.
Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Wednesday 3 November 7.30pm – 8.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Barney Norris & David Owen Norris
The Wellspring
We welcome the father and son pairing of Barney Norris and David
Owen Norris, David being well known in these parts not least for being
a former Artistic Director of the Petworth Festival.
In The Wellspring, acclaimed novelist and dramatist Barney Norris
conducts a conversation with his arguably even more acclaimed
pianist and composer father on creativity, cultural identity, and how
the two intertwine. In addition to being called ‘quite possibly the Barney Norris
most interesting pianist in the world’ (Toronto Globe and Mail) and ‘a (photo: Jay Brooks)
famous thinker/philosopher of the keyboard’ (Seattle Times), Norris
senior is a respected and longstanding television and radio presenter who has worked
with a huge range of musicians, conductors and composers in the concert hall and on the
airwaves.
Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
David Owen-Norris
(photo: Simon Weir)
Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 13Thursday 4 November 11.30am – 12.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Hugo Vickers
Hugo Vickers (photo: Nicola Vivian)
Malice in Wonderland
In conversation with Mandy Morton
Writer, lecturer and broadcaster, and an acknowledged expert on the British
Royal Family, Hugo Vickers’s life took a dramatic turn in 1979 when the legendary
photographer Sir Cecil Beaton invited him to be his authorised biographer. The
excitement was dashed only days later when Cecil Beaton died. But the journey had
begun - Vickers was entrusted with Beaton’s papers, diaries and, most importantly,
access to his friends and contemporaries.
In Malice in Wonderland, Vickers shares excerpts from his funny and insightful personal diaries
kept during this period. For five years, Vickers travelled the world and talked to some of the
most fascinating and important social and cultural figures of the time, including royalty such
as the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, film stars such as Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn
and Julie Andrews, writers such as Truman Capote, and photographers such as Irving Penn
and Horst. And not only Beaton’s friends - Vickers sought out the enemies too, notably Irene
Selznick.
Malice in Wonderland is a fascinating portrait of a now disappeared world, and vividly and sensitively
portrays some of its most fascinating characters as we travel with Vickers on his quest.
Hugo Vickers has written biographies of the Queen Mother, Cecil Beaton, Vivien Leigh, Princess Andrew of
Greece and the Duchess of Windsor. His book The Kiss won the 1996 Stern Silver Pen Award for Non-Fiction. His
recent bestsellers have included The Quest For Queen Mary and The Sphinx - the life of Gladys, the Duchess of
Marlborough.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Thursday 4 November 2.30pm – 3.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Richard Dawkins (photo: Jana Lenzova)
Richard Dawkins
Flights of Fancy
In conversation with Matt Stadlen
The Wonder of Flight - the Science of Evolution. From both, Richard Dawkins’ latest
volume weaves a fascinating and beautifully illustrated account of how nature and
humans have learned to overcome the pull of gravity and take to the skies. Do you
sometimes dream you can fly like a bird? Gliding effortlessly above the treetops, soaring
and swooping, playing and dodging through the third dimension. Computer games,
virtual reality headsets, and some drugs can lift our imagination and fly us through fabled,
magical spaces, but it’s not the real thing. No wonder some of the past’s greatest minds,
including Leonardo da Vinci’s, have yearned for flying machines and struggled to design
them. Flights of Fancy is a book about flying – from the mythical Icarus, to the sadly extinct
but magnificent bird Argentavis Magnificens, to the Wright Flyer and the 747.
Richard Dawkins is one of the world’s most eminent writers and thinkers, and a major
contributor to the public understanding of the science of evolution. The award-winning author of The Selfish Gene,
The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion and a string of other bestselling science books, he is a Fellow of the Royal
Society and of the Royal Society of Literature.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
14 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576Thursday 4 November 5.00pm – 6.00pm | St Mary’s Church
Gavin Esler
How Britain Ends
In conversation with Stewart Collins
The well-known journalist and television presenter Gavin Esler has produced a thoughtful
and important book about the rise of English nationalism and what he sees as the
impending breakup of the United Kingdom. How Britain Ends is a book about history, but
also about the strange, complicated identity of Britishness. In the past, it was possible
to live with delightful confusion: one could be English, or British, Scottish or Irish and
a citizen/subject of the United Kingdom (or Great Britain). For years that state has been what
Gavin Esler calls a ‘secret federation’, but without the explicit federal arrangements that allow
Germany or the USA to survive. With major stresses and strains having shown themselves
in recent years, Esler asks what constitutional or federal arrangements might prevent the
disintegration of the British state, which has survived in its present form for 400 years?
Gavin Esler is journalist, television presenter and author. He was a main presenter of the
BBC current affairs show Newsnight for 12 years until 2014. Since 2014 he has been a public
speaker, a political commentator and journalist, and the Chancellor of the University of Kent.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Thursday 4 November 7.30pm – 8.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Joan Bakewell (photo: Sukey Parnell)
Joan Bakewell
The Tick of Two Clocks
In conversation with Douglas Rae
When Joan Bakewell decided that she could no longer remain in her old home, she had
to confront what she calls ‘the next segment of life.’
Disposing of things accumulated during a long life, saying goodbye to her home and the
memories of more than fifty years, thinking about what is needed for downsizing - all
suddenly became urgent and emotional tasks. And then there was managing family
expectations. Some new projects such as planning the colours and layout of a new, smaller
flat, were exciting and some things - the ridding herself of books, paintings, memento - took
courage.
So much of the world is on the move - voluntarily or not - and so many people are living to a
great old age. In using the tale of her own life, Joan Bakewell tells us a story of our times and
how she is learning to live to the sound and tune of The Tick of Two Clocks: the old and the
new.
Joan Bakewell has had a fifty-year career in broadcasting and is still at it. Born in Stockport,
graduated in Cambridge, she has published an autobiography, The Centre of the Bed, and two novels: All
the Nice Girls and She’s Leaving Home. She has two children, six grandchildren, and sits in the House of Lords as a
Labour Peer.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 15Friday 5 November 11.30am – 12.30pm | St Mary’s Church Tessa Dunlop with Joyce Wilding Army Girls In Army Girls, the best-selling author and television regular Dr Tessa Dunlop tells the intimate story of the final few women who served in World War II and who are still alive to tell their tale. She is joined by one such woman, Petworth local and former FANY, Joyce Wilding. Tessa Dunlop’s Army Girls were the female soldiers in a war Britain wanted to fight without conscripting women. It was a vain hope, and by December 1941 for the first time in British history women were called up and a generation of girls came of age in khaki, serving king and country. Barbara trained to drive army-style in giant trucks; Grace swapped her servant’s pinafore for battledress and a steel hat; Martha turned down officer status for action on a gun- site and Olivia won the Croix de Guerre in France. Commemorating the 80th anniversary of conscription for women, Army Girls captures remarkable stories from the last surviving veterans who served in Britain’s female army and brings to life a pivotal moment in British history. Dr Tessa Dunlop, PhD is an author, popular broadcaster, journalist and historian. She is best known for her work on BBC2’s Coast and a regular contributor on the Jeremy Vine Show on C5. She has published two Sunday Times bestselling titles; The Bletchley Girls and The Century Girls. Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Friday 5 November 2.30pm – 3.30pm | St Mary’s Church John Kampfner Why the Germans Do it Better In conversation with Stewart Collins Well, the Q&A session should be interesting on this one! Emerging from a collection of city states 150 years ago, no other country has had as turbulent a history as Germany or enjoyed so much prosperity in such a short time frame. Today, as much of the world succumbs to authoritarianism and democracy is undermined from its heart, Germany stands as a bulwark for decency and stability. Mixing personal journey and anecdote with compelling empirical evidence, journalist John Kampfner has produced a critical and entertaining exploration of the country many in the West still love to hate. Raising important questions for our post-Brexit landscape, Kampfner asks why, despite its faults, Germany has become a model for others to emulate, while arguably Britain fails to tackle contemporary challenges. Part memoir, part history, part travelogue, Why the Germans Do it Better is a rich and witty portrait of an eternally fascinating country. John Kampfner is an award-winning author, broadcaster and foreign-affairs commentator. He began his career reporting from East Berlin (during the fall of the Wall) and Moscow (during the collapse of communism) for The Telegraph. After covering British politics for the Financial Times and BBC, he edited the New Statesman. He is a regular TV and radio pundit, documentary maker and author of five previous books, including the bestselling Blair’s Wars. Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 16 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576
Friday 5 November 5.00pm – 6.00pm | St Mary’s Church Roger Morgan-Grenville Shearwater In conversation with Emily Jeffery Ten weeks into its life, a Manx shearwater chick will emerge from its burrow and fly 8,000 miles from the west coast of the British Isles to the South Atlantic. It will be unlikely to touch land again for four years. Part memoir, part homage to wilderness, Shearwater traces Roger Morgan-Grenville’s 50-year obsession with one of nature’s supreme travellers. In the finest tradition of nature writing, Roger Morgan-Grenville unpicks the science behind its incredible journey; and into the story of a year in the shearwater’s life, he threads the inspirational influence of his Hebridean grandmother who instilled in him a love of wild places and wild animals. Roger Morgan-Grenville was a soldier from 1978–86 and later helped to set up the charity Help for Heroes, acting as its first head fundraiser. He is also the author of Liquid Gold: Bees and the Pursuit of Midlife Honey. Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Friday 5 November 7.30pm – 8.30pm | St Mary’s Church Victoria Glendinning Family Business In conversation with Nicola Upson The award-winning author and biographer Victoria Glendinning has produced a charming biography of the first John Lewis and how he changed the face of the British high street. John Lewis’ father died in a Somerset workhouse, orphaning him at the age of seven. Raised by an aunt, he worked as an apprentice to a local draper from the age of fourteen, slowly earning enough to open his own small shop – and then expand. Glendinning’s biography captures how Lewis and his brother rose up to change the business world, covering the immense falling-out between generations, the passionate advocacy for the concept of Partnership, the social and political activity of Oxford Street. This is a warm and colourful history of the family behind the iconic brand, and for anyone interested in the foundation of the British high street - and how it has evolved from the nineteenth century to today. Victoria Glendinning’s biographies include Portait of a Writer, Vita: The Life of V. Sackville- West (winner of the Whitbread Prize for Biography), Edith Sitwell: A Unicorn Among Lions (winner of the Duff Cooper Prize and the James Tait Black Prize), Anthony Trollope (another Whitbread Prize for Biography), and Jonathan Swift. Victoria was awarded a CBE in 1998. Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 17
Saturday 6 November 11.00am – 12 noon | Leconfield Hall
Andrew Pettie (photo: www.mojophoto.me)
Andrew Pettie
Listified Quiz for Kids! (family event)
Join quiz-master extraordinaire Andrew Pettie for Listified – 60 minutes of fun-filled
facts, all wrapped up in a quiz about everything that really matters to children: Earth &
Space; Animals & Dinosaurs; the Human Body & Our Amazing World; and Machines,
Inventions & Extraordinary People.
How does it work? The quiz will be hosted on Kahoot, a brilliant online kids’ quiz tool
that is clear, colourful and very easy to use. To play, all children/families need is a mobile
phone, tablet or other device with a wifi connection. Andrew will explain how to join the
quiz but it’s really very simple and doesn’t require you to download an app or set up a profile in
advance. One click and you’re ready to play. And there will be prizes….
Listified is a sort of cross between the Guinness Book of World Records and a children’s
encyclopaedia – amazing facts about the subjects that children love presented in the format of
300 fun, funny and bitesize lists that can be read in any order.
Andrew Pettie is a journalist, editor and author who has contributed to The Times of London,
The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph, where he was Head of Culture. Listified is his first
children’s book.
Tickets: Adults £2 / 18 and under £4
Saturday 6 November 11.30am – 12.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Christina Riggs
Treasured Christina Riggs (photo: Andy Crouch)
In conversation with Stewart Collins
When it was found in 1922, the 3,300-year old tomb of Tutankhamun sent shockwaves
around the world, turning the boy-king into a household name overnight and
kickstarting an international media obsession that endures to this day. From culture
and academia to politics and the heritage industry, it’s impossible to imagine the
twentieth century without the discovery of Tutankhamun, and yet so much of the story
remains untold. In Treasured, for the first time, Egyptologist Christina Riggs interweaves
compelling historical analysis with vignettes drawn from encounters with Tutankhamun to offer a
bold new history of the young Pharaoh who has as much to tell us about our world as his own.
Professor Christina Riggs is a historian of art and archaeology at Durham University and a
fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford. She is the author of seven previous books and
has written for the London Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
18 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576Saturday 6 November 2.00pm – 5.00pm | United Reformed Church
Drop-in Memoir Clinic
by Master Storytellers
Following Master Storytellers’ workshop on the opening weekend, we offer a series of
20-minute drop-in sessions for anyone considering writing their own life story. Whether
you’ve already started writing a memoir or simply dream of doing so one day, this one-of-
a-kind clinic provides a rare opportunity to get personalised advice from the experts.
Each of the private 20-minute chats takes place with a friendly member of the team from
leading biography writing agency Master Storytellers. Collectively they have ghost-written
bestselling celebrity memoirs and interviewed the biggest stars in the world for iconic newspapers and magazines.
Any topic, question or challenge can be discussed with the goal of helping you to overcome any hurdles and
complete your masterpiece of a memoir. Feel free to bring along your draft manuscripts or other materials.
Spaces are limited so please book a slot in advance to avoid disappointment.
www.master-storytellers.com
Tickets: £6
Saturday 6 November 2.30pm – 3.30pm | St Mary’s Church
Sebastian Faulks (photo: Still Moving)
Sebastian Faulks
Snow Country
In conversation with Andrew Billen
Snow Country has been described as ‘Sebastian Faulks’ most poignant love story
yet.’ In conversation with The Times’ Andrew Billen, Faulks talks about a novel that
sweeps across Europe as it recovers from one war and hides its face from the coming
of another. A landmark work of exquisite yearnings, dreams of youth and the sanctity of
hope, Sebastian Faulks has produced a novel of timeless resonance.
Sebastian Faulks was born in April 1953. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1991, he worked
as a journalist. His books include A Possible Life, Human Traces, On Green Dolphin Street,
Engleby, Birdsong, A Week in December and Where My Heart Used to Beat.
Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5
Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576 19Saturday 6 November 5.00pm – 6.00pm | St Mary’s Church Luke Harding Shadow State In conversation with Matt Stadlen The Guardian’s former Moscow bureau chief Luke Harding tells an extraordinary story in his new book Shadow State. In conversation with Matt Stadlen, he reveals how Russia’s spies helped elect Donald Trump, backed Brexit, murdered enemies and threatened the very basis of Western democracy. No terrorist group has deployed a nerve agent in a civilian area or used a radioactive mini- Luke Harding bomb in London. The Kremlin has done both. More often than not its operatives come in (photo: Murdo McLeod/The disguise. They pose as tourists, journalists, businessmen. Its methods include fake news, Guardian) cyber intrusions and the poisoning of our politics through dirty money. In Shadow State, Harding sheds light on those spies and the way Russia has used them to wage an increasingly bold war in the UK and beyond. The Guardian journalist Luke Harding was expelled from Moscow in the first case of its kind since the Cold War. He is the author of Collusion (a New York Times #1 bestseller), A Very Expensive Poison, The Snowden Files and Mafia State, as well as the co-author of WikiLeaks and The Liar (nominated for the Orwell Prize). Tickets: Adults £10 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 Saturday 6 November 7.30pm – 8.30pm | St Mary’s Church Jeremy Vine Jeremy Vine (photo: Graeme Hunter/BBC) The Diver and the Lover We welcome back one of the UK’s leading broadcasters, Jeremy Vine to talk about his novel, The Diver and The Lover. His compelling story of love, art, politics and sacrifice is set against the backdrop of post-civil war Catalonia and based on real events surrounding one of Salvador Dali’s most famous paintings. It is 1951 and sisters Ginny and Meredith have travelled from England to Spain in order to help Meredith recover from a terrible trauma. They discover that the renowned artist is staying in nearby Port Lligat. Meredith is fascinated by modern art and longs to meet the famous surrealist. Dali is embarking on an ambitious new work, but his model has refused to pose. A replacement is found and the lives of the characters become entangled as art, ego, loyalty and the heightened politics of Franco’s Spain threaten to undo the fragile bonds that have been forged. Jeremy Vine presents The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2. In 2018 he took over Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, now simply called Jeremy Vine. Jeremy is also an accomplished journalist and writer, with two nonfiction books published in recent years. Tickets: Adults £12 / 18 and under £5 / Online £5 20 Box Office: www.petworthfestival.org.uk | 01798 344 576
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