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EVENT CALENDAR
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KEY TO EVENTS: Music Books
SUNDAY 14 MAY
Monday 15 May
Tuesday 16 May
Wednesday 17 May
Thursday 18 May
Friday 19 May
FRIDAY 19 MAY (CONTINUED)
Saturday 20 May
Sunday 21 May
Body Talking About Perimenopause And Menopause
Dr Louise Newson, the hugely experienced doctor who ‘kickstarted the menopause revolution’ comes to Bath to share her exclusive research and advice on how to access the help you might need. Food and health writer Sam Rice will talk to her about the science behind hormones and HRT, how the menopause can impact health, relationships and career before opening up the questions to everyone in the audience.
‘I’ve learned so much from Louise, and now you can too’ Holly
Date: Monday 15 May
Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Guildhall Banqueting Room
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: C9
Willoughby
Fiction Caleb Azumah Nelson And Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
Caleb Azumah Nelson makes a welcome return to The Bath Festival, where he launched his debut novel Open Water, which went on to win the Costa First Novel Award. Small Worlds is his exhilarating and expansive new novel about fathers and sons, faith and friendship. He’s joined by the luminously talented Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of The Sleep Watcher – a moving portrait of family, danger and guilt, captured through the strange summer heat of adolescence. Chaired by Sarah Shaffi.
Date: Monday 15 May
Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: C10
Festival Special The Comfort And Joy Of Books
Books have a huge power to entertain, enlighten, console and sustain. In this warm and hopeful event, bibliophiles
Nic Bottomley and Cathy Rentzenbrink will consider how and why books are so sustaining, especially in times of trouble, how our tastes change due to age and external events, and the role of the bookshop as both a pleasure garden and sanctuary. They’ll also be sharing personal recommendations and inviting audience suggestions for comforting, helpful and uplifting books.
Date: Monday 15 May
Time: 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Mr B’s Emporium
Price: £4 – £12*
Event code: C11
WORKSHOP WRITING SHORT-SHORT STORIES
The very short story, or ‘flash fiction’, is an exciting literary form delivering stories with an intensity and attention to detail sometimes reminiscent of poetry. And the South West is a lively international hub for the form, not least because of the prestigious Bath Flash Fiction Award. Come along to this workshop with writer and editor Michael Loveday to encounter diverse examples of short-short stories, and be guided to write at least two of your own. All welcome – from beginners to experienced writers.
Your ticket includes tea/coffee & biscuits.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 10.30am – 12.30pm
Venue: Bath Central Library
Price: £10 – £25*
Event code: D1
ART OF EXPRESSION JAMES GILLRAY: A REVOLUTION IN SATIRE
James Gillray was late-Georgian Britain’s wittiest, most inventive and celebrated graphic satirist, sending up politicians in an age – as now – where society was fast changing and truth was sometimes scarce. Historian and writer Tim Clayton’s illustrated talk reveals Gillray’s sophisticated designs, explores his friendships and collaborations and considers the tensions between artistic independence and financial necessity.
WORKSHOP WRITING A MEMOIR: WHERE DO I START?
Do you want to write about your life? This stimulating workshop, held at the beautiful American Museum, and run by acclaimed writer Cathy Rentzenbrink will give you impetus and encouragement and would be suitable either as a jumping off point or as an injection of energy into an ongoing project. All are welcome.
Your ticket includes tea/coffee & biscuits as well as access to the beautiful gardens.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 10.30am – 12.30pm
Venue: American Museum
Price: £15 – £40*
Event code: D2
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 11am – 12pm
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: D4
Walking Tours
Don’t forget to check out the walking tours daily at 10am, 2pm and 5.30pm on pages 20-21
ART OF EXPRESSION 20TH-CENTURY BRITAIN AND ITS ARTISTS
Throughout the changes of the past century, art has recorded, challenged and defined our times. Art historian Michael Bird (This is Tomorrow) and chief art critic of The Times, Laura Freeman (Ways of Life) take a fresh and lively look at the lives and work of those who shaped Britain: Jim Ede and the Kettle Yard’s artists, the Whistler vs John Ruskin libel case and the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s melting icebergs in London.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: D6
Lunchtime Lecture How Uncertainty Can Power Change
We don’t know the future; even the best forecasters expect to get things wrong. Academic and author Margaret Heffernan (Uncharted) asks why then are we so addicted to prediction and why does uncertainty rattle us so profoundly? Does technology help or hinder our understanding of what might be around the corner? And who are the kinds of people for whom NOT knowing the future is a genuine advantage?
This event is part of the Lunchtime Lecture series in partnership with University of Bath.
Festival Special Spotlight On Verso Publishing
We live in divided and antagonistic times, with battle lines drawn over so many debates. Chaired by Leo Hollis, editorial director of leading radical publisher Verso Books, authors Robert Bevan (Monumental Lies) and Sian Norris (Bodies Under Siege) map the political trenches in this special festival event. Norris looks at how the far-right are attacking women’s reproductive rights and autonomy. Meanwhile Bevan asks how architecture and heritage is used and abused to tell stories about the past. Together they will show how ideas have been the most dangerous weapons in the culture wars.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 5pm – 6pm
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Venue: Guildhall
Banqueting Room
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: D5
Venue: Guildhall Salon
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: D8
Geopolitics The Space Race With Tim Marshall
Future world power struggles will take place in space and it’s no coincidence that Russia, China and the USA are leading the way. Tim Marshall (The Future of Geography) is the UK’s most popular writer on geopolitics and will explore the new space race and what the rivalry, technology and economics will mean for us here on Earth.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 5pm – 6pm
Venue: Guildhall
Banqueting Room
Price: £5 – £15*
Event code: D7
Sponsored by
Bath Spa Anthology Readings
A stimulating evening brought to you by the diverse and tenacious students of Bath Spa University’s Creative Writing MA, whose work is gathered together in their self-produced anthology. Enjoy readings from a cross-section of poets, novelists, memoirists and experimental writers and take the chance to talk to them about their experiences of the Bath Spa Creative Writing MA programme.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 5pm – 6.30pm
Venue: Chapter 22 Roots & Records
Price: FREE (ticketed)
Event code: D9
NEW TALENT SERPENT’S TAIL AND GRANTA PROOF PARTY
Celebrated independent publishers Serpent’s Tail and Granta are both renowned for publishing risk-taking literature that smashes the mould. Don’t miss this exclusive event with three of their biggest authors and take home a goodie bag of proof copies months ahead of publication. Join brilliant Wiltshire-based author Victoria Gosling with her second novel Bliss and Blunder, Julianne Pachico with her highly original third novel The Jungle House and AK Blakemore, winner of the 2021 Desmond Elliott prize for best debut, with her new novel The Glutton. Chaired by Hannah Westland from the Serpent’s Tail editorial team.
Ticket includes a glass of wine or soft drink and a tote bag of limited-edition proofs.
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Venue: Francis Hotel
Price: £9 – £22*
Event code: D10
Sponsored by
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