TUESDAY 12 OCTOBER
Box Office 0844 576 7979 Fergal Keane
FLORENCE ON FIVE FLORINS A DAY Charles Fitzroy
146 Everyman Theatre 4-5pm £7 Res The witty, fascinating and fact-packed Renaissance Florence on Five Florins a Day provides all the practical advice you need for a journey back to the golden age of one of Europe’s great cities. From Leonardo to Michelangelo, Charles Fitzroy, a descendant of the Medicis, offers an illustrated guide to the unmissable highlights of Florentine art and architecture, and offers cautionary advice on avoiding bandits, mercenaries and condottieri.
Power to the People
TONY BENN, ROY HATTERSLEY & DOMINIC SANDBROOK
147 Main Hall 4-5pm £9 Res Much-maligned before the election, coalitions have in fact regularly led Britain in times of national crisis, from the National Governments of the 1930s to Churchill’s wartime coalitions. Historian Dominic Sandbrook joins Roy Hattersley and Tony Benn to discuss the highs and lows of coalitions and minority governments, from David Lloyd George to Cameron and Clegg.
The Oldham Foundation Stanzas
COLETTE BRYCE & RODDY LUMSDEN Poetry Café
148 Town Hall 5.30-6.15pm Free One of the liveliest and most inventive poets in Britain, Roddy Lumsden’s Third Wish Wasted is concerned with wishes and desires, contemplating youth, beauty and fame. He joins award-winning poet Colette Bryce who explores the complexities of love and identity in her compelling Self-Portrait in the Dark.
Matthew Parris
George Clarke
Alexei Sayle
Naomi Alderman
Locally Sourced
FERGAL KEANE
ANDREW CHAPMAN, RUSSELL JAMES & MICHAEL TOD
Road of Bones
149 Town Hall 6.30-7.30pm £8 Having reported for the BBC on conflicts across the world for 25 years, Fergal Keane brings a profound understanding of the pitiless nature of war to bear as he tells us of the last great stand of empire the brutal siege at Kohima in 1944, which forms the subject of his book, Road of Bones.
From Plot to Page
153 Town Hall 7-8pm £6 A satisfying plot is the essence of a great novel. Novelists Russell James, Michael Tod and Andrew Chapman discuss their writing, sharing with us how they shape stories and exploring the writer’s fascinating journey from plot to page.
Power to the People
ANDREW BRYSON & MATTHEW PARRIS
MAGGI HAMBLING
Parting Shots
150 Everyman Theatre 6.30-7.30pm £7 Res Maggi Hambling is one of our most distinguished painters and sculptors. Among her best known public works is Scallop, a striking steel sculpture on Aldeburgh beach in Suffolk, celebrating Benjamin Britten. Singularly unafraid of controversy, she discusses her landmark work and her life.
154 Main Hall 8.45-10pm £9 Res Until 2006, Britain’s ambassadors were encouraged to write a valedictory despatch when leaving a foreign posting, producing highly entertaining and often indiscreet reports. Based on the acclaimed Radio 4 series, columnist Matthew Parris, a former employee of the Foreign Office, and BBC journalist Andrew Bryson discuss a collection of these hilarious Parting Shots.
Hauntings
Tiffany Murray
The Wraiths
SIMON HEFFER Strictly English
157 Everyman Theatre 8.45-10pm £6 Res His amusingly despairing emails to colleagues at the Telegraph about grammatical mistakes have attracted a growing band of ardent fans. Now Simon Heffer makes an impassioned case for correct English and offers practical advice on how to avoid mangled sentences in Strictly English: the Correct Way to Write… and Why It Matters.
NAOMI ALDERMAN & TIFFANY MURRAY
158 Town Hall 9-10pm £6 Two celebrated writers present their second novels. Naomi Alderman, winner of the Orange Award for New Writers for Disobedience, discusses the charmed world of learning, ambition and desire at university in The Lessons, while Tiffany Murray, author of Happy Accidents, explores the seductive lure of fame and a rock’n’roll childhood in Diamond Star Halo.
The Oldham Foundation
FRANKENSTEIN
151 Town Hall 6.30-7.30pm £6 Arguably the world’s most famous work of horror fiction, Frankenstein remains an extraordinary exploration of the limits of human creativity. To explore the book behind the myth and why it still mesmerizes us today, join Mary Shelley’s biographer Miranda Seymour, horror and fantasy film critic Kim Newman and Daisy Hay, author of Young Romantics.
ALEXEI SAYLE
155 Town Hall 8.45-10pm £7 Born in Liverpool, the only child of two Communists who ate salad and read Soviet Weekly, much-loved comedian Alexei Sayle had an unusual childhood. Already an acclaimed writer for his short stories and novels, he joins us to take an entertaining look back at his often confusing upbringing, and how Stalin Ate My Homework.
GCHQ IN FOCUS
Richard Aldrich, David Omand & David Pepper
THE WRAITHS
159 The Playhouse 8-9.45pm £6 Res Beautiful and mysterious, beguiling and menacing, six piece band The Wraiths specialize in setting classical poems to music, creating haunting edgy ballads that linger long after the last note. Hear works by Dickinson, Wilde, Hardy, Keats et al. as you’ve never heard them before, courtesy of singer Mog Fry’s compelling voice and lead musician Jon Hunt’s multiinstrumental imagination. Gorgeous.
Design for Life
152 Main Hall 6.30-7.30pm £9 Res From its wartime origins at Bletchley Park to its current place at the forefront of global intelligence-gathering, GCHQ has one of the most fascinating histories of any national security organisation. Historian and security expert Richard Aldrich is joined by former GCHQ Directors David Omand and David Pepper to discuss the remarkable story of GCHQ’s development over the years and the challenges it faces today.
GEORGE CLARKE
156 Garden Theatre 8.45-10pm £10 Res A home is a container of dreams, according to architect and presenter George Clarke, a familiar face from programmes like Build a New Life, Restoration Man and The Home Show. Here he presents The Home Bible, sharing advice and top tips gleaned from years of experience to help you realise the true potential of your abode.
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at SAV fes all f E tiv ou als r
Richard Aldrich