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Programme of Events - 2011

Please note that details may be subject to change. Watch the Festival website (see right), posters and noticeboards for updates. You can download the Festival leaflet here - copies will be available in September

Thursday September 15th 2011

6.30 for 7pm  Dr Lucy Worsley
at Chiswick House: If Walls Could Talk
A special pre-Festival event in the splendour of Chiswick House. Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, historian and presenter of BBC TV’s If Walls Could Talk, National Treasures Live and Age of the Regency, Lucy Worsley will describe the intimate secrets of life in the great houses. Numbers restricted, refreshments, books for sale and signing.
The Upper Tribunal, Chiswick House. £20, including complimentary glass of wine. Tickets only by Advance Booking Form here - or pick up a Form from Waterstones (1st Floor) , St Michael & All Angels or contact the Box Office. Kindly supported by Chiswick House & Gardens Trust and Chesterton Humberts (8995 3443)

Friday September 16th 2011

4.30 for 5pm   Michael Morpurgo: Warhorse - and other animals
One of Britain’s best-loved children’s writers, Michael Morpurgo tells how his classic novel, Warhorse, became a hit play and a major film directed by Steven Spielberg. Not forgetting other animals in his latest books - Shadow, about the bravest dog in the world, and Little Manfred, based on a wooden dachshund in the Imperial War Museum.
Followed by Young People’s Poetry Competition Prize-Giving by Chiswick Book Festival Director Torin Douglas. Books on sale, with bookplates signed by Michael Morpurgo. Supported by Trotters in Turnham Green Terrace and West London Kitchens.
St Michael & All Angels Church. £3.
Tickets from Waterstone’s or via Advance Booking Form.

7 for 7.30pm   Kate Mosse: Labyrinth, literary secrets and the King James Bible
Writer, broadcaster, playwright and founder of the Orange Prize, Kate Mosse is the author of the best-selling novels Labyrinth, Sepulchre and The Winter Ghosts. Citadel (the third in her Languedoc trilogy), Dodger (a major stage commission), and Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty are all due out in 2012. With the BBC’s Nick Higham, Kate will discuss the writing process, the inspiration for her novels and plays, and her contribution to Sixty-Six Books, the Bush Theatre’s homage to the King James Bible. Books on sale for signing afterwards.
St Michael & All Angels Church. £5. From Waterstone’s or via Advance Booking Form. Refreshments available from 7pm. Supported by Savills (8987 5550), Chiswick High Road.

Saturday September 17th 2011

Saturday Morning - Children's Book Festival - downstairs, St Michael's

Events are free, including children’s craft activities in St Michael & All Angels Hall and Church and the poetry workshop. Supported by Trotters in Turnham Green Terrace (8742 1195) and West London Kitchens.

10.30am Laura Hambleton - Chameleon Swims and Lizard Lounge
The Chameleon board books, by award-winning author and illustrator Laura Hambleton, delight young children with their bright and original characters, and fresh and fun stories. Reading and arts and crafts session. For ages 0 to 5.

11.15am Emma Kennedy - Wilma Tenderfoot
Actress, writer and comedian Emma Kennedy reads from her latest book about Wilma Tenderfoot - small, accident-prone assistant to the greatest living detective, Theodore P. Goodman – and her dog Pickle.

11.35am Karen McCrombie – You, Me and Thing   
Karen McCrombie has sold more than a million books and will read from You, Me and Thing (Thing is a “cute, strange, little, er, thing, living at the bottom of the garden, which can do magic.”).
For ages 7+.

Children's Poetry Extravaganza - St Michael & All Angels Church

12 noon Brian Moses - The Alternative 3 'R's: Rhyme, Rhythm & Rap
Brian Moses, one of Britain’s most popular children’s poets, plays drums to emphasise the rhythms in his poems in books such as Behind the Staffroom Door and Aliens Stole My Underpants.

12.30pm Just Write It! Young People’s Poetry Competition &
Creative Poetry Writing Workshop (bring a packed lunch!)
Full of energy and fun. Find out the winning poems from the Young People’s Poetry Competition and hear excerpts, presented by the chairman of the judges James Priestman. From 12.50 to 1.15 pm there’ll be a short break for children to eat their lunches. Then working in groups, with teachers from West London schools, the children will discover great ways to spark up their creativity and write their own exciting new poems. Ends 2.15pm

Authors will sign copies of their books, which will be on sale in the Church.
Refreshments will be available after sessions.

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Day Pass - £5 (admission to all events today except Phoenix Rising). Tickets via Advance Booking Form or in person from Waterstone’s (1st Floor) from September.

12.15pm Daisy Goodwin: Facebook and the Duchess
Novelist, programme-maker and populariser of poetry, Daisy Goodwin (right) last year chaired the Orange Prize jury. Daisy’s own novel My Last Duchess is a best-seller here and in the United States - where social media are replacing the authors' book tour. With the BBC’s Torin Douglas, she’ll discuss her work and how Facebook is changing the relationship between authors and their readers.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall upstairs.  
Admission by Saturday Day Pass

1.30pm  Katie Fforde and Kate Lace: My Big Fat Summer of Love
Katie Fforde (Summer of Love) (right) is the new president of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Kate Lace (Gypsy Wedding) (left) is its former chairman. Who better to discuss the changing face of love in literature than these two best-selling authors? Chaired by author and journalist, Emma Lee-Potter http://www.emmaleepotter.co.uk/. 
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall upstairs. Admission by Saturday Day Pass

2.30pm  Helen Castor and George Goodwin: Medieval Queens
Historian, writer and broadcaster Helen Castor (Radio 4’s Making History, BBC Four’s A Renaissance Education) discusses her highly-acclaimedShe-wolves:The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth. With fellow historian George Goodwin, author of Fatal Colours: Towton 1461.
Tabard Theatre. Admission by Saturday Day Pass

2.45pm James  Priestman – Performance Poetry
James Priestman is chair of the Pitshanger Poets and reflects experiences from his work in his poems, which he performs from memory. “Taut and controlled… funny and entertaining.” Anthony Thwaite, literary editor of the New Statesman. James is keen to use the event to promote the work of other West London poets.  Writers can contact him at .
St Michael & All Angels Church. Admission by Saturday Day Pass

2.45pm  My First Novel
Four debut novelists talk about their books, how they wrote them and how they got them published – agent David Miller (Today), Lorraine Bateman & Paul Cole (At Midnight in a Flaming Town) and Mark Ellis (Princes Gate) (right). Chaired by Richard Beard, author of Lazarus is Dead, and Director of the National Academy of Writing.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall upstairs. Admission by Saturday Day Pass

3.45 Isla Blair: A Tiger’s Wedding
Actress Isla Blair has received great reviews for her moving story of her childhood in India, her boarding-school separation from her parents, and her time as one of the youngest students at RADA (in the swinging ‘60s, with the likes of Anthony Hopkins and Paul McCartney). She talks about her autobiography with her son, fellow actor Jamie Glover.
Tabard Theatre. Admission by Saturday Day Pass

4pm Kate Colquhoun, Kate Summerscale, Jane Robins: Murder She Wrote
Kate Colquhoun (left), shortlisted by the Crime Writers Association for her new book, Mr Briggs' Hat, tells the true story of the first murder carried out on a railway train in Britain. Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, about the brutal murder of a three year old boy, won the BBC Four 2008 Samuel Johnson Prize and was dramatised by ITV. Jane Robins (right) won widespread praise for her book, The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath, about a pre-war conman who drowned his wives in the bath. Chaired by Rebecca Jones, BBC Arts Correspondent, judge Costa Prize 2009.
St Michael & All Angels Hall upstairs. Admission by Saturday Day Pass

5pm Mathew Lyons: The Favourite - Sir Walter Ralegh in Elizabeth I’s Court
Mathew Lyons talks about his new book The Favourite, the first to focus on the love affair between Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Ralegh. ‘Elegant and intriguing’ - Helen Castor.  In conversation with historian George Goodwin, author of Fatal Colours: Towton 1461.
Tabard Theatre.  Admission by Saturday Day Pass

5.45pm Andy McNab: Dead Centre
Awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and Military Medal (MM), Andy McNab was the British Army's most highly decorated serving soldier when he left the SAS in February 1993. He wrote about his exploits in the Gulf War in the bestseller Bravo Two Zero. His latest book is Dead Centre, a new Nick Stone novel: “When Somali pirates have captured your son…. you need someone who doesn’t play by the rules.” In October, Andy McNab publishes Battlefield 3: The Russian, a novel based on the game Battlefield 3, on which he is a creative advisor.  Please note: photography is not permitted at this event. After his talk, he’ll sign books at the Festival drinks reception. Chaired by Matthew Hickley, former Daily Mail Defence Correspondent
St Michael & All Angels Church. £5. From Waterstone’s or via Advance Booking Form. # # Please note: the printed leaflet incorrectly says admission for this event is by Saturday Day Pass. We apologise for the error.

From 6.30pm Festival Drinks Reception
With special guest Andy McNab who will sign copies of his book. Two local authors will also be signing copies at the event - Deborah Cadbury (Chocolate Wars) and Gillian Clegg (Chiswick House and Gardens: A History - see ChiswickW4.com for details of her book).
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall. Admission free, all welcome.
Donations invited for drinks: profits to the Festival charities.

7.45pm Phoenix Rising: D H Lawrence, Son and Lover
Paul Slack’s acclaimed one-man portrayal of the writer of Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, fresh from the Nottingham Playhouse. (“Spellbinding” – Sir Ian Holm, “Totally absorbing” – Sir Derek Jacobi).  Devised from his early writings and reminiscences of his family, friends and contemporaries, Phoenix Rising explores the duality of Lawrence’s tormented life from his birth to the death of his mother – a period he so vividly fictionalised in Sons and Lovers.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall upstairs. £12.50 (80 mins, no interval) Tickets only by Advance Booking Form here - or pick up a Form from Waterstones (1st Floor) , St Michael & All Angels or contact the Box Office.

Sunday September 18th 2011

Sunday Day Pass £5 (admission to all events)

11.45am Rosamund Lupton (Afterwards) and Shireen Jilla (Exiled)
Rosamund Lupton’s debut novel Sister is now on its 22nd reprint after selling 470,000 copies in paperback! Her new novel Afterwards is on the Sunday Times best-seller list. Journalist Shireen Jilla (right) hopes for similar success for her first novel Exiled, set in New York. The two West London writers talk about their work, their influences and why they like engaging with book groups. Chaired by journalist and author Liz Thomson, founding editor of BookBrunch www.bookbrunch.co.uk .
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall upstairs.  Admission by Sunday Day Pass

11.45am  Tracy Borman: Matilda: Queen of the Conqueror
Tracy Borman's fourth book is on Matilda of Flanders, extraordinarily powerful herself and married to William I, the most ruthless ruler in English history. In conversation with fellow historian George Goodwin, author of Fatal Colours: Towton 1461
Tabard Theatre.  Admission by Sunday Day Pass

1.00pm The World of Downton Abbey: Jessica Fellowes, Phyllis Logan & Lesley Nicol
On the day the second series of Downton Abbey begins on ITV1 and the Emmy Awards are announced (it's been nominated for 11), Jessica Fellowes, author of The World of Downton Abbey, will discuss the book and the success of the TV series with cast members Phyllis Logan (the Housekeeper, Mrs Hughes) and Lesley Nicol (the Cook, Mrs Patmore) who both live in Chiswick. Jessica is the niece of Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey. She writes for the Telegraph and was formerly deputy editor of Country Life.

Downton-style refreshments will be on sale at the lunchtime session, sponsored by Fuller's.  As space is limited, to attend you must have a Downton Abbey ticket (free) and a Sunday Day Pass £5.  For a Downton Abbey ticket please email or pick one up from the Festival Ticket Office during the Festival.

Admission is by the Sunday Day Pass which costs £5 and allows entry to all of the day’s Festival events.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall upstairs.  Admission by Sunday Day Pass

1.45pm   Elizabeth Noble (left) and Fiona Neill: Writing Women’s Lives
Two best-selling novelists discuss how their writing is inspired by the ‘big stuff’ affecting women’s lives - from infidelity to motherhood. After best-seller The Reading Group, Elizabeth Noble’s latest offering, The Way We Were, is a heart-warming novel about love and old flames. Fiona Neill (right) is best known for her hugely popular Times column The Secret life of A Slummy Mummy. Her third novel, What the Nanny Saw, is a satire about the rise and fall of a dysfunctional banking family. Chaired by author and journalist Eithne Farry, books editor of Marie Claire.
Tabard Theatre.  Admission by Sunday Day Pass

2pm-3.30pm  Creative Workshop: How to be a 21st Century Writer
Novelist Celia Brayfield teaches creative writing at Brunel and Bath Spa universities and founded the Chiswick writing group, W4Writers. She says authors now have “amazing choices” in how to get published and develop their careers and discusses students’  experiences with Sally O’Reilly (How To Be a Writer), Siobhan Curham (Dear Dylan), BBC News correspondent Colette McBeth and Liesl Schwarz.
St Michael & All Angels Church. Admission by Sunday Day Pass

2.30pm Graham Holderness and Vanessa Redgrave:  Who was William Shakespeare?
Shakespeare’s life has long been a battleground between what can be historically verified and what is simply speculation. The Nine Lives of William Shakespeare by Professor Graham Holderness is “the best and most enjoyably imaginative book on Shakespeare since Anthony Burgess' Nothing Like the Sun “- Roger Lewis. Vanessa Redgrave plays Elizabeth I in Anonymous, the new film which suggests Shakespeare’s works were written by the Earl of Oxford. Together they disentangle facts and fiction.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall upstairs.  Admission by Sunday Day Pass

3.45pm#  Private Eye to Dead Ringers
In the 50th year of Private Eye, contributors Nev Fountain (right, author of The Mervyn Stone Mysteries, writer on Dead Ringers and Have I Got News For You), Tom Jamieson (Eye gag writer), Marcus Berkmann (author of Fatherhood, and compiler of Dumb Britain) and Louis Barfe (author, musician and journalist) talk about what makes a great gag - and working for the Eye as well as in the industries it lampoons.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall upstairs#.  Admission by Sunday Day Pass
#Please note change of time and venue since the Festival leaflet went to press

* Information correct at time of Festival leaflet going to press (19.08.11).
Details subject to change.  More events may be added. Watch Festival website, posters and noticeboards for updates.

• Find out how to buy tickets (link to be updated)
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Programme for the First Chiswick Book Festival 2009:
http://www.smaaa.org.uk/festival/Programme.html