The literary series is generously supported by the University of Derby.
It is also supported by the Best Western Lee Wood Hotel and Bookstore Brierlow Bar.

Matthew Parris chairs a discussion with three of the world’s eminent explorers, hoping to reveal what motivates men to tackle some of the most physically demanding journeys in some of the world’s most inhospitable regions. 

Ranulph Fiennes is holder of several endurance records and the first man to reach both Poles by surface travel.  Explorer and conservationist Robin Hanbury-Tenison has been on over 30 expeditions, and spearheaded the international concern for tropical rainforests.  Founder of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation, John Hare was the first European to travel into the wildest parts of the Chinese Gobi desert.

Read more at:
www.ranulphfiennes.co.uk
www.robinsbooks.co.uk
www.wildcamels.com

TO TOP

THE THREE EXPLORERS

What’s the Point of Expeditions?

8 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

The Three Emperors takes a fresh look at the most formative epoch of modern European history – the prelude to the First World War.  The continent’s superpowers, England, Germany and Russia, were ruled by three cousins: George V, King-Emperor of England, Wilhelm II, the last Kaiser and Nicholas II, the last Tsar.  

Miranda Carter brings to life these disparate relations, illustrates their foibles, from uniforms to extensive stamp collections, and reveals a tragic-comic tale of a glittering world on the brink of destruction.

In this talk Miranda reveals how she used the cousins’ correspondence and historical sources to animate this fascinating era.  Her first book Anthony Blunt: His Lives won the Royal Society of Literature Award and the Orwell Prize.

Read a review here.




TO TOP

MIRANDA CARTER

The Three Emperors

8 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

SOLD OUT

New event!

8 July
5pm

We are heading for a food crisis – on a global scale.  Can Britain depend on supplies of cheap food from abroad?  How healthy is our food? 

In the USA the industrialised food industry has been brilliantly successful – to the extent that now 1 in 3 children has diabetes!  The same catastrophe is on its way here.  Food production is responsible for almost a quarter of our carbon emissions.

World famous travel writer and publisher of everyone’s essential guides, Alastair Sawday, is convinced that good travel involves good food.  Eat Slow Britain brings these ideas together in one beautiful, provocative and inspiring book.  Alastair Sawday is the publisher of the Special Places to Stay series of guides recommending over 5,000 inspected B&Bs, hotels and self-catering spots in the UK, Europe and beyond.

Read more at www.sawdays.co.uk

Generously supported by:



TO TOP

ALASTAIR SAWDAY

Eat Slow Britain

9 July
10.30am

Devonshire Dome

£10

1 hour

For many of us Alison Uttley is the greatly loved and revered author of Little Grey Rabbit, but her private diaries from 1932–71 reveal a darker and more complex side to the famous storyteller.

Unquestionably gifted as a writer, Denis Judd’s skilfully edited diaries bear witness to her prodigious literary output, her appreciation of nature lyrically described and her heart-warming nostalgia for her idyllic rural Derbyshire childhood.  Also rather thrillingly they reveal her to be a bit of a monster…  His illuminating talk will fascinate Uttley fans and serve as a social commentary on 40 years of political, social and economic upheaval, and opens a window onto the literary creative process. 

Read more at www.alisonuttley.co.uk

TO TOP

DENIS JUDD

The Private Diaries of Alison Uttley

9 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

Patrick Gale discusses his exhilarating new collection of stories which combine wit and poignancy to illuminate experiences both common and uncommon.  Love and loathing within families are dissected, the sweetness and sadness of festivals, and the control exercised by those in charge of small communities. 

What unites these stories is their humour, compassion and hope. Acclaimed author of Notes from an Exhibition, Patrick Gale was born on the Isle of Wight in 1962.  He spent his infancy at Wandsworth Prison, which his father governed.  He now lives on a farm near Land’s End.

Read more at www.galewarning.org

TO TOP

PATRICK GALE

Gentleman’s Relish

10 July
10.30am

Palace Hotel

£10

1 hour

Prior to presenting Newsnight, Gavin Esler was the BBC’s Washington correspondent covering both the George Bush (senior) and Clinton administrations.  Drawing on his wealth of experience Esler’s second novel, Power Play is a gritty political thriller.

When the scheming vice-president disappears on a foggy grouse moor in Scotland, a nightmare begins for Washington’s British Ambassador.  The Anglo American ‘special relationship’ begins to unravel…

Making a welcome return to Buxton, Gavin shares his insights with Rosie Alison, who is an author and politician's daughter.

Generously supported by:

TO TOP

GAVIN ESLER             
Power and how it changes people

11 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

D. J. Taylor is the author of two acclaimed biographies, Thackeray and Orwell: the Life, which won the Whitbread Biography Prize in 2003. 

He has written seven historical novels and seven non-fiction works. His latest is an authentic slice of Thirties comedy-noir – not a simple whodunnit but a constant revelation of a complex and tight-knit plot spanning London’s seedier social scenes and the glamorous Home Counties.

In this talk he discusses why writers write historical fiction, the approaches they take and the dilemma of describing past life on its own terms or using ulterior modern knowledge.

TO TOP

In 1939, George Orwell composed a famous essay about Charles Dickens.  ‘When one reads any strongly individual piece of writing, one has the impression of seeing a face somewhere behind the page’, wrote Orwell. But in this contest between two of Britain's greatest writers, which face will fit?

Advocates for both Orwell’s and Dickens’s speak up in this debate – and you, the audience, will decide. Lady Justice Smith presides over a panel including Michael Slater, author of the acclaimed Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing, and D.J. Taylor, who won the 2003 Whitbread Biography Prize for Orwell: the Life.

Read more at www.theorwellprize.co.uk

TO TOP

THE ORWELL DEBATE        

The greatest political writer: Orwell versus Dickens 

12 July
10.30am

Palace Hotel

£10

1 hour

The ambition of the Orwell Book Prize is to reward, celebrate and promote work which helps nurture the discussion of politics and which contributes to the quality of public life.

In this talk Andrea Gillies, winner of the book prize for 2010 will discuss the inspiration behind her winning book Keeper.

The book chronicles the author’s experience of caring for her mother-in-law, Nancy, as her Alzheimer’s disease accelerates, while running a bed and breakfast, being a mother of three children and failing to write a novel.

Keeper also won the inaugural Wellcome Prize for medicine in literature.

What I have most wanted to do…is to make political writing into an art
George Orwell

Read an extract from The Keeper, plus national press features on the author...

TO TOP

THE ORWELL PRIZE 2010 WINNER:
ANDREA GILLIES


12 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

On her death in 1976 Agatha Christie was the world’s favourite author with sales exceeding two billion.  Christie’s personal life has proved as intriguing as the best of her crime novels, most notably her mysterious disappearance for eleven days in 1926.

In 2004 a remarkable legacy was discovered – Ms Christie’s private notebooks.  Archivist and Christie enthusiast John Curran shares the fascinating challenge of deciphering the 75 handwritten notebooks and the wealth of surprises they revealed.

Read more at www.johncurran.info



TO TOP

JOHN CURRAN

Agatha Christie’s secret notebooks

13 July
10.30am

Palace Hotel

£10

1 hour

For nearly 60 years Somerset Maugham was one of the most famous writers in the world and yet his personal life was kept largely hidden.  Playwright and author of over 100 short stories and 21 novels, Maugham, became an expert at concealment. 

Acclaimed biographer Selina Hastings has had access to Maugham’s private correspondence as well as important family testimony, from which she sheds a fascinating new light on this extraordinary man.  Outwardly his life was richly rewarding, but privately he suffered anguish from an unrequited love affair and a shocking final betrayal. 

Find out more at www.selinahastings.com
Read a review here.








TO TOP

SELINA HASTINGS    

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham

13 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

SOLD OUT

New event!

13 July
5pm

Restaurateur, food writer and television judge, Prue Leith is also a company director and chair of the School Food Trust. Having published 12 cookbooks, she gave up writing about food to concentrate on fiction. 

In her fifth novel, A Serving of Scandal, she tells the story of Kate McKinnon, owner of a small catering business whose life is upturned when she lands a job cooking lunch at the Foreign Office and has her first fateful meeting with Oliver Stapler, Secretary of State.  He’s married and a father and totally out of bounds, yet she falls for him.  She thinks she’s hiding it beautifully but to some her feelings are all too transparent.

Read more at www.prue-leith.com

Generously supported by:



TO TOP

PRUE LEITH 

A Serving of Scandal

14 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

Daisy Hay shatters the myth of the Romantic poet as a solitary, introspective genius, telling the story of the communal existence of an astonishingly youthful circle.

Young Romantics explores the history of the group, from its inception in Leigh Hunt’s prison cell in 1813 to its ultimate disintegration in the years following 1822. It encompasses tales of love, betrayal, sacrifice and friendship, all of which were played out against a background of political turbulence and intense literary creativity.

In this talk Daisy renders the characters with marvellous vitality. Her book is a gloriously entrancing and revelatory new study, the debut of a young biographer of the highest calibre and enormous promise.

TO TOP

DAISY HAY

Young Romantics

14 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

Winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award and bestselling author of The Snow Geese, William Fiennes’ powerful new memoir recalls his idyllic childhood in a fairytale moated castle.  

The Music Room develops the metaphor of the castle but rather than being safe and protected like a family, it's threatened – not just from the outside, but the inside, too.

His brother Thomas dies in a horrific accident.  And his brother Richard develops a terrible disease.  The new book ‘is about the idea of loss in the world, life being full of lots of love and wonder and beauty, but also loss and sorrow and pain.’

Read more at www.williamfiennes.com

TO TOP

WILLIAM FIENNES

The Music Room

15 July
10.30am

Palace Hotel

£10

1 hour

Accomplished local poet Philip Holland shares some of his latest work, inspired by an intimate knowledge of the beautiful Peak District.  At the heart of the poems is his home: encompassing the landscape, its flora and fauna; the hill-farmers and their work, traditions, history and memories.  His writing is warm, accessible, memorable and musical, rooted in his close empathy and sensitivity with the natural world.  

Philip’s poetry will feature an eclectic mix of free verse, rhyming poems, ballads, sonnets and haiku all complimented by piano music.

TO TOP

PHILIP HOLLAND

Words of a Derbyshire poet

15 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

Having fallen victim to swine flu in 2009, we are delighted that Cherie is able to be with us this year to share her frank and funny autobiography.

Cherie Blair was born and raised in Liverpool by two strong women – her mother and grandmother – and from humble beginnings became an eminent QC, specialising in women’s rights.  As the first Prime Minister’s wife to have a young family and a serious career, Cherie has lived the past ten years of her life under a harsh media spotlight.

Cherie discusses with Dame Janet Smith some of the privileges and challenges of her extraordinary life, revealing the warm and down-to-earth woman behind the headlines.

Read more at www.cherieblair.org


TO TOP

CHERIE BLAIR

in conversation with Dame Janet Smith

Speaking for myself

16 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

When award-winning screenwriter Hugh Whitemore was first asked by the BBC to write a film script about Winston Churchill he refused point blank – what more could be said about the Great Man?  Ten years, two films, numerous Emmy Awards and Golden Globes later, Hugh talks to Christopher Ball about his life with Winston.

Hugh Whitemore’s long and illustrious career includes many classic adaptations for stage and screen such as My House in Umbria and Cider with Rosie.  His talk follows the performance of My Darling Clemmie, written for his wife Rohan McCullough.

TO TOP

HUGH WHITEMORE
             
Life with Winston

16 July
4.30pm

Palace Hotel

£6

1 hour

The South Bank Show was launched in 1978, with Paul McCartney as one of its first guests: from the outset ITV’s flagship culture programme sought to erase the distinction between high and popular culture.

Over the next 32 years, it produced studies of almost every living cultural icon from Luciano Pavarotti to Andrew Lloyd-Webber, David Hockney to Tracey Emin. In this talk its presenter Melvyn Bragg revisits some of the programme’s highs and lows including this year’s final broadcast when he received the South Bank Show award for outstanding achievement.

There is no question that ITV’s flagship arts programme has left an extraordinary archive and a deeper cultural legacy.
Daily Telegraph

TO TOP

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Vince Cable is an economist turned politician: currently Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, formerly chief economist of Shell.  

He joins us to discuss his remarkable life and career and his memoir Free Radical, describing the interaction between private, family concerns and the public experience in an aspiring politician’s life.  

He also shares his views on the world economic crisis and how we should respond to the challenge.  Cable shows that an insular response to the current crisis would be a disaster, and urges us to resist the siren voices that promote isolationism and nationalism as the answer to economic woes.

Read more at www.vincentcable.com

TO TOP

VINCE CABLE

Free Radical

18 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

STANDING ROOM ONLY

Peter Thornton, ex-chairman of one of Britain’s best-loved chocolatiers, lays bare the startling story behind the brand. From its founding in 1911, Thorntons family business was blighted by betrayal, suicide, extra-marital affairs and sibling rivalry.

Against all the odds it flourished, surviving two world wars, recession, depression and the General Strike as well as frequent boardroom battles. Here Peter discusses the frank revelations made in his extraordinary new book. Success and money can come at horrible price…

TO TOP

PETER THORNTON

My Life in the Family Business

18 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

SOLD OUT

New event!

18 July
5pm

Following the success of their 2009 Festival appearance, author of the Flower Shop book series, Sally Page, is back in Buxton with local florist, Claire Foster, of the Green Pavilion.  

The pair met when Sally was researching her book, Flower Shops & Friends, which explores the work of 12 beautiful flower shops around the country.  Sally will be talking about her books and highlighting her work in conjunction with Farrow & Ball – how colours can combine to great effect in arrangements and in our homes.  

Claire will be skilfully demonstrating some of these ideas for the audience.

Read more at www.fanahanbooks.com

TO TOP

SALLY PAGE  

The Flower Shop in colour

18 July
3pm

Devonshire Dome

£6

1 hour

Sarah Raven, writer, cook, broadcaster and teacher is an expert on all things to grow, cut and eat from your garden. Here she shares the highlights from her gorgeous new book Food for family and friends – no mean feat with over 300 recipes to choose from!

A joyous celebration of both the countryside and of fantastic food, these tempting recipes capture the delights of each season, from Easter lunches and summer picnics to camping feasts around the fire, Hallowe’en parties and Christmas.

This talk will be beautifully illustrated with stylish photography taken from the new book.

Read more at www.sarahraven.com

TO TOP

SARAH RAVEN

Food for family and friends

19 July
10.30am

Palace Hotel

£10

This beautifully illustrated talk reveals the compelling story of Lenin’s 17 long and difficult years in exile.  Living hand-to-mouth, Lenin eked out a frugal existence with his wife Nadya, travelling through London, Geneva, Brussels and Geneva gathering support for the nascent Bolshevik movement.

Ultimately he realised his dream: the upheaval in 1917 that transformed the political landscape of Europe – the Russian Revolution. Reaching behind the political façade of the Great Leader, Helen tells a very human story of poverty, endurance, determination and family loyalty.

Helen Rappaport is an historian and Russianist with a specialism in the Victorians and revolutionary Russia.

Read more at www.helenrappaport.com

TO TOP

HELEN RAPPAPORT        

Lenin in Exile

19 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

SOLD OUT

New event!

19 July
5pm

In The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, Philip Pullman – the award-winning author of His Dark Materials – offers a spellbinding retelling of the life of Jesus, possibly the most influential story ever told.

In this discussion with Matthew Parris, Pullman reveals his radical new take on the myths and mysteries of the gospels and of the church that has shaped the course of the last two millennia.

Charged with mystery, compassion and enormous power this work throws fresh light on who Jesus was and asks questions that will continue to reverberate long after the final page is turned.

Philip is in conversation with Alan Franks, writer and Times columnist.

Read more at www.philip-pullman.com

TO TOP

PHILIP PULLMAN

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

20 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

A literary homage to Austen’s most intriguing novel, Lynn Shepherd transforms Mansfield Park into a riveting detective story.  This new novel is both a good old-fashioned murder mystery, and a sparklingly clever inversion of the original.  

Austen’s timid Fanny Price undergoes a surprising transformation, becoming an ambitious, forthright young woman with an outrageous penchant for gold-digging.  Lynn reveals the process behind creating an ‘authentic Austen murder mystery’, appealing to crime aficionados and Austenites alike.

TO TOP

LYNN SHEPHERD     

The making of Murder at Mansfield Park

20 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

Architectural historian and television presenter, Dan Cruickshank, describes how Georgian London was shaped by the sex industry. 

18th century London evokes images of elegant buildings and fine art, but it was also a city with a darker side.  Drawing extensively on contemporary memoirs, court cases and the evidence of art and architecture, Dan creates a vivid picture of Georgian London. 

Dan’s talk is richly illustrated with the wonderful images from his book and delivered in his inimitable style much loved by fans of his television programmes.

TO TOP

DAN CRUICKSHANK

The Secret History of Georgian London

21 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

Sean Black signed up for military training and a spell in Pelican Bay Supermax Prison while researching Lockdown, the first in a new series of novels featuring ex-soldier turned elite bodyguard, Ryan Lock. This tense thriller sets the standard for Lock’s future adventures in downtown Manhattan.

Here the author reveals the extreme challenges he faced while creating an authentic background to his stories. The mean streets of New York are a far cry from Sean’s Scottish home… If you want to discover a talented new British thriller writer and his series hero, read Sean Black and get to know Ryan Lock.

TO TOP

SEAN BLACK

Can an author ever do enough research?

21 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

From the origins of urbanisation in Mesopotamia to the phenomenon of the contemporary mega-city, John Julius Norwich traces their history, art and architecture, trade and commerce, travel and exploration, economics and politics.

This is a book about people: how they work and play, how they worship – and how, over the millennia, they have managed to live together in close proximity, yet also in harmony and concord.  This beautifully illustrated talk will paint a portrait of world civilization.  John Julius Norwich has made over 30 historical documentaries for television as well as writing many books.

Read more at www.johnjuliusnorwich.com

TO TOP

JOHN JULIUS NORWICH   

The Great Cities in History

22 July
10.30am

Palace Hotel

Chris Cleave is an author and a journalist. His debut novel Incendiary was an international bestseller published in 20 countries and released in 2008 as a major film. A controversial open letter to Osama bin Laden it gained notoriety for the macabre coincidence of its UK publication on the day of the London bombings.

The Other Hand, Cleave’s second novel, tackles contentious issue of immigration in the UK. It was number 13 on the Times Bestseller List for 2009.

Here he explains why it’s important to maintain a sense of humour when exploring serious subjects and how it’s easier to humanise a story in fictional form.


Read more at www.chriscleave.com

TO TOP

CHRIS CLEAVE

Seriously funny: why writers use humour when it’s no laughing matter

22 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

Festival favourite Shirley Williams was born to politics.  As well as being influenced by her mother, Vera Brittain, her father George Caitlin, a leading political scientist, encouraged his daughter to have high ambitions for herself – including daring to climb the bookshelves in his library.  

She was a member of the Labour Party for 35 years before later becoming Leader of the Liberal Democrats.  In her long-awaited autobiography, Shirley discusses how the role of women in our society has changed beyond all recognition, through the magnifying glass of her own life.

TO TOP

SHIRLEY WILLIAMS      

Climbing the Bookshelves

23 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

The soldier’s saviour, the standard-bearer of modern nursing, a pioneering social reformer, Florence Nightingale is one of the most instantly recognisable figures in British history.  

But there was much more to her than her pioneering work as the Lady with the Lamp in the Crimean War, and in this remarkable book, the first major biography of Florence Nightingale in over 50 years, Mark Bostridge draws on a wealth of unpublished material, including previously unseen family papers, to throw significant new light on this extraordinary woman’s life and character. 

Mark returns to the Festival for those who missed his excellent sell-out talk last summer!

See also Floratorio on the opera page – a new musical work for children





TO TOP

MARK BOSTRIDGE   

Florence Nightingale

23 July
3pm

Lee Wood Hotel

£6

1 hour

SOLD OUT

New event!

23 July
5pm

We are delighted to welcome back former Festival Chairman and founder of our Literary Series, Roy Hattersley.  Former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, author, journalist and broadcaster, Roy is one of Britain’s most prolific and authoritative writers.

In Search of England makes a journey around the English countryside and character.  Roy celebrates crumbling churches and serene Victorian architecture, magnificent hills and wind-whipped coast, our music, theatre and local customs, and, above all, the quirky good humour and resilience of England’s denizens.   In Search of England is an unapologetic love story, a paean of praise for all the fascinating variety and flavour of England’s places and people.

Read more at www.busterhattersley.com

TO TOP

ROY HATTERSLEY      

In Search of England

24 July
10.30am

Opera House

This new collection of writings by Deborah Devonshire, the youngest of the Mitford sisters, is as broad and eclectic as her long and eventful life.  

The scenes range from a ringside view of John Kennedy’s inauguration and funeral, a valedictory for her local post office, the 1938 London season, Christmas at Chatsworth and the hazards of shopping for clothes when your eyesight is failing.  

Affectionate, shrewd and uproariously funny, her no-nonsense, bang-on-the-nail observations give another little glimpse into the fascinating life of a fascinating woman. 

Generously supported by:

TO TOP

THE DOWAGER DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE

in conversation with David Blunkett

Home to Roost and other peckings

25 July
10.30am

Opera House

£10

1 hour

Simon Van Booy won the Frank O'Connor Prize in 2009 for Love Begins in Winter. In this talk he will discuss his second collection of short stories The Secret Lives of People in Love – an evocative exploration of love’s labours and loss.

Set in present day New York, Wales, Cornwall, Paris and Rome his characters are often unbearably lonely, vulnerable and private. Beautifully observed, their realities are so filled with memories that they seem transcendental and independent of time.

Simon was born in London and grew up in rural Wales and Oxford, he now lives in New York City with his four-year-old daughter Madeleine.

TO TOP

© Buxton Festival