Hello booklovers,

Congratulations to Sir Terry Waite on being appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael & St George for services to charity.

We’re delighted to have Sir Terry join us this Saturday at Felixstowe Book Festival for an evening of words and music.

Our Festival Patron Terry Waite once said the good language like good music has the capacity to breathe harmony into the soul. We live in troubled times when it seems that many people are out of harmony with themselves, their neighbours and the environment.

During this special evening Terry Waite will read short extracts from his writings interspersed with music played by the pianist Matthew Ricard. It will be an evening of calm and reflection when we may experience the harmony that words and music can offer.

Not to be missed, book your tickets here.

Bookish best,

The Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

Spring has sprung! The long winter of Narnian proportions appears to be drawing to a close. Are there any particular books that put you in the Spring-time mood? My seasonal reads would be Business as Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford, The Lido by Libby Page and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Each feature good intentions, new beginnings and a few mistakes along the way. Lovely!

As a Springtime treat, we have released some events from our 2023 programme early. Read on for a small but perfectly formed selection of events…

Rachel Joyce: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North

24th June, 10 – 11

Rachel Joyce is the author of international best sellers including The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, and Miss Benson’s Beetle. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry recently was made into a major film starring Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton, for which Rachel also wrote the screenplay (release April 2023).
Interviewed by Mandy Morton. Book your tickets here.

(photo by Pal Hansen)

 

Robin Ince: Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive’s Tour of the Bookshops of Britain

24th June, 11.30 – 12.30

In 2021, Robin Ince’s stadium tour with his The Infinite Monkey Cage partner Professor Brian Cox was postponed due to the pandemic. He decided instead to go on a tour visiting bookshops from Wigtown to Penzance; from Swansea to Margate. The result was Bibliomaniac which is packed with witty anecdotes and tall tales and takes the reader on a whirlwind adventure across Britain as Robin explores his lifelong love of bookshops and books. If you are a book lover please don’t miss this hugely entertaining session. Book your tickets here.

Terry Waite: Words and Music

24th June, 7.30 – 9.30pm

Our Festival Patron Terry Waite once said that good language like good music has the capacity to breathe harmony into the soul. We live in troubled times when it seems that many people are out of harmony with themselves, their neighbours and the environment.

During this special evening Terry Waite will read short extracts from his writings interspersed with music played by the pianist Matthew Ricard. It will be an evening of calm and reflection when we may experience the harmony that words and music can offer. Book your tickets here.

 

Ben Ansell: Why Politics Fails – the Five Traps of the Modern World

and How to Escape Them

25th June, 11.30 – 12.30

Oxford Professor Ben Ansell is one of the world’s leading experts on the dilemmas facing modern democracies.  His highly accessible book explains why modern politics are stuck in a surprising self-defeating cul-de-sac. It shows why modern politics seems impossible, and why it needn’t be. This is the one book you need to read to understand our tumultuous world. Book your tickets here.

Rebecca May Johnson: Small Fires – an Epic in the Kitchen

25th June, 3 – 4pm

In her delicious book, Small Fires: an Epic in the Kitchen, author Rebecca May Johnson explores how cooking is thinking; the transformative dynamics of shared meal, the steps we follow when we walk into a kitchen and tie those apron strings.

 

For this talk, afternoon tea is included, so please join Rebecca and Ruth Dugdall for a homemade  scone and scrumptious conversation about the recipes we choose – how they work as memoirs – and the full meaning of the thing we do every day: the power of small fires burning everywhere. Book your tickets here.

Brace yourselves – our Full Programme will be announced on the 1st of April.

Bookish best,

The Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

I hope your 2023 has got off to a good start. What was your first read of the new year? Mine was the wondrous Tyger by S.F. Said. I hope my reading trajectory continues on the up.

2023 will also see in yet another Felixstowe Book Festival weekend and this year we are thrilled to be welcoming back our Children and Young Person’s programme. Keep your eyes peeled for more festival news soon, and keep on reading!

Bookish best,

The Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

Today we bring you our final Book Advent installment. We hope you have enjoyed it and that Book Advent has brought some literary cheer to your December. Maybe you will spend the 12 days of Christmas reading some of our recommendations? Book Advent concludes with the work of a much loved children’s author who we sadly lost in 2022. We dedicate our celebration of Christmas reads to the one and only Shirley Hughes. Hiding behind Advent door 24 is… Dogger’s Christmas. Enjoy!

Christmas is a busy time for Dave and his family – there are carols to sing, presents to wrap and treats to eat. In the hustle and the bustle of the celebrations, his cuddly friend Dogger remains. Dogger doesn’t mind that Dave has slightly missed him amidst the festivities, or that Dave forgot to hang out a stocking for his faithful friend. But disaster strikes – on Christmas evening, Dogger is missing! Will he be found in time for Boxing Day? Luckily Dave has a very practical big sister who saves the day in a flash of festive sparkle and Christmas magic.

Shirley Hughes once again captures effortlessly the fun and muddle of childhood and of family Christmases, complete with gentle text relatable to all children (and parents…). This is a festive book to treasure and a wonderful tribute to the glorious work of a much loved and much missed children’s author.

Have a merry Christmas booklovers, and all the best for a bright New Year. We will be back in 2023 with news of next year’s festival. Have a wonderful, festive time!

Christmas wishes,

Imogen and the festival team x

Hello booklovers,

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!

Our guest writer Anna draws our attention to a lesser known but just as special festive story – Can It Be True? by author supreme Susan Hill.

Susan Hill has been one of my literary companions since my teenage years. Her novel In the Springtime of the Year was amongst the first to make me cry, and I have travelled with her through many of her novels, wonderful short stories, chilling ghostly tales and lately to her compelling policeman Simon Serailler.

Can it be True? is a story for Christmas and beyond. In the version in our house it is accompanied by the most beautiful illustrations by Angela Barrett. An important question is being passed through the community at midnight on Christmas Eve. Hunters and hunted alike are joined in a shared purpose to find out the truth. And in this beautiful rhythmic piece of prose poetry, their journey is documented, until they find the answer. A lovely addition to any Christmas library.

Christmas wishes,

Anna x