Bridport Literary festival announces series of talks

The programme for this year’s Bridport Literary Festival, which will take place from November 3 to 9, includes bestselling authors and famous faces.

The festival, known affectionately as BridLit, is now in its 20th year.

It takes place in venues around the town and features writers from many genres – fiction, children’s books and nonfiction including politics, nature writing, history, art, poetry, memoir and the environment.

Organisers have now announced several talks which feature some very timely topics.

Cider with Jessie (Image: Bridport Literary Festival)

To start the week, check out Cider with Jessie, when the Ciderhouse Rebellion duo of Adam Summerhayes and Murray Grainger are joined by Adam’s daughter, the poet Jessie Summerhayes.

They collectively create an immersive and expansive collection of folk-poems, woven between and around spontaneously created music.

Their latest work, Tales of Colonsay, is inspired by stunning landscapes and awe-inspiring seascapes - a brand new journey in spoken word, deeply connected to the land.

The event at Sladers Yard, West Bay, on Sunday 3 November at 12 noon is followed by the option of a delicious lunch from the Sladers kitchen.

Ian Acheson (Image: Bridport Literary Festival) The next day, Ian Acheson’s, a former prison governor and Home Office official with expertise in security, safety, and reform will be discussing his book Screwed.

It is the inside story of the collapse of the British prison service, told by someone who had a front-row seat to it all.

He will be at The Bull Hotel on Monday, November 4 at 10.30am.

Daisy Dunn (Image: Bridport Literary Festival) In stark contrast, Dr Daisy Dunn has rewritten the history of the ancient world through women’s eyes.

‘She tells the story of how the classical world, so long discussed through the prism of the men who lived in it, should be reassessed through its influential and fascinating female inhabitants instead. 

Dr Dunn is an award-winning classicist and author of seven books and will be at The Sir John Colfox Academy on Thursday, November 7 at 2pm.

Charlotte Philby (Image: Prasad-Ramamurthy) In The End of Summer, spy’s granddaughter Charlotte Philby has written a gripping nuanced literary thriller which exposes the secrets and lies so many mother/ daughter relationships have to come to terms with.

She will be at The Bull Hotel on Tuesday, 5 November at 12 noon.

Andrew Pierce (Image: Bridport Literary Festival) Andrew Pierce’s story of finding his birth mother, Finding Margaret is an incredible tale of fortitude, sadness, heartbreak and reconciliation.

Pierce is a columnist, consultant editor for the Daily Mail and TV presenter. He is a regular each week on Good Morning Britain. He also has his own show on GB News, Britain’s Newsroom, every Monday to Thursday.

He will be at the Electric Palace on Saturday,, November 9 at 10am.

To book tickets for BridLit events, go to the festival website – bridlit.com – or contact Bridport Tourist Information Centre in Bucky Doo Square or call them on 01308 424901.