Lincoln Book Festival 2016

Join us for a week of literary engagement as we host Lincoln's annual book festival.

Venue: The Collection Museum
Date: 26 September - 2 October
Price: £10 per event

To book your tickets, call 01522 873894 or click here.

The Lincoln Book Festival honours the rich historical heritage of the city by creating a literary festival celebrating history of the region. The festival appeals to people of all ages, local residents and visitors, especially anyone interested in events and periods in the past that have shaped us and the surrounding community.

Events:

First Story: Changing Lives Through Writing
Monday 26 September
6.15pm

First Story brings professional writers into secondary schools in challenging environments to foster creativity and communication skills, raising aspirations and give students the skills and confidence to achieve them. If you are interested in attending contact: lincsfriendsFS@gmail.com.

More information available here.

The Romans
Tuesday 27 September
6.15pm
Chaired by Guy de la Bédoyère (formerly of TV’s Time Team)

Tom Holland: Dynasty - The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar

Following the death of Julius Caesar, five power-crazed Emperors - Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero - and their families were mired in a web of ambition, treachery and decadence. This masterful account of Rome’s first imperial dynasty ‘has all the gripping detail of a novel’ (New York Times). Tom Holland is BBC Radio 4 presenter of Making History, has presented TV documentaries and is the award winning author of Rubicon, Persian Fire and In the Shadow of the Sword.

The Furies of Rome

Robert Fabbri's seventh novel in his bestselling Vespasian series, The Furies of Rome, in conversation.

A.D. 58: As Emperor Nero and his sycophants rampage by night through Rome, the demands of keeping the provinces subdued have become unaffordable. Vespasian is sent to Londinium on a secret mission and is caught up in a fierce rebellion led by Boudicca. Robert Fabbri worked for 25 years as an assistant director in the film and TV industries before starting to write. He will be in conversation with Guy de la Bédoyère.

More information available here.

Landscapes of  the Mind
Wednesday 28 September 
6.15pm
 
The Duchess of Rutland, Capability Brown & Belvoir: Discovering a Lost Landscape

The Duchess of Rutland, chatelaine of Belvoir Castle since 2000, has overseen countless restoration projects, culminating in the enormous task of restoring Capability Brown’s landscape for the tercentenary of his birth this year. Her work in Belvoir’s gardens appeared in a television documentary with Alan Titchmarsh. Her books are co-written with Jane Pruden, and include Belvoir Castle – 1,000 Years of Family Art and Architecture.

Susan Fletcher, Let me tell you about a man I knew

This is a tumultuous novel about Vincent van Gogh’s days in the south of France, where he painted some of his most haunting works. His story is told through the eyes of Jeanne, the doctor’s wife at the asylum in St. Remy. The landscape of Provence is the background to this richly-drawn, extraordinary novel, where the consequences of indiscretion have far-reaching effects. Susan Fletcher is the author of Eve Green, winner of the prestigious Whitbread First Novel Award and the Betty Trask Prize.

More information available here.

Aspects of Shakespeare
Thursday 29 September
6.15pm

Robert Bearman, Shakespeare's Money

Although they have little bearing on his creative work, records of Shakespeare’s business dealings shed light on the shadowy figure of the man and his life and show how successful the Bard was in earning a living in a precarious profession. Did he die possessed of great wealth or social position, as a popular playwright of today would expect? All will be revealed by Dr Bearman, former Head of Archives and Local Studies, now Honorary Fellow of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Andrew Dickson, Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys around Shakespeare's Globe

Anti-apartheid activist, Bollywood screenwriter, Nazi pin-up, hero of the Wild West: this is Shakespeare as you have never seen him. No other writer’s work has been performed, translated, adapted and altered in such a remarkable variety of cultures and languages. But what is it about Shakespeare – a man not known for travelling – that has made him at home in so many places around the globe? Author and arts reviewer Andrew Dickson is a regular contributor and presenter for The Guardian, BBC TV and radio.

More information available here.

A Not So United Kingdom
Friday 30 September
6.15pm
Chaired by Nicholas Bennett
 
Maurice Walsh, Bitter Freedom: Ireland in a Revolutionary World 1918-23

Far from being a stand-alone movement, the Irish revolution is revealed as part of a wave of change sweeping through Europe. From bolshevism to jazz, Ireland was profoundly influenced by international events – political, economic and cultural. Walsh brings to life the experiences of individuals, many removed from the fighting, for whom the price of freedom was partition. ‘The most vivid and dramatic account of this epoch to date’ – Literary Review. Walsh’s News from Ireland was a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year.

Jacqueline Riding, Jacobites: A New History Of The ’45 Rebellion, in conversation

When Charles Edward Stuart, ‘the Young Pretender’, sailed from France to Scotland in July 1745, with a handful of supporters to claim the throne for his exiled father, few in Britain were alarmed. This history expands knowledge of the ’45 rebellion using new source material, lively characterisation and vivid storytelling. Dr. Riding specialises in 18th and 19th century British history and art. She has worked as curator for several museums and galleries and was historic consultant on the film ‘Mr Turner’.

More information available here.

Local History
Saturday 1 October
Free Event
2pm - 5pm 
 
2.00pm - Nicholas Bennett on the second volume of his Lincolnshire Parish Clergy, c. 1214 to 1968 (Lincoln Record Society).
2.30pm - Adam Daubney of Lincs Portable Antiquities Scheme on his Fifty Finds from Lincolnshire.
3.30pm - Phil Hamlyn Williams on War on Wheels, about the people who mechanised the British Army in WWII.
4.00pm - Chirs Johnson, the Chairman of Survey of Lincoln on Steep, Strait & High: Ancient Houses of Central Lincoln.
 
War Path
Saturday 1 October
6.15pm
Chaired by Douglas Hogg, Viscount Hailsham
 
The Devil's Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939 - 1941, Roger Moorhouse
 
Fore nearly two years the two most infamous dictators in history collaborated with one another. The Nazi-Soviet Pact stunned the world when it was announced. The Second World War was launched uder its auspices, with the invasion and division of Poland, and its eventual collapse led to the war's defining and deciding clash.
 
Midnight in Berlin, James MacManus
 
Part thriller, part love story and inspired by true events and characters, this novel brilliantly captures the intense, secretive atmosphere of Berlin in the build up to war. The West's appeasement policies have failed and Colonel Macrae, British Military attache, ponders a plan to assassionate Hitler during his 50th birthday parade - a plan declined by Chamberlain as 'not sportsmanlike behaviour.'
 
Crime Over Three Centuries
Sunday 2 October
2.00pm
Chaired by Maureen Maxwell, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Criminology, University of Lincoln
 
The Thomas Silkstone Mysteries, Tessa Harris
 
Dr. Thomas Silkstone, a young anatomist from Philadelphia, now living in England, is a pioneer of forensic detection. Within the mysteries of the body, especially those who have been murdered. Silkstone uncovers tell-tale clues that lead to justice. Set partly 1780s Lincolnshire, this is his sixth mystery.
 
The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder, Linda Stratmann
 
This dark social history reveals the 19C as a battleground where poisoners went head to head with authorities who strove to detect poisons, control their availability and bring guilty to jutice. Combining archival research into case histories with a novelist's eye, Stratmann shines light on domestic desperation in Victorian times. 
 
The Grantchester Novels, James Runchie
 
These moral fables, in the tradition of G K Chesterton's Father Brown, mix crime, comedy and social mystery. The principal character, Canon Sidney Chambers, a clergyman-detective, is the recipient of many a secret but is always willing to think the best of people. Full time priest, part-time detective, Sidney Chambers is England's most loveable sleuthing vicar. 'Grandchester' is now a major TV series for ITV.