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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T120000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104155Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104155Z
UID:10000162-1792234800-1792238400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Martin Sixsmith – Suing the Kremlin: The battle for Putin’s Billions
DESCRIPTION:A quarter of a century in power has allowed Vladimir Putin to enrich himself. He has plundered Russia’s resources\, confiscated private businesses and persecuted those who stood against him including Boris Berezovsky\, Vladimir Gusinsky\, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Bill Browder putting their assets under the control of his friends and cronies\, who creamed off billions from nominally-state owned corporations. In 2022 Fortune Magazine estimated Putin’s personal fortune at $200 billion. The revenues he stole created an unparalleled war chest used to pay for the invasion of Ukraine. \n\n\n\nThis is the fascinating story of what has happened to the men that Putin dispossessed and where their money went. A small team of legal experts has spent the last twenty years pursuing Putin in the courts of the world. These legal experts are based in London and they are set on reclaiming this enormous wealth. The effect on the War in Ukraine will be just one result of their determined efforts. \n\n\n\nMartin Sixsmith is a British author and radio/television presenter. His book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee\, was the basis for the 2013 film Philomena\, in which Sixsmith is played by Steve Coogan. \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/martin-sixsmith-suing-the-kremlin-the-battle-for-putins-billions/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Suing-the-Kremlin_Martin-Sixsmith-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T140000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104154Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104154Z
UID:10000161-1792242000-1792245600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Vassos Alexander – Swimmingly
DESCRIPTION:Much-loved sports presenter\, author and endurance-athlete Vassos Alexander got bitten by the swimming bug during lockdown – heading to his local patch of the Thames to find distraction and solace during that hot summer. Now he can’t pass a body of water without wanting to jump in. Swimmingly is Vassos’ rip-roaring account of how he came to love cold-water swimming\, the trials and tribulations of being an outdoor swimmer\, and the incredible stories of inspirational people he meets on this journey. Vassos discovers that outdoor swimming is not about being the fastest or the best\, it’s about finding a little bit of magic in every stroke\, and he uncovers the massive sense of community at the heart of this time-honoured pastime. Along the way he interviews the great and good of the swimming world (Diana Nyad\, Lewis Pugh\, Lynne Cox and more)\, and he covers timely and important ground including the water quality in the UK and why we all need to be fighting for us and our wildlife to be able to experience our bodies of water safely. \n\n\n\nVassos Alexander is one of the best known sports presenters in the UK. He co-hosts The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio and has covered every sporting event imaginable\, from Olympic Games to World Cups. He is the author of three bestselling books\, including Don’t Stop Me Now and Running Up That Hill. Vassos lives in London – and of course an ice bath in the garden!  \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/vassos-alexander-swimmingly/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Swimmingly-Jacket-Image.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T150000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T160000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104153Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104153Z
UID:10000163-1792249200-1792252800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Andrew Lownie – Entitled
DESCRIPTION:With sensational new material\, biographer Andrew Lownie brings the most extraordinary and dramatic royal story in a generation up to date. \n\n\n\nTracing the lives of the former Prince and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson through their childhoods\, courtship\, marriage\, divorce\, careers\, charitable activities\, and ultimate downfall\, this is eye-watering biography at its best. \n\n\n\nInvestigating the reality of their relationship\, Andrew’s Falklands record and business dealings\, how they funded their extravagant lifestyles as well as their links with Jeffrey Epstein\, Lownie’s rigorously researched account is packed full of revelations\, painting a detailed picture that has changed the monarchy forever. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nANDREW LOWNIE was educated at Magdalene College\, Cambridge\, where he was President of the Union\, before taking his master’s and doctorate at Edinburgh University. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society\, he later returned to Cambridge as a visiting fellow at Churchill College. He has been a bookseller\, publisher\, journalist writing for The Times\, Telegraph\, Wall Street Journal\, Spectator\, Guardian and since 1988 has run his own literary agency.  He is President of the Biographers Club\, sits on the board of Biographers International Organisation and is a Trustee of the Campaign for Freedom of Information. His books include the prize-winning Stalin’s Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess (2015) and the top ten Sunday Times bestsellers The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves (2019) and Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (2021). \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/andrew-lownie-entitled/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/entitled-cover.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T180000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104153Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104153Z
UID:10000164-1792256400-1792260000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Jung Chang – Fly Wild Swans: My Mother\, Myself and China
DESCRIPTION:Jung Chang’s Wild Swans was a book that defined a generation\, an epic personal history of Jung\, her mother and grandmother – ‘three daughters of China’. From her grandmother’s birth in 1909 under the last emperor\, through Mao Zedong’s rule\, the Cultural Revolution during which Jung’s parents were subject to unbelievable suffering\, it finishes as the end of the Mao era in 1978 with Jung’s emigration to Britain. At the time she was one of the first Chinese to leave Communist China for the West. \n\n\n\nNearly half a century on\, China has risen from a decrepit\, isolated state to a global power. Through those decades\, Jung’s life has been intimately entwined with her native land. \n\n\n\nFly\, Wild Swans is the sequel and brings the story of Jung’s family – along with that of China – up to date. China is now at another watershed moment: Xi Jinping is seeking to turn the country back towards the old Maoist days and build a Communist state with capitalist features. This new era is greatly affecting the lives of Jung and her mother who still lives in China. Through the arc of their respective lives\, Jung gives an immersive\, deeply moving and unforgettable account of what it is like to live in a communist dictatorship and the threats modern China poses to the international world order. \n\n\n\nJUNG CHANG was born in Sichuan Province\, China in 1952. During the Cultural Revolution she worked as a peasant\, a “barefoot” doctor\, a steelworker\, and an electrician before becoming an English-language student at Sichuan University. She left China for Britain in 1978 and obtained a PhD in Linguistics in 1982 at the University of York – the first person from Communist China to receive a doctorate from a British university. \n\n\n\nShe is the author of Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China\, which has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. She wrote a ground-breaking trilogy of the history and personalities of modern China: Mao: The Unknown Story (with Jon Halliday); Empress Dowager Cixi; and Big Sister\, Little Sister\, Red Sister.  She has been awarded a CBE  for services to literature and to history.  \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/jung-chang-fly-wild-swans-my-mother-myself-and-china/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/fly-wild-swans-cover.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T113000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104150Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104150Z
UID:10000165-1792405800-1792409400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Anjana Khatwa – The Whispers of Rock
DESCRIPTION:A poetic journey through deep time\, in which geologist Anjana Khatwa weaves scientific knowledge with traditional stories to bring alive the stories that rock holds and tells us. \n\n\n\nFrom the sacred stones of Stonehenge to the rose red city of Petra\, from towering mountains to the smallest grains of sand\, rocks have had a profound influence on human life. Anjana Khatwa\, explains how rocks have been shaped over the eons and how they have shaped us. Boldly alternating between modern science and ancient lore\, Khatwa takes us on an exhilarating journey through deep time from bursting volcanoes in the Andes to the wonder of the Dorset coastline\, while honouring the Indigenous stories that have brought the land alive over the millennia. \n\n\n\nDr Anjana Khatwa is an award-winning earth scientist who has worked for several universities\, the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and the National Trust. A contributor and presenter of TV programmes for the BBC and ITV\, she holds the Geographical Award for public engagement by the Royal Geographical Society\, the RH Worth Award by the Geological Society of London and the Halstead Medal from the Geologists’ Association. In 2021\, she received a National Diversity Award in recognition of her work to champion inclusion within earth science and natural heritage\, and was longlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize for nature writing. She lives with her family in Dorset in a house filled with rocks and fossils collected from all over the world. The Whispers of Rock is her first book. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/anjana-khatwa-the-whispers-of-rock/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/the-whispers-of-rock-cover.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T123000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T133000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104150Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104150Z
UID:10000166-1792413000-1792416600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Brian Jackman – Lion Song: A Portrait of Wild Africa
DESCRIPTION:For five decades\, Brian Jackman\, Britain’s foremost safari writer\, has witnessed Africa’s wildlife drama unfold at the front line. From his first encounter with a roaring lion in Kenya’s Masai Mara in 1974\, to documenting the famous Marsh Lions that captivated millions through the BBC’s Big Cat Diary\, Jackman has chronicled both the majesty and fragility of Africa’s wilderness. Throughout his career\, Brian has  championed the cause of wildlife conservation\, to highlight the importance of preserving Africa’s wilderness for future generations. His dedication to the continent’s wildlife and landscapes has earned him widespread acclaim in the realm of travel literature. \n\n\n\nIn this poignant memoir Jackman charts the progress of African conservation\, from the days when over a million elephants flourished\, to today\, when living elephants\, though precious to tourism\, face extinction from poaching. Through vivid encounters with legendary conservationists such as George Adamson\, and graphic accounts of anti-poaching wars\, Jackman reveals a continent where lions greet the dawn\, but may not for much longer. \n\n\n\nBrian Jackman is a freelance journalist and author with a lifetime’s passion for travel and wildlife\, who has worked for The Sunday Times and the BBC. He was voted Travel Writer of the Year in 1982 and won the BBC TV’s Wildscreen award for the best commentary script\, Osprey. Retired from mainstream travel writing\, following his 90th birthday last year\, he still writes regularly for Travel Africa Magazine. Brian is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society\, an enthusiastic supporter of Tusk Trust and a former trustee of the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/brian-jackman-lion-song-a-portrait-of-wild-africa/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T150000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104149Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104149Z
UID:10000167-1792418400-1792422000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Monisha Rajesh – Moonlight Express
DESCRIPTION:The wonder of the night train: headlamps ablaze\, passengers boarding after sunset and leaving before sunrise\, slipping in and out of compartments unseen. For Monisha Rajesh\, the singular thrill of sleeper trains inspired a new journey around the world – one filled with moonlit landscapes\, cosy compartments and quirky companions. \n\n\n\nFrom Austria’s Nightjet to Scotland’s Caledonian Sleeper and Finland’s Santa Claus Express\, Rajeshinvites us on a multi-year adventure aboard the world’s most wondrous awe-inspiring trains. Along the way she samples reindeer stew on the night-train to Norway\, sips on pisco sours while riding theBelmond Andean Explorer to the shores of Lake Titicaca – and considers a game of cricket down acarriage on the Shalimar Express. \n\n\n\nA decade ago night trains were giving way to budget airlines and high-speed rail. But as people search for slower and more environmentally friendly ways to travel\, night trains are in the midst of a renaissance. \n\n\n\nBy turns romantic and hilarious\, Moonlight Express brings us along for the ride – and drops us back at the platform before sunrise. \n\n\n\nMONISHA RAJESH is a British journalist whose writing has appeared in Time Magazine\, The New York Times\, and Vanity Fair. Her first book\, Around India in 80 Trains\, was named one of the Independent’s best books on India. Her second book\, Around the World in 80 Trains\, won the National Geographic Traveller Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year. In 2024 she was named in Condé Nast Traveller’s Women Who Travel Power List. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/monisha-rajesh-moonlight-express/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T170000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104149Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104149Z
UID:10000168-1792425600-1792429200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Charlie Walker – On Thin Ice
DESCRIPTION:In early 2022\, Charlie Walker set out to hike 600 miles along Siberia’s frozen rivers. He hoped to learn who its people are and how they reckon with their haunted past\, as well as what the future might hold for this remote corner of the world. Camping in temperatures down to -50 degrees\, exploring semi-deserted villages\, meeting indigenous Arctic reindeer herders and those whose parents survived the Gulag camps\, Walker’s solo trek provides a fascinating insight into the coldest inhabited place on earth. But then\, on February 24\, Russia invaded Ukraine\, with dire consequences for the author. What had begun as an adventure descended into a paranoid nightmare towards the end of the journey as Walker began to suspect he was being monitored by the Russian authorities. Upon finishing the hike he was arrested and imprisoned. \n\n\n\nOn Thin Ice juxtaposes the harsh beauty of a Siberian winter with a thriller-like series of events that exposes the dark heart of Putin’s propaganda machine. It is both the extraordinary record of one man’s walk through the most inhospitable place on earth and a powerful insight into a deeply troubled – and troubling – nation. \n\n\n\nCHARLIE WALKER is an award-winning explorer\, author and international keynote speaker. He has travelled over 60\,000 miles by foot\, horse\, raft\, bicycle\, ski and dugout canoe\, in places as varied as the Tibetan plateau\, the Mongolian steppe\, the Congolese jungle\, the Arctic tundra\, the highlands of New Guinea and the Sahara Desert. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society\, a ScientificExploration Society Explorer Award winner\, and the author of Through Sand & Snow and On Roads That Echo. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/charlie-walker-on-thin-ice/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T190000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104148Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T121146Z
UID:10000190-1792432800-1792436400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Tony Juniper – Just Earth: How a Fairer World Will Save the Planet
DESCRIPTION:From wildfires and floods\, to food poverty\, degraded rivers\, mass migration and conflict\, the environmental crisis is already here – and it’s set to get worse. How can people lead good lives without ultimately hastening global collapse\, and how might we ask those in developing countries to reject the consumerist culture that has seized richer nations? \n\n\n\nIn this extraordinary\, hopeful book\, leading environmentalist Tony Juniper shows the answer lies in fairness. We can’t fight the climate and nature crises without addressing the ever-widening gaps between rich and poor\, the powerful and the weak. Green technologies won’t work on their own – in order to save and restore the natural systems which sustain society\, the economy and civilisation\, it is vital that we break the traps set by inequalities. Including a range of interviews with globally renowned experts and drawing upon 40 years of research\, influence\, campaigning and advocacy\, in Just Earth\,Tony Juniper provides answers to how we can achieve real\, lasting change.Tony Juniper CBE is a prominent environmental figure\, Chair of the British Government’s official conservation agency Natural England and a Fellow with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. His books include the multi-award winning What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? and Harmony\, which was co-authored with His Majesty King Charles III. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/tony-juniper-just-earth-how-a-fairer-world-will-save-the-planet/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Just-Earth-Jacket-Image.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T113000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104148Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104148Z
UID:10000169-1792492200-1792495800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Frank Tallis – Wise: Finding purpose\, meaning and wisdom beyond the midpoint of life
DESCRIPTION:We are living longer and\, thanks to medical advances\, our lifespan after the middle years continues to extend. But how do you age wisely? How do you remain psychologically healthy and fully engagedgiven the immense and daunting challenges of later life – regrets\, loss\, disappointments\, physical deterioration\, and mortality? \n\n\n\nFrom ancient Greece to the 21st century\, philosophers and psychologists have considered these questions\, and remarkably\, their opinions converge. There is a single essential task – integration – that once accomplished\, equips us to cope with the many problems we are likely to encounter as we get older. What’s more\, their insights are supported by cutting-edge neuroscience. \n\n\n\nFrank Tallis examines ways to embrace and accept our mortality when our brains are hard-wired to resist it\, how we can achieve meaning in our lives\, and how we can understand the passage of time and make the most of it. \n\n\n\nDr Frank Tallis is a writer and clinical psychologist. His books include The Incurable Romantic\, The Actof Living and Mortal Secrets: Freud\, Vienna and The Discovery of the Modern Mind\, which was a Times book of the year. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/frank-tallis-wise-finding-purpose-meaning-and-wisdom-beyond-the-midpoint-of-life/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wise-jacket-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T130000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104147Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104147Z
UID:10000170-1792497600-1792501200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Olia Hercules – Strong Roots: A Ukranian Family History Through War\, Exile and Hope
DESCRIPTION:‘I am writing this story without knowing its end: it begins long before I was born and will continue long after I die. I am writing this story to help myself heal and to make you understand.’ \n\n\n\nStrong Roots is the story of a century in Ukraine told through four generations of one extraordinary family. It takes us from years of Russification\, to Olia’s grandmother’s deportation to snowy wastelands under Stalin\, to her Aunt Zhenia’s school protest\, to her own parents’ flight from Ukraine when their town was occupied in 2022. This is an ode to the land\, to ideas of home and belonging\, and to family stories and recipes passed down the generations – the tang of sour cherries\, the best way to make borsch. It is an account of resilience in the hardest of circumstances. Strong Roots brims with hope and grief. It lays bare the compromises and betrayals of generations struggling and surviving through war\, peace\, invasion and exile. It is an uplifting reminder of how much the human spirit can endure when born from a land rich with strong roots. \n\n\n\nBorn in Kakhovka\, in southern Ukraine\, Olia Hercules trained as a chef and worked for Ottolenghi and as a recipe developer and food stylist. After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 Olia co-founded a global initiative to raise money for Ukraine #CookForUkraine\, which has raised over £2 million to date. Olia is the author of four cookbooks\, including Mamushka: Recipes From Ukraine and Beyond. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/olia-hercules-strong-roots-a-ukranian-family-history-through-war-exile-and-hope/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/strong-roots-jacket.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T150000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104147Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104147Z
UID:10000171-1792504800-1792508400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:David Lascelles – Out of Colditz
DESCRIPTION:A never-before-told perspective on the British experience at Colditz – one of themost infamous sites in Nazi Germany. \n\n\n\nThe grandson of a King\, the son of the Viceroy of India\, Churchill’s nephew. All held captive at the notorious Colditz prisoner of war camp\, they were the Prominente: scions of the British establishment\, and pawns in the hands of Nazi leaders. \n\n\n\nAs a German defeat loomed\, the SS head of the POW camps Gottlob Berger made a pivotal decision: he would disobey direct orders and spare their lives. ‘Please remember what I have done for you when the war ends\,’ he asked. This Nazi overseer\, who would later be convicted of war crimes\, held their future in his hands. \n\n\n\nEighty years later\, David Lascelles – the son of George\, Earl of Harewood\, who would never have been born if his father had been executed – traces the Prominentes’ extraordinary journey and wonders who Gottlob Berger was and what motivated his fateful decision: compassion? Remorse? Or self-interest?David Lascelles\, 8th Earl of Harewood\, is a BAFTA-winning film and television producer. He is one of the founders of Heirs of Slavery\, a campaign group that seeks to redress the horrors of the Transatlantic slave trade. He lives in Yorkshire. Out of Colditz is his second book. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/david-lascelles-out-of-colditz/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/out-of-colditz-jacket-scaled.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T170000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104146Z
UID:10000160-1792512000-1792515600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Alexandra Shulman – Black Coffee and Red Lipstick
DESCRIPTION:Weaving ideas about our domestic and daily life with thoughts on style and the way wepresent ourselves\, Alexandra Shulman combines anecdotes and observations from 25 years spent editing British Vogue and her current life as a freelance writer and commentator. She draws onher experiences as a magazine editor but also a mother\, daughter\, sibling\, girlfriend\,housekeeper and lover of shopping. \n\n\n\nAlexandra left her job at Vogue in 2017 to embark on a different way of life and while thisis in no way a book of self-discovery it does touch on the question of things or patterns ofbehaviour that make us who we are? \n\n\n\nFrom her quest for the perfect eyeliner\, to why picnics are so delightful and our hair matters\, friendship\,siblings\, gardening and grey hair will be explored with Alexandra’s characteristic witand incisiveness. \n\n\n\nAlexandra Shulman was British Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief from 1992 to 2017 and was awarded the CBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list. She is currently a columnist for the Mail on Sunday\, a contributor to a variety of newspapers and magazines and a Vice President of the London Library. She has written two novels\, Can We Still Be Friends (2012) and The Parrots (2015) and Inside Vogue: The Diary of My 100th Year (2016). \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/alexandra-shulman-black-coffee-and-red-lipstick/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/hbg-title-black-coffee-and-red-lipstick-6.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T113000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104145Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104145Z
UID:10000172-1792578600-1792582200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:John Wright – Grasslands
DESCRIPTION:A sparkling green field. A dull and scrubby patch of grass. One is the sanitised evidenceof monoculture\, the other a world teeming with more life than you could ever imagine.Join John Wright\, one of our best-known naturalists\, as he uncovers the beauty andrich diversity of Britain’s grasslands. Bursting with mushrooms\, lichen and wildflowers\,home to butterflies\, bees and beetles\, and vital to foxes and birds alike\, these grasslandsare part of our natural heritage. \n\n\n\nFrom meadows to mires to heathlands\, John Wright introduces them in all their variety:the history of how grasslands came to be\, what can be found there\, what we risk withtheir loss and what can be done to save what is left. Most of all\, he shows why weshould care. Because grasslands are never just patches of grass. \n\n\n\nJohn Wright is one of Great Britain’s best-known naturalists and leading experts onfungi. His books include A Spotter’s Guide to the Countryside\, A Natural History ofthe Hedgerow and the bestselling The Forager’s Calendar. He lives in Dorset\, near theglorious grassland of Hog Cliff. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/john-wright-grasslands/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/grasslands-john-wright-jacket-scaled.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T123000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T133000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104145Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104145Z
UID:10000173-1792585800-1792589400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Samira Ahmed – A Hard Day’s Night
DESCRIPTION:How did a film made to capture a pop phenomenon in real time become a genuine cinematic classic?Journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed explores how this beloved film captures both the band’s coveted charisma and the shifting cultural landscape of 1960s Britain. \n\n\n\nA life-long fan\, Samira first discovered the film at the age of 11 and then in 2023 she uncovered the earliest known complete concert recording of the Beatles\, taken at Stowe School in 1963 which made headlines around the world. Blending documentary-style realism with a subversion of classnorms\, the film not only reflects the Beatles’ role in reshaping celebrity and social identity\, but also shaped Samira’s understanding of fame and the media as she embarked on a career in journalism. Samira examines its lasting legacy\, showing how its portrayal of Beatlemania influenced generations and continues to serve as a powerful metaphor for modern celebrity culture. \n\n\n\nSamira Ahmed is a journalist\, writer\, and BBC broadcaster. She presents Front Row on BBC Radio 4\, Newswatch on BBC One\, and has made acclaimed documentaries including Art of Persia (BBC Four)\, Disgusted\, Mary Whitehouse\, and I Dressed Ziggy Stardust (BBC Radio 4). In 2020\, she was named Audio Presenter of the Year by the Broadcasting Press Guild. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian\, The Observer\, and New Humanist\, where she also writes a regular column. She is President of the Twentieth Century Society\, which campaigns to preserve modern architecture and design. A Hard Day’s Night is her first book. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/samira-ahmed-a-hard-days-night/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/hard-days-night-cover.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T150000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104144Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104144Z
UID:10000187-1792591200-1792594800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Simon Parker - The Wild Ride Home
DESCRIPTION:Outdoor enthusiast\, cyclist and acclaimed travel writer Simon Parker was restless for a new adventure\, but with a small baby his explorations needed to begin at home. He decided to cycle through all 15 of the UK’s national parks in the anniversary year of the first one’s founding\, the Peak District. While each of the national parks offered beauty and surprises\, all of them revealed the challenges of making space for nature on an overpopulated island. His days within the parks\, from Dartmoor to Cairngorms\, via the Yorkshire Dales and The Broads\, could be idyllic or enraging. He explored wild and remote moors and mountain tops but also got stuck in plenty of holiday traffic. He developed an injury\, walked where the bike wouldn’t go\, accepted pints and campsite pitches\, and talked to everyone he met. From campers\, conservationists\, walkers\, landowners\, farmers\, small business owners\, commoners\, pony lovers\, newcomers\, tourists\, birders and artists – everyone is seeking something different from the hills\, dales and waters of the UK. Yet all share the urge for space\, fresh air\, beauty and the humbled humanity it brings. This is a page-turning\, revealing perspective of the British and the wild-ish landscapes they love. \n\n\n\nSimon Parker is a multi-award-winning travel writer and filmmaker who has reported from more than half of the world’s countries. He has cycled across the USA\, produced films about endangered species in Zambia\, Mozambique and Zimbabwe\, and writes for the Telegraph\, Times and National Geographic. When he’s not writing books or newspaper articles he manages his own production company\, Simon Parker Creative. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/simon-parker-the-wild-ride-home/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/the-wild-road-home-jkt.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T170000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104143Z
UID:10000174-1792598400-1792602000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Anthony Seldon – Sunak at 10
DESCRIPTION:After almost a decade and a half of Tory rule\, the 2024 General Election saw the Conservatives suffer their worst-ever defeat: they received 7.14 million fewer votes than in 2019; 23.7 per cent is their lowest ever vote share; and their current 121 MP contingent is their smallest since 1832. Meanwhile\, the rise of Reform threatens the party’s very existence. \n\n\n\nHow did it all go wrong so quickly\, following Boris Johnson’s record-setting win in 2019? \n\n\n\nFrom taking office amidst the cost of living and energy supply crises and the panic caused by Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget\, through the agenda-dominating Ukraine and Gaza wars and the Rwanda Asylum Plan\, to the stunning 2023 local election results\, Sunak at 10 is the definitive and jaw-dropping window into Rishi Sunak’s premiership. \n\n\n\nAnthony Seldon’s is an educator\,  historian\, writer and commentator. He is autor or editor of over fifty books on contemporary history\, politics and education\, including The Sunday Times bestsellers Johnson at 10 \, Truss at 10\, and The Path of Light. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/anthony-seldon-sunak-at-10/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/sunak-at-10-scaled.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T113000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104143Z
UID:10000175-1792665000-1792668600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Anthony Seldon – The Path of Light
DESCRIPTION:In 2021\, Anthony Seldon\, inspired by a fallen First World War soldier who dreamed of a ‘Via Sacra’ tocommemorate the war dead and stand as a marker for the triumph of peace\, set out on a 1\,000km walktracing the historic route of the Western Front. He went on to recount that story in the widely acclaimedThe Path of Peace. But there wasn’t to be lasting peace\, with the continent falling into an even morehorrific war two decades later. \n\n\n\nIn The Path of Light\, Seldon sets out to walk a new 1\,300 km route from the same starting point atKilometre Zero to Auschwitz\, discovering in the towns and villages through which he walks stories ofwomen and men who bravely protected the vulnerable and stood up to evil in the face of unimaginablebrutality during the Second World War. \n\n\n\nAs he ruminates on these ‘figures of light’\, whose uplifting stories he encounters along his path\, a pattern begins to emerge about how we can draw on their lives to build a better and more peaceful world\, never more needed than now\, with the ominous and increasing drumbeat of belligerence globally that month by month is the constant backdrop of his walk between 2023 and 2025. It proved a harder book to write than The Path of Peace. But it was a project he knew he had to complete\, whatever the cost. \n\n\n\nSir Anthony Seldon is an educator\, historian\, writer and commentator. He is author or editor of over fortybooks on contemporary history\, politics and education\, including the Sunday Times bestsellers Johnsonat 10 and Truss at 10 \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/anthony-seldon-the-path-of-light/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/the-path-of-light-cover.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T130000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104142Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104142Z
UID:10000176-1792670400-1792674000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Jonn Elledge – 31 Inventions that Built Our World
DESCRIPTION:For over 10\,000 years\, the human race has been busy altering our environment and embracing ‘progress’\, evolving seamlessly from hunter gatherers to the modern urban sophisticates we seeourselves as today. But what are the ideas and inventions that enabled humanity to become\, by the early 21st century\, a majority urban species for the first time? How did the essential infrastructure of modern life – the innovations that we barely even notice\, but without which our world would fall apart – happen? \n\n\n\nWith his characteristic wit and boundless curiosity\, Jonn Elledge invites us to join him on a fascinating and often surprising tour of the ideas and technologies that made modernity possible. From elevators to electric lighting\, street numbering to sewers\, he guides us through the history of civilisation itself. \n\n\n\nJonn Elledge is the author of the number-one bestseller\, A History of the World in 47 Borders. A New Statesman and New World columnist\, he is a regular on the podcasts Oh God\, What Now? and the late\, lamented Paper Cuts\, and a frequent contributor to The i Paper\, the Guardian and assorted other publications. He was previously an assistant editor at the New Statesman\, where he created and ran its urbanism-focused CityMetric site\, spending six happy years writing about cities\, maps and borders and hosting the Skylines podcast. He has written three books\, as well as over 200 editions of the Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything. He lives in London\, with the best dog in the world. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/jonn-elledge-31-inventions-that-built-our-world/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/31-inventions-that-built-our-World-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T150000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104141Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104141Z
UID:10000177-1792677600-1792681200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Victoria Hislop – The Wine Dark Sea
DESCRIPTION:Beloved\, bestselling author Victoria Hislop explores the turbulence of the post-war era in Greece in this unforgettable and riveting new novel that will delight those fans who cherish The Island and The Figurine. \n\n\n\nDuring three years of brutal civil war in Greece\, thousands of children were caught in the chaos that swept across the country. Huge numbers were orphaned\, many found themselves imprisoned alongside their mothers and others were left to fend for themselves. The Wine-Dark Sea follows the travails of a mother\, searching for both a daughter who has been kidnapped and taken behind the Iron Curtain and a boy who\, unbeknown to her\, has been sold into adoption. \n\n\n\nVictoria Hislop said\, ‘I am excited about the publication of The Wine-Dark Sea\, which is my tenthbook. The post-war period in Greece has many untold stories\, buried through shame and a desireto forget. Research took me not just to obscure corners of Greece itself\, but also outside it\, to Hungary and the US. I continue to learn so much about Greece\, in particular the lesser-known parts of its history\, which are a source of great inspiration. The hidden stories of this country\, that has made me its own\, continue to fascinate me and provide rich material for fiction.ʼ \n\n\n\nVictoria Hislop’s debut novel The Island has sold over 6 million copies. Her books have been translated into forty languages and Victoria was executive producer on the adaptations of three of her novels for Greek television. She divides her time between England and Greece and in 2020 was granted honorary citizenship by the President of Greece. She is Vice President of the British School at Athens\, is on the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles and also on the Advisory Board for the Parthenon Project. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Patra and Sheffield. In 2025\, she was awarded the Byron Medal for Philhellenism at the Athens Academy and became the first woman to become an honorary member of the Society of Greek Writers. \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/victoria-hislop-the-wine-dark-sea/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/victoria-hislop-jkt-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T170000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104141Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104141Z
UID:10000178-1792684800-1792688400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Blake Morrison –  Afterburn and On Memoir
DESCRIPTION:In Afterburn\, Blake Morrison returns to poetry\, his first calling\, to offer scenes from his own life and the lives of others. In psychology\, ‘afterburn’ refers to the time before a past event is assimilated – an idea that resonates through these poems (which themselves linger after reading) about memory and our attempts to articulate\, shape or contain it. \n\n\n\nThroughout the collection\, not least in two extraordinary sequences – one about his sister\, the otherabout Elizabeth Bishop – the poet sees with new eyes the turning points in a life’s accidental course.What holds his wise\, touching\, melancholy yet joyful poems together are the small intimacies that bindus to others\, under time’s lengthening shadow: ‘you moved too fast for me to catch you / and so didthe years.’ \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/blake-morrison-afterburn-and-on-memoir/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/afterburn-blake-morrison-jacket.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T190000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104140Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T111902Z
UID:10000189-1792692000-1792695600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Julian Fellowes – In Conversation: My Life and Work
DESCRIPTION:Julian Fellowes is a multi-award-winning actor\, writer\, director\, producer and Conservative peer.  In conversation\, Julian will talk about his early life\, acting and the writing career that made him a household name. As creator of  Downton Abbey\, he has won three Emmy awards as well as the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Gosford Park. Other writing credits for film include Vanity Fair\, Young Victoria\, and The Gilded Age. His books include the international bestsellers Snobs and Past Imperfect. Julian Fellowes became Baron Fellowes of  West Stafford in 2011. He lives in Dorset and London with his wife\, Emma. \n\n\n\nJulian Fellowes will be in conversation with Mark Chutter\, Creative Director of the Thomas Hardy Society. \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/julian-fellowes-in-conversation-my-life-and-work/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/julian-fellowes-upscale.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261023T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261023T113000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104139Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104139Z
UID:10000186-1792751400-1792755000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Dr Eleanor Drage – What If We Got AI Right?
DESCRIPTION:We’re confused about AI: what it is\, and where it’s leading us – whether into a utopia or an apocalypse. Yet these obsessions thwart efforts to make meaningful change in an industry with very real problems. \n\n\n\nHere\, Dr Eleanor Drage\, one of the world’s leading AI ethicists\, unpicks the culture and ideas that drive the AI arms race\, from billionaires trying to cheat death to biased police algorithms and state capture by big tech. \n\n\n\nWe need new language and new ideas to re-determine what AI is for and how we should use it. Only by bringing feminism\, reparative justice and climate politics into the debate can we create a better future with machines. \n\n\n\nDr Eleanor Drage is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. One of the UK’s leading AI ethicists\, her work has been covered by the BBC\, the Guardian\, Telegraph and Forbes\, and she frequently speaks on radio and at AI conferences. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/dr-eleanor-drage-what-if-we-got-ai-right/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/what-if-we-got-ai-right-jacket-image.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261023T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261023T130000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104139Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104139Z
UID:10000179-1792756800-1792760400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Ferdinand Addis – Conquest: The Roman Invasion of Britain
DESCRIPTION:An epic\, visceral history of the Romans in Britain\, from Caesar’s first invasion attempt in 55 BC to the fall of the Roman Empire\, by the author of Rome: Eternal City. \n\n\n\nBringing together archaeology\, anthropology\, geology and history\, Addis paints a vivid portrait of what life was like for Roman and Briton during these centuries\, and examines how the face of Britain was changed in ways that can still be felt today. Britain wasn’t conquered in a day. Caesar invaded twice\, but didn’t try to complete a conquest of the island. It was only when Claudius and his legions arrived in AD 43 that true colonization was possible. Forty years later\, almost the whole of southern Britain was under Roman control\, where it stayed until the final decline of the empire\, the weakness of the colony’s defences and the quarrels of Roman generals brought the experiment to an end. Piecing together evidence from the often-propagandistic Roman literary sources – including the writings of Caesar\, Tacitus and Livy – and making brilliant use of archaeological and anthropological research\, Addis paints a vivid portrait of Roman and British life both in prehistoric times and in the first century AD. He brings the violence and intrigues of British tribal life into vivid relief\, but also evokes the ways in which these diverse peoples lived\, their monumental burial sites\, their customs\, their trade with continental Europe\, their military organization and the kinds of war they practiced. Conquest is an exploration of the workings of empire at the deepest level\, revealing how the struggle between Roman and Briton was fought on battlefields and in books\, in forts and fields\, between clashing visions of humanity\, and rival gods. From Caesar’s first landing at the white chalk cliffs of the English Channel to Boudicca’s rebellion at Camulodnum\, to legionaries darning their socks on Hadrian’s Wall\, Conquest tells the Roman occupation of Britain as a story of domination and resistance\, of cultures colliding and entwining\, and of the slow transformation of a landscape and its people. \n\n\n\nFerdinand Addis read classics at Oxford\, before embarking on a career as a journalist and author. His critically acclaimed 2018 book Rome: Eternal City was a Times Book of the Year. He lives in London with his wife and daughter. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/ferdinand-addis-conquest-the-roman-invasion-of-britain/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/conquest-the-roman-invasion-of-britain.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261023T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261023T150000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104138Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104138Z
UID:10000180-1792764000-1792767600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Jeremy Hunt – Can We Be Rich Again?
DESCRIPTION:Is Britain stuck in a doom loop of higher debt and higher taxes? Or can we fix the British economy?Jeremy Hunt argues that getting out of Britain’s low growth is a solvable problem\, and that we should approach the country’s economic future with optimism. Hunt asks the key questions: How deliverable are the changes we need by a Labour\, Conservative or Reform government? How do we get the economy growing despite dangerous levels of debt? How do we sell long term reforms when our leaders have so little political capital? But countering pessimism needs solutions not just assertions\, and they need to be realistic – plans that politicians can actually deliver in a democratic system and the majority of the electorate can get behind. \n\n\n\nJeremy Hunt was elected Conservative MP for South West Surrey in 2005. He was first appointed Secretary of State for Health in September 2012\, then served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from July 2018 to July 2019\, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from October 2022 to July 2024. Before his election as an MP\, Jeremy ran his own educational publishing business\, Hotcourses. He also set up a charity to help AIDS orphans in Africa in which he continues to play an active role.  \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/jeremy-hunt-can-we-be-rich-again/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/can-we-be-rich-again-cover-scaled.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261023T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261023T190000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104138Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104138Z
UID:10000181-1792778400-1792782000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Kathy Lette – The Sisterhood Rules
DESCRIPTION:The Sisterhood Rules: \n\n\n\n\nNever let a man come between you\n\n\n\nShare all your secrets\n\n\n\nLive life to the fullest – girls just wanna have fun\n\n\n\n\nFor twin sisters Isabel and Verity\, the sisterhood rules were shattered when Verity had an affair with Izzy’s husband. Unforgivable\, right? Devastated by her sister’s betrayal\, Izzy casts Verity into social Siberia. \n\n\n\nBut when their mother goes missing\, Verity and Izzy are forced to come together again to find her. And then the estranged sisters’ problems only get bigger. Their mother has a new younger lover and where there’s a will. he’d clearly like to be in it. \n\n\n\nCan they stop their mother making a dreadful mistake? And in doing so find a way to bury the pain of the past? \n\n\n\nFull of laugh-out-loud humour and devastating pathos\, Kathy Lette’s brilliant new novel takes us on a roller-coaster ride which proves that from pain comes healing\, from honesty comes forgiveness\, and that nothing is more important than your sisters.Kathy Lette is a celebrated and outspoken comic writer with an imitable take on serious current issues. One of the pioneering voices of contemporary feminism\, she is the author of twenty novels that have been published in nineteen languages. She was writer in residence at the Savoy Hotel\, and is an Ambassador for The National Autistic Society\, Their World and Ambitious about Autism. \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/kathy-lette-the-sisterhood-rules/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T113000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104137Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104137Z
UID:10000182-1792837800-1792841400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Dr Sian Williams – The Power of Anxiety: How to ride the worry wave
DESCRIPTION:Anxiety can have an immense power\, affecting the way we think\, feel and behave. Keeping us inside\, away from people\, places and opportunities. Making us question\, doubt or criticise ourselves. Sending us into a sea of worry\, which threatens to overwhelm us.  But what if we stopped trying to fight the waves and\, instead\, learned to ride them? \n\n\n\nThis compelling\, warm and accessible book looks at anxiety differently. It helps us understand how to drop the struggle with it and listen to what it is saying. And to start celebrating the unique sensitivity that makes us feel deeply and intensely – so we can let intuition guide us\, not fear. To see sensitivity as our strength and anxiety as our tool. Not a trap. \n\n\n\nReaders will discover how to live alongside their anxiety well\, with tips\, exercises\, expert research and stories from those who’ve learnt how to ride the worry wave\, including a multi-million album selling musician\, a top author and a national TV presenter. Written by psychologist and broadcaster Dr Sian Williams\, this book explores performance anxiety\, perfectionism\, social anxiety\, panic\, self-criticism and people-pleasing to present a new way to live with anxiety in kinder\, better-informed and more understanding ways. \n\n\n\nDr Sian Williams is an award-winning broadcast journalist and chartered counselling psychologist. She’s spent years counselling those living with anxiety\, both in the UK’s NHS and privately and has also worked with media organisations\, governments and businesses to help prevent staff burnout. One of Britain’s most trusted broadcasters\, having spent four decades in TV and radio\, including eleven years hosting BBC Breakfast\, Sian now presents BBC Radio 4’s Life Changing and BBC Radio 3 Unwind. Anxiety is her lifetime companion. \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/dr-sian-williams-the-power-of-anxiety-how-to-ride-the-worry-wave/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T130000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104137Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104137Z
UID:10000183-1792843200-1792846800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:John Sweeney – The Real Nigel Farage
DESCRIPTION:Nigel Farage is arguably the most consequential British politician of our age\, and on current polling he is set to become the UK prime minister after the next general election. But aspects of his life story remain shrouded in mystery. Who is the real Nigel Farage\, and does he possess the qualities to lead the country at a time of domestic turmoil and international peril? Based on interviews and reporting in the UK and across Europe by the fearless John Sweeney\, The Real Nigel Farage will be published just ahead of the 2026 autumn party conference season as battlelines are drawn for the next election and thecontest to lead the Right intensifies. \n\n\n\nJohn Sweeney is the Reform UK correspondent of The Nerve. As a reporter\, first for the Observer and then for the BBC\, he has covered wars in around 100 countries and has been undercover in the dangerzones of Chechnya\, North Korea and Zimbabwe. The author of 16 books\, including the Sunday Times bestseller The Killer in the Kremlin\, he has challenged both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin face-to-face. \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/john-sweeney-the-real-nigel-farage/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T150000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104136Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104136Z
UID:10000184-1792850400-1792854000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Simon Jenkins – A Short History of America: From Tea Party to Trump
DESCRIPTION:In 2026 the United States of America will celebrate its 250th birthday. How did this vast land\, long inhabited by diverse indigenous cultures\, come to be dominated by English speakers? How has it grappled with the stark contradictions between its ideals of liberty and the grim reality of its ongoingracial divide? This extraordinary collection of fifty distinct states has weathered immense – and recent – challenges\, including a Civil War that was still raging as the first London Underground station opened. And yet the democratic project of the Founding Fathers continues to endure. How did this melting pot of peoples and ideas not only survive but rise to dominate global politics\, commerce\, culture and warfare? What insights does this rich history offer about an increasingly divided yet\, in many ways\, still thriving nation – and the world that moves to its rhythm? \n\n\n\nA Short History of America is rich with vivid characters – from arrogant conquistadors and idealistic revolutionaries to imperial presidents – and the most foundational and formative events\, from Colombus’ arrival and the Declaration of Independence\, right through to the War on Terror and a former president facing criminal charges. This is a gripping must-read\, based in part on years of close observation\, for anyone seeking to understand our world today.Simon Jenkins is author of the bestselling A Short History of England\, A Short History of Europe\, Britain’s 100 Best Railway Stations\, England’s Thousand Best Churches and England’s Thousand Best Houses. He is a former Editor of the Evening Standard and The Times\, and columnist for the Guardian. \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/simon-jenkins-a-short-history-of-america-from-tea-party-to-trump/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T190000
DTSTAMP:20260605T222730
CREATED:20260605T104135Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T104135Z
UID:10000185-1792864800-1792868400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Alison Steadman – Out of Character: A Memoir
DESCRIPTION:The first memoir from the national treasure\, critically acclaimed actress and much-loved Gavin &Stacey star. Candice Marie in Nuts in May\, Beverly in Abigail’s Party\, Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice\, Betty in Fat Friends\, Sue in Here We Go and Pamela in Gavin & Stacey: Just a few of the beloved\, iconic characters brought to life by the magnificent Alison Steadman. \n\n\n\nGrowing up in post-war\, working-class Liverpool\, the young Alison – ever the entertainer – would address the world from the stage of her bedroom window\, until she got a taste for performing in front of an actual audience at her progressive 1960s drama school. By the time she left\, her mind was made up: she was going to be an actress! If only she could conquer the onstage giggling … \n\n\n\nAlways pushing boundaries – reclining naked on a sofa in her first role\, embracing groundbreaking female characters from day one – Alison has deservedly found acclaim and recognition\, succeeding inher TV and theatre career while juggling family life – a difficult feat for any working mother\, but particularly for an actress in the twentieth century. From the nervy Mrs Bennet to the robo-dancing Pam-el-aah\, Alison has proved herself again and again to be a comedy genius. Here\, with her distinctive warmth and humour\, she vividly recalls all the must- read moments of a life spent in and out of character. \n\n\n\nAlison Steadman is one of the best-loved English actresses. She has achieved recognition across television\, film and stage. She has won an Olivier\, a National Society of Film Critic Award\, and has been nominated for two BAFTAs. She lives in London with her partner Michael and is a keen birdwatcher and patron for the RSPB. Alison was awarded an OBE in 2000. \n\n\n\nTickets £16.00 (£12.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/alison-steadman-out-of-character-a-memoir/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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