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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T190000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261022T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T170000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261022T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T150000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261022T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T130000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261022T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261022T113000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261021T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T170000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261021T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T150000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261021T123000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T133000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261021T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261021T113000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261020T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T170000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261020T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T150000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261020T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T130000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261020T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T113000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261019T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T190000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261019T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T170000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/on-thin-ice-cover.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T150000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/moonlight-express-cover.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T123000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T133000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/lion-song-cover-scaled.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T113000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261018T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261018T140000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
CREATED:20260605T104151Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T110512Z
UID:10000188-1792321200-1792332000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Literary Walk with Mark Chutter
DESCRIPTION:11.00amLITERARY WALK: WESSEX WRITERSThe Dorchester Literary Festival Walk will be on Sunday 18 October 11am followed by cream tea at the Old Tea House 1-2pm.Join Mark Chutter\, Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society\, for a fascinating walk exploring the literary writers of Dorchester including Thomas Hardy\, William Barnes \, the Powys brothers and Sylvia Townsend Warner.Dogs welcome\, walking boots recommended.Meet at the Thomas Hardy Statue at Top ’O Town at 11.00
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/literary-walk-with-mark-chutter/
LOCATION:Thomas Hardy Statue\, Top o' Town\, Dorchester
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/hardy-top-o-town-portrait-scaled.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T180000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261017T150000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T160000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261017T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T140000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20261017T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T120000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
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:20251120T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251120T200000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
CREATED:20250513T085120Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251117T111643Z
UID:10000107-1763661600-1763668800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Poetry Slam with Angie Porter
DESCRIPTION:An open mic event for local writers and poets.  \n\n\n\nJoin us to hear poets read and perform their work. To sign up to participate at this event please contact us directly via contact@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com or just come along and listen. \n\n\n\nAngie Porter is a local poet\, performer and painter who brings creativity to the fore in whatever she does. Her monthly She Speaks poetry slams are hugely popular and Angie is actively involved in promoting new poetry work.  \n\n\n\nTickets £6.00
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/poetry-slam-with-angie-porter-3/
LOCATION:Shire Hall Museum Cafe\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1UY\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/poetry-slam-poster-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251112T173000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251112T183000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
CREATED:20250513T084507Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250915T095015Z
UID:10000125-1762968600-1762972200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Martin Clunes – Meetings With Remarkable Animals
DESCRIPTION:Please note that this event has been rescheduled for 12th November. Existing ticket holders can email contact@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com if they are unable to make this date and wish to request a refund.  \n\n\n\nInspired by Martin Clunes’ own adoption of a former guide dog\, Meetings With Remarkable Animals celebrates the fascinating\, moving and sometimes astonishing ways animals have enriched our lives. From search and rescue dogs to mine-sniffing rats\, and life-saving dolphins\, to therapy horses and medal-winning cats and pigeons\, the stories brought to life will charm\, surprise and astonish in equal measure. \n\n\n\nTogether with his own life-changing encounters with animals around the world\, Martin has celebrated the intelligence\, loyalty\, and companionship of some truly extraordinary creatures whose lives have been entwined with our own.  \n\n\n\nMartin Clunes has been a familiar and much-loved face on our television screens since the 1990s. Alongside appearing in hit shows like Men Behaving Badly and Doc Martin\, he has presented numerous documentaries from around the world including Lemurs of Madagascar\, Islands of the Pacific and A Dog Called Laura. He was awarded the OBE in 2015 for his contribution to drama\, charity and the community in Dorset where he lives with his family and lots of animals. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/martin-clunes-meetings-with-remarkable-animals/
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/2025/03/Meetings-with-Remarkable-Animals-PB-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T193000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
CREATED:20250513T084732Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250724T111332Z
UID:10000135-1761417000-1761420600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Jeremy Vine – Murder on Line One
DESCRIPTION:Darkness looms over sunny Sidmouth\, when an unsolved murder comes to the attention of late-night radio talk show host Edward Temmis. \n\n\n\nRecently sacked from his beloved job after a devastating tragedy\, Edward is cast adrift – until he meets Stevie\, whose grandmother\, a devoted listener\, died in a suspicious fire last year. Well\, nobody hurts his listeners and helping Stevie might just give him the purpose he needs. \n\n\n\nJoined by his old fling\, Kim\, they discover Stevie’s grandmother wasn’t the only one of his listeners targeted – this is just the tip of the iceberg. \n\n\n\nBut who is pursuing his ageing audience and why? And can Edward\, Stevie and Kim get to the bottom of this mystery before it’s too late? \n\n\n\nJeremy Vine is a journalist and broadcaster who reaches millions of listeners and viewers per week. He hosts a daily breakfast show on Channel 5 and a peak slot on BBC Radio 2 every lunchtime\, presenting news\, views\, interviews and popular guests on Britain’s most listened-to radio news programme. He has previously hosted Eggheads\, Points of View\, Crimewatch and Panorama among others\, and presents the general election infographics. His early obsession was with Agatha Christie\, after his mum gave him Hercule Poirot’s Christmas when he was eleven. By eighteen he had read all sixty-six Agathas\, but he waited forty years to write about his first murder. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters. In his spare time\, he rides a penny farthing. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/jeremy-vine-murder-on-line-one/
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/2025/05/Murder-on-Line-One-jkt.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T153000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
CREATED:20250513T083549Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250724T111107Z
UID:10000126-1761402600-1761406200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Jonathan Sumption – The Challenges of Democracy
DESCRIPTION:Across the globe\, democracy is in crisis – in the UK it has been rocked by Brexit\, the pandemic and successive attempts by governments to bypass legal norms. But how did this happen\, and where might we go from here? In a  provocative series of essays\, former Supreme Court judge and Sunday Times-bestselling author\, Jonathan Sumption cuts through the political noise with acute analysis of the state of democracy today – from the vulnerabilities of international law\, to the deepening suppression of democracy activism in Hong Kong\, and from the complexities of human rights legislation to the defence of freedom of speech. \n\n\n\nTimely\, incisive and wholly original\, The Challenges of Democracy applies the brilliance of the ‘cleverest man in Britain’ to the most urgent and far-reaching political issue of our day. \n\n\n\nJonathan Sumption is a British judge and historian\, who served as a Supreme Court Justice from 2012 – 2018. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Trials of the State\, Law in a Time of Crisis\, and Divided Houses\, which won the 2009 Wolfson History Prize. \n\n\n\nJonathan Sumption will be in conversation with Jo Durrant. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/jonathan-sumption-the-challenges-of-democracy/
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/2025/03/Jonathan-sumption-Jacket-image-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T140000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
CREATED:20250513T083215Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250730T105327Z
UID:10000132-1761397200-1761400800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Gyles Brandreth – Somewhere a Boy and a Bear – A Biography of A A Milne and Winnie-the- Pooh
DESCRIPTION:Next year marks the centenary of the publication of Winnie-the-Pooh\, one of the best-selling children’s books of all time. Best-selling biographer Gyles Brandreth knew the real Christopher Robin and his new book is both an intimate and revealing biography of A A Milne (to whom there was so much more than Pooh) and a fascinating exploration of fathers and sons\, children and their parents and the nature of childhood itself.   \n\n\n\nGyles Brandreth is a writer\, broadcaster\, actor\, former MP and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury\, now Chancellor of the University of Chester and one of Britain’s most sought-after award ceremony hosts and after-dinner speakers. A star of Celebrity Gogglebox\, a veteran of QI and Have I Got News For You\, a reporter on The One Show\, a presenter on Pointless\, a guest on Would I Lie to You? and Sunday Brunch\, a regular on This Morning\, and since the 1980s one of the mainstays of Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4\, his recent books include a biography of Queen Elizabeth II: Elizabeth: an intimate portrait – an immediate Sunday Times No 1 best-seller. \n\n\n\nTickets £32 including a copy of the book. £46 for two tickets including one book. Friends discount applies to ticket only.
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/gyles-brandreth-somewhere-a-boy-and-a-bear-the-extraordinary-story-of-a-a-milne-christopher-robin-and-winnie-the-pooh/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T120000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
CREATED:20250513T082545Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250724T111000Z
UID:10000124-1761390000-1761393600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Christopher Summerfield – These Strange New Minds
DESCRIPTION:In the first authoritative book to explain how AI works and what it means\, the Research Director at the UK government’s AI Safety Institute explains how advances in digital technology have given us a new wave of disarmingly human-like AI systems\, set to upturn our economies\, challenge  democracies\, and refashion society in unpredictable ways. These systems will soon be making autonomous decisions on the user’s behalf\, transforming everything we do.  \n\n\n\nChristopher Summerfield shows you how AI actually works in language anyone can understand\, explaining how ChatGPT and Bard have set off a meteoric rise in interest surrounding AI but all we’re talking about are techno-utopias or predictions of doom. Can AI systems ‘think’\, ‘know’ and ‘understand’? Could they manipulate or deceive you\, and if so\, what might they make you do? Whose interests do they ultimately represent? And when will they be able to move beyond words and take actions for themselves in the real world? Ultimately\, can we look forward to a technological utopia\, or are we in the process of writing ourselves out of history? \n\n\n\nChristopher Summerfield is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Oxford\, and Research Director at the AI Safety Institute (AISI)\, the UK’s pioneering state-backed organisation dedicated to ensuring that advanced AI technology is both safe and beneficial for society. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/christopher-summerfield-these-strange-new-minds/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251025T160000
DTSTAMP:20260608T215303
CREATED:20250605T115802Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250613T140113Z
UID:10000145-1761386400-1761408000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:PBFA Dorchester Book Fair
DESCRIPTION:Independent sellers will be offering antiquarian & second hand books\, modern firsts\, signed editions\, prints\, maps and ephemera at the Dorchester book fair\, in the stunning Victorian Hall of the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery. Coinciding with the final day of the Dorchester Literary Festival – this is a new addition to a week packed with author talks and events\, which has become a calendar staple for book lovers on the South Coast. \n\n\n\nWhy not make a day of it and couple your visit with a tour of the Dorset Museum and Art Gallery\, including Thomas Hardy’s study and special collections library. \n\n\n\nOrganised by Endpaper Books. Members of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association | Instagram & Facebook @ endpaper_books \n\n\n\nEntry £1 – or download a complimentary ticket via the PBFA website – www.pbfa.org
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/pbfa-dorchester-book-fair/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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