Walking tour around Hardy’s Casterbridge (Dorchester) and Fordington (Durnover) reciting the poetry and prose of this great writer and discovering the places and buildings that inspired him to write The Mayor of Casterbridge. The walk will be guided by Mark Chutter, Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society.The tour will finish with an ... A Walk Around Dorchester in the Footsteps of Thomas Hardy

Becoming a WriterA masterclass for those who are taking their first steps in writing fiction. If you want to start writing, this session will help you to explore your talent and strengthen your skills.  With the help of a few short exercises you will learn how to develop a fresh, individual voice, create vivid characters, write ... Celia Brayfield – Becoming a Writer

Why do we want to write and what stops us?How does the urge to express ourselves fight with the worry that no-one will care or that we will get in trouble?How do we identify and overcome everything that gets in our way so we can start making work?Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink shows you how ... Cathy Rentzenbrink – Write It All Down

The Winterborne JourneyAngus Waycott is an author and narrator whose work has appeared in the UK, USA and elsewhere. During 15 years in Japan he wrote books about daily life and travel to remote areas, and was the voice of TV news, documentaries and characters in anime and video game productions. He has also worked ... Angus Waycott – How to Self Publish Your Book

An open mic event for local writers and poets.Join us to hear up to twenty poets and writers read and perform their work. To sign up to participate at this event please contact us directly via [email protected] or just come along listen and enjoy a glass of wine.Angie Porter is a local poet, performer and ... Poetry Slam with Angie Porter

Anna Kent has delivered babies in war zones, caring for the most vulnerable women in the most vulnerable places in the world. At twenty-six years old, not yet a fully-trained midwife, she delivered a baby in a tropical storm by the light of a headtorch; the following year, she would be responsible for the female ... Anna Kent – Frontline Midwife

A ravishing coming-of-age story set in the shadow of an oncoming war, The Whalebone Theatre fizzes with invention and compassion as an 'unmarriageable' girl elects to defy convention and find her own path through life.“Maudie, why are all the best characters men?”Maudie closes the book with a clllump. “We haven’t read all the books yet, Miss Cristabel. ... Joanna Quinn – The Whalebone Theatre

Detailing six high profile murder and manslaughter cases over which they have presided, an Old Bailey judge reveals the inner workings of a crown court and how we should all be invested in the judicial process that transforms so many ordinary lives.Every day in the UK lives are suddenly, brutally, wickedly taken away. Victims are ... Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC – Unlawful Killings

The Ben Shephard Memorial LectureAn Infantry Battalion at War, 1939The only way to truly understand what it was like to fight in the Second World War is to listen to the experiences of those men who were there. And often, there was nowhere more dangerous than on the ground.In Footsloggers, Peter Hart reconstructs one infantry ... Peter Hart – Footsloggers

Million-copy bestselling author Damien Lewis has established himself as one of the most popular WWII historians, and this book builds on the success of SAS Great Escapes which has sold more than 40,000 copies in just over a year. SAS Great Escapes II reveals how SAS men crossed deserts, evaded hunter forces and escaped through ... Damien Lewis – SAS Great Escapes II

When we go for a walk, whether in the countryside or city, we pass through landscapes full of natural beauty and curiosities both visible and invisible – but though we might admire the view, or wonder idly about the name of a flower, we rarely have the knowledge to fully engage with what we see. ... John Wright – The Observant Walker