ONE of the world’s favourite authors, Alexander McCall Smith, the man behind The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, is coming to Bridport on Thursday 23rd October, as a curtain-raiser event for this year’s Bridport Literature Festival, which runs from 2nd to 8th November.
The best-selling author, who was knighted last year for services to literature, will be at the Electric Palace, talking to local writer Nikki May, who won the Comedy Women in Print Prize new voice award for her first novel, Wahala. His much-loved African series, set in Botswana and featuring the detective Mma Ramotswe, has now sold more than 20 million copies in the English language alone. After the investiture ceremony at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, he said Mma Ramotswe would be ‘very pleased’ because she liked jewellery and decorations.
Of course, the festival won’t be the same without its founder-director Tanya Bruce-Lockhart, who died suddenly and unexpectedly earlier this year. But there is a star-studded line-up that reflects Tanya’s knowledge and wide-ranging interests.
Chairman of Trustees Stuart Rock said it would be “a poignant BridLit after the unexpected and profoundly sad loss of our festival director, Tanya Bruce-Lockhart, earlier this year. Her verve, energy, exacting standards and wicked sense of humour are greatly missed by us all.”
But, he said, the programme was “very much Tanya’s,” reflecting her belief that “with books and reading matter, no one should feel excluded.”
Now the final countdown is on for the festival, and many events are already sold out but there are still tickets for some exciting talks, beginning with Andrew O’Hagan (pictured left), talking about his critically acclaimed On Friendship, on Sunday 2nd November in The Electric Palace at noon and ending with Martin Clones, also at the EP, on Sunday 8th at 6pm, talking about his book, Meetings With Remarkable Animals.
Andrew O’Hagan’s book explores his Celtic connections with Seamus Heaney and his spiritual links with Edna O’Brien, covering friendship from childhood to adulthood, with a real sense of joy and an optimism about friendship’s enduring essence.
Flying the flag for fiction is Clare Leslie Hall’s love story which has been in the New York Times best seller list for over six months. Following its selection as a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub novel, the film rights have been picked up by Sony. Clare will be in conversation with local writer Lucy Brazier on Tuesday 4th at 2pm in The Bull Ballroom.
The Bridport Prize is considered one of the most prestigious prizes in the literary world. Joanne Briggs, winner of its inaugural memoir writing competition, will be in conversation with Bridport Prize judge Manni Coe on Monday 3rd. Her book, The Scientist Who Wasn’t There: A True Story of Staggering Deception, describes her search to discover who her famous father really was.
Philip Hoare will be at Sir John Colfox School on Thursday 6th with his latest work William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love, a deeply-felt book which demonstrates how art still has the power to create positive change. Exploring the life of a famous and remarkable man, it explores aspects of art, literature, history and philosophy.
A final highlight, on Friday 7th is Sophy Roberts’ Sunday Times bestseller, A Training School for Elephants. Her illustrated talk — featuring a short film and images by the award-winning photographer Michael Turek — will appeal to anyone with a passion for travel, history and how we treat animals, as she follows a bizarre 19th-century journey through India, Iraq, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.