Sunday 8 November Archives - Bridport Literary Festival

Event 10 | Sarah O’Connor | We Are Not Machines

£12.00

Sarah O'Connor - We Are Not Machines - The Fight for the Future of Work

We’re told that a tsunami of change is sweeping the economy as AI replaces humans in the workplace. But when Sarah O’Connor ventured into the front line of this new industrial revolution, she found that employees weren’t generally losing their jobs to machines, they were losing their humanity. Work was becoming lonelier, less creative and highly controlled. We were at risk of turning ourselves into robots. Drawing on stories from 19thcentury English cotton mills to 21st-century Swedish mines, the prize-winning Financial Times journalist tackles one of our age’s most important questions: how can we shape technology before it shapes us? She talks to Boris Starling.

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 10.00 am

Where: Bull Ballroom

Sponsored by: Samantha Knights

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Event 11 | Charlotte Higgins | Ukrainian Lessons

£12.00

Charlotte Higgins - Ukrainian Lessons - Art in a Time of War
Guardian chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins never imagined reporting on a war. In autumn 2022, she travelled to a book festival in Ukraine to discover how artists were reflecting the conflict in their work. It would change her life. During a war that threatens the very existence of Ukrainian culture, art has become literally a matter of life and death. Based on three years of reporting, Ukrainian Lessons is an urgent and unforgettable book about what artists are prepared to risk – and why culture is worth fighting for. In conversation with the writer Philip Ardagh. “The most beautifully written, moving book I can ever remember readingˮ, Philippa Perry.

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 11.30 am

Where: Bull Ballroom

Sponsored by: Carol Hammick & Adam Tindall

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Event 12 | James Braxton | Antiques Ramble 2

£14.00

James Braxton - Antiques Ramble 2
Join TV antiques expert and author James Braxton for a walking tour around Bridport’s celebrated vintage market and antiques shops. Best known for BBC flagship shows like Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip, Braxton is a seasoned auctioneer and author of antiquarian mystery fiction, including Barty: A Tale of a Stolen Bronze. With over forty years of experience in the antiques trade, Braxton brings a practised eye for provenance, history, and craftsmanship to all he finds. Will he spot a genuine bargain along the way, or merely uncover the fascinating histories hidden behind everyday objects? Meet outside The Woodman Pub, 61 South Street

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 12noon

Where: The Woodman

SOLD OUT Details
Event 13 | Robert Barrington | Corrupted Kingdom

£14.00

Robert Barrington - Corrupted Kingdom - Britain’s Disappearing Integrity – And How We Can Get It Back
Britain has long prided itself on fairness, but is that reputation still deserved? Robert Barrington believes not: the UK is losing the battle against grift. In Corrupted Kingdom, the world-leading corruption expert makes the case that complacency has undermined our national institutions, from parliament and the NHS to the monarchy and the police. Barrington traces this decline back to the end of empire and identifies steps we might take to restore trust. We need to act now, he argues, to stop the rot. Professor Barrington is joined by the broadcaster Gavin Esler, author of Britain Is Better Than This.

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 1.00 pm

Where: Bridport Arts Centre

Sponsored by: Ann Thimont

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Event 14 | Lauren Working | A Golden World

£12.00

Lauren Working - A Golden World - How the Americas Transformed Tudor and Stuart England
From rumours of Amazonian gold to silver-veined mountains, dreams of enormous wealth fuelled Tudor imperial fantasies. But how did the peoples of the Americas really influence English art, fashion and literature – and at what cost? In A Golden World, historian Lauren Working shows how objects from across the Atlantic – such as tobacco leaves strewn in playhouses and courtly pearls – became central to 16thcentury culture. Uncovering stories of Raleigh’s privateers and the indigenous craftsmanship that fed Renaissance splendour, Working presents a glittering new history of Tudor ambition. She talks to historian Eleanor Barraclough.

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 1.00 pm

Where: Bull Ballroom

Sponsor: Tina Graham

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Event 15 | Matthew Sweet | The Great Dictator

£16.50

Matthew Sweet - The Great Dictator - A Life of Barbara Cartland

Penniless virgins. Reckless dukes. Flappers. Airmen. Suffragettes. Barbara Cartland made them all fall in love. She wrote 723 books without touching a typewriter: instead she reclined on her sofa with a Pekinese on her lap, and romantic fiction billowed out of her. Making use of unprecedented access to Cartland’s archives, broadcaster Matthew Sweet’s wickedly funny biography reveals the woman behind the mascara. After 49 proposals, she chose the wrong man; what followed was a life stranger than any novel, including terrorist plots, seances, plagiarism battles, and even a surprise turn as a campaigner for Romany rights. Chaired by Vivian French.

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 2.30 pm

Where: Electric Palace

Sponsored by: Susan Bradbury

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Event 16 | Lachlan Goudie | The Secrets of Painting

£16.50

Lachlan Goudie - The Secrets of Painting - The Hidden Art of the Masterpiece from Prehistory to Today How do you paint a masterpiece? Artist and broadcaster Lachlan Goudie returns to Bridport to explore how 20 of the greatest paintings in human history were created, from a blank surface to the finishing brushstroke. From 36,000-year-old cave paintings to the digital art of David Hockney, he interrogates each artist’s individual methods and techniques. And there’s a bigger picture: this is the story of how the evolution of painting materials – from spit, bone marrow and blood to digital image-making – has changed the course of human creativity. “Stupendous … a wonderful gift to the world of art loversˮ Simon Schama.

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 4.30 pm

Where: Electric Palace

Sponsor: Buffy Sacher

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Event 17 | Thomas Asbridge | The Black Death

£14.00

Thomas Asbridge - The Black Death - A Global History

The Black Death is remembered as one of Europe’s great catastrophes, but it swept far beyond the continent’s borders, transforming societies from Cairo to Central Asia. Thomas Asbridge reveals the pandemic’s forgotten history, showing how one disease tragically affected empires, religions and millions of everyday lives. One of our leading medieval historians and the mind behind landmark BBC TV series, The Crusades, brings to life the darkest of eras. Full of fresh research and evocative parallels to our own times, his new book illuminates the human capacity for compassion and resilience in the face of unimaginable crises.

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 6.00 pm

Where: Bull Ballrooom

Sponsored by:Paul & Sybella Zisman

SOLD OUT Details
Event 18 | Bank of Dreams and Nightmares | Resonate

£8.00

Bank of Dreams and Nightmares - Resonate

Resonate is a free creative writing and spoken word project for young people aged 15–19 whose voices might not normally be heard. Over two workshop weekends this autumn, participants work with poet Cecilia Knapp to explore identity and what it means to be them, finding language for stories they’ve rarely had the chance to tell. Cecilia also hosts this culminating event, where the group reads and performs the work they’ve created together. As one past participant put it, describing the moment she first read her work aloud: “I felt real pride and unfiltered joy for the first time in about 3 years.ˮ The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares is a Bridport-based charity that supports creative writing for young people 7–18.
FREE for under 19s

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 7 pm

Where: Bridport Arts Centre

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