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The Festival: 2nd - 8th November 2025 | Tickets: 01308 424901|bridport.tic@bridport-tc.gov.uk
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The Bull Ballroom

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  • Event 6 | Philip Marsden | Under A Metal Sky

    £12.00

    Philip Marsden - Under A Metal Sky - A Journey Through Minerals, Greed and Wonder

    Philip Marsden traces the dazzling achievements and dark consequences of our ability to extract from the earth – minerals which generated a leap forward in technology, producing amazement and wonder, but also destruction and greed. From his homeland of Cornwall, Marsden travels eastwards into Europe, uncovering stories of potent resources, from iron-rich meteorites to radium, mercury and gold. As he travels, he explores precious seams of ideas, and those who pursued them - from Paracelsus to Marie Curie. an illustrated talk - Introduced by James Crowden Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Monday 3rd November 2025 @ 10.30 am
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Felicity Fairbairn
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  • Event 7 | Paula Byrne | Six Weeks By The Sea

    £12.00

    Paula Byrne - Six Weeks By The Sea - The Summer Jane Austen Fell in Love

    A revelation made by Jane Austen’s sister, ten years after her death, gestures to a brief, intense relationship one Summer holiday. Paula Byrne tells the story of this encounter, dramatising what has been lost to history. Jane’s relationship with two, very different, men brings about unexpected surprises; by Summer’s end, the course of her life will have changed forever. Set against the backdrop of Austen’s family, the tensions of the Napoleonic Wars, and naval and colonial politics, Byrne’s novel is the story of how our most celebrated romance writer first fell in love.

    in conversation with Jo Willett Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Monday 3rd November 2025 @ 12 noon
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
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  • Event 8 | Helen Rappaport | The Rebel Romanov

    £12.00
    Helen Rappaport - The Rebel Romanov - Julie of Saxe-Coburg, the Empress Russia Never Had

    This is the story of Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Queen Victoria’s aunt. Born in 1781 in a small, impoverished duchy of Germany, Julie married into the Russian Imperial Family. This world proved no fairytale. Helen Rappaport recreates the life of this forgotten figure; she sheds new light on the Romanovs, revealing the sacrifices Julie made to further her family’s interests and she investigates the nature of Julie’s relationship with Tsar Alexander I and a world thrown into tumult by the murder of Emperor Paul and the rise of Napoleon.

    in conversation with Celia Brayfield Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Monday 3rd November 2025 @ 2.00 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Barry Mawhinney
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  • Event 9 | Sophie Pavelle | To Have or To Hold

    £12.00

    Sophie Pavelle - To Have or To Hold - Nature’s Hidden Relationships

    Award-winning author Sophie Pavelle explores nature’s symbiotic relationships. Investigating eight relationships trying to survive the climate crises, Pavelle asks: what can nature teach us about living together? Species form and sever alliances everywhere. Whether deep within temperate rainforests or the open ocean, nature thrives on relationships as glamorous as they are grotesque. Low carbon travelling around the British Isles, Sophie presents nature’s frauds, fortunetellers, and misfits.

    in conversation with Sam Rose Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Monday 3rd November 2025 @ 3.30 pm
    Where: Bridport Arts Centre
    Sponsored by:Rob and Alex Appleby
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  • Event 10 | James Fox | Craftland

    £12.00

    James Fox - Craftland - A Journey Through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades

    Historian and broadcaster James Fox, guides us through the lost and endangered crafts that shaped Britain. Always a craft land, for generations, what we made defined our families and communities. Through the stories of often humble-seeming objects of both exquisite beauty and utility, Fox shows us how craft connects us to the land, becoming the material expression of our regional identities and cultures. In encounters with some of the last remaining craftspeople at work today, Craftland reveals a richer and more connected way of living

    an illustrated talk - Introduced by Malcolm Seal Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Monday 3rd November 2025 @ 5.00 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Francesca Radcliffe
    SOLD OUT Details

  • Event 11 | Merlin Hanbury-Tenison | Our Oaken Bones

    £12.00
    Merlin Hanbury-Tenison - Our Oaken Bones - Reviving a Family, a Farm and Britain’s Ancient Rainforests

    Merlin and his wife Lizzie leave London and return to his childhood home, a Cornish hill farm. Reeling from personal grief, they find the farm slipping into debt, whilst discovering that the damaged woods running through the valley are one of the UK’s last fragments of Atlantic temperate rainforest. So begins a fight to save not only themselves and their farm, but also one of the world’s most endangered habitats. Our Oaken Bones is a story about renewal, the astonishing healing power of nature, and our duty to heal it in return.

    an illustrated talk - Introduced by Sam Rose Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Monday 3rd November 2025 @ 6.30 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Georgia Langton
    SOLD OUT Details

  • Event 12 | Roger Morgan-Grenville | The Restless Coast

    £12.00

    Roger Morgan-Grenville - The Restless Coast - A Journey Round the Edge of Britain

    Britain has over 10,000 miles of coastline, steeped in history. The Restless Coast is a moving and beautiful account of a journey around it. Both delightful travelogue and passionate defence, Roger Morgan-Grenville shines a powerful spotlight on the thin line that defines our status as islanders; interwoven are the modern challenges that the shoreline faces, and the extraordinary natural history of the coastline. At once informative, angry and funny, what emerges is a very personal love letter to our island edge.

    an illustrated talk - Introduced by James Crowden

    Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Tuesday 4th November 2025 @ 10.30 am
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Sue Bradbury
    SOLD OUT Details

  • Event 13 | Iain MacGregor | The Hiroshima Men

    £12.00

    Iain MacGregor - The Hiroshima Men - The Quest to Build the Atomic Bomb and the Fateful Decision to Use it

    Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima attack comes a riveting history based on new interviews and research. Built in top secret by the US, the weapon killed tens of thousands. Iain MacGregor’s vivid narrative recounts the decade-long journey toward this moment that changed the world. It charts the race through several key characters: from Robert Oppenheimer, to the mayor of Hiroshima, Senkichi Awaya, to writer John Hersey. Both thrilling and nuanced, Iain MacGregor writes a deeply human account of the bombing’s meaning and aftermath. an illustrated talk - Introduced by John Dean Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Tuesday 4th November 2025 @ 12 noon
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Richard and Liz Strang
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  • Event 14 | Clare Leslie Hall | Broken Country

    £12.00

    Clare Leslie Hall - Broken Country - A Novel

    A moving account of love, loss and family, Clare Leslie Hall’s novel follows seventeen year old Beth when she first meets Gabriel, over a heady, intense Summer. When Gabriel leaves, it is Frank who picks up the pieces. Together they build a home, and watching her husband and son riding a tractor across their farm, Beth feels sure that this was the life she was supposed to lead. However, when Gabriel returns, all Beth’s certainty crumbles - even after ten years, their connection is instant. A love story with the pulse of a thriller, Broken Country is a heart-pounding novel of impossible choices and devastating consequences. in conversation with Lucy Brazier Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Tuesday 4th November 2025 @ 2 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
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  • Event 15 | Bijan Omrani | God is an Englishman

    £12.00

    Bijan Omrani - God is an Englishman - Christianity and the Creation of England

    Christianity in England is in decline and Bijan Omrani argues that this is the most momentous change to occur in English history. He shows how a religion that has been part of our story for over 1700 years was instrumental in the creation and development of the nation. He demonstrates its profound cultural impact, from architecture and literature to our very landscape and the structure of our everyday life and language. Its enormous influence, he contends, shouldn’t be lightly abandoned.

    in conversation with James Crowden Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Tuesday 4th November 2025 @ 3.30 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Fenella Wynford
    SOLD OUT Details

  • Event 16 | Sue Roe | Hidden Portraits

    £12.00
    Sue Roe - Hidden Portraits - The Untold Stories of Six Women Who Loved Picasso Sue Roe examines the individual stories of the women with whom Pablo Picasso shared his life. These six extraordinary women were instrumental in Picasso’s career, yet long dismissed as passive models or muses. Hidden Portraits delves deeply into the women’s experiences, to tell the true story of Picasso’s women from their point of view. This enthralling book spans seventy years, from Bohemian Montmartre to glittering 1920s French Riviera, through Paris under Nazi occupation and beyond - the result is a riveting, atmospheric read. in conversation with Rene Wyndham It is with much sadness that we acknowledge the death of Hugh Dunford-Wood, who was going to be in conversation with Sue Roe, and chair this event.  Hugh was a good friend to the Festival and we know he would have brought all his colour, humour and deep knowledge of art to this event. He will be much missed and we run this event in his memory. Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Tuesday 4th November 2025 @ 5.00 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    SOLD OUT Details

  • Event 17 | Manni Coe | Little Ruins

    £12.00

    Manni Coe - Little Ruins - Rebuilding a Life

    Beginning a new chapter, Manni Coe and his partner buy a crumbling but beautiful old farmstead tucked into a remote valley in Andalusia. It’s perfect for their unconventional family of three: Jack, Manni and his youngest brother, Reuben who has Down Syndrome. Despite the idyllic surroundings, Manni starts to realise that the scars from his childhood might not have healed at all, and a single and terrible event threatens everything the three of them have spent so long building together. Little Ruins is a heart-mending exploration of human connection, nature’s gifts and the power of love in all its forms.

    in conversation with Sophy Roberts Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Tuesday 4th November 2025 @ 6.30 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballrooom
    BUY TICKETS Details

  • Event 19 | Colin Heber-Percy | Lost in the Forest

    £12.00

    Colin Heber-Percy - Lost in the Forest - Notes on Not Belonging from the English Countryside

    This book is a hymn to getting lost. Drawing on his experience as a troubled schoolboy, a burnt-out screenwriter, and an ‘awkward’ Church of England priest, Colin Heber-Percy reflects on the value of not belonging. There is reassurance and safety in knowing who we are and where we fit in, but at significant moments in our lives – a new job, new school or just in the ruts of everyday life – we can experience a sense of dislocation, of being lost in a forest. Rather than fearing the forest, Colin discovers great value and creativity there. He encourages us to relish the liberation of losing our way. Blending anecdotes from parish life, with philosophy, literature and tales from his local Savernake Forest, Colin argues that there is an overlooked richness to be found outside the boundary lines.

    in conversation with Jon Woolcott

    Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Wednesday 5th November 2024 @ 10.30 am
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Richard and Emily Cave
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  • Event 20 | Marian Boswall | The Kindest Garden

    £12.00

    Marian Boswall - The Kindest Garden - A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening

    Leading landscape designer Marian Boswall has worked on some of the UK’s most ambitious and innovative regenerative landscape projects, and now she shares her wisdom in this guide. Regenerative gardening is about making an active contribution to the health of the planet: nurturing and replenishing biodiversity and ourselves through our gardens. Drawing on lessons from forward-thinking farmers, foresters, rewilders and nature itself, The Kindest Garden shows you how to make a garden that is both a beautiful sanctuary and a place where nature can thrive. A beautifully-written text, with clear explanations and practical takeaways - Boswall teaches how to apply in-depth practical knowledge, and plan planting to nourish the soil, yourself and others.

    an illustrated talk - Introduced by Deirdre Coates

    Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Wednesday 5th November 2025 @ 12 noon
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Allan and Rachel James
    SOLD OUT Details

  • Event 21 | Frances Wilson | Electric Spark

    £12.00

    Frances Wilson - Electric Spark - The Enigma of Muriel Spark

    From leading biographer and critic Frances Wilson comes a revealing, exhilarating, and landmark new look at Muriel Spark. Often described as ‘puzzling’, her books deal in word games, tricks and ciphers; her life was composed of weird accidents and strange coincidences. Using a wealth of archival materials, and following the clues, riddles, and instructions Spark planted in her writing, Frances Wilson aims to piece together this puzzle. We learn from her early years how her experiences became the material of her art.

    in conversation with Daisy Goodwin

    Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Wednesday 5th November 2025 @ 2.00 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Deirdre and Howard Coates
    BUY TICKETS Details

  • Event 22 | Andrew Blick | Could It Happen Here?

    £12.00

    Andrew Blick - Could It Happen Here? - The Day a Prime Minister Refuses to Resign

    Does the UK’s constitution sufficiently protect our democracy from a rogue prime minister? With the resurgence of the far Right across Europe and some of the rhetoric of the 2024 General Election, Andrew Blick explores the possible consequences of a British prime minister refusing to leave office. Mapping out the processes which might occur after such an eventuality, the UK’s ‘unwritten’ constitution comes under the microscope. Could It Happen Here? provides a crucial appraisal, advocating for the protection of our parliamentary democracy.

    in conversation with Paul Lashmar

    Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Wednesday 5th November 2025 @ 3.30pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    SOLD OUT Details

  • Event 23 | Marina Warner | Sanctuary

    £12.00

    Marina Warner - Sanctuary

    Sanctuary is an ancient right. In the classical world, it offered immunity to fugitives from justice; in medieval Europe it extended a reprieve to all who sought it in a church or holy site. But what does sanctuary mean in today’s world? With the growth of nationalism and individualism, the concept has drifted away from a place of openness and welcome towards privacy: home as sanctuaries against strangers, migrants, incomers. Marina Warner navigates the principles that underpin the tradition of sanctuary and argues that storytelling offers a salve, a route to mutual understanding.

    in conversation with Prue Keely Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Wednesday 5th November 2025 @ 5.00 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Harold Carter and Tess Silkstone
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  • CANCELLED | Event 24 | Horatio Clare | We Came By Sea

    £12.00

    CANCELLED - Horatio Clare - We Came By Sea - Stories of a Greater Britain

    Written with his trademark compassion and humanity, Horatio Clare’s We Came by Sea is an untold story of the small boats crisis - a story which shows the best of us. It is the story of the volunteers who help thousands of refugees in Calais, of the lifeboat crews mounting one of the great search and rescue operations of all time, of an unrecognised, uncelebrated, all but unknown, Britain, giving its all to help the vulnerable and desperate. This journey through an unexamined nation, a nation which is as truly great and good as the people in the dinghies believe Britain to be, is not the story we have been told, but it is a true story.

    in conversation with Sophy Roberts

    Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Wednesday 5th November 2025 @ 6.30 pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Sponsored by: Nick and Linda Child | Sue and David Orr
    CANCELLED Details

  • Event 25 | Anna Whitwham | Soft Tissue Damage

    £40.00

    Anna Whitwham - Soft Tissue Damage - Writing Workshop

    Join author Anna Whitwham for a writing workshop looking at how memory works in the art of writing memoir. Anna, who teaches Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, shares her insights into the processes of writing memoir, based on her own experience of writing Soft Tissue Damage, which explores the human body’s capacity for strength and vulnerability, as she trains as a boxer alongside the grief of losing her mother to cancer. At 8pm, anyone is welcome to come along to the Human Nature sofa to hear local artist Vanessa Cooper talk to Anna about the book and enjoy an evening of conversation with pop up bar.

    followed by a conversation with Vanessa Cooper Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901
    When: Wednesday 5th November 2025 @ 6.00 - 8.00pm (workshop), 8.00pm Q&A
    Where: Human Nature, East Street
    BUY TICKETS Details

  • Special Event | Paul Lashmar | Drax of Drax Hall

    £12.00
    Paul Lashmar - Drax of Drax Hall - How One British Family Got Rich (and Stayed Rich) from Sugar and Slavery The Dorset based Drax family are unique in that they are the only colonising family to still own a plantation in the West Indies. As global movements for racial justice continue to challenge the legacies of empire, Drax of Drax Hall offers a vital case study of how Britain’s colonial wealth survives—and thrives—in plain sight. From the violent origins of British colonialism in the Caribbean to the quiet entrenchment of inherited privilege in the English countryside, this is a history that lays bare the enduring legacies of empire—and the families who still profit from them. Through meticulous research and gripping storytelling, Paul Lashmar exposes the deep roots of inequality, the persistence of elite privilege, and the unfinished business of reparations.  Drax of Drax Hall tells the full, unflinching story of the ancestors that pioneered the British sugar industry and created the blueprint for slave-based plantation economies. In this final event in the BridLit calendar 2025, local journalist Paul Lashmar will be in conversation with Alan Smith, First Estates Commissioner of the Church of England about his recently published book Drax of Drax Hall.  The event will be chaired by David Olusoga, who wrote the foreword to the book. in conversation with Alan Smith and chaired by David Olusoga David will be in the Electric Palace in the evening for his own event and book signing. Become a friend
    When: Friday 12th December 2025 @ 4.30pm
    Where: The Bull Ballroom
    Buy Ticket £12 Details
The Bridport Literary Festival © Copyright 2004 - 2025
Charity No: 1147075 | All Rights Reserved | Designed by BRACED
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