Dear Friends and Supporters of BridLit

We are delighted that tickets are selling well across the Festival and that many events are already sold out – Tanya is hopefully cheering from the sidelines!  Here are a few highlights that have tickets remaining.  From our experience of sitting through every single BridLit event, it’s sometimes worth taking a risk with something you wouldn’t normally go to.  Every year, without fail, we are surprised by the event that is the stand out – and it’s never one we would necessarily have chosen had we been buying tickets!

Published this week with excellent reviews is Andrew O’Hagan’s book On Friendship described by The Times as ‘a wise and witty book of essays…on what makes a good mate’. Exploring his celtic connections with Seamus Heaney to his spiritual links with Edna O’Brien, and covering friendship from childhood to adulthood, the overwhelming tone of the book is joy and an optimism about friendship’s enduring essence. There will also be a chance to ask questions about his acclaimed novel Caledonian Road, following his cancelled event last year.  Opening the Festival on Sunday 2nd November in The Electric Palace at 12 noon.

Flying the flag for fiction at BridLit 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. Tuesday 4th November at 2pm in The Bull Ballroom.

The Bridport Prize is 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 November at 8pm. Her book, The Scientist Who Wasn’t There: A True Story of Staggering Deception, tells the story of her search to discover who her famous father really was and has also had great reviews. This is a special event not listed in the brochure.

Manni Coe, will also be in conversation with Sophy Roberts about his own book, Little Ruins, on Tuesday 4th November at 6.30pm.

Philip Hoare will be at our Colfox venue with his latest work William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love, a stirring, deeply-felt book which brings us back to Blake and shows that art still has the power to create positive change.  Covering art, literature, history and philosophy, this book has wide appeal and we have been hearing great things about his presentation from Charleston, Cambridge and other Literary Festivals.  It is also a chance to support our mission to bring events to young people of the town – the importance of which Adam Teasdale always beautifully highlights in his introductions.  Thursday 6th November at 12 noon.

A final highlight 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 encompassing India, Iraq, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Friday 7th November in the Electric Palace at 4pm.