View events from previous years: 2009 2010
Dates for your Diary January - December 2011
We begin 2011 with a unique series of events each presented by direct descendants of famous authors
January
Friday January 21st
An Evening With Virginia Nicholson
Great niece of Virginia Woolf , daughter of Quentin Bell and granddaughter of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Virginia talks about her acclaimed novel Among the Bohemians. With her ancestors, all prominent members of The Bloomsbury Group and being all too familiar with the family home of Charleston where she spent most of her school holidays. Virginia describes the life and times.of the artistic community in the early twentieth century with incredible accuracy and insight. Eccentric and flamboyant, they rejected the Victorian life-style, sent their children to co-educational schools, explored free-love and open marriage, were often drunk and broke, sometimes hungry but full of rebellious spirit.
February
Thursday February 17th
(See Blog)
Testament of Youth. The story behind the book
The long awaited evening with politician and author Shirley Williams who talks about her mother, Vera Brittain's novel Testament of Youth. An autobiography of her 1914 -18 wartime experiences as a nurse and her personal agony in losing all the young men she loved. '
'She was haunted by the men she had lost, men she was determined to make immortal through her writing' says Shirley. ' Her memories of the first World War were never far away. As a child I realised her biggest commitment was to her writing, them to my brother, and the to me.'
March
Darwin: A Life in Poems. An evening with author and poet Ruth Padel.
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and great, great, granddaughter of Charles Darwin, Ruth talks and reads from her highly acclaimed bestselling anthology. Venue to be decided.
April
Thackeray vs Dickens at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street
To coincide with Thackeray's bi-centenary, acclaimed Thackeray biographer DJ Taylor and Charles Dickens's great-great granddaughter Lucinda Dickens Hawksley (author of 'Katey') talk about the lives and works of the two authors and the literary flair up of the decade - The Garrick Club Affair of 1858. This dispute lasted most of Thackeray's remaining writing life, reconciled with a handshake at an unplanned meeting just a few months prior to his death in 1864.
May
Meet the Author EM Forster
At the real Howard's End in Hertfordshire. We have been offered a really unique opportunity to host an event at the boyhood home of EM Forster. He lived there from the ages 4 to 14 and it held many happy childhood memories. He openly acknowledged it as the real 'Howard's End' in the book of the same name. The house is now in private ownership and is not open to the public. Our event is held by special invitation.
June
Sunday June 12th
Austen's Women
Celebrated actress Rebecca Vaughan has toured world-wide with her highly acclaimed one woman play. It's always been her dream to perform it at Jane Austen's former home.in Chawton, Rebecca effectively explores the plight of women as they have to constrain their mores in Austen's era, and delightfully modernises the easily deniable woes that women still face today, from love to social etiquette or lack thereof. Join us for this very special occasion.
July
Sunday July 10th from 3:45pm
I’ve taken my fun where I found it – Kipling’s Life and Verse
Rudyard Kipling, author, poet, military enthusiast and friend of Royalty, lived for a short while in London’s Villiers Street, just a stones throw from the aptly named Royal Horseguards Hotel, which is our meeting point for today’s theatrical event. Following a full afternoon tea served in the beautiful River Room, actor Colin Pinney will be presenting his one-man play
‘I’ve taken my fun where I found it – Kipling’s Life and Verse’. Afternoon tea from 4pm. Performance 5.30pm approx.
August
Sunday August 7th at 11:30am
A visit to Knebworth House – the ancestral home of Edward Bulwer Lytton
Statesman and politician, Edward Bulwer Lytton (the first Baron Lytton) also became a celebrated novelist and playwright. ‘The pen is mightier than the sword.’ He lived in some splendour at Knebworth House, which has been the ancestral home of the Lytton family for 19 generations. Today, we have the privilege of meeting the current owner and occupant Henry Lytton Cobbold who will be conducting us on a private tour of the House. Charles Dickens and Churchill were familiar faces at Knebworth.
11.30am tour followed by Sunday lunch in the restaurant. Guests will have unlimited access to the house and gardens.
September
Sunday September 11th
Analyse This - Freud Museum,Hampstead
Sigmund Freud (1856-1839) revolutionised the way we think about ourselves. Freud developed psychoanalysis as a an accepted general psychology. His work and that of his daughter Anna
lives on at their former home in Hampstead which is now a museum. Private visit, talk and conducted tour by historian Anne Hollinger brings us closer to their world and their groundbreaking work in psychoanalysis.
Freud's study is the centrepiece of the house, and among the countless antiquities, his original , now iconic, psychoanalytical couch. Drinks and canapés served in the lovely garden. Optional dinner.
October
Sunday October 9th from 5:15pm
The Scandalous World of RB Sheridan
Actor Tim Heath brings Richard Brinsley Sheridan to life in his biographical romp Sheridaniania. Meet a host of favourite characters from The School for Scandal, The Rivals and other well-known plays. Includes a privately tour
of Polesden Lacey, his beautiful former country residence in Surrey, which houses many artistic treasures and focuses on his happy time there away from the hurly burly of London, where he also shone in parliament and at the
Drury Lane theatre as dramatist and theatre manager. Dinner follows at the luxury Burford Bridge Hotel nearby.
November
Sunday November 6th
The Kings Speech - the story behind it
Anyone who has seen the film will have been riveted by King George V1's voice coach Lionel Logue and how his unconventional methods cured the King of his crippling stammer and ended up his life-long friend We are fortunate to have
his grandson Mark, author of the book of the same name talk to us on this fascinating subject. Evening will be held at the stunning Montague on the Gardens Hotel in Bloomsbury. Drinks reception and dinner.
December
Saturday December 10th
Nicholas Nickleby and Friends
The London Apprentice, which Charles Dickens used to frequent and has a history dating back to Tudor times, provides the perfect venue for this year’s Christmas celebrations. Complete with scrumptious
festive fayre, this quaint riverside pub in Isleworth is said to have been patronised by English royalty, as well as other literary greats. Prepare to be transported into the true spirit of Dickens with
Mansel David’s entertaining one-man adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, ‘Crummles.’ Having trained at the Bristol Old Vic in the 1970s, Mansel David has enjoyed a prominent career on both stage and television
- ‘Crummles’ has been highly acclaimed in the USA, Germany and Canada.
Dates for your Diary January - May 2012
January
Sunday January 22nd
Virginia Woolf - her Life and Art
A new Illustrated Presentation by actress Karin Fernald
A blue plaque testifies to the fact that Virginia Woolf used to live a few doors away from Fitzroy House, which is set in elegant Fitzroy Square in the heart of the Fitzroviais. Frequented by Woolf, Orwell and Dickens,
and a former home of George Bernard Shaw, this eighteenth century house sets the scene for an evening in Virginia's enigmatic world. In her illustrated presentation of the writer’s life and art, actress Karin Fernald
throws fresh light on this passionate author as taken from her letters, diaries and novels. We learn of Woolf’s entertaining frank confessions. For example, ‘I hate buying clothes. In particular, I hate buying suspenders,’
offers refreshing insights into the tribulations of smart London life in the 1920s. Drinks reception and dinner
February
Sunday February 26th
Wallis Simpson: The Story behind ‘That Woman’
A talk by acclaimed biographer Anne Sebba
Twenty-five years after her death, American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, continues to fascinate us as the most glamorous and vilified woman of the last century. ‘That Woman’, as she was referred by the Royal Family, became
a hate figure for allegedly ensnaring a British King. Tonight, Anne Sebba will talk to us about her intriguing biography, That Woman, which throws new light on this complex woman. The background to her research and her
interviews, and how she obtained access to archives and material never before seen. Wallis's love affair with Edward ended with the shy and reluctant George VI being catapulted on to the throne of England.
London. Venue to be confirmed. Drinks reception and dinner.
March
Friday March 9th
Women and the Victorian Underworld.
A fascinating discussion between historian Hallie Rubenhold and biographer Lucinda Dickens Hawksley (Descendant of Charles Dickens)
Author and historian Hallie Rubenhold and Dickens’ biographer Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, both steeped in knowledge of eighteenth and nineteenth century society, take us on a journey through London’s seedy underworld
of pimps and prostitution. We’re immersed into a bawdy world of Georgian rakes and into houses of ill repute, as Hallie and Lucinda explore the grime and extreme poverty of London’s low-life. It’s a topic dear to Hallie’s
heart, having written no less than three novels on the subject, including her latest, Mistress of my Fate. Lucinda, author of the recently published Charles Dickens, to coincide with Dickens’ bi-centenary, happens to be
a direct descendent of Dickens himself, is equally knowledgeable, having written three books covering the Dickensian era and given talks on Victorian society country wide. London. Venue to be confirmed. Drinks reception and dinner.
April
Sunday April 15th
‘I Am’ John Clare: Memories of the peasant poet
‘Reflections from a Madhouse’ and companion piece ‘Dear Johnny’ written and performed by actors Ben Bazell and Patti Holloway.
Rubbing shoulders with the great Romantics, John Clare ‘the peasant poet’ is best remembered for his great love poems. Clare’s brief stardom descended into obscurity and madness as he ended his days in an asylum. In this
dramatic presentation, Bazell tells Clare’s story through his poetry, writings and music. In ‘Dear Johnny…Love Emma’, Patti Holloway, as Eliza Emmerson (Emma), a good friend of Clare, relives some of the 200 odd surviving
letters (never before seen) that she sent to John Clare between 1820 –1838. This provides not only a personal story of a woman facing illness and isolation, but more importantly, another perspective on the character and
nature of Clare himself. Venue to be confirmed. Drinks reception and dinner.
May
Sunday May 13th
Roald Dahl - The man behind the tales
A new biography by Donald Sturrock
Missenden Abbey lies a short distance from the former home of Roald Dahl in Great Missenden, Bucks where Dahl’s ideas were shaped and nurtured into the stuff of unforgettable stories. The setting provides the perfect backdrop
to spark imaginations in an evening devoted to this best-selling children’s author. In Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl, Donald Sturrock, friend and recurrent visitor to the Dahl family home, gives a compelling account of a
man who reserved his joyousness for children and his bolshiness for adults. Drawing from his biography with never-before-seen letters, Sturrock provides the bigger picture of the real man behind these timeless tales. Includes drinks
reception and dinner. The entire event takes place in the beautiful house and grounds of Missenden Abbey Dinner inc.
If you would like to include your children or grandchildren here's a great opportunity to join in the fun at the Roald Dahl Centre nearby! We’ve arranged a special discounted afternoon entrance fee for Living Literature
members and their guests. Children of 10 and over would be welcome back for the evening programme at a specially reduced rate.
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