With ‘Swiftie-mania’ sweeping the country as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour unfolds across the UK, Essex Book Festival is delighted to bring its own Swiftie twist to the party this Sunday, which just happens to be Father’s Day!
Think ‘feathers’ not ‘sequins’, ‘birdsong’ not ‘pop’, and join us for our fabulous array of events at Hylands House in Chelmsford as part of our Restless Brilliance Day: our homage to Chelmsford-born writer J.A. Baker of The Peregrine fame, widely considered to be a literary masterpiece.
Peregrines aside, where do the swifts come in? The festival is thrilled to be welcoming nature writer Mark Cocker, also widely considered to be something of a literary genius, to Chelmsford to talk about his latest book, One Midsummers Day: Swifts and the Story of the Earth.
As for ‘birdsong’ rather than ‘pop’, Andrew Millham, the wonderful nature and folk history writer, whose work has featured in a wide range of national publications including BBC Wildlife, Coast, and The Countryman, will be discussing his book Singing Like Larks, and beyond that the legacy of J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine and what it means to Essex.