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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261008T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261008T200000
DTSTAMP:20261006T111154Z
CREATED:20260610T114255Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261006T111154Z
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SUMMARY:The Shapeshifter's Daughter
DESCRIPTION:Sally Magnusson in conversation with Chris Penhall\nThe Shapeshifter’s Daughter\nThursday 08 October 2026\, 7.00pm\nRayleigh Library\, 132/4 High Street\, Rayleigh\, SS6 7BX\n\nCelebrate the joy of reclaiming our stories with best-selling author\, journalist and broadcaster Sally Magnusson. The Shapeshifter’s Daughter is a spellbinding feminist retelling of the Norse myth of Hel\, the Goddess of the Underworld\, set in the magical landscape of Orkney. \n\n\nTickets: £10 / £8 concessions (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948\n\n\n\nEvent Information\n💬 The event will include an audience Q&A session.\n📚 Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the night.\n🖊️ After the event there will be an opportunity to get the book signed by the author.\n🪑 Seats are unallocated. \n\n  \n** Note: This event was originally booked for Thursday 18 June. Now rescheduled to Thursday 08 October.** \n  \n\n\n\n\nSally Magnusson\n\n\nPhoto of Sally Magnusson © Derek Prescott \n\n  \n\nBestselling author\, journalist and broadcaster Sally Magnusson has written several books for adults and children\, most recently her Sunday Times bestseller Where Memories Go (2014) about her mother’s dementia\, The Sealwoman’s Gift (2018)\, her acclaimed debut novel\, The Ninth Child (2020) and Music in the Dark (2022). Sally lives outside Glasgow. \n\n\n\nThe Shapeshifter’s Daughter\n \n\n  \nSelected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club Autumn Season 2025. \nThe spellbinding feminist retelling of the Norse myth of Hel\, the Goddess of the Underworld\, set in the magical landscape of Orkney\, from the Sunday Times bestselling author Sally Magnusson. \nNothing\, on earth or below it\, freezes faster than the worthless heart. \nBefore she was a hideous monster\, the queen of the underworld was simply Hel. But cast as a girl out of lofty Asgard\, realm of the gods\, by Odin the Allfather\, Hel’s fate as the terrible goddess of death is sealed. Half beauty\, half crone\, she has reigned for aeons in the starless darkness of Niflheim\, grimly welcoming the most pitiful of death’s travellers to her ice-locked prison. Until one day a memory shifts\, and she is forced to seek out the sun in Midgard\, where humans have made their home. \nFaced with a terminal cancer diagnosis\, Helen Firth makes the impulsive decision to return to Orkney after forty years to make peace with her past. Under the wintering solstice sun\, she reconnects with the ungainly but affable Thorfinn Coffin\, who helps her address the real reason she has returned to the islands to die. \nAs Helen draws closer to death and ever closer to Thorfinn\, Hel in turn is intrigued by Helen. She\, too\, has a past to confront and a lesson to learn: that perhaps who she thinks she is isn’t who she is really meant to be. \nA powerful reimagining of the Norse myth of Hel\, The Shapeshifter’s Daughter celebrates the joy of reclaiming our stories. \n  \nOrder a hardback copy of the book from bookshop.org. \nPre-order a paperback copy of the book from bookshop.org – released 04 June 2026. \n  \nChris Penhall\n \nSally Magnusson will be in conversation with Chris Penhall. \nChris Penhall writes uplifting stories set in gorgeous places. \nA member of The Society of Authors and the Romantic Novelists Association\, she has written six books\, the first of which\, The House That Alice Built won the Choc-Lit Search for a Star Competition in 2019. She is currently working on her 7th book. \nA freelance radio and podcast producer\, Chris worked for BBC Essex for many years and was an Associate Producer for the Richard and Judy Podcast for Jibba Jabba Pods for 9 years. She presents and produces a community radio show called Books and Tunes\, a podcast called Chris and Lizzie’s Random Bookish Chats with fellow author Lizzie Chantree\, and also runs writing workshops. \nYou can find more information about her on her website www.chrispenhall.co.uk\nInstagram: christinepenhall\nor Facebook as ChrisPenhallWriter\nhttps://linktr.ee/chrispenhall \n \n  \n \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-shapeshifters-daughter-2/
LOCATION:Rayleigh Library\, 132-134 High Street\, Rayleigh\, SS6 7BX
CATEGORIES:Fiction,ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T120000
DTSTAMP:20260519T145418Z
CREATED:20260519T145418Z
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SUMMARY:The Cocoa Bookclub - Meet the Author: Emma van Straaten
DESCRIPTION:The Cocoa Bookclub\nMeet the Author: Emma van Straaten\, This Immaculate Body\nSunday 28 June\, 10.30am\nVenue: Dice & a Slice\, 37 Queen St\, Colchester\, CO1 2PQ (wheelchair accessible)\nThe Cocoa Bookclub is Red Lion Books’ under 30s Book Club which meet on the last Sunday of the month at 10.30am.  They gather at a local independent café with a drink and a snack (included in the book club price) where everyone discusses their opinion of the book. Each member receives an individual book club question regarding the book\, to ponder on and discuss at the meeting. \nAt this special Book Club event as part of Essex Book Festival\, attendees can meet the author of this month’s book – Emma van Straaten\, This Immaculate Body. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed. \nPlease note as this is a Book Club event there is an assumption that the audience has read the book and this event may include spoilers for the book. \nTickets: £16.99 includes a drink\, snack\, the book and a spot in the book club.\nBook tickets at redlionbooks.co.uk \nIf you would like more information about The Cocoa Book Club\, visit Red Lion Books\, DM The Cocoa Bookclub @cocoabookclub or email us@redlionbooks.co.uk for more information. \n  \n  \nThis Immaculate Body by Emma van Straaten\n \nCan you climb inside a stranger’s life and make him love you? \nAlice has been cleaning Tom’s flat every Wednesday for a year. With every smudge wiped from his coffee cup\, every crease smoothed out in his bed\, every multivitamin counted from the jar\, Alice spirals deeper into infatuation. But as Alice prepares for the moment when they will finally meet face-to-face\, she discovers that love might not be the cure she thought it was. \nThis Immaculate Body is a story of obsession\, of the way women view the world and the ways that the world views them. As Alice frantically tries to cling to an imagined future with Tom\, the line between fantasy and reality become ever more blurred\, putting everything she has dreamed of at risk. \n  \nEmma van Straaten\n \nEmma van Straaten is a writer of British-Mauritian heritage living in London with her husband and two daughters. In 2021\, days after her first daughter was born\, she won the Discoveries Prize (run by the Women’s Prize Trust in partnership with Curtis Brown and Curtis Brown Creative) and has been writing whenever she can\, ever since. Her debut novel\, This Immaculate Body (also published as Creep in the USA) was published in February 2025. She is currently working on her second novel. \n  \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-cocoa-bookclub-meet-the-author-emma-van-straaten/
LOCATION:Dice and a Slice\, 37 Queen Street\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO1 2PQ\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T133000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T143000
DTSTAMP:20260327T191411Z
CREATED:20260326T090023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260327T191411Z
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SUMMARY:The Great Deception
DESCRIPTION:Syd Moore\nThe Great Deception\nSaturday 27 June 2026\, 1.30pm\nHarlow Museum & Walled Gardens\, Muskham Road\, Harlow\, CM20 2LF\nJoin us in the enchanted Harlow Museum’s Walled Garden and enter a world of mystery\, espionage and illusion with author Syd Moore as she discusses the second in her thrilling new series about Britain’s secret wartime history. \nThe Great Deception\, set in Iceland\, is the second in the thrilling WW2 series and explores deceiving occultists\, age-old magic and a war-torn world. \nJoin us at Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens for a day of storytelling\, author events and poetry. \nSyd Moore will also be leading a Writing the Archive Workshop at Harlow Museum earlier in the day. \nTickets: £10 / £8 concessions (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \nPart of our Harlow weekend – Essex Book Festival is delighted to be heading to Harlow for a weekend of writing workshops\, author and artist talks\, family games\, and poetry. Find out more at essexbookfestival.org.uk/harlow-weekend/. \n\n\nEvent Information\n💬 The event will include an audience Q&A session.\n📚 Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the day.\n🖊️ After the event there will be an opportunity to get the book signed by the author.\n🪑 Seats are unallocated.\n📸 We will be filming and taking photos at this event. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nSyd Moore\n\nPhoto of Syd Moore © JMoore photos \n\n\n \nSyd Moore has been a Royal Literary Fund fellow and is currently working with them to pioneer ‘Reading Round’ courses in hospices. Her novel The Witching Hour was a Top Twenty bestselling horror title of 2024. She was the first Author in Residence for Essex Libraries and is best known for her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries\, which was shortlisted for the Good Reader Holmes and Watson Award in 2018 and 2019. She has been shortlisted twice for a CWA dagger for her short stories. Syd founded the Essex Girls’ Liberation Front and successfully removed the term ‘Essex girl’ from the Oxford dictionary in 2020. She lives in Essex. \n\n\n\nThe Great Deception\n\n\nEnter a world of mystery\, espionage and illusion. \nMay 1940. As the Nazis overrun Denmark\, Britain counters by invading Iceland. Secret agent Daphne Devine is dropped into occupied territory to assess a clairvoyant in Reykjavik\, who may be passing information to the enemy. Alone\, Daphne must navigate her way through this strange\, frozen landscape\, where the Allies aren’t always welcomed with open arms. \nWhen a new lead takes her North into Strandir\, the land of sorcerers\, she encounters fresh peril and discovers that now she\, the hunter\, has become the hunted. Daphne must use all her Secret Service training to outwit the enemy agents in her midst. \nTwice shortlisted for a CWA dagger\, Syd Moore returns with a thrilling new series\, exploring Britain’s secret wartime history. \n\nPraise for The Grand Illusion\n\n\n‘Vivid and thoroughly entertaining… More\, please.’\n– Guardian\n\n\n\n‘A breathtaking historical thriller… Magical\, lyrical\, weird\, suspenseful\, dark and totally\, utterly original.’\n– Erin Kelly \, author of The Skeleton Key\n\n\n\nOrder a copy of the book from bookshop.org.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-great-deception/
LOCATION:Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens\, Muskham Road\, Harlow\, Essex\, CM20 2LF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T200000
DTSTAMP:20260326T091918Z
CREATED:20260326T090004Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260326T091918Z
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SUMMARY:DLS Lecture – The Murder Mystery
DESCRIPTION:Sophie Hannah\nDLS Lecture – The Murder Mystery\nThursday 25 June 2026\, 7.00pm\nWitham Library\, 18 Newland Street\, Witham\, Essex\, CM8 2AQ\nThis year’s DLS Lecture marks the 50th anniversary of the Dorothy L Sayers Society. \nBest-selling author Sophie Hannah will discuss the ever-popular murder mystery as a genre with reference to Sayers’ first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery\, Whose Body? and will also talk about her latest book Work Experience\, a new collection of maverick poems plus two murder mystery plays\, The Mystery of Mr. E and Work Experience. \n\nTickets: £10 / £8 concessions (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n\nEvent Information\n💬 The event will include an audience Q&A session.\n📚 Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the day.\n🖊️ After the event there will be an opportunity to get the book signed by the author.\n🪑 Seats are unallocated.\n📸 We will be filming and taking photos at this event. \n  \n\n\n\n\n\nSophie Hannah\n\n\nSophie Hannah is a Sunday Times\, New York Times and Amazon Kindle UK No. 1 bestselling writer of crime fiction and poetry\, published in forty-nine languages and fifty-one territories. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Her murder mystery musical\, The Mystery of Mr E\, was released as a feature film in 2023\, directed by Martyn Tott. In 2023\, Sophie won the Crime Writers Association’s Dagger in the Library Award for her body of work\, and in 2013 her thriller The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the National Book Awards. Sophie’s poetry has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE\, A Level and degree level across the UK. \nIn 2018\, she created the How to Hold a Grudge podcast\, based on her self-help book of the same name. More recently\, she has published two other self-help books: Happiness: A Mystery\, and her latest\, The Double Best Method\, which was an Amazon UK Top Ten best-seller and is a guide to making the best possible decisions. \nSophie is the founder and coach at Dream Author Coaching\, a coaching programme for writers and anyone who wants to write. She lives with her husband\, children and dog in Cambridge\, where she is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College. \n \n\nWork Experience: New Poems and Two Plays\n\n\nBestselling author Sophie Hannah’s new collection combines maverick\, irreverent poems that rhyme and scan and will make you laugh aloud\, together with the librettos of her two musicals whose rebellious protagonist is every bit as mischievous and independent-minded as his creator. \nPre-order a copy of the book from bookshop.org – released 27 May 2026
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/dls-lecture-the-murder-mystery/
LOCATION:Witham Library\, 18 Newland Street\, Witham\, CM8 2AQ
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T200000
DTSTAMP:20260623T052515Z
CREATED:20260326T090051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T052515Z
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SUMMARY:Ever Land - SOLD OUT
DESCRIPTION:Amy Abdelnoor in conversation with Rachel Holmes\nEver Land\nThursday 25 June 2026\, 7.00pm – 8.00pm\nHot Box\, 28\, 29 Viaduct Rd\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM1 1TS\nDebut novelist Amy Abdelnoor lived and worked in the West Bank and in refugee camps in Lebanon which inspired Ever Land\, a powerful story set in 2000s Palestine. A tale of belonging and identity\, of devastation and displacement and – ultimately – of the enduring universality of humanity and love. \nAmy will be in conversation with Rachel Holmes\, author of Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel. \nTickets: £11 (includes £1 booking fee) \nBox Office: hotboxlive.co.uk \n  \nEvent Information\n💬 The event will include an audience Q&A session.\n📚 Copies of the book will be available to buy from Red Lion Books on the night.\n🖊️ After the event there will be an opportunity to get the book signed by the author.\n🍷 The bar will be open serving refreshments\n🪑 Seats are unallocated.\n𖣘 The venue is air conditioned\n♿ The venue has step free access throughout and an accessible toilet. hotboxlive.co.uk/accessibility\n📸 We will be filming and taking photos at this event. Please let a member of the team know if you do not want to be photographed / filmed \n  \n  \n\nAmy Abdelnoor\nPhoto of Amy Abdelnoor Author © Michelle Grant \nAmy Abdelnoor is a British Arab writer and English teacher. She studied English and Arabic at the University of Cambridge. She lived and worked in the West Bank and in refugee camps in Lebanon in her early twenties. These experiences inspired Ever Land\, her debut novel\, an early iteration of which was shortlisted for the 2023 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. She is married with three children. \nEver Land\n \nA gripping and powerful story of connection and displacement set in 2000s Palestine. \nIt is the year 2000 when Dinah\, a Jewish teenager from London\, arrives in Israel with her family. Still reeling from the death of her beloved dad\, the idea of having to start all over again daunts her. Dinah isn’t quite sure what to make of this seemingly pristine place: her new life seems soulless and suffocating. \nAnother teenager\, Safa\, watches Dinah settle in. A fourteen-year-old Palestinian who was shot and killed decades ago in the Six Day War\, Safa is caught in a limbo which she calls the ‘In-Between’. She is unable to fully pass on without knowing what happened to her younger sister\, Nur\, who is still alive somewhere. Thirty-three years after her death\, the possibility of finding her is suddenly within reach – but she needs Dinah to help her. \nAlternating between past and present\, and between Safa and Dinah\, Ever Land is a gripping and powerful story that sheds light on the ongoing occupation of Palestine. It is a tale of belonging and identity\, of devastation and displacement and – ultimately – of the enduring universality of humanity and love. \n‘Cleverly conceived and brilliantly engaging . . . a powerful novel. Read this.’\n– Priscilla Morris \n‘Ambitious and complex but handled with impressive ease.’\n– Rose Tremain \n  \nRachel Holmes\nPhoto of Rachel Holmes © Ruth Crafer \nA PalFest veteran\, Rachel Holmes is the author most recently of Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel. Her previous books include Eleanor Marx: A Life\, The Hottentot Venus: The Life and Death of Sarah Baartman\, and The Secret Life of Dr James Barry. In 2026 Rachel was appointed as the authorised biographer of Doris Lessing. From 2009 to 2014 she was tutor and writer in residence at the Palestine Writing Workshop in the West Bank\, a PalFest initiative.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/ever-land/
LOCATION:Hot Box\, 28\, 29 Viaduct Road\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM1 1TS\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction,In Conversation,SOLD OUT!
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T120000
DTSTAMP:20260430T084528Z
CREATED:20260326T090050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260430T084528Z
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SUMMARY:The Benefactors
DESCRIPTION:Wendy Erskine\nThe Benefactors\nThursday 25 June 2026\, 11.00am – 12.00pm\nColchester Arts Centre\, Church Street\, Colchester\, CO1 1NF\nA Book Club Author Event \nWe are delighted to be joined by virtuoso short story writer of collections such as Sweet Home for this special event to discuss her astounding novel\, The Benefactors – a blazingly funny and astute portrait of modern-day Northern Ireland that deftly mines issues of class\, money and parenthood. \nIf you are member of a book club\, why not come along en masse for an in-depth discussion about the book with the author in person! \nIn partnership with Red Lion Books’ Appetite Book Club. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed. \nAll are welcome to attend (you don’t have to belong to a book club)\, but please note as this is a Book Club event there is an assumption that the audience has read the book and this event may include spoilers for the book. \nTickets:\n£16 includes paperback copy of book and the event – available via Red Lion Books\, here’s the booking link:\nhttps://redlionbooks.co.uk/product/book-club-event-with-author-wendy-erskine-discussing-the-benefactors/ \nor \n£8 event only – book at Eventbrite.co.uk\, here’s the link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wendy-erskine-the-benefactors-tickets-1985792196917 \n  \n\n  \nWendy Erskine\nWendy Erskine is the author of two short story collections\, Sweet Home and Dance Move. She was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize\, longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award\, and she received the Butler Literary Award and the Edge Hill Readers’ Choice Award. She edited the art anthology well I just kind of like it. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature\, she is a frequent broadcaster and interviewer\, and works as a secondary school teacher in Belfast. The Benefactors is her debut novel. \n\nThe Benefactors\n \nWaterstones Irish Book of the Year 2025\nLonglisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction\nAn Observer Best Debut Novel 2025\nLonglisted for the Gordon Burn Prize \nIn The Benefactors we meet Frankie\, Miriam and Bronagh – very different women but all mothers to 18-year-old boys. Glamorous Frankie\, now married to a wealthy\, older man\, grew up in care. Miriam has recently lost her beloved husband Kahlil in ambiguous circumstances. Bronagh\, the CEO of a children’s services charity\, loves the celebrity and prestige this brings her. \nThey do not know each other yet\, but when their sons are accused of sexually assaulting Misty Johnston\, whose family lacks the wealth and social-standing of their own\, they’ll leverage all the power of their position to protect their children. \nFrom the prize-winning author of Dance Move and Sweet Home\, this is an astounding novel about intimate histories\, class and money – and what being a parent means. Brutal\, tender and rigorously intelligent\, The Benefactors is a daring\, polyphonic presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny. \n‘What a beautiful\, hilarious blast of brilliance.’\n– Donal Ryan\, author of Heart\, Be at Peace \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-benefactors/
LOCATION:Colchester Arts Centre\, Church Street\, Colchester\, CO1 1NF
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260618T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260618T200000
DTSTAMP:20260610T120024Z
CREATED:20260326T090046Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260610T120024Z
UID:11391-1781809200-1781812800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:The Shapeshifter's Daughter - DATE CHANGED TO 08 OCTOBER
DESCRIPTION:Sally Magnusson\nThe Shapeshifter’s Daughter\n** Please note\, the date of this event has been changed to Thursday 08 October 2026. If you have bought a ticket to this event Mercury Box Office will be in touch with you about this change.**\nView the updated event listing at: https://essexbookfestival.org.uk/event/the-shapeshifters-daughter-2/\nThursday 18 June – Changed to Thursday 08 October\, 7.00pm\nRayleigh Library\, 132/4 High Street\, Rayleigh\, SS6 7BX\nCelebrate the joy of reclaiming our stories with best-selling author\, journalist and broadcaster Sally Magnusson. The Shapeshifter’s Daughter is a spellbinding feminist retelling of the Norse myth of Hel\, the Goddess of the Underworld\, set in the magical landscape of Orkney. \nTickets: £10 / £8 concessions (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n\nEvent Information\n💬 The event will include an audience Q&A session.\n📚 Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the night.\n🖊️ After the event there will be an opportunity to get the book signed by the author.\n🪑 Seats are unallocated. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nSally Magnusson\n\nPhoto of Sally Magnusson © Derek Prescott \n\n\nBestselling author\, journalist and broadcaster Sally Magnusson has written several books for adults and children\, most recently her Sunday Times bestseller Where Memories Go (2014) about her mother’s dementia\, The Sealwoman’s Gift (2018)\, her acclaimed debut novel\, The Ninth Child (2020) and Music in the Dark (2022). Sally lives outside Glasgow. \n\n\nThe Shapeshifter’s Daughter\n\n\nSelected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club Autumn Season 2025. \nThe spellbinding feminist retelling of the Norse myth of Hel\, the Goddess of the Underworld\, set in the magical landscape of Orkney\, from the Sunday Times bestselling author Sally Magnusson. \nNothing\, on earth or below it\, freezes faster than the worthless heart. \nBefore she was a hideous monster\, the queen of the underworld was simply Hel. But cast as a girl out of lofty Asgard\, realm of the gods\, by Odin the Allfather\, Hel’s fate as the terrible goddess of death is sealed. Half beauty\, half crone\, she has reigned for aeons in the starless darkness of Niflheim\, grimly welcoming the most pitiful of death’s travellers to her ice-locked prison. Until one day a memory shifts\, and she is forced to seek out the sun in Midgard\, where humans have made their home. \nFaced with a terminal cancer diagnosis\, Helen Firth makes the impulsive decision to return to Orkney after forty years to make peace with her past. Under the wintering solstice sun\, she reconnects with the ungainly but affable Thorfinn Coffin\, who helps her address the real reason she has returned to the islands to die. \nAs Helen draws closer to death and ever closer to Thorfinn\, Hel in turn is intrigued by Helen. She\, too\, has a past to confront and a lesson to learn: that perhaps who she thinks she is isn’t who she is really meant to be. \nA powerful reimagining of the Norse myth of Hel\, The Shapeshifter’s Daughter celebrates the joy of reclaiming our stories. \n  \nOrder a hardback copy of the book from bookshop.org. \nPre-order a paperback copy of the book from bookshop.org – released 04 June 2026.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-shapeshifters-daughter/
LOCATION:Rayleigh Library\, 132-134 High Street\, Rayleigh\, SS6 7BX
CATEGORIES:Date changed,Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260617T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260617T200000
DTSTAMP:20260416T074345Z
CREATED:20260326T090042Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T074345Z
UID:11387-1781722800-1781726400@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Room 706
DESCRIPTION:Ellie Levenson in conversation with Tony Fisher\nRoom 706\nWednesday 17 June\, 7.00pm\nManningtree Library\, High Street\, Manningtree\, Essex\, CO11 1AD\nRoom 706 is a heart-stopping\, deeply suspenseful\, original debut novel about an ordinary woman caught somewhere she shouldn’t be when the worst happens. One that will linger long after you’ve turned the final page. \n\n‘Poignant\, immersive\, and utterly human\, I adored Room 706’ – Sarah Jessica Parker\n\nTickets: £10 / £8 (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n  \nEvent Information\n💬 The event will include an audience Q&A session.\n📚 Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the night.\n🖊️ After the event there will be an opportunity to get the book signed by the author.\n🪑 Seats are unallocated. \n  \n\n\n\nEllie Levenson\n \nEllie Levenson is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared across many national newspapers and magazines. She lives in London with her family. \nellielevenson.com/about/ \nRoom 706\n \nIf she knew it would end this way\, would it ever have begun? \nNobody knows she’s checked into Room 706. \nCaught in the wrong place at precisely the worst time\, Kate must face the most confronting situation of her life – and discover what matters most – in this deeply suspenseful and thought-provoking debut novel. \nKate stretches her legs and turns on the TV while James washes away the traces of their morning. She watches in horror at the unfolding news: the hotel they are staying in has been taken under siege. \nShe should be making her way home\, working on appearing normal\, getting ready to re-enter family life with her loving husband Vic and their two adored children. Instead\, she is trapped somewhere she shouldn’t be\, with a man she definitely doesn’t love. How will she begin to tell Vic what she is doing here? If her body is found\, will it give up the secret of what she’s been up to? She’s been so careful hiding the evidence of her affair: write nothing down\, leave no trace. Will he begin to understand why? \nFor now\, Kate can only hide\, take a deep breath\, and reflect on the series of choices she’s made that have brought her to this moment. What will her marriage and her life look like\, if she makes it out? \nRoom 706 is a heart-stopping\, original debut novel about an ordinary woman caught somewhere she shouldn’t be when the worst happens. One that will linger long after you’ve turned the final page. \nOrder a copy of the book from bookshop.org. \n  \nPraise for Room 706\n‘A tense\, riveting read about the unpredictable ripple effects luck and choices can have’\n– Tracy Sierra \n‘I could not stop reading’\n– Sarah Easter Collins \n‘I devoured it… I haven’t stopped thinking about it’\n– Jennie Godfrey \n‘An ending that demands to be talked about’\n– Erin Kelly \n‘Poignant\, heart-breaking and utterly human’\n– Joanna Cannon \n\n  \n\n  \nTony Fisher\n \nTony Fisher spent four decades behind the microphone\, keeping listeners company across the UK as a broadcaster and producer. From the BBC to commercial radio\, his voice has been heard in the North East\, Kent\, Surrey\, Sussex\, Essex\, Yorkshire and Worcestershire\, the latter also providing the backdrop for his debut novel\, Good Gone Bad. \nAn Honorary Doctor of the University of Essex and trustee of the Essex Book Festival\, Tony is also a self-confessed book addict\, devouring close to a hundred titles a year. He shares his passion through weekly book reviews on social media\, shining a light on authors from around the world and across every genre imaginable. \nHis debut novel\, Good Gone Bad\, introduces podcaster Danny Wade and the seemingly decent people who\, as Tony puts it\, have “done something bad.” It’s the first in what promises to be an addictive new thriller series. \nhttps://tonyfisherbooks.com/ \n \n  \n \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/room-706/
LOCATION:Manningtree Library\, High Street\, Manningtree\, CO11 1AD
CATEGORIES:Fiction,In Conversation
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260606T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260606T170000
DTSTAMP:20260327T171945Z
CREATED:20260326T090044Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260327T171945Z
UID:11355-1780761600-1780765200@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:No Such Thing As Monday
DESCRIPTION:Siân Hughes\nNo Such Thing As Monday\nSaturday 06 June 2026\, 4.00pm\nColchester Samaritans\, Walsingham Road Community Hall\, 34 Walsingham Road\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO2 7BN\nBooker Prize longlisted author Siân Hughes joins us to discuss her latest novel\, No Such Thing As Monday. Raw\, exhilarating\, and full of heart it confirms Hughes as a masterful chronicler of life lived on the edge\, and people at their most vulnerable. \n‘A stunningly frank and darkly funny novel of loneliness and resilience. I loved it.‘\n— Bonnie Garmus\, author of Lessons in Chemistry \nTickets: £10 / £8 (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \nPart of our Love & Loss day at Colchester Samaritans. \n\nEvent Information\n💬 The event will include an audience Q&A session.\n📚 Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the night.\n🖊️ After the event there will be an opportunity to get the book signed by the author.\n🪑 Seats are unallocated.\n☕ Colchester Samaritans are kindly offering refreshments at this event – donations to Samaritans welcome.\n🚗 There is limited free parking at the school next to the hall. Parking details will be sent to ticket-holders a few days before the event. The nearest public car park is St Johns Multi Storey which is opposite the Samaritans Hall on the other side of Southway or St Mary’s Multi Storey is a 10 minute walk away.\n♿ The venue is wheelchair accessible. There are disabled facilities on site. \n  \n\n  \nSiân Hughes\nPhoto of Siân Hughes © Stretton Studios \nSiân Hughes is a writer who grew up in a small village in Cheshire. Her first collection of poetry The Missing was a Poetry Society Recommendation\, longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award\, shortlisted for the Felix Dennis and the Aldeburgh prizes\, and won the Seamus Heaney Award. \nSiân’s first novel Pearl was longlisted for The Booker Prize 2023 and shortlisted for The Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award 2024. \n  \nNo Such Thing As Monday\n \nSteffie spends her days working in a dry-cleaner’s\, trying to scrub the world clean one garment at a time. But no matter how spotless the clothes\, she can’t rid herself of the guilt and grime she feels inside. \nHaunted by what happened to her sister when they were children\, large fragments of which she can’t fully remember\, Steffie is stuck in a loop of self-destruction\, defiance\, and shame. \nWhen her violent\, bullying father dies suddenly\, it sparks a reckoning that cracks open her past. What follows is an unexpectedly redemptive journey of a woman trying to piece herself together in a world that failed to make space for her. \nRaw\, exhilarating\, and full of heart\, No Such Thing as Monday confirms Sian Hughes as a masterful chronicler of life lived on the edge\, and people at their most vulnerable. \n‘A stunningly frank and darkly funny novel of loneliness and resilience. I loved it.‘\n— Bonnie Garmus\, author of Lessons in Chemistry \n‘In Steffie\, Sian Hughes has created one of the most powerful\, highly original and hilarious voices in fiction. What she suffers is almost unbearable and yet her resilience knocks the stuffing out of it. It’s deftly woven\, the writing is delicious\, and it hit my heart like a hammer blow.‘\n— Rachel Joyce\, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry \n‘I was blindsided by the brilliance of this novel.‘\n— Meg Mason\, author of Sorrow and Bliss \n‘Richly absorbing and powerful – a ’read to the small hours\,’ novel. Steffie has a unique voice that keeps you glued to her story\, and that I absolutely loved.’\n— Kate Hamer\, author of The Girl in the Red Coat \nOrder a copy of the book from bookshop.org. \n  \n  \n \n  \n \n  \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/no-such-thing-as-monday/
LOCATION:Samaritans Colchester\, Walsingham Road Community Hall\, 34 Walsingham Road\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO2 7BN\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260328T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260328T104500
DTSTAMP:20260326T094455Z
CREATED:20260123T101120Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260326T094455Z
UID:11134-1774692000-1774694700@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Humanising Climate Change - EA Sustain
DESCRIPTION:Abi Daré\, Humanising Climate Change\nSaturday 28 March 2026\, 10.00am – 10.45am\nFirstsite\, Colchester – part of EA Sustain\nAbi Daré\, the winner of the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize (2025) for And So I Roar – a novel that shows with unusual force how climate change is never “just” environmental\, but inseparable from justice\, power\, education\, and actual human lives. \nIn And So I Roar\, Daré shows how environmental breakdown is rarely experienced as an abstract crisis. Instead\, its consequences are absorbed by those with the least power\, who are then blamed and punished for systemic failures they did not create. The novel follows a young girl accused of “crimes” that are\, in reality\, the outcome of climate disruption\, poverty\, and entrenched social injustice. \nThis conversation explores why fiction can be such an effective way of opening dialogue around climate change: not because it offers easy solutions\, but because it exposes how responsibility is displaced\, how power operates\, and how environmental harm is lived at the most personal level. \n  \nThis event is part of EA Sustain – The biennial festival about Environment\, Culture & Entrepreneurship. \nIn partnership with EA Festival \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/humanising-climate-change/
LOCATION:Firstsite\, Lewis Gardens\, High Street\, Colchester\, CO1 1JH
CATEGORIES:Fiction,In partnership
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250626T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250626T120000
DTSTAMP:20250624T101558Z
CREATED:20250403T085005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250624T101558Z
UID:10122-1750935600-1750939200@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
DESCRIPTION:Keiran Goddard\, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning\nJoin us for this special book club event in collaboration with Appetite Book Club and Red Lion Books. \nBold\, ambitious and stylistically striking\, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning explores the redeeming and transforming beauty of friendship and examines the true limits of hope and forgiveness. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by Keiran. \nAll are welcome to attend (you don’t have to belong to a book club)\, but please note as this is a Book Club event there is an assumption that the audience has read the book and this event may include spoilers for the book. \n  \nThursday 26th June\, 11.00am\nVenue: Colchester Arts Centre\, Church Street\, Colchester\, CO1 1NF\nTickets:\n£16 ticket + paperback copy of book – click here\n£6 ticket only – click here\n  \n\n  \nI See Buildings Fall Like Lightning by Keiran Goddard\n \nLonglisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2025. \nPatrick\, Shiv\, Rian\, Oli and Conor grew up together. They played together\, skipped school together\, and dreamt of everything they’d do with their lives. Now they are thirty\, and only Rian has made it out of the estate and moved away to another city\, but his money doesn’t stop him clinging to a vision of the past that is quickly slipping away. \nOli is fading by the day\, drinking and snorting his way through the endless boredom\, while Conor has a baby on the way and a business plan he hopes will change everything. Patrick and Shiv are as in love as ever\, but even they are rocked when an old secret opens up new wounds … \n  \n\n  \nKeiran Goddard\nPhoto of Keiran Goddard credit Tom Goddard \nKeiran Goddard is a novelist\, poet and social commentator. His debut poetry collection was shortlisted for the Melita Hulme and William Blake prizes\, his debut novel Hourglass was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott prize and his latest novel I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning has been published to widespread acclaim and has been nominated for the Gordon Burn Prize. \n  \n\n  \n \n  \n \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/i-see-buildings-fall-like-lightning/
LOCATION:Colchester Arts Centre\, Church Street\, Colchester\, CO1 1NF
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250622T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250622T170000
DTSTAMP:20250522T132742Z
CREATED:20250403T085059Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250522T132742Z
UID:10102-1750608000-1750611600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:The Violet Hour - SOLD OUT
DESCRIPTION:Maggi Hambling and James Cahill\, The Violet Hour\nDon’t miss this opportunity to hear one of Britain’s most significant and controversial artists\, Maggi Hambling\, in conversation with art historian\, James Cahill about his new book. A story of deception\, power play and longing\, The Violet Hour exposes the unsettling underbelly of the art world\, asking: who is granted admission to a world that only seems to glitter and who is left outside\, their faces pressed to the glass? Join us for what is sure to be an honest\, sharp and raucous discussion. \n  \nThis event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by James. \nIn partnership with The Minories. \n  \nSunday 22nd June\, 4.00pm\nVenue: The Minories\, 74 High Street\, Colchester\, CO1 1UE\nTickets: £12 / £10 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948\n  \n\n  \nThis event is part of our Day on the Wild Side at The Minories\, Colchester\, on Sunday 22nd June. \n \n12.00 – 3.00pm Storytelling and Family Fun in The Minories Garden \n2.00pm Tony Peake\, Derek Jarman: The Authorised Biography \n4.00pm Maggi Hambling and James Cahill\, The Violet Hour \n6.00pm Radhika Howarth\, Flavours Without Borders at The Commons Community Kitchen & Cafe at The Minories \n  \nFind out more about A Day on the Wild Side at essexbookfestival.org.uk/a-day-on-the-wild-side/. \n  \n\n  \nThe Violet Hour by James Cahill\n \n  \nArtists are slaves to their vanity. But in the end\, in time\, they see things as they really are. \nThomas Haller has achieved the kind of fame that most artists only dream of: shows in London and New York\, paintings sold for a fortune. The vision he presents to the world is one of an untouchable genius at the top of his game. It is also a lie. \nWho is the real Thomas Haller? His oldest friend and former dealer\, Lorna\, might once have known – before Thomas traded their early intimacy for international fame. Between his ruthless new dealer and a property mogul obsessed with his work\, the appetite for Thomas and his art is all-consuming. \nOn the eve of his latest show\, the luminaries of the art world gather. But the sudden death of a young man has put everyone on edge\, and a chain of events begins that will lead the friends back into the past\, to confront who they have become. \nA story of deception\, power play and longing\, The Violet Hour exposes the unsettling underbelly of the art world\, asking: who is granted admission to a world that only seems to glitter and who is left outside\, their faces pressed to the glass? \n  \n‘An enthrallingly intricate novel . . . impressive’ – Guardian \nA biting satire of the art world’s glamour\, pomp and greed . . . lucid and evocative’ – Daily Telegraph \n‘I really loved The Violet Hour . . . On one level it functions as a highbrow whodunnit\, and grippingly so\, but it’s much more than that\, building into a meditation on mortality and the unreliable consolations of art\, love and materialism’ – Patrick Gale\, author of Mother’s Boy \n  \n\n  \nMaggi Hambling\nPhoto of Maggi Hambling credit Douglas Atfield \nThe painter and sculptor Maggi Hambling (born 1945) lives and works in London and Suffolk. Hambling became the First Artist in Residence at the National Gallery\, London\, and in 1995 won the Jerwood Painting Prize (with Patrick Caulfield). \nHer public sculpture includes A conversation with Oscar Wilde London\, Scallop\, a sculpture to celebrate Benjamin Britten (Aldeburgh\, Suffolk – which was awarded the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture) and \, most recently\, for Mary Wollstonecraft\, unveiled in 2020 on Newington Green\, London. Museums that have held solo exhibitions of her work more recently include the National Gallery and the British Museum\, London\, and in 2019 both retrospectives were held at CAFA Museum\, Beijing\, and the Guangdong Museum of Art\, Guangzhou\, China. \nHambling has established a reputation over the last four decades as one of Britain’s most significant and controversial artists\, a singular contemporary force whose work continues to move\, seduce and challenge. \n  \n  \nJames Cahill\nPhoto of James Cahill credit Marc Vallee \nDr James Cahill is an author\, critic and art historian. His debut novel\, Tiepolo Blue (2022) was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award\, and was selected in autumn 2024 for the Queen’s Reading Room. His second novel\, The Violet Hour\, was published in February 2025. He contributes to publications including Artforum\, the Brooklyn Rail\, the Burlington Magazine\, the Los Angeles Review of Books\, the London Review of Books\, the Spectator\, the Times Literary Supplement and the Daily Telegraph. Based between London and Los Angeles\, he is currently writing a book on David Hockney’s 1967 painting\, Beverly Hills Housewife. \n  \n\n  \n \n  \n \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-violet-hour/
LOCATION:The Minories\, 74 High Street\, Colchester\, CO1 1UE
CATEGORIES:Art,Fiction,SOLD OUT!
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250618T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250618T200000
DTSTAMP:20250502T090932Z
CREATED:20250403T085044Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250502T090932Z
UID:10045-1750273200-1750276800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:England is Mine - Date changed to 4th June
DESCRIPTION:Nicolas Padamsee\, England is Mine\n** This event has been rescheduled to Wednesday 4th June\, 7.00pm **\nClick here to go to the new page for this event. \n  \nNamed one of the Oberver’s best new novelists for 2024\, Nicolas Padamsee will be heading to Hot Box to talk about his brilliant coming-of-age thriller. England is Mine is an urgent debut which takes the reader on a frightening journey into online radicalisation and extremism. \n  \nNicolas will be in conversation with Rob Jelly. This event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by Nicolas Padamsee. \nIn partnership with Hot Box. \n  \nWednesday 18th June\, 7.00pm\nVenue: Hot Box\, 28\, 29 Viaduct Road\, Chelmsford\, CM1 1TS\nTickets: £11 (includes £1 booking fee)\nBox Office: Click here to go to the new page for this event.\n  \n\n  \nEngland is Mine by Nicolas Padamsee\n \nAn urgent debut set in multicultural London which takes the reader on a frightening journey into online radicalisation. \nNominated for the 2025 Gordon Burn Prize \n‘A politically engaged\, urgently plotted coming-of-age thriller with a wicked satirical streak’ – Observer \n‘A brilliant dissection of race\, identity\, masculinity and extremism’ – Monica Ali \nIn an East London borough\, two second-generation immigrants search for a sense of identity and belonging amid a wave of online radicalisation and extremism. College student David survives through music and multiplayer video games. Attacked by his classmates for the controversial on-stage comments of his musical idol Karl Williams\, he retreats into an online world of far-right ideologies and toxic masculinity. Hassan\, too\, is alienated from his friends\, who drink\, smoke weed and mock his volunteer work at the local mosque. As the young men struggle to find a path through a hostile-seeming world\, their fates become tragically\, catastrophically intertwined. \n  \nOrder a copy of England is Mine by Nicolas Padamsee from the Essex Book Festival bookshop at bookshop.org \n  \n\n  \nNicolas Padamsee\nPhoto of Nicolas Padamsee credit Peter Arkley Bloxham \nNicolas Padamsee grew up in Essex. He holds an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia\, and is one of the Observer’s best new novelists for 2024. He is the editor of Arts Against Extremism. He splits his time between Norwich and Upton Park\, London. \n  \n\n  \nRob Jelly\n \nNicolas will be in conversation with Rob Jelly. As BBC Upload curator\, Rob champions Creatives across the East of England on BBC Upload\, a platform for authors\, playwrights\, film-makers and more. \n  \n** Rescheduled to 4th June ** \nClick here to go to the new page for this event. \n  \n\n  \n \n  \n \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/england-is-mine/
LOCATION:Hot Box\, 28\, 29 Viaduct Road\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM1 1TS\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250616T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250616T200000
DTSTAMP:20250502T150130Z
CREATED:20250502T150130Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250502T150130Z
UID:10473-1750098600-1750104000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:An Evening with Elif Shafak
DESCRIPTION:An Evening with Elif Shafak\nJoin Maldon Books for an evening with award-winning author\, Elif Shafak\, at Maldon’s United Reformed Church. \nMonday\, 16 June\, 6.30 – 8.00pm\nVenue: Maldon United Reformed Church\, Market Hill Maldon CM9 4PZ\nTickets: £7\nBox Office: eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-elif-shafak \nNearest car parks: White Horse Lane Car Park/Butt Lane Car Park \nElif’s books available to purchase at the event for signing. \n  \nMaldon Books is thrilled to welcome award-winning author\, Elif Shafak\, to the URC this June! Elif will be discussing her latest acclaimed novel\, There Are Rivers in the Sky to a live audience and signing books afterwards. \nWe’ll have a book stall set up at the event for you to purchase Elif’s books for signing. You can preorder a copy of There Are Rivers in the Sky with your booking. If you’re not able to attend the event but would still like a signed copy of the book\, send us an email at maldonbooksltd@gmail.com. \n \nThere Are Rivers in the Sky is a rich\, sweeping novel set between the 19th century and modern times\, about love and loss\, memory and erasure\, hurt and healing\, centred around three enchanting characters living on the banks of the River Thames and the River Tigris – their lives all curiously touched by the epic of Gilgamesh. \n  \nElif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish writer\, whose work has been translated into fifty-eight languages. The author of twenty books\, thirteen of which are novels\, she is a bestselling author in many countries around the world. \nShafak’s novel The Island of Missing Trees was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction\, as well as the British Book Awards and the RSL Ondaatje Prize\, and was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize\, and was a Blackwell’s Book of the Year. The Forty Rules of Love was chosen as one of the BBC’s 100 Novels that Shaped Our World. The Architect’s Apprentice was chosen for The Queen’s Reading Room book club. \nShafak holds a PhD in political science and she has taught at various universities in Turkey\, the US and the UK\, including St Anne’s College\, Oxford University\, where she is an honorary fellow. Shafak is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature and has been chosen as one of the BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women. \nAn advocate for women’s rights\, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of expression\, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice TED Global speaker. She has been awarded the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and\, in 2024\, was awarded the British Academy President’s Medal for ‘her excellent body of work which demonstrates an incredible intercultural range’. \nPhoto credit: Ferhat Elik \n  \n  \n  \n \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/an-evening-with-elif-shafak/
LOCATION:Maldon United Reformed Church\, Market Hill\, Maldon\, Essex\, CM9 4PZ\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction,Partner Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250605T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250605T200000
DTSTAMP:20250520T145634Z
CREATED:20250403T085035Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T145634Z
UID:9963-1749150000-1749153600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Passiontide
DESCRIPTION:Monique Roffey\, Passiontide\nCosta-winning author of The Mermaid of Black Conch\, Monique Roffey\, will discuss her electrifying new novel about four women who spark a revolution on a Caribbean island. In a community in which women’s voices are often silenced\, a group soon find themselves compelled to speak out when a young female steel-pan player is found dead beneath a cannonball tree. \nMonique Roffey will be in conversation with Emma Kittle-Pey. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author. \n\nThursday 5th June\, 7.00pm\nVenue: Maldon Library\, Carmelite House\, White Horse Lane\, Maldon\, CM9 5FW\nTickets: £10 / £8 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948\n  \n\n  \nPassiontide by Monique Roffey\n \nEarly one morning\, at the close of St Colibri’s carnival\, a young female steel-pan player is found dead beneath a cannonball tree. It is a discovery that will transform the lives of everyone on this small island. \nAs the days pass\, this shocking event draws together four women. There’s Sharleen\, a journalist with an eye for the real story. Her childhood friend Tara\, a pink-haired\, straight-talking local activist. Gigi\, the ‘notorious’ founder of the Port Isabella Sex Workers Collective. And Daisy\, first lady of St Colibri\, who is haunted by a disappearance in her own family decades ago. \nIn a community in which women’s voices are often silenced and violence against them is overlooked time after time\, the group soon find themselves compelled to speak out – and to act. But even they could never have foreseen the consequences of their courage… \n‘Passiontide is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital\, enraging and brilliant. I loved it’ – Sarah Winman\, author of Still Life \n  \nOrder a copy of Passiontide by Monique Roffey from the Essex Book Festival bookshop at bookshop.org \n  \n\n  \nMonique Roffey\n \nMonique Roffey was born in Port of Spain\, Trinidad\, and lives in London. She is the author of seven novels and a memoir. The Mermaid of Black Conch won the Costa Book of the Year and the Costa Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Goldsmiths Prize. Her other highly acclaimed books include Archipelago\, which won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature\, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle and House of Ashes. In addition to her work as an environmental activist\, she is a professor of contemporary fiction at Manchester Metropolitan University. \n  \n\n  \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/passiontide/
LOCATION:Maldon Library\, White Horse Lane\, Maldon\, CM9 5FW
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250604T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250604T200000
DTSTAMP:20250603T092528Z
CREATED:20250501T093730Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250603T092528Z
UID:10455-1749063600-1749067200@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:England is Mine
DESCRIPTION:Nicolas Padamsee\, England is Mine\n  \nNamed one of the Observer’s best new novelists for 2024\, Nicolas Padamsee will be heading to Hot Box to talk about his brilliant coming-of-age thriller. England is Mine is an urgent debut which takes the reader on a frightening journey into online radicalisation and extremism. \nIn partnership with Hot Box\, Chelmsford. \nNicolas will be in conversation with Rob Jelly. This event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by Nicolas Padamsee. \n  \n  \nWednesday 4th June\, 7.00pm (This event was rescheduled from 18th to 4th June)\nVenue: Hot Box\, 28\, 29 Viaduct Road\, Chelmsford\, CM1 1TS\nTickets: £11 (includes £1 booking fee) \nBox Office: hotboxlive.co.uk  \n  \nPhotography – Please note that we will be filming and taking photos at this event. If you do not wish to photographed or filmed\, please let a member of the Essex Book Festival team know when you arrive. \n** At the time our brochure was printed this event was booked for 18th June but has since been rescheduled to 4th June** \n  \n\n  \nEngland is Mine by Nicolas by Nicolas Padamsee\n \n  \nAn urgent debut set in multicultural London which takes the reader on a frightening journey into online radicalisation.\nNominated for the 2025 Gordon Burn Prize. \n‘A politically engaged\, urgently plotted coming-of-age thriller with a wicked satirical streak’ – Observer \n‘A brilliant dissection of race\, identity\, masculinity and extremism’ – Monica Ali \nIn an East London borough\, two second-generation immigrants search for a sense of identity and belonging amid a wave of online radicalisation and extremism. College student David survives through music and multiplayer video games. Attacked by his classmates for the controversial on-stage comments of his musical idol Karl Williams\, he retreats into an online world of far-right ideologies and toxic masculinity. Hassan\, too\, is alienated from his friends\, who drink\, smoke weed and mock his volunteer work at the local mosque. As the young men struggle to find a path through a hostile-seeming world\, their fates become tragically\, catastrophically intertwined. \n  \n\n  \nNicolas Padamsee\nPhoto of Nicolas Padamsee credit Peter Arkley Bloxham \nNicolas Padamsee grew up in Essex. He holds an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia\, and is one of the Observer’s best new novelists for 2024. He is the editor of Arts Against Extremism. He splits his time between Norwich and Upton Park\, London. \n  \n\n  \nRob Jelly\n \n  \nNicolas will be in conversation with Rob Jelly. As BBC Upload curator\, Rob champions Creatives across the East of England on BBC Upload\, a platform for authors\, playwrights\, film-makers and more. \n  \n  \n \n  \n  \n \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/england-is-mine-2/
LOCATION:Hot Box\, 28\, 29 Viaduct Road\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM1 1TS\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250603T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250603T200000
DTSTAMP:20250521T193917Z
CREATED:20250403T085023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250521T193917Z
UID:9947-1748977200-1748980800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:And So I Roar
DESCRIPTION:Abi Daré\, And So I Roar\nJust announced: Abi Daré is Winner of The Climate Fiction Prize 2025! Visit climatefictionprize.co.uk for more details.\nRead: The Guardian – Abi Daré wins the inaugural Climate fiction prize \nEqually tender and powerful\, Daré’s evocative follow up to her highly acclaimed debut The Girl With the Louding Voice finds Adunni settling into her new life and school in Lagos\, until dramatic news forces her to return to her home village. \n‘A book of real energy and passion which both horrifies and entertains with a cast of compelling characters\, a story of how the climate crisis can provoke social crisis where often women and children are the victims. Despite the tragedy\, Abi Daré holds faith in the strength of individuals and relationships and her hopefulness leaves us inspired.’ – Madeleine Bunting\, Chair of Judges for The Climate Fiction Prize 2025 \nThis event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author. \nAbi Daré will be in conversation with author\, educator and Essex Book Festival trustee\, Sade Fadipe. \nTuesday 3rd June\, 7.00pm\nVenue: Grays Library\, Thameside Complex\, Orsett Road\, Grays\, RM17 5DX\nTickets: £10 / £8 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948\n  \n\n  \nAnd So I Roar by Abi Daré\n‘Abi Daré is a novelist of great power\, wit\, and invention. She never misses a step\, never drops a sentence\, never takes a wrong narrative turn. Her characters burn in my memory forever\, as if they were people I had known— and will forever care about. Daré is not only gifted\, she is also a gift.’ – Elizabeth Gilbert (#1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat\, Pray\, Love) \n \nPlucky fourteen-year-old Adunni is in Lagos\, excited to finally enrol in school. Having escaped her rural village in a desperate bid to seek a better future\, she’s found refuge with Tia\, a kind and brilliant woman on her own troubled journey of self-discovery. But it’s not so simple to run away from your past. On the night before she is due to join her new classmates for her first lesson\, a terrible knocking at the front gate summons Adunni back to her home village\, Ikati\, where her dramatic story of resilience first begun. \nAs Tia frantically tries to protect her from an uncertain fate\, Adunni must try to save not only herself but all the young women of her village\, and transform Ikati into a place where girls are allowed to claim the bright futures they deserve – and roar their stories to the world. \nOrder a copy of And So I Roar by Abi Daré at bookshop.org \n  \nThe Story So Far…\nThe Girl With the Louding Voice was an instant New York Times bestseller\, was nominated for the Desmond Elliott Prize\, the 2020 British Bookseller Awards Debut of the Year and the Goldsboro Glass Bell Award. It was a Waterstones Book of the Month and a Waterstones Paperback of the Year in the UK and became a runaway international bestseller\, selling over 500\,000 copies around the world. \nAbi counts Malala Yousafzai\, Dolly Parton\, Kiley Reid\, Rosamund Lupton\, Elizabeth Gilbert\, Elizabeth Day and Maggie O’Farrell among her fans. \n  \n\n  \nAbi Daré\n \nPhoto of Abi Daré © Ellie Smith\nAbi Daré was born in Lagos\, Nigeria\, and holds a degree in law from the University of Wolverhampton\, an MSc in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck\, University of London. Her debut novel\, The Girl with the Louding Voice\, was a New York Times and international bestseller\, a BBC Radio 4 Book Club read and was shortlisted for multiple awards\, including the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize. It has been translated into twenty-one languages. In 2023\, Abi established The Louding Voice Foundation to provide scholarships and empowerment programs for women and girls in underserved\ncommunities in Nigeria. She lives in Essex with her family. \nInstagram: @abidare_author | Twitter/X: @abidare_author \n  \n  \n\n  \nAbi Daré on writing And So I Roar\nI am overwhelmed with gratitude as I reflect on the extraordinary journey of The Girl with the Louding Voice\, a novel that has sparked change in ways I could never have envisioned. Adunni’s story has transcended borders and resonated with readers from all walks of life\, and I am amazed at the journey the book has gone on\, from becoming a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic\, to being called one of Dolly Parton’s and Malala’s favourite books of 2020. \nBut what has truly been remarkable and humbling\, are the tales of resilience\, hope\, and empowerment that readers have shared with me. Like the grandmother in the United States who decided to return to school in her old age\, or the young housemaid in Nigeria who has been inspired to complete her education. Or the student at a UK university who named her first car Adunni because she failed her driving test so many times and simply wouldn’t give up because Adunni wouldn’t. Or the Filipino woman—the trailblazer in her family to pursue education—who clasped my hands and shed tears after my talk at Harvard\, inspired by Adunni’s unwavering pursuit of her dreams. \nAnd how can I forget the very concerned man who wrote to ask if I had finally escaped a life of slavery and servitude\, and if there was a way he could find Big Madam to teach her a lesson. \nWhen people ask why I decided to continue Adunni’s story\, I often want to tell them it’s because I am Nigerian—our stories rarely end at part one. Or I might say it’s because I am British\, and I’ve lost count of how many James Bond movies I have seen. Or perhaps I’d mention my mother\, a professor of taxation who hadn’t read fiction in 30 years until she read my book and then demanded more\, subtly suggesting that it must include Adunni’s twenty-year plan for conquering the world. \nBut the heart-breaking reality is this: There are millions of girls in rural Nigeria today whose lives mirror Adunni’\ns\, this feisty\, sharp-mouthed fourteen-year-old—girls whose stories of resilience and courage in the face of oppression must be told. \nAnd So I Roar begins when a sudden knock at the gate threatens to unravel everything Adunni has worked for on the night before she is set to restart her much-desired education. Meanwhile\, Tia\, Adunni’s older and more educated friend\, discovers a life-altering secret and must choose between helping Adunni and the girls in her village or confronting her own past. \nSet mainly in Adunni’s village\, Ikati\, And So I Roar captures the same spirit as my debut\, The Girl with the Louding Voice\, while introducing new characters and showcasing the devastating effects of climate change\, particularly its disproportionate impact on poor rural women. I am thrilled to welcome you back into Adunni’s captivating world alongside Tia and a host of other women and girls whose chorus of Louding Voices—as they roar in their fight against oppression for a brighter future—offers a truly inspiring and unforgettable journey. \nThank you once again for joining me to celebrate the ties that bind us\, to amplify the voices of the voiceless\, and to push for a world where every girl has the opportunity not just to find her voice\, but to roar. \n  \n\n  \nSade Fadipe\n \nSade is a published children’s author and educationist. Her picture book fascination was ignited by Sir Quentin Blake’s visit to a school where she taught in the early 90s. Her passion for literacy enhancement initiatives and in giving back to society\, led to her conceptualizing and convening CALFE – a Children and Authors’ annual Fanfare. Her love for community motivated her three-year voluntary service at Essex Library Services. \nsadefadipe.com/ \n  \n\n  \n \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/and-so-i-roar/
LOCATION:Grays Central Library\, Thameside Complex\, Orsett Road\, Grays\, Thurrock\, RM17 5DX
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250528T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250528T200000
DTSTAMP:20250520T145339Z
CREATED:20250403T085016Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T145339Z
UID:9931-1748458800-1748462400@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Launch Event: Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken Hearted
DESCRIPTION:Ben Okri\, Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken Hearted\nPart vision\,  part mystery\, this story of a midsummer night’s madness\, in multi-award-winning poet\, playwright and novelist Ben Okri’s inimitable style\, is as alive with echoes and reverberations as the enchanted forest itself. Think Ingmar Bergman meets William Shakespeare\, with a dash of Mozart. \nBen Okri will be in conversation with Dr Jak Peake from University of Essex. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author. \n‘Ben Okri is that rare thing\, a literary and social visionary..’ – Ali Smith \nVenue: Electric Palace\, King’s Quay Street\, Harwich\, CO12 3ER\nTickets: £12 / £10 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948\n  \nCelebrating Collecting Dreams\, Shifting Futures\nWednesday 28th May\, Harwich\nDuring the day on Wednesday 28 May\, we will be hosting a series of workshops\, walks and film-screenings in Harwich as part of the finale of our collaborative story-gathering project\, Collecting Dreams\, Shifting Futures. For more information about the activities taking place on this day visit essexbookfestival.org.uk/event/celebrating-collecting-dreams-shifting-futures/. \n  \n\n  \nMadame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken Hearted by Ben Okri\n \n  \nWhat do you do when your heart has been made a wasteland by love?\nViv\, who’s in the House of Lords\, had the idea for the festival on the twentieth anniversary of the day her first husband left her. Six months later\, crowds descend on the grounds of a dreamlike chateau in the South of France\, avidly awaiting the experience of a lifetime\, Viv’s\ninaugural Festival for the Broken-Hearted. \nEveryone is in fancy dress. No one knows who anyone is. They wander the beautiful woods with just one night to change everything. And to crown it all\, a very special guest is expected: world-renowned clairvoyant and fortune-teller Madame Sosostris\, known as the wisest woman in Europe\, and not seen since the pages of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. She will attend for one night only. But will she actually appear at all\, or will Viv’s carefully orchestrated festival fall to pieces? Will Viv and her husband make it through the night? Will anyone else? \nPart vision\, part mystery\, this story of a midsummer night’s madness is also an homage to Eliot’s famous poem\, in Ben Okri’s inimitable style\, as alive with echoes and reverberations as the enchanted forest itself. Think Ingmar Bergman meets William Shakespeare\, with a dash of\nMozart. \nHearts will be healed\, and hearts broken\, but nobody will leave this festival exactly as they arrived. \n  \n“Heartbreak brings terrible self-confrontation. It shatters and exposes us and makes us naked to ourselves. It’s both existential and humbling. Heartbreak is as good a place as any to peek into the human condition. But this is a peek\, not a prodding. The purpose of the novel is not to open wounds but to celebrate the transformations that come from surviving heartbreak. The hope is to delight and amuse.” – Sir Ben Okri \n  \nOrder a copy of Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken Hearted by Ben Okri at bookshop.org \n  \n\n  \nSir Ben Okri\n \nSir Ben Okri was born in Minna\, Nigeria. His childhood was divided between Nigeria\, where he saw first hand the consequences of war\, and London. He has won many prizes over the years for his fiction\, and is also an acclaimed essayist\, playwright\, and poet. In 2019 Astonishing the Gods was named as one of the BBC’s ‘100 Novels That Shaped Our World’. \n  \n\n  \n \n  \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/madame-sosostris-the-festival-for-the-broken-hearted/
LOCATION:Electric Palace\, King's Quay Street\, Harwich\, Essex\, CO12 3ER\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Festival Launch,Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240616T150000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240616T160000
DTSTAMP:20240404T155307Z
CREATED:20240404T090010Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240404T155307Z
UID:8854-1718550000-1718553600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Maybe\, Perhaps\, Possibly
DESCRIPTION:Joanna Glen\, Maybe\, Perhaps\, Possibly\nJoanna Glen\, author of the Costa Prize shortlisted debut\, The Other Half of Augusta Hope\, explores her latest novel. \nTwo introverts with turbulent pasts and wary hearts take individual comfort in swimming in the ocean\, birdwatching\, books and the sounds of the sea. Sol and Addie are both drawn to nature far more than to people – until they catch sight of one another in the wild. Maybe\, Perhaps\, Possibly is a beautifully observed and life-affirming story about finding yourself\, and then allowing someone else to find you. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A. After the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author. \nPart of our special day of events at Hylands Estate\, Chelmsford\, under the banner of Restless Brilliance. Linking up with the J.A. Baker exhibition of the same name\, (Chelmsford Museum: 23 Mar-3 Nov) we will be focussing on all things nature and ornithology. \nSunday 16 June\, 3.00pm \nVenue: Hylands Estate\, London Road\, Writtle\, Chelmsford\, CM2 8WQ\nTickets: £10 / £8 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n  \n\n  \nMaybe\, Perhaps\, Possibly by Joanna Glen\nPublished 20 June 2024 (Borough Press) \n \nOrder a copy of Maybe\, Perhaps\, Possibly at bookshop.org \nThe new novel from the author of the Costa Prize shortlisted debut\, The Other Half of Augusta Hope and All My Mothers. \nOn the tiny island of Rokesby\, Addie helps her mother run a women’s retreat. Dreaming daily of escape\, she consoles herself by swimming in the ocean that surrounds them. On the neighbouring island\, joined to Rokesby by a bridge at low tide\, Sol has sought refuge at a wind-swept prayer house\, grieving both his mother’s death and his father’s devastating betrayal. Alone and anxious\, he takes comfort in birdwatching\, books and the sounds of the sea. \nIntroverts with turbulent pasts and wary hearts\, Sol and Addie are both drawn to nature far more than to people – until they catch sight of one another in the wild. Can they break free from past lessons in love to risk a better future together? \nA beautifully observed and life-affirming novel about finding yourself\, and then allowing someone else to find you. \n  \n‘I loved it… a love story for realists… This is a book that knows that life’s biggest questions are answered in its smallest moments and – if we are lucky – life doesn’t always take our first answer’ – Gráinne Murphy \n  \nAbout the Author\nJoanna Glen read Spanish at the University of London\, with a stint at the Faculty of Arts at Córdoba University in the south of Spain. She went on to teach Spanish and English to all ages\, and\, latterly\, was a School Principal in London. She has edited a variety of non-fiction books\, is a visiting lecturer\, a communications coach and an adviser and trainer for schools. Joanna’s short fiction has appeared in the Bath Flash Fiction Anthology. She lives with her husband in Hove\, returning to Andalusia whenever it gets too grey. \n#MaybePerhapsPossibly \n@BoroughPress @JoannaGlenBooks \n \n  \nPhoto of Joanna Glen © Eva Tarnok\n  \n \n  \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/maybe-perhaps-possibly/
LOCATION:Hylands House\, London Road\, Writtle\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM2 8WQ\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction,Restless Brilliance
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240608T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240608T170000
DTSTAMP:20240404T154445Z
CREATED:20240404T090058Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240404T154445Z
UID:8814-1717862400-1717866000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Like Water Like Sea
DESCRIPTION:Olumide Popoola\, Like Water Like Sea\nSet against the vibrant backdrop of London\, Like Water Like Sea is an immersive novel of self-discovery\, resilience\, and the unifying power of love. It follows the life of Nia\, a queer\, bi/pansexual naturopath\, as her life unfolds across three pivotal moments\, spanning from her 28th year to a life-altering realisation at the age of 50. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A. After the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author. \nListen Up! We are delighted to be partnering with Colchester Samaritans and Essex Cultural Diversity Project for this very special day of events. Part of Colchester Samaritans 60th anniversary celebrations. \n  \nSaturday 8 June\, 4.00pm \nVenue: Samaritans\, Walsingham Road Community Hall\, 34 Walsingham Road\, Colchester\, CO2 7BN\nTickets: £8 / £7 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n  \n\nLike Water Like Sea by Olumide Popoola\nPublished 21 May 2024 (Cassava Republic Press) \n \nOrder a copy of Like Water Like Sea at bookshop.org \nSometimes we swim\, sometimes we float\, other times we are drowning. It’s not always easy to know which is which. \nIt is the ten-year anniversary of her sister’s death\, and Nia is grappling with her grief\, and balancing the complicated relationships weaving through her life. There is smart and sexy Temi; Melvin\, her teenage love; and her new yet intimate friendship with Rahul and Crystal. But looming large over everything is her mother SuSu\, whose battle with bipolar disorder continues to cast a profound shadow over Nia. \nDelving deep into the intricate tapestry of Nia’s life\, Like Water Like Sea is a poignant tale of self-discovery and resilience\, sexuality and motherhood\, and falling apart to become truly whole. \n  \nAbout the Author\nOlumide Popoola is a writer\, speaker and performer. Her publications include essays\, poetry\, the novella this is not about sadness (Unrast\, 2010)\, the play Also by Mail (edition assemblage\, 2013)\, the short collection breach\, which she co-authored with Annie Holmes (Peirene Press\, 2016). In 2004 she won the May Ayim Award (Poetry)\, the first Black German Literary Award. Olumide holds a PhD in Creative Writing. \n \n  \n  \n \n \nKindly supported by Colchester City Council Cultural and Creative Events Fund \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/like-water-like-sea/
LOCATION:Samaritans Colchester\, Walsingham Road Community Hall\, 34 Walsingham Road\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO2 7BN\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction,Listen Up!
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240606T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240606T200000
DTSTAMP:20240529T134314Z
CREATED:20240404T090014Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240529T134314Z
UID:8806-1717700400-1717704000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:One Love - EVENT CANCELLED
DESCRIPTION:Matt Cain\, One Love\n** This event has been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. If you bought a ticket to this event the box office will contact you shortly. ** \nFrom the author of Becoming Ted and The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle comes an utterly joyful novel about 20 years of love and friendship\, culminating at Manchester Pride. \nTwo men. Twenty years of friendship. One love. \nMatt will be in conversation with Alison Flood\, New Scientist‘s comment and culture editor. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A. After the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author. \n  \nThursday 6 June\, 7.00pm \nVenue: Harlow Library\, Cross Street\, Harlow\, CM20 1HA\nTickets: £8 / £7 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n  \n  \n\n  \nOne Love by Matt Cain\nPublished 18 January 2024 \n \nOrder a copy of One Love at bookshop.org \nTwo Men. Twenty years of friendship. One love. \n2002 – Danny arrives at Manchester University determined not to hide from the world any longer. This is the year his life will begin. He locks eyes with a handsome stranger across the hall at the Fresher’s Fair. It starts with a wink and soon Danny and Guy are best friends. \n2022 – Now\, both single for the first time in years\, Danny and Guy return to the confetti covered streets of the Gay Village for Manchester Pride. After years of shared adventures and lost dreams\, Danny finally plans to share the secret he has been keeping for two decades. He has always been in love with Guy. \nCould this weekend be the end of a twenty year friendship . . . or the start of something new and even more beautiful? \n  \n  \nAbout the Author\nMatt Cain is an author\, leading commentator on LGBT+ issues\, and a former journalist. For the past two years he has been a presenter for Virgin Radio Pride\, was Channel 4’s first Culture Editor\, Editor In Chief of Attitude magazine\, and has judged the Costa Prize\, the Polari Prize and the South Bank Sky Arts Awards. He won Diversity in Media’s Journalist Of the Year award in 2017 and is an ambassador for Manchester Pride and the Albert Kennedy Trust\, plus a patron of LGBT+ History Month. Born in Bury and brought up in Bolton\, he now lives in London. \n \nPhoto of Matt Cain © Claire Gardner Photography\n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/one-love/
LOCATION:Harlow Library\, Cross Street\, Harlow\, CM20 1HA
CATEGORIES:CANCELLED,Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240531T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240531T200000
DTSTAMP:20240530T053340Z
CREATED:20240404T090019Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240530T053340Z
UID:8796-1717182000-1717185600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Mania
DESCRIPTION:Lionel Shriver\, Mania\nAuthor of best-selling We Need To Talk About Kevin\, Lionel Shriver\, turns her piercing gaze on the policing of opinion and intellect\, and imagines a world in which intellectual meritocracy is heresy. Mania is hilarious\, deadpan\, scathing and at times frighteningly plausible. \nWhat if calling someone stupid was illegal? \nIn a reality not too distant from our own\, everyone is equally clever\, and discrimination based on intelligence is ‘the last great civil rights fight’. \nThis event will include an audience Q&A. After the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author. \n  \n  \nFriday 31 May\, 7.00PM \nVenue: Anglia Ruskin University\, Bishop Hall Lane\, Chelmsford\, CM1 1SQ\nTickets: £10 / £8 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n  \n  \n\n  \nMania by Lionel Shriver\nPublished 11 April 2024 \n \nOrder a copy of Mania at bookshop.org \nWhat if calling someone stupid was illegal? \nIn a reality not too distant from our own\, where the so-called Mental Parity Movement has taken hold\, the worst thing you can call someone is ‘stupid’.\nEveryone is equally clever\, and discrimination based on intelligence is ‘the last great civil rights fight’. \nExams and grades are all discarded\, and smart phones are rebranded. Children are expelled for saying the S-word and encouraged to report parents for using it. You don’t need a qualification to be a doctor. \nBest friends since adolescence\, Pearson and Emory find themselves on opposing sides of this new culture war. Radio personality Emory – who has built her career riding the tide of popular thought – makes increasingly hard-line statements while\, for her part\, Pearson believes the whole thing is ludicrous. \nAs their friendship fractures\, Pearson’s determination to cling onto the ‘old bigoted way of thinking’ begins to endanger her job\, her safety and even her family. \nLionel Shriver turns her piercing gaze on the policing of opinion and intellect\, and imagines a world in which intellectual meritocracy is heresy. Hilarious\, deadpan\, scathing and at times frighteningly plausible\, Mania will delight the many fans of her fiction and journalism alike. \n  \n  \nAbout the Author\n  \nAlthough Lionel Shriver has published many novels\, a collection of essays\, and a column in the Spectator since 2017\, and her journalism has featured in publications including the Guardian\, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal\, she in no way wishes for the inclusion of this information to imply that she is more ‘intelligent’ or ‘accomplished’ than anyone else. The outdated meritocracy of intellectual achievement has made her a bestseller multiple times and accorded her awards including the Orange Prize\, but she accepts that all of these accidental accolades are basically meaningless. She lives in Portugal and Brooklyn\, New York. \n  \n \nPhoto of Lionel Shriver © credit Mark Kohn\n  \n  \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/mania/
LOCATION:Anglia Ruskin University\, Bishop Hall Lane\, Chelmsford\, CM1 1SQ
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240513T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240513T190000
DTSTAMP:20240417T152831Z
CREATED:20240404T090010Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240417T152831Z
UID:8794-1715623200-1715626800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Allow Me to Introduce Myself
DESCRIPTION:Onyi Nwabineli\, Allow Me to Introduce Myself\nPut away your phone and get ready to rethink your ‘harmless’ social media habit\, in this darkly hilarious page-turner from an exciting new voice. \nAnuri’s stepmother\, Ophelia\, is the ultimate ‘mumfluencer’. Throughout Anuri’s childhood\, she catalogued every minute\, milestone and carefully curated family outing on social media. Ophelia’s fans could be forgiven for wondering why Anuri spends much of her time insulting men online for money\, battling the call of alcohol\, running from a PhD application\, and reminding herself that she is now allowed to choose her own outfits. But when she sees her little sister being pushed down the same rocky path by Ophelia\, she decides to take back control. Her stepmother\, however\, isn’t giving up without a fight. \n\nMonday 13 May 6.00pm\n\nVenue: Art Exchange\, University of Essex\, Wivenhoe Park\, Colchester\, CO4 3SQ\nTickets: £8 / £7 concessions (Students\, Under 27s and Unwaged)\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAllow Me to Introduce Myself\nPublished 23rd May 2024 \n \nOrder a copy of Allow Me to Introduce Myself at bookshop.org \nWhat would you do if your entire life has been photographed\, documented\, monetised\, liked and shared? \nFrom the author of Someday\, Maybe comes a darkly hilarious comedy about leaving social media and finding yourself \nAṅụrị’s stepmother\, Ophelia\, is the ultimate ‘mumfluencer’. Throughout Aṅụrị’s childhood\, she catalogued every minute\, milestone and carefully curated family outing on social media\, cultivating a devoted – and sizeable – following. \nNow Aṅụrị is twenty-five years old and her life looks pretty perfect from the outside. Ophelia’s fans could be forgiven for wondering why Aṅụrị spends much of her time insulting men online for money\, battling the call of alcohol\, running away from her PhD application\, and reminding herself that Ophelia doesn’t choose her outfits any more. \n\nAṅụrị might have cut ties with Ophelia\, but when she sees her little sister being pushed into the same spotlight\, she knows it’s time to act. With so much at stake however\, her stepmother won’t give up without a fight. \nGet ready to question your ‘harmless’ social media habit in this stunning second novel from one of the most exciting new voices in fiction. \n  \n  \n  \nAbout the Author\nOnyi Nwabineli is a Nigerian-British writer and headwrap aficionado. Born in Benin\, Nigeria\, she grew up in Glasgow\, the Isle of Man and Newcastle\, and now lives in London. Onyi is the co-founder of Surviving Out Loud\, a fund that provides financial support for survivors of sexual assault\, and the founder of Black Pens\, a writing retreat for Black women. Her debut novel\, Someday\, Maybe\, was published by Magpie in 2022. \n  \nwww.onyi-nwabineli.com \n  \n \n  \nPhoto of Onyi Nwabineli © Precious Mayowa Agbabiaka\n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/allow-me-to-introduce-myself/
LOCATION:Art Exchange\, University of Essex\, Wivenhoe Park\, Colchester\, CO4 3SQ
CATEGORIES:Fiction
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240207T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240207T190000
DTSTAMP:20240103T094631Z
CREATED:20231218T160917Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240103T094631Z
UID:8634-1707328800-1707332400@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Authors in Conversation
DESCRIPTION:Authors in Conversation: Holly Pester & Keiran Goddard\nWednesday 7th February\, 6pm\nVenue: Red Lion Books\, High Street\, Colchester\nTickets: £5 (ticket price is redeemable against either book\, on the evening.)\n  \nKeiran Goddard grew up in Shard End\, Birmingham. He is the author of two poetry collections\, and two novels: Hourglass\, which was widely acclaimed and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott prize\, and I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning\, which will be published in February 2024. \nHolly Pester is a poet and writer. She has worked in sound art and performance\, with BBC Radio\, Women’s Art Library and Wellcome Collection. \n  \nI See Buildings Fall Like Lightning\nFive friends. Five lives. Countless hopes. \nPatrick\, Shiv\, Rian\, Oli and Conor grew up together. They played together\, skipped school together\, and dreamt of everything they’d do with their lives. \nNow they are thirty\, and only Rian has made it out of the estate and moved away to another city\, but his money doesn’t stop him clinging to a vision of the past that is quickly slipping away. Oli is fading by the day\, drinking and snorting his way through the endless boredom\, while Conor has a baby on the way and a business plan he hopes will change everything. Patrick and Shiv are as in love as ever\, but even they are rocked when an old secret opens up new wounds. \nBold\, ambitious and stylistically striking\, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning asks what happens when all the things we expect from our lives end up not happening. It lays bare the ways that place and circumstance shape us\, explores the redeeming and transforming beauty of friendship and examines the true limits of hope and forgiveness \n  \nThe Lodgers\nA stunning first novel from Holly Pester – a writer already hailed as one of the best poets of her generation. \n“What it said to me was that I was here again\, I was back\, back from the great nowhere of somewhere else\, returned\, all too officially\, to the whereabouts of Moffa.” \nAfter a year away\, a woman arrives back in her hometown to keep an eye on her wayward mother\, Moffa. Living in a precarious sub-let\, she is always on edge\, anticipating a visit from the landlord or the arrival of the other resident. But her thoughts also drift back to the rented room she has just left\, now occupied by a new lodger she has never met\, but whose imagined navigations within the house and home become her fascination. \nThe minor dramas of temporary living are prised open and ransacked in Holly Pester’s irreverent reckoning with those who house us. This is a story about what it means to live and love within and outside of family structures. \n  \nWednesday 7th February at 6pm\nVenue: Red Lion Books\, Colchester\n£5 ticket price is redeemable against Holly’s book\, on the evening. \nBook tickets: redlionbooks.co.uk \n  \nRegrettably\, the event space is not accessible to wheelchair users
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-lodgers/
LOCATION:Red Lion Books\, 125 High Street\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO1 1SZ\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction,In Conversation
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