BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Essex Book Festival - ECPv6.18.2//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Essex Book Festival
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/London
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20250330T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20251026T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20260329T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20261025T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20270328T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20271031T010000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261017T160000
DTSTAMP:20261013T141709Z
CREATED:20261013T141709Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261013T141709Z
UID:12173-1792233000-1792252800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Chelmsford Flip Into Wonder
DESCRIPTION:Chelmsford Flip Into Wonder\nby Children & Authors’ Literary Fanfare & Events (CALFE)\nA Magical Day of Stories\, Creativity\, Culture\, and Imagination\nSaturday 17 October 2026\n10.30am – 1.00pm and 1.30pm – 4.00pm\nChelmsford Library\nFor ages 4-12\n\nTickets: Free\nBook at: eventbrite.com\nJoin CALFE at Chelmsford Library for a day where stories come alive\, creativity takes centre stage and young imaginations can run free. \nBring your young ones along for an exciting day packed with stories\, creativity\, music\, art\, games and hands-on experiences designed to spark curiosity and imagination. \nFlip Into Wonder is a vibrant celebration for children and their families\, bringing together talented authors\, creative workshop leaders and performers\, for a day where every activity opens the door to a new story\, idea or adventure. \nFrom meeting authors and discovering brilliant books to getting creative with art\, writing and illustration\, there will be something for every curious young mind. \n  \n\nMeet the Authors\nCome along and meet some fantastic award-winning children’s authors:\nTola Okogwu\, Kandace Chimbiri and Sade Fadipe. \nHear stories\, discover new worlds and meet the people behind some wonderful children’s books. \n  \nGet Creative and Explore…\nwith illustrators\, Tolu Shofule and Rob Lawrence \nChildren can also get involved in a fantastic range of activities\, including Author Workshops\, Arts and Craft\, Mancala Strategy Game\, Toddler Music (PM) and Singing\, Storytelling\, Mask-Making and Creative Writing. \nDelived by seasoned workshop leaders: Triggerbliss\, Sherry Belizaire and Jennifer Flint. \nAnd don’t miss our Mobile-Museum with TV Celebrity-Chef Patti Sloley and her travel back in time Utensil and Spice Workshop. \nThe day will round-up with the Chelmlsford #kidlit Carnival by dance gurus: Julia Obasa & Gurpreet Tumber – it’s certainly set to be a fanfare of literature and representational books! \n  \nIt’s a day for Children will Enjoy Stories From Parts of the World\nChoice journeys through stories and cultural experiences inspired by Ghana\, Zimbabwe\, Nigeria\, England\, Jamaica and more. There will be numerous opportunities to create\, play\, listen\, imagine and discover. \nThis is a chance for children and families to discover different traditions\, stories and creative ideas while having lots of fun along the way. \nWhether your child loves books\, enjoys making things\, wants to try something new\, or simply loves a great story\, Flip Into Wonder offers a wonderful opportunity to explore\, create and connect. \nExpect imagination\, laughter\, creativity\, culture and plenty of opportunities to get involved. \nCome ready to play. Come ready to create. Come ready to discover. \nCome ready to Flip Into Wonder! \n  \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/chelmsford-flip-into-wonder/
LOCATION:Chelmsford Library\, County Hall\, Market Road\, Chelmsford\, CM1 1QH
CATEGORIES:Family-friendly,FREE,Partner Event,Young Essex
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Flip-Into-Wonder-wide-1200x800-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261008T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261008T200000
DTSTAMP:20261006T111154Z
CREATED:20260610T114255Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261006T111154Z
UID:11956-1791486000-1791489600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
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!
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Sally-Magnusson-The-Shapeshifters-Daughter-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260903T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260903T170000
DTSTAMP:20260902T113809Z
CREATED:20260714T094539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260902T113809Z
UID:12043-1788436800-1788454800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Stories in Transit
DESCRIPTION:Stories in Transit\nMarina Warner\, Philip Terry\, Hannah Machover\, Gemma Brockis and Joan Ashworth\nThursday 03 September 2026\, 12.00pm – 5.00pm\nSt Leonard-at-the-Hythe\, Hythe Hill\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO1 2NP.\nStories in Transit is an ongoing workshop series\, inviting participants who have lived experience of migration to imagine and create fantastical stories together. Together with artists\, musicians\, animators and writers\, stories that emerge through play\, games and walks are developed and performed. \nTickets: Free\, places limited\, booking essential. Reserve a spot here..\nSome participants will be invited to attend via a number of local organisations who we are partnering with on this event. \nThis event is kindly funded by The Bean Trust. \nDetails of the venue including how to get there and parking can be found at stleonard-at-the-hythe.org.uk/visiting-the-church. \nPhoto of workshop by Lee Shearman.\n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/12043/
LOCATION:St Leonard-at-the-Hythe Church\, Hythe Hill\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO1 2NP\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:FREE
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stories-in-Transit-workshop-photo-by-Lee-Shearman-February-2020.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260831
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260902
DTSTAMP:20260803T115503Z
CREATED:20260803T115503Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260803T115503Z
UID:12074-1788134400-1788307199@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:The Lion Inside
DESCRIPTION:The Lion Inside\nMon 31 August 2026 – Tue 1 September 2026\nChelmsford Theatre\nA heart-warming tale about confidence\, self-esteem\, and a shy little mouse who sets out on a journey to find his roar. \nIn a dry dusty place where the sand sparkled gold\, stood a mighty flat rock\, all craggy and old. And under that rock in a tinyful house\, lived the littlest\, quietest\, meekest brown mouse. \nFed up of being ignored and forgotten by the other animals\, Mouse wishes he could roar like Lion. But\, as he discovers\, even the biggest\, bossiest people are scared sometimes … and even the smallest creatures can have the heart of a lion! \nBased on the best-selling story by Rachel Bright & Jim Field\, this joyous new stage adaptation featuring puppetry\, music and song is directed by Sarah Punshon (The Jungle Book)\, with music and lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer (Brief Encounter). \nRecommended age 3+ \nMonday 31 August\, 14:00\nTuesday 01 September\, 11:00\nTuesday 01 September\, 14:00 \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-lion-inside/
LOCATION:Chelmsford Theatre\, Fairfield Road\, Chelmsford\, CM1 1JG
CATEGORIES:Family-friendly,Partner Event,Performance
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Lion-Inside-CTA-1200-x-800.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260728
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260730
DTSTAMP:20260723T163836Z
CREATED:20260723T163836Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260723T163836Z
UID:12068-1785196800-1785369599@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Zog
DESCRIPTION:Zog\nA roaring\, soaring musical for brave little dragons everywhere!\nI’m not braggin’ but I’m a dragon’ \nJulia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s classic\, feel-good story is brought to roaring\, soaring life in this delightful musical for children. \nZog is the keenest dragon in Madam Dragon’s school. He’s also the most accident-prone\, flying into trees and even setting his own wing alight. Thankfully\, a kind girl comes along to patch up his scratches and scrapes – but can she help him with his biggest challenge yet\, so that he can finally win a golden star? \nThis charming smash-hit show\, from the producers of Stick Man and Zog and the Flying Doctors\, features joyful songs by Joe Stilgoe and beautiful puppets by Little Angel. It’s a treat for children and adults alike! \nTickets: £19.50 (includes £2.50 ticket levy) \nTuesday 28 July \nWednesday 29 July \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/zog-2/
LOCATION:Mercury Theatre\, Balkerne Gate\, Colchester\, CO1 1PT
CATEGORIES:Partner Event,Performance
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Zog_2026_Generic_1920x1080-960x540-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260718T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260718T190000
DTSTAMP:20260420T095205Z
CREATED:20260420T095205Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260420T095205Z
UID:11786-1784368800-1784401200@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:DOSE Fest
DESCRIPTION:DOSE Fest – A Festival of Joy\, Connection & Wellbeing\nSaturday 18 July 2026\, 10am – 7pm\nAngel Meadow\, Main Road\, Broomfield\, Chelmsford\, CM1 7AH\n✨ Live music | Workshops | Movement | Mindfulness | Family-friendly experiences \nFour immersive zones. One powerful experience. One unforgettable day. \nExplore creativity in the Dopamine Lab\, connect in the Oxytocin Hut\, reset in the Serotonin Studio\, and energise in the Endorphin Arena – all brought together at the vibrant Equation Stage. \nWith live performances from the Black Jax (a 6 piece pop and rock band) talks and engaging moments throughout the day. \nAn array of creative activities that support better mental and emotional health\, in turn making us happier. \nLearn about the opportunities on your doorstep by meeting a selection of local group leaders. \nPerhaps you have wanted to give Salsa dancing a little go or wondered if Bollywood was more than just twisting the lightbulb. \nThere really is going to be so much going on that you cannot miss out on it. \nFind out more at dosefest.co.uk. \nSecure your place at DOSE Fest — limited first release now live at zeffy.com/en-GB/ticketing/dose-fest-tickets. \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/dose-fest/
LOCATION:Angel Meadow\, Main Road\, Broomfield\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM1 7AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Partner Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Dose-Festival-2.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T170000
DTSTAMP:20260626T101232Z
CREATED:20260326T090001Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260626T101232Z
UID:11459-1782662400-1782666000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:The Traitor's Circle
DESCRIPTION:Jonathan Freedland\nThe Traitor’s Circle\nSunday 28 June 2026\, 4.00pm\nLayer Marney Tower\, Layer Marney\, Near Colchester\, Essex\, CO5 9US\nPrize-winning journalist and acclaimed author of The Escape Artist Jonathan Freedland tells the thrilling true story of one of the most dramatic episodes of the second world war. With deep moral resonance for our own time\, he asks what kind of person it takes to risk everything and stand up to tyranny. \nTickets: £14 (includes entrance to Layer Marney Tower and gardens)\nOr all 3 events for £36\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n  \nThe History Books Ticket Deal\n\nMake an afternoon of it with our History Books ticket deal – £14 per event or all 3 events for £36\nDiscount automatically applied at checkout when tickets for all 3 events are booked: \n12.00pm – Tony McMahon\, Downfall of the Templars\n2.00pm – Emily Hauser\, Mythica\n4.00pm – Jonathan Freedland\, The Traitor’s Circle \nThe History Books at Layer Marney Tower\, Sunday 28 June. \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☕ Layer Marney Tea Room will be open from 11am serving refreshments\, lunches and snacks.\n🚗 There is free parking at the venue.\n♿ The venue is wheelchair accessible. There are disabled facilities on site. \n  \n\n\nJonathan Freedland\n\nPhoto of Jonathan Freedland © Philippa Gedge \n\n\nJonathan Freedland is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Escape Artist which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford\, Rathbones Folio and Waterstones Book of the Year prizes and in April 2025 was named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Books of the 21st Century . It was translated into twenty one languages and appeared on numerous Book of the Year lists. \nA Guardian columnist\, Freedland has won awards for Columnist of the Year and Commentator of the Year and is a past winner of an Orwell Prize for Journalism. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series\, The Long View\, and the author of twelve other books\, three of them non-fiction\, including his first\, the award-winning Bring Home the Revolution. Among those books were nine thrillers\, eight of them under the name Sam Bourne\, including The Righteous Men which was a No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. \n\nThe Traitors Circle\n\n\nThe Rebels Against the Nazis and the Spy Who Betrayed Them. \nThe new thrilling non-fiction from the bestselling author of The Escape Artist. \nA thrilling true story of courage\, resistance and\, ultimately\, betrayal in the Third Reich by internationally bestselling author and prize-winning journalist Jonathan Freedland. \nThe Traitors Circle tells the true\, but scarcely known story of a group of secret rebels against Hitler. Drawn from Berlin high society\, they include senior army officers\, top government officials\, two countesses\, an ambassador’s widow\, a young heiress and a former model – all of them meeting in the shadows\, whether hiding and rescuing Jews or plotting for a Germany freed from Nazi rule. \nOne day in September 1943 they gather for a tea party – unaware that one among them will betray the rest to the Gestapo. Pursued to near destruction by a cruel\, calculating detective – a man with the blood of thousands on his hands – theirs is a story of rare heroism\, sacrifice and inspiring endurance in the face of the most brutal regime in history. \nIn another page-turning work of nonfiction\, Jonathan Freedland\, acclaimed author of The Escape Artist\, sheds light on one of the most dramatic episodes of the second world war\, telling a story with deep moral resonance for our own time\, one that asks what kind of person it takes to risk everything and stand up to tyranny. \n\n‘An astonishing true story of courage\, love and betrayal\, told with the verve of a thriller. Freedland is a master at weaving spellbinding entertainments drawn from forgotten corners of history’\n– Mick Herron\n\n\n\n‘A story of unlikely rebels who had much to lose from resisting the Nazi regime\, which so many of their peers supported. What made them trade personal safety for moral rectitude? Freedland’s answer is as tense as a thriller yet perceptive\, thoughtful and\nthoroughly researched. It made me think long after I’d turned the last page’\n– Katja Hoyer\, bestselling author of Blood and Iron\n\n\n\n‘The Traitors Circle rivals Freedland’s superb The Escape Artist. A revelatory account of heroism and treachery in Nazi Germany\, it based on original research and reads like a thriller. Totally gripping and timely’\n– Jonathan Dimbleby\n\n\n\n\nPhoto of Layer Marney Tower © Red Carpet Video
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-traitors-circle/
LOCATION:Layer Marney Tower\, Layer Marney\, CO5 9US
CATEGORIES:History,The History Books
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Jonathan-Freedland-credit-Philippa-Gedge-The-Traitors-Circle-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T170000
DTSTAMP:20260626T101037Z
CREATED:20260326T090027Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260626T101037Z
UID:11439-1782662400-1782666000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Hen\, Mistress of Mayhem: A Portrait of Henrietta Moraes
DESCRIPTION:Darren Coffield in conversation with James Cahill\nHen\, Mistress of Mayhem: A Portrait of Henrietta Moraes\nSunday 28 June 2026\, 4.00pm (string quartet in the garden from 3pm – do join us early for that!)\nThe Gibberd Garden\, Marsh Lane\, Harlow\, Essex\, CM17 0NA\nDarren Coffield will be exploring his book\, Hen Mistress of Mayhem: A Portrait of Henrietta Moraes\, providing  a unique insight into 1950-60s Bohemia and the key players of the fashion\, music and art scene. \nHen\, Mistress of Mayhem takes you to the epicentre of Soho’s Golden Age; stage by stage it forms a complete guide to a hell-raising companion. \nUniquely told from the viewpoint of the women who knew her\, including Maggi Hambling\, not the famous male artists who painted her. \nTickets:\n£15 / £12 concessions (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nor both events for £25 / £18 concessions \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  \nSuma Quartet\, a string quartet will be playing at The Gibberd Garden from 3pm to 4pm. \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 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☕ There will be a pop-up tea room serving refreshments and snacks.\n🏠 Tickets include entry to the House and Garden. Entry to the House is limited\, timed entry passes are available\, first come first served on the day. \n\n\nTicket Deal\n\nMake an afternoon of it with our Gibberd Garden ticket deal – Tickets £15 per event or both events for £25 (Concessions £12 per event or both events for £18).\nDiscount automatically applied at checkout when tickets for both events are booked: \n2.00pm – Maggi Hambling in conversation with James Cahill\n4.00pm – Darren Coffield\, Hen\, Mistress of Mayhem \n\n\n\n\n\n\nDarren Coffield\n\nPhoto of Darren Coffield © Darren Coffield \n\n\nDarren Coffield studied at Goldsmiths College\, Camberwell School of Art\, and the Slade School of Art in London\, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Art in 1993. He has exhibited widely in the company of many leading artists\, including Damien Hirst\, Howard Hodgkin\, Patrick Caulfield and Gilbert and George. \nIn 2014\, his contributions were recognised by ‘100 Painters of Tomorrow’. He is the author of Tales from the Colony Room: Soho’s Lost Bohemia (2021) and Queens of Bohemia (2024). \n\n\n\nHen\, Mistress of Mayhem\nA Portrait of Henrietta Moraes\nDarren Coffield\, foreword by Sarah Lucas\n\n\nPaints a vivid portrait of a Bohemian legend. \nHenrietta Moraes first discovered Soho when she was eighteen – or so she tells us. Her favourite sport was social climbing (heaven knows she enjoyed the exercise) and she was good at it\, going to all the right parties and simply gate-crashing others. \nFrom the summit of the 1950s bohemian scene she surveyed the life and times of those who broke all the rules\, such as the artists Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon (for whom she became a muse). \nBut that’s not all she did – as a key counter-culture figure in the 1960s Chelsea Set\, no other woman was more indefatigable in becoming a bohemian legend. \nThrough Hen\, you’ll learn how to steal your best friend’s boyfriend; enchant and ensnare a husband; blossom into a magnificent muse; dress like a comic book superhero; become a connoisseur of every illicit drug known to medical science and dose a Rolling Stones concert with them; join the caravan set and head along the gypsy trail in search of the Holy Grail\, before rematerialising as the minder for a mind-blowing pop icon… \nAlong the way you’ll indulge in the gentle art of cadging drinks; the feline felony of cat burglary; the canny craft of charity shop shoplifting and the haphazardness of steamy sex in second-hand bookshops. \nHen\, Mistress of Mayhem takes you to the epicentre of Soho’s Golden Age; stage by stage it forms a complete guide to a hell-raising companion. \nBuy a copy of the book from bookshop.org. – released 02 April 2026
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/hen-mistress-of-mayhem-a-portrait-of-henrietta-moraes/
LOCATION:The Gibberd Garden\, Marsh Lane\, Harlow\, Essex\, CM17 0NA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Biography,In Conversation
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Darren-Coffield-Hen-Mistress-of-Mayhem-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T150000
DTSTAMP:20260626T101015Z
CREATED:20260326T090019Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260626T101015Z
UID:11432-1782655200-1782658800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Maggi Hambling - SOLD OUT
DESCRIPTION:Maggi Hambling in conversation with James Cahill\nSunday 28 June 2026\, 2.00pm\nThe Gibberd Garden\, Marsh Lane\, Harlow\, Essex\, CM17 0NA\nMaggi Hambling\, one of the most influential artists of her generation\, will be talking with author\, writer and art critic James Cahill about a new monograph of her work recently published by Rizzoli New York. Join us for an afternoon to celebrate and shine a light on Hambling’s fearless spirit and trailblazing art. \nTickets:\n£15 / £12 concessions (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nor both events for £25 / £18 concessions \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/. \nSuma Quartet\, a string quartet will be playing at The Gibberd Garden from 3pm to 4pm. \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☕ There will be a pop-up tea room serving refreshments and snacks.\n🏠 Tickets include entry to the House and Garden. Entry to the House is limited\, timed entry passes are available\, first come first served on the day. \n  \nTicket Deal\n \nMake an afternoon of it with our Gibberd Garden ticket deal:\nTickets £15 per event or both events for £25 (Concessions £12 per event or both events for £18).\nDiscount automatically applied at checkout when tickets for both events are booked: \n2.00pm – Maggi Hambling in conversation with James Cahill\n4.00pm – Darren Coffield\, Hen\, Mistress of Mayhem \n\n\n\n\n\n\nMaggi Hambling\n\nPhoto of Maggi Hambling © Laura Bailey \n\n\nMaggi Hambling (born 1945) is a contemporary British painter and sculptor whose work has been subject of many solo museum exhibitions since 1980. \n\n\n\nMaggi Hambling\nForeword by Cecily Brown\, Contributions by Sean Burns and James Cahill and Hugo Chapman and Wenny Teo and Sheena Wagstaff\nThe definitive illustrated monograph of trailblazing British artist\, queer icon\, and pioneer Maggi Hambling\, on the occasion of her eightieth birthday. \n\n\nFeaturing an exceptional range of reproductions of Maggi Hambling’s work\, including unique archival materials\, this authoritative and visually stunning new volume offers the most comprehensive account of Hambling’s oeuvre to date. \nEssays by leading critics\, curators\, and art historians trace Hambling’s formative period from her time at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in the early 1960s\, to her rise to fame in the ’80s\, the centrality of drawing to her eclectic practice\, and the virtuoso series of paintings that have defined her output in recent decades. \nHambling’s work and legacy are explored in vivid detail here\, emphasizing her importance to British art over the past half century\, as well as her singular place in the global sphere of contemporary art. Love\, death\, and remembrance are revealed as her enduring themes\, and are reflected in her intimate portraits as much as her epic-scaled evocations of war\, the climate emergency\, and the natural world. \nShining a light on Hambling’s fearless spirit\, this tour-de-force publication takes you deep into the heart and mind of one of the most influential and provocative artists of her generation. \nBuy a copy of the book from bookshop.org.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/maggi-hambling/
LOCATION:The Gibberd Garden\, Marsh Lane\, Harlow\, Essex\, CM17 0NA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Art,SOLD OUT!
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Maggi-Hambling-Sold-Out-1200x800-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T150000
DTSTAMP:20260626T101211Z
CREATED:20260326T090020Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260626T101211Z
UID:11453-1782655200-1782658800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Mythica
DESCRIPTION:Emily Hauser in conversation with Lucy Hughes-Hallett\nMythica\nSunday 28 June 2026\, 2.00pm\nLayer Marney Tower\, Layer Marney\, Near Colchester\, Essex\, CO5 9US\nAward-winning classicist and historian\, Emily Hauser\, will take us on an epic journey to uncover the true story of the real women behind ancient Greece’s greatest legends – and the real heroes of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. \nIn Mythica\, Dr Emily Hauser tells\, for the first time\, the extraordinary stories of the real women behind some of the western world’s greatest legends. Following in their footsteps\, digging into the history behind Homer’s epic poems\, piecing together evidence from the original texts\, recent astonishing archaeological finds and the latest DNA studies\, she reveals who these women – queens\, mothers\, warriors\, slaves – were\, how they lived\, and how history has (or has not – until now) remembered them. \n\n‘Bold and intellectually thrilling . . . rigorous scholarship and dazzling feats of imagination.’\n– Tom Holland\, historian and co-host of The Rest is History podcast\n\nEmily Hauser will be in conversation with biographer\, cultural historian and novelist\, Lucy Hughes-Hallett.\nTickets: £14 (includes entrance to Layer Marney Tower and gardens)\nOr all 3 events for £36\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n\n\nThe History Books Ticket Deal\n\n\nMake an afternoon of it with our History Books ticket deal – £14 per event or all 3 events for £36\nDiscount automatically applied at checkout when tickets for all 3 events are booked: \n12.00pm – Tony McMahon\, Downfall of the Templars\n2.00pm – Emily Hauser\, Mythica\n4.00pm – Jonathan Freedland\, The Traitor’s Circle \nThe History Books at Layer Marney Tower\, Sunday 28 June. \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☕ Layer Marney Tea Room will be open from 11am serving refreshments\, lunches and snacks\n🚗 There is free parking at the venue.\n♿ The venue is wheelchair accessible. There are disabled facilities on site. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nEmily Hauser\n\nPhoto of Emily Hauser © Faye Thomas \n\n \nDr Emily Hauser is an award-winning classicist and historian. She read Classics at Cambridge with Mary Beard\, where she received a double first with distinction and won the prestigious Chancellor’s Medal for Classical Proficiency. \nShe has a PhD in Classics from Yale University\, and was a Junior Fellow at the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. She is now Senior Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter\, and teaches and researches on women’s writing\, ancient and modern. \n\n\n\nMythica\n\n\nAward-winning classicist and historian\, Emily Hauser\, takes readers on an epic journey to uncover the true story of the real women behind ancient Greece’s greatest legends – and the real heroes of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. \nContrary to perceptions built up over three millennia\, ancient history is not all about men – and it’s not only men’s stories that deserve to be told. \nIn Mythica\, Dr Emily Hauser tells\, for the first time\, the extraordinary stories of the real women behind some of the western world’s greatest legends. Following in their footsteps\, digging into the history behind Homer’s epic poems\, piecing together evidence from the original texts\, recent astonishing archaeological finds and the latest DNA studies\, she reveals who these women – queens\, mothers\, warriors\, slaves – were\, how they lived\, and how history has (or has not – until now) remembered them. \nA riveting new history of the Bronze Age Aegean and a journey through Homer’s epics charted entirely by women – from Helen of Troy\, Briseis\, Cassandra and Aphrodite to Circe\, Athena\, Hera\, Calypso and Penelope – Mythica is a ground-breaking reassessment of the reality behind the often-mythologized women of Greece’s greatest epics\, and of the ancient world itself as we learn ever more about it. \nOrder a copy of the book from bookshop.org. \n\n\n\n\n\nLucy Hughes-Hallett\n\n\nLucy Hughes-Hallett is a biographer\, cultural historian and novelist whose books have won the Samuel Johnson prize\, the Duff Cooper Prize\, the Costa Biography of the Year Award\, the Plutarch Prize\, the Randy Shilts Non-Fiction Award and the Biographers Club Award for an Exceptional Contribution to Biography. \nHer book on Gabriele d’Annunzio\, The Pike\, was named in the Sunday Times as ‘the biography of the decade’. Her most recent book is The Scapegoat: the Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham\, which has been described as ‘fabulous’ (The Guardian)\, ‘dazzling’ (Wall Street Journal) and ‘stunningly good’ (The Sunday Times). \nShe is a widely respected critic and in 2020 she was chair of the judges of the International Booker Prize. \nCleopatra: Histories\, Dreams and Distortions\, her first book\, has recently been re-issued in a revised edition. \n \n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPhoto of Layer Marney Tower © Red Carpet Video
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/mythica/
LOCATION:Layer Marney Tower\, Layer Marney\, CO5 9US
CATEGORIES:History,The History Books
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Emily-Hauser-credit-Faye-Thomas-Mythica-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T130000
DTSTAMP:20260626T101150Z
CREATED:20260326T090056Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260626T101150Z
UID:11449-1782648000-1782651600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Downfall of the Templars
DESCRIPTION:Tony McMahon\nDownfall of the Templars\nSunday 28 June 2026\, 12.00pm\nLayer Marney Tower\, Layer Marney\, Near Colchester\, Essex\, CO5 9US\nWhy were the Knights Templar brutally crushed after years of courageous service in the Crusades? Were they framed for being heretics\, sorcerers and traitors? Do the Templars still exist today? Broadcaster and author Tony McMahon investigates the links between the trials of the Templars and the witch hunt mania that was about to grip Europe. \nTickets: £14 (includes entrance to Layer Marney Tower and gardens)\nOr all 3 events for £36\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \n  \n\nThe History Books Ticket Deal\n \nMake an afternoon of it with our History Books ticket deal – £14 per event or all 3 events for £36\nDiscount automatically applied at checkout when tickets for all 3 events are booked: \n12.00pm – Tony McMahon\, Downfall of the Templars\n2.00pm – Emily Hauser\, Mythica\n4.00pm – Jonathan Freedland\, The Traitor’s Circle \n\nThe History Books at Layer Marney Tower\, Sunday 28 June.\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☕ Layer Marney Tea Room will be open from 11am serving refreshments\, lunches and snacks\n📸 We will be filming and taking photos at this event.\n🚗 There is free parking at the venue\n♿ The venue is wheelchair accessible. There are disabled facilities on site. \n  \n\n\nTony McMahon\n\nPhoto of Tony McMahon © Tony McMahon \n\n\nThe author\, Tony McMahon\, is a regular face on history and science documentaries on TV. He is one of four Truthseekers on History’s very successful three season series as well as Secrets of the Royal Palaces on Channel 5\, William Shatner’s The UnXplained\, Forbidden History\, Strange Evidence\, and many other shows. \nTony McMahon appeared with Tony Robinson and Steve Tibble at the Battle of Evesham Festival in August 2025 to talk about his trilogy of books on the Templars. Downfall of the Templars is the second book. The third\, focusing on the Freemason/Templar link\, will be published in late 2026. \nYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tonymcmahon_historybear\nThe Templar Knight blog: https://thetemplarknight.com/\nSubstack: https://tonymcmahon.substack.com/\nTony McMahon on TV: https://tony-mcmahon.com/ \n\n\nDownfall of the Templars: Guilty of Diabolic Magic?\n\n\nThe Knights Templar – Europe’s first Witches? \nNew evidence from TV historian Tony McMahon proves that the trials of the Knights Templar between 1307 and 1312 foreshadowed the witch trials about to engulf Europe for over 300 years. Many of the alleged crimes of the Templars mirror the charges brought against thousands of witches. Illicit kisses\, demon worshipping\, and desecrating the crucifix. \n\nTony McMahon explains:\n“It’s been overlooked that when the Knights Templar were being tortured and executed\, the king of France was also burning a group of women called the Beguines. He accused a bishop of murdering the queen using magic potions. And he was trying to put a dead pope on trial for diabolism. Something was happening in medieval society. This was the beginning of the notorious witch trials.”\n\n\nPlus\, while the Templars were on trial – others were being accused of sorcery including a bishop and a dead pope. This was part of a new elite obsession with sorcery and necromancy. The disturbing late medieval trend that would claim the lives of so many is investigated by TV historian Tony McMahon in Downfall of the Templars: Guilty of Diabolic Magic? (Pen & Sword publishers). \nMost historians assume the Templars were destroyed by the King of France\, Philip IV\, eager to grab their fabled riches. But author and historian Tony McMahon shows that the Templar trials between 1307 and 1312 were part of a new and sinister wave of prosecutions against alleged sorcerers and necromancers. \nSociety was sliding into superstition and darkness. The Templars fell victim to this trend. As our own time sees an onslaught on science and reason\, the terrible fate of these knights is an object lesson we all need to learn. And with increased interest in witchcraft\, this is a timely book set to provoke widespread interest. \nDownfall of the Templars also investigates whether the knights really did have enormous treasure that they successfully hid away. And it sheds light on organisations today that claim to be modern Templars. \nOrder a copy of the book from bookshop.org.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/downfall-of-the-templars/
LOCATION:Layer Marney Tower\, Layer Marney\, CO5 9US
CATEGORIES:History,The History Books
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tony-McMahon-credit-Tony-McMahon-Downfall-of-the-Templars-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260628T120000
DTSTAMP:20260519T145418Z
CREATED:20260519T145418Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260519T145418Z
UID:11770-1782642600-1782648000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Emma-van-Straaten-This-Immaculate-Body-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T210000
DTSTAMP:20260622T161635Z
CREATED:20260622T161635Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260622T161635Z
UID:12004-1782588600-1782594000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:It Comes In Waves
DESCRIPTION:It Comes In Waves\nJames McDermott supported by Seagull Theatre & Eastern Angles\nVenue: The Headgate Theatre\, Colchester\, CO2 7AT\nSaturday 27 June 2026 7:30PM\nA grief cafe in Lowestoft\, a town mourning the loss of its high street on a coastline that’s crumbling like Rich Tea biscuits. \nAfter losing her hubby\, ageing Crystal wants to live laugh love but maybe she just needs to chill out. \nAfter losing Dad\, teenage Jordan just wants to like get grieving over and done with and that… but grief is messy and comes in waves right? \nGroup leader Howard just wants to help everyone else… But can he finally help himself and confront his own repressed grief? \nWritten by local writer James McDermott (EastEnders\, Rubber Ring\, Time & Tide) and drawing on his own experiences of bereavement after losing his father during the pandemic\, It Comes In Waves is a big-hearted community-spirited coastal comedy drama that laughs in the face of loss\, explores how grief comes in waves and asks how we can help each other to stay afloat when it hits. \nTicket price incl. booking fee: £13.50 – £16.50\nBox Office: https://www.ticketsource.com/headgatetheatre/t-njjelyk \nTouring East Anglia 19th June – 11th July \nFor details of all dates and venues visit: https://easternangles.co.uk/event/it-comes-in-waves/
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/it-comes-in-waves/
LOCATION:Headgate Theatre\, 14 Chapel St North\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO2 7AT\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Partner Event,Performance
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/It-comes-in-waves.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T153000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T163000
DTSTAMP:20260618T094044Z
CREATED:20260326T090002Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260618T094044Z
UID:11567-1782574200-1782577800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Ditty Bag on the Road - Cancelled
DESCRIPTION:Rebecca Leek\nDitty Bag on the Road\n** Please note\, this event has been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. **\nSaturday 27 June 2026\, 3.30pm – 4.30pm\nHarlow Museum & Walled Gardens\, Muskham Road\, Harlow\, CM20 2LF \nHarlow-born writer Rebecca Leek will be hosting a showcase of poetry in Harlow Museum’s Walled Gardens\, inviting poets from across the county to collaborate in a mixed session. Expect different voices\, a celebration of words\, and newly commissioned poems. \nRebecca hosts The Ditty Bag poetry podcast\, is a published author and was a prize winner in the 2025 Waltham Forest National Poetry Competition. She trained as a musician\, a performer\, and a teacher\, and is a regular on local and national radio. \nTickets: £5\nBox Office: playhouseharlow-tickets.harlowplayhouse.co.uk/ticketbooth/shows/873662404 \n  \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/.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/ditty-bag-on-the-road/
LOCATION:Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens\, Muskham Road\, Harlow\, Essex\, CM20 2LF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:CANCELLED,Partner Event,Poetry
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Rebecca-Leek-cancelled-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T133000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T143000
DTSTAMP:20260327T191411Z
CREATED:20260326T090023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260327T191411Z
UID:11426-1782567000-1782570600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Syd-Moore-The-Great-Deception-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T150000
DTSTAMP:20260605T133846Z
CREATED:20260326T090016Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T133846Z
UID:11563-1782561600-1782572400@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Family Storytelling & Games
DESCRIPTION:Family Storytelling\, Games & The Young Ones Eco-Workshops\nSaturday 27 June 2026\, 12.00pm – 3.00pm\nHarlow Museum & Walled Gardens\, Muskham Road\, Harlow\, CM20 2LF\nCome and celebrate stories in Harlow Museum’s Walled Gardens with storytellers\, crafts and games for all the family. Free to attend. \nHarlow Museum’s Walled Gardens are alive with stories. Come one\, come all\, gather round and listen to storyteller Dave Tonge\, the Yarnsmith of Norwich\, as he transports you back to long\, long ago. Gather close and enjoy silly stories and mind mangling riddles from Saxon\, Viking Medieval and Tudor times. Tall tales of wise fools and foolish wise\, of lazy long limbed lads\, and miserly merchants. Silly stories about poor penniless pedlars\, dark and dangerous dragons\, and even a plain and simple radish that was worth 100 gold coins! \nGet crafty and messy with our Young Ones Eco-Workshops – try your hand at eco-printing using ink made from Essex oak galls\, or Write a Letter to the future. \nBring a picnic and create your own stories\, craft new characters and play fun-filled games in our gardens. \nFree. Drop in between 12 and 3pm. No booking required.\n  \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  \nThe Eco-Workshops are part of The Young Ones project which is supported by Essex County Council’s Cultural Development Project Fund\, to support the growth of cultural venues and organisations that bring culture to the heart of communities in Essex. \n \n \n \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/family-storytelling-games/
LOCATION:Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens\, Muskham Road\, Harlow\, Essex\, CM20 2LF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:FREE,Partner Event,Young Essex
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Harlow-Museum-Garden-crowd-scene-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T120000
DTSTAMP:20260430T151939Z
CREATED:20260327T144437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260430T151939Z
UID:11707-1782558000-1782561600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Heathlands and Badlands: The deserts of Europe are closer than you think…
DESCRIPTION:Heathlands and Badlands: The deserts of Europe are closer than you think…\nChris Stone\nSaturday 27 June 2026\, 11.00am\nMuseum of Chelmsford\, Oaklands Park\, Moulsham Street\, Chelmsford\, CM2 9AQ\nChris Stone is author of European Deserts (Pelagic Publishing\, February 2026). This is the untold story of the little-known deserts of Europe\, sandy and infertile lowland wildernesses where extreme environmental conditions are the norm. Remote and mostly uninhabited\, Europe’s arid tracts present landscapes differing profoundly from their surroundings and offer refuge for scarce flora and fauna with nowhere else to go. \nFor long these ‘wastelands’ were poverty-stricken\, and many had reputations as undesirable and even dangerous places. Today\, the survival of the remaining fragments is threatened despite their distinctive biodiversity\, landscapes and fascinating human tales. Yet offering unique and often magical and landscapes they provide a rare glimpse of our planet in the raw. Illustrated with powerful images\, this talk presents a fresh perspective on these extraordinary places – some of which are closer to hand than one might imagine! Chris’s bold and provocative thesis will transform perceptions of the environment of the European subcontinent. \n  \nTickets: £7 / £6.30 Museum of Chelmsford members (includes entry to Museum of Chelmsford)\nBook tickets: chelmsford.gov.uk/museums/whats-on \n  \nAbout the author\nEnvironmentalist and author\, Chris Stone graduated from one of the very first British environment degrees\, and commenced his career planning wildlife conservation projects on the heaths of east Suffolk. Moving into the field of environment and development\, he took a position with an environmental consultancy specialising in tourism and environmental planning. During a career spanning three decades at UK universities\, Chris dedicated himself to teaching and research on sustainability\, publishing widely and establishing a reputation as an academic expert on sustainable and responsible tourism. European Deserts marks Chris’s return to his lifelong passion for environmental conservation in an increasingly nature-depleted world. \nPelagic Publishing – European Deserts \n \n  \n \n \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/heathlands-and-badlands-the-deserts-of-europe-are-closer-than-you-think/
LOCATION:Chelmsford Museum\, Oaklands Park\, Moulsham Street\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM2 9AQ\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author talk,Partner Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Heathlands-and-Badlands.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T104500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T130000
DTSTAMP:20260521T133103Z
CREATED:20260521T133103Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260521T133103Z
UID:11923-1782557100-1782565200@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Beetle Boy
DESCRIPTION:MG Leonard author talk and book signing\nSaturday 27 June 2026 10:45 AM – 1:00 PM\nNobel Room\, Wat Tyler Centre\nPitsea Hall Lane\, Pitsea\, Basildon \, SS16 4UH \nTickets: £5\nBook tickets: trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/111204 \n  \nBuglife are thrilled to welcome best-selling children’s author and Buglife Ambassador MG Leonard to the Festival of Insects\, to celebrate ten years since the publication of her action-packed adventure story Beetle Boy. \nThis event is recommended for those aged 8+. Children must be accompanied by an adult and all attendees will need their own ticket. Doors will open at 10.45 and the talk will start at 11.00. Wat Tyler country park gets busy in the summer\, so please arrive in time to find a parking space. If the car park nearest the centre is full\, alternative parking is available at the Green Centre. If arriving by public transport\, the venue is within walking distance of Pitsea station. \nBooks will be available to purchase at the event\, or you are welcome to bring your own copy to be signed. \nPlease note that there will be a photographer in attendance. If you do not wish to be photographed please speak to the event organisers on the day. \nAbout the book: Darkus is miserable. His dad has disappeared\, and now he is living next door to the most disgusting neighbours ever. A giant beetle called Baxter comes to his rescue. But can the two solve the mystery of his dad’s disappearance\, especially when links emerge to cruel Lucretia Cutter and her penchant for beetle jewellery? A coffee-mug mountain\, home to a million insects\, could provide the answer – if Darkus and Baxter are brave enough to find it… \n‘Ever since I was little I’ve been frightened of creepy-crawlies. Then I found out that beetles can be pretty\, brightly coloured\, even gold. Others are as strong as the Incredible Hulk. Some shoot acid out of their butts\, and all beetles have wings! My fear had stopped me from seeing how fantastic beetles were\, and so I decided to write an adventure with the beetles as the good guys.’ – MG Leonard \n  \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/beetle-boy/
LOCATION:Wat Tyler Centre\, Pitsea Hall Lane\, Pitsea\, Basildon\, Essex\, SS16 4UH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Partner Event,Young Essex
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Bug-Life-MG-Lenard-1200-x-800.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260627T123000
DTSTAMP:20260620T091351Z
CREATED:20260326T090042Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T091351Z
UID:11544-1782556200-1782563400@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Writing the Archive Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Syd Moore\nWriting the Archive\nSaturday 27 June 2026\, 10.30am – 12.30pm\nHarlow Museum & Walled Gardens\, Muskham Road\, Harlow\, CM20 2LF\nJoin best-selling author Syd Moore for a special writing workshop using objects from the archives of Harlow Museum to inspire your work. \nExplore the archive at Harlow Museum – the collection holds a huge variety of paper-based documents\, including original town plans\, photos\, parish registers\, newspapers\, and books. All these items contain rare and invaluable information about Harlow from the time of the individual parishes\, through the new town era\, up to the present day. The various items included within the archives provide a unique insight into the people who lived in the town and their way of life over multiple decades. \nDuring this writing workshop best-selling author\, Syd Moore\, will guide you through using items from the Harlow Museum collection to inspire you to write your own piece of creative work. \nThis workshop is for writers of all abilities – all welcome. \nTickets: £20 / £15 concessions (students\, under 27s and unwaged)\nBox Office: eventbrite.co.uk \n  \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 \nSyd Moore\nPhoto of Syd Moore © JMoore photos \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\nGood 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. \nSyd Moore will also be taking part in an author event later in the day in the Walled Gardens at Harlow Museum\, talking about her latest novel\, The Great Deception – the second in her thrilling new series about Britain’s secret wartime history. \n \n \n \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/writing-the-archive-3/
LOCATION:Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens\, Muskham Road\, Harlow\, Essex\, CM20 2LF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:For Writers,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Writing-the-Archive-1200-x-800.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260627
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260629
DTSTAMP:20260622T154809Z
CREATED:20260327T114524Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260622T154809Z
UID:11694-1782518400-1782691199@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:A Poet in Every Port with the mobile National Poetry Library
DESCRIPTION:A Poet in Every Port with the mobile National Poetry Library\nSaturday 27 – Sunday 28 June 2026\nIn partnership with Southbank Centre \nWe are working in partnership with Southbank Centre to welcome the mobile National Poetry Library to Chalkwell Hall as part of Essex Writers House 2026. Be prepared for a mini programme of weekend activity for all ages to enjoy\, with the opportunity to contribute prose\, poetry and words to the Mobile Poetry Library. Local artist and poet Maddi Crease will be helping us to celebrate Essex’s unique coastal stories. \n  \nFind out more about A Poet in Every Port at Chalkwell Hall here. \n  \nPhoto of Maddi Crease © Maddi Crease \nMaddi Crease is a poet and artist and is currently a member of Southbank Centre’s New Poets Collective\, representing Southend for A Poet in Every Port. She has received commission from BBC Sounds and Arts Council England Funding and is a recent Fine Art graduate of South Essex College. \nA Poet in Every Port is a Southbank Centre initiative which aims to celebrate the UK’s diverse dialects and languages by telling the stories of our coastal communities and showing that poetry is for everyone. It marks Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary. \n  \n \nPart of Essex Writers House – A collaborative partnership between Metal and Essex Book Festival\, 01 – 30 June 2026\nEssex Writers House is a month-long programme hosted by Metal\, based in Southend. Chalkwell Hall opens its doors through June as a creative hub\, offering a range of events from talks\, open advice sessions and workshops to collaborative workspaces for writers\, story tellers and book lovers of all levels. Find out more at essexbookfestival.org.uk/event/essex-writers-house-2026/.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/a-poet-in-every-port-with-the-mobile-national-poetry-library/
LOCATION:Metal at Chalkwell Hall\, Chalkwell Avenue\, Southend-on-Sea\, SS0 8NB
CATEGORIES:Essex Writers House,FREE,Poetry
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/A-Poet-in-Every-Port-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260626T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260626T170000
DTSTAMP:20260624T084011Z
CREATED:20260330T113023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260624T084011Z
UID:11728-1782475200-1782493200@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Stories in Transit - Postponed
DESCRIPTION:Stories in Transit\nMarina Warner\, Philip Terry\, Sophie Herxheimer\, Hannah Machover and Gemma Brockis\nFriday 26 June 2026\, 12.00pm – 5.00pm\nSt Leonard-at-the-Hythe\, Hythe Hill\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO1 2NP.\n** This event has been postponed until later in the year. ** \nStories in Transit is an ongoing workshop series\, inviting participants who have lived experience of migration to imagine and create fantastical stories together. Together with artists\, musicians\, animators and writers\, stories that emerge through play\, games and walks are developed and performed. \nTickets: Free\, places limited\, booking essential. Reserve a spot here..\nSome participants will be invited to attend via a number of local organisations who we are partnering with on this event. \nThis event is kindly funded by The Bean Trust. \nPhoto of workshop by Lee Shearman \n \n \n \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/stories-in-transit/
LOCATION:St Leonard-at-the-Hythe Church\, Hythe Hill\, Colchester\, Essex\, CO1 2NP\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:FREE,POSTPONED
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stories-in-Transit-POSTPONED-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T200000
DTSTAMP:20260326T091918Z
CREATED:20260326T090004Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260326T091918Z
UID:11420-1782414000-1782417600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Sophie-Hannah-Work-Experience-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T200000
DTSTAMP:20260623T052515Z
CREATED:20260326T090051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T052515Z
UID:11558-1782414000-1782417600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
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!
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Amy-Abdelnoor-Ever-Land-SOLD-OUT-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T120000
DTSTAMP:20260430T084528Z
CREATED:20260326T090050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260430T084528Z
UID:11554-1782385200-1782388800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Wendy-Erskine-The-Benefactors-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260624T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260624T203000
DTSTAMP:20260326T091807Z
CREATED:20260326T090011Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260326T091807Z
UID:11413-1782329400-1782333000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:From Bombay to Bond\, via a Small Town Killing
DESCRIPTION:Vaseem Khan\nFrom Bombay to Bond\, via a Small Town Killing\n\nWednesday 24 June\, 7.30pm\nColchester Library\, Trinity Square\, Colchester\, CO1 1JB\nBestselling crime fiction author Vaseem Khan takes us on an exhilarating journey from the post-Independence complexities of his Malabar House novels – the latest of which\, The Edge of Darkness\, involves a locked-room mystery in India’s northeastern jungle – to contemporary Britain’s MI6 and the exploits of James Bond and Q. \nHe will take a detour via his standalone thriller The Girl in Cell A\, immersing us in a claustrophobic small American town replete with dark secrets. And his new series featuring Q\, beginning with Quantum of Menace\, brings to life one of spy fiction’s most iconic characters – but who was the real Q? \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\nVaseem Khan\n\n\nVaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India and the upcoming Quantum of Menace\, the first in a series featuring Q from the James Bond franchise. \nHe is a previous winner of the Shamus Award in the US. His debut\, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra\, was translated into 16 languages. In 2021\, Midnight at Malabar House\, the first in the Malabar House novels set in 1950s Bombay\, won the CWA Historical Dagger and was shortlisted for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year Award. \nVaseem lives in London and is the chair of the Crime Writers’ Association. \n\n\nThe Edge of Darkness\n\n\nThe unmissable new historical crime novel from bestselling author Vaseem Khan. \nIndia\, 1951. After wilfully ignoring orders\, Persis Wadia\, India’s first female police detective\, is exiled from Bombay to the wild and mountainous Naga Hills District. As India’s first post-Independence election looms\, and tensions rise across the country\, Persis finds herself banished to the Victoria Hotel\, a crumbling colonial-era relic\, her career in tatters. \nBut when a prominent politician is murdered in his locked room at the Victoria\, his head missing\, she is thrust back into the fray. Is the murderer one of the foreigners staying at the hotel or an insurgent from the surrounding jungle? As the political situation threatens to explode\, Persis has only days to stop a killer operating at the very edge of darkness… \n\n\n‘Historical fiction at its finest’\n– Mail on Sunday\n\n\n\n‘Brilliant!’\n– Ann Cleeves\n\n\n\n‘Vaseem Khan writes with charm and wit\, and an eye for detail that transports the reader entirely. I couldn’t love this series more’\n– Chris Whitaker\n\n\nBuy a copy of the book from bookshop.org. \n\n\nQuantum of Menace – Q Mysteries\n\n\nCentring on one of Ian Fleming’s most beloved characters Q (aka Major Boothroyd)\, this delicious witty James Bond spin-off murder mystery finds the tech boffin investigating the suspicious death of his scientist friend after being unexpectedly ousted from his job at MI6. \nFilled with wit and verve\, Vaseem Khan brings his vibrant and dynamic style to one of Ian Fleming’s most beloved characters\, Q. Charming\, drily humorous\, and intelligently crafted\, Quantum of Menace\, the first in the Q mystery books\, will appeal to Bond fans\, readers of Murder Before Evensong\,The Thursday Murder Club and Slow Horses novels\, and those who are looking for a new take on clever crime fiction. \nQ is out of MI6 and into a new world of deceit and death. \n\n\n‘Excellent. An entertaining mash-up of Fleming\, Le Carré and the best of British detective fiction’\n– Charlie Higson\n\n\n\n‘Pay attention\, 007 … this is the story we always wanted\, and Vaseem Khan tells it like the master he is – fast\, wise\, funny\, suspenseful and highly recommended’\n– Lee Child\n\n\n\n‘Clever\, cunning and quirky … Quintessential Khan’\n– Mick Herron\n\n\nBuy a hardback copy of the book from bookshop.org. \nPre-order a paperback copy of the book from bookshop.org – released 23 April 2026 \n\n\nThe Girl In Cell A\n\n\nA Times Thriller of the Year 2025 \nThe world knows her as the girl in cell A \nConvicted of murder at seventeen\, infamous killer and true crime celebrity Orianna Negi has always maintained her innocence. \nBut if she didn’t kill Gideon Wyclerc\, then who did? \nOrianna has a blind spot over that fateful day: she can’t remember what happened. Forensic psychologist Annie Ledet is tasked with unlocking the truth. \nOrianna grew up in Eden Falls\, ruled by the insular Wyclerc dynasty and its ruthless patriarch \, Amos. As their sessions progress\, Annie reaches into Orianna’s past to a shattering realisation…. \nScandal. Sex. Power. Race. And murder. Between guilt and innocence lies a fallen Eden. \n\n\n\n‘A twist you’ll never guess’\n– Alex Michaelides\n\n\n\n‘Thrilling\, thought-provoking\, suspenseful’\n– S.A. Cosby\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/from-bombay-to-bond-via-a-small-town-killing/
LOCATION:Colchester Library\, Trinity Square\, Colchester\, CO1 1JB
CATEGORIES:Thriller
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Vaseem-Khan-From-Bombay-to-Bond-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260624T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260624T210000
DTSTAMP:20260618T132355Z
CREATED:20260327T113524Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260618T132355Z
UID:11691-1782327600-1782334800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Writing and the Power of Language: Camilla Balshaw\, Emily Abdeni-Holman and Boakye D. Alpha
DESCRIPTION:Writing and the Power of Language: In conversation with Camilla Balshaw\, Emily Abdeni-Holman and Boakye D. Alpha\nWednesday 24 June 2026\, 7.00pm – 9.00pm\nChalkwell Hall\, Southend-on-Sea\, SS0 8NB\nIn partnership with National Centre for Writing \nJoin us for an evening with the National Centre for Writing’s Escalator Writers Emily Abdeni-Holman and Boakye D. Alpha\, in conversation with award-winning author Camilla Balshaw about writing and the power of language\, with discussion rooted in cultural histories\, oppression and identity. \nTickets: Free\, places limited\, booking essential \nBook tickets: eventbrite.co.uk/metal. \nThe panel:\nCamilla Balshaw is an award-winning author. She has been published in numerous journals\, and her essays have featured in the Guardian\, Therapy Today and the Observer. Camilla’s debut memoir\, Named: A Story of Names and Reclaiming Who We Are (2025)\, has been described by Diana Evans as a ‘valuable meditation on the origins of what we call ourselves\, packed full of rich storytelling’ and by Bonnie Burke-Patel as an ‘utterly fascinating\, insightful and meaningful memoir.’ In 2025\, Named won the best Memoir & Biography category in the East Anglian Book Awards. \nNamed is a fascinating exploration of names\, global naming conventions and identity politics woven into a moving\, personal narrative about the finding of family and self. At the intersection of memoir and social and cultural history it is a truly fascinating book about the seemingly ordinary and every day. \nEmily Abdeni-Holman was raised in England and Lebanon\, and is particularly interested in crossing-points\, of identities\, languages\, and places. She enjoys experimenting with different kinds of style and form and is currently working on a couple of projects: a collection of short stories\, mostly converging around Lebanon; and a more hybrid work about Arab-European identity\, pre- and post-October 2023. \nHer first book\, Body Tectonic\, on Lebanon’s socioeconomic crisis\, is an experiment in approaching structural disaster through poetry (Broken Sleep Books\, 2024). In 2025\, she was one of five writers shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. \nBoakye D. Alpha is a Ghanaian interdisciplinary creative whose works include poetry\, prose\, screenplays\, creative nonfiction\, and filmmaking. His writing has appeared in Lolwe\, The Shallow Tales Review\, and elsewhere. In 2025\, his short story was longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Although a versatile writer\, his heart lies in literary fiction\, and continues to explore experimental\, layered narratives that provoke reflection on society and the experiences of underrepresented voices. \nHis work in progress explores the reality for some women in Ghana who endure violence and systemic oppression rooted in superstition. Through intergenerational narratives\, the novel exposes the haunting effects of gendered violence. \n  \n \nPart of Essex Writers House – A collaborative partnership between Metal and Essex Book Festival\, 01 – 30 June 2026\nEssex Writers House is a month-long programme hosted by Metal\, based in Southend. Chalkwell Hall opens its doors through June as a creative hub\, offering a range of events from talks\, open advice sessions and workshops to collaborative workspaces for writers\, story tellers and book lovers of all levels. Find out more at essexbookfestival.org.uk/event/essex-writers-house-2026/.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/writing-and-the-power-of-language-camilla-balshaw-emily-addeni-holman-and-boakye-d-alpha/
LOCATION:Metal at Chalkwell Hall\, Chalkwell Avenue\, Southend-on-Sea\, SS0 8NB
CATEGORIES:Essex Writers House,FREE,In Conversation
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NCFW_AmberMerry-14-of-19-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260623T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260623T200000
DTSTAMP:20260326T091659Z
CREATED:20260326T090024Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260326T091659Z
UID:11408-1782241200-1782244800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Based on a True Story
DESCRIPTION:Sarah Vaughan\nBased on a True Story\nTuesday 23 June 2026\, 7.00pm\nChelmsford Library\, County Hall\, Market Road\, Chelmsford\, CM1 1QH\nSarah Vaughan\, million copy best-selling author of Anatomy of a Scandal\, talks about her latest ‘utterly addictive’ thriller\, Based on a True Story – a compelling novel about power\, money and lies. A famed children’s author summons her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs but on the eve of a lavish party someone threatens to expose the lie she’s kept up for over half a century. \n\n‘Wholly absorbing and utterly addictive\, with that perfect blend of twisty plot and stunning prose that readers have come to expect from Sarah Vaughan. One of my favourite books of the year’\n– Andrea Mara\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 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\nSarah Vaughan\n\nPhoto of Sarah Vaughan © Johnny Ring \n\n\nBrought up in Devon\, Sarah Vaughan read English at Oxford and went on to become a journalist. After training at the Press Association\, she spent eleven years at the Guardian as a news reporter\, political correspondent and health correspondent\, before leaving to freelance and write fiction. Her previous novels include Anatomy of a Scandal\, an instant international bestseller translated into 22 languages and adapted for a major Netflix series in 2022. Sarah’s fourth novel Little Disasters has recently come to screen starring Diane Kruger\, airing on Paramount+ in 2025. Based on a True Story is Sarah’s sixth novel\, publishing in March 2026. \n\n\nBased on a True Story\n\n\nThe major new release from Sarah Vaughan\, million copy bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal. \nAll families tell stories. And some of them tell lies… \nGenerations of children have grown up with Dame Eleanor Kingman’s stories. Her status as the country’s best-loved storyteller is unrivalled. But now it is under attack\, because whilst her fans regard her as a national treasure\, someone seems to know the truth about who she really is… \nEleanor is turning seventy and marking the occasion with a beautiful party at her new clifftop Cornish home. A retrospective television documentary has been commissioned to commemorate her\, whilst the great and the good from the literary world will be there to toast her success. But as her three daughters and her many friends gather\, alongside shadowy characters from her past (and present)\, the stories Eleanor has been telling for decades about her own life and family begin to feel less and less convincing. \nBuy a copy of the book from bookshop.org. \n\n\n‘I absolutely devoured this book. A predictably gripping read by one of the masters of the genre. I can completely see this stunning book as a mini-series… An absolute triumph. Hooked all the way to that thrilling end. And what a master stroke misdirection!’\n– Imran Mahmood\n\n\n\n\n‘Smartly plotted and wickedly fun; the secrets and revelations just keep coming.’\n– Clare Fuller\n\n\n\n‘A juicy\, atmospheric and unpredictable family thriller which employs both schadenfreude and empathy to have the reader switching sides with every chapter.’\n– Erin Kelly
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/based-on-a-true-story/
LOCATION:Chelmsford Library\, County Hall\, Market Road\, Chelmsford\, CM1 1QH
CATEGORIES:Thriller
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Sarah-Vaughan-credit-Johnny-Ring-Based-on-a-True-Story-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260623T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260623T200000
DTSTAMP:20260614T062853Z
CREATED:20260326T090004Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260614T062853Z
UID:11403-1782241200-1782244800@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:The Boleyn Secret
DESCRIPTION:Alison Weir\nThe Boleyn Secret\nTuesday 23 June 2026\, 7.00pm\nEssex Record Office\, Wharf Road\, Chelmsford\, CM2 6YT\nSunday Times best-selling historical novelist Alison Weir gives a talk about her spellbinding new novel\, The Boleyn Secret. At twelve years old\, Kate Carey attends her aunt\, Queen Anne Boleyn\, to the scaffold. Weir explores in fiction the lasting impact of this event as well as the likelihood that Katherine Carey was Henry VIII’s child. \n\n‘Nobody brings historical characters to life like Alison Weir’\n– Tracy Borman\n\nTickets: £12 / £10\nBox Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948 \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☕ Refreshments will be available to buy at this event – cash and card payments taken\n🚗 Chelmsford Cathedral is a 5 minute walk from the train station and bus station. The Cathedral does not have its own car park but there are a number of public car parks within a short walking distance: https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/parking-and-travel/car-parks/.\n♿ The venue is wheelchair accessible. There are disabled facilities on site.\n📸 We will be filming and taking photos at this event. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nAlison Weir\n\n\nDr Alison Weir is a bestselling historical novelist of Tudor fiction\, and the leading female historian in the United Kingdom. She has published more than thirty books\, including many leading works of non-fiction\, and has sold over three million copies worldwide. Her novels include the Tudor Rose trilogy\, which spans three generations of history’s most iconic family – the Tudors\, and the highly acclaimed Six Tudor Queens series about the wives of Henry VIII\, all of which were Sunday Times bestsellers. Her latest biography is Queens at War\, and her latest novel is The Boleyn Secret (May 2026). Alison is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary life patron of Historic Royal Palaces. \nFor further information visit Alison’s websites at alisonweir.org.uk and alisonweirtours.com. \nFind Alison online: \nX: @AlisonWeirBooks | FB: Alison Weir \n\n\n\nThe Boleyn Secret\n\n\nBoleyn women. Passionate. Legendary. Full of secrets. This is the spellbinding new novel from Sunday Times bestselling novelist Alison Weir. \nAt twelve years old\, Kate Carey attends her aunt\, Queen Anne Boleyn\, to the scaffold. Horrified by what she witnesses\, Kate is convinced that King Henry VIII has sent an innocent woman to a terrible death. \nAs the Boleyn’s fall from favour\, Kate serves her now motherless cousin\, the young Lady Elizabeth. Bound by Boleyn blood\, the two girls grow as close as sisters\, until Kate marries for love – and leaves a jealous Elizabeth behind. \nAt court\, Kate cannot ignore the sly looks thrown her way\, nor the whispers behind her back. Only when her mother\, Mary\, lies dying\, does she learn the life-shattering truth that the Boleyn’s have been hiding for years. \nIt is a secret that will follow Kate throughout her life\, as she flees religious persecution with her husband and lives abroad in fear\, only returning home when Elizabeth becomes queen. But the bond between the Boleyn cousins will never be the same again… \nOrder a hardback copy of the book at bookshop.org. \n\n\n\nPraise for Alison Weir’s Tudor Fiction\n\n‘History has the best stories and they should all be told like this’\n– Conn Iggulden\n\n‘Alison Weir is ahead of the curve – and at the top of her game’\n– Sarah Gristwood\n\n‘Alison Weir makes history come alive as no one else’\n– Barbara Erskine
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/the-boleyn-secret/
LOCATION:Essex Record Office\, Wharf Road\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM2 6YT\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Historical Fiction,ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT!
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Alison-Weir-The-Boleyn-Secret-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260622T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260622T210000
DTSTAMP:20260620T074013Z
CREATED:20260620T073918Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T074013Z
UID:11987-1782154800-1782162000@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Writing family with Clare Shaw
DESCRIPTION:Writing family with Clare Shaw\nMonday 22 June\n7.00pm – 9.00pm\nColchester Quaker Meeting\, 6 Church Street\nEvent by WriteNight \nDoes your family share particular words\, phrases or sayings that only you know? \nJoin Colchester WriteNight and fabulous local writer Clare Shaw to discuss writing family\, and have a go at writing activities using prompts from your own family conversations… \nEveryone is welcome to come along to talk and write with us 🤗 \n*pic is 4 generations of Shaw mothers and daughters! \n  \nFind out more at Facebook.com. \n 
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/writing-family-with-clare-shaw/
LOCATION:Quaker Meeting House\, 6 Church Street\, Colchester\, CO1 1NF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:For Writers,FREE,Partner Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Shaw-family-pic.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260621T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260621T133000
DTSTAMP:20260519T095714Z
CREATED:20260326T143832Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260519T095714Z
UID:11690-1782039600-1782048600@ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
SUMMARY:Walk and talk around Canvey Wick with Man About Country
DESCRIPTION:Walk and talk around Canvey Wick with Man About Country\nSunday 21 June 2026\, 11.00am – 1.30pm\nMeeting point: Canvey Wick Nature Reserve\nJoin James Lawrence\, AKA Man About Country\, for a special guided walk around Canvey Wick\, one of Essex’s (and England’s) most fascinating nature reserves. In this brownfield rainforest you’ll discover wildlife\, hear stories from over 2\,000 years of Canvey Island history\, and explore how these incredible places can supercharge your creative practice in unexpected ways. \nTickets: £10 includes packed lunch\nBook tickets: eventbrite.co.uk/metal \n  \n \nPart of Essex Writers House – A collaborative partnership between Metal and Essex Book Festival\, 01 – 30 June 2026\nEssex Writers House is a month-long programme hosted by Metal\, based in Southend. Chalkwell Hall opens its doors through June as a creative hub\, offering a range of events from talks\, open advice sessions and workshops to collaborative workspaces for writers\, story tellers and book lovers of all levels. Find out more at essexbookfestival.org.uk/event/essex-writers-house-2026/.
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/walk-and-talk-around-canvey-wick-with-man-about-country/
LOCATION:Canvey Wick Nature Reserve\, RSPB Canvey Wick\, 276 Northwick Rd\, Canvey Island\, SS8 0PT
CATEGORIES:Essex Writers House,Guided Walk
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Man-About-Country-James-walking-3x2-1.png
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR