Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon

3

Saturday 11th October

2.30pm

In this triumphant biography, Kate Williams tellsJosephine’s searing story

Methodist Church, Princess Street

and more...Poetry, History,Fiction, Biography,Drama

Please return the booking form to:Knutsford Literature Festival 201476 Glebelands Road, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 9DZ

Cheques and postal orders payable to:Knutsford Literature FestivalCash should not be sent in postal applications.Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope.

Priority Bookings:Friends of The Festival can make priority bookings, by post, up to Saturday 30th August 2014.

General Bookings:Postal Bookings: Accepted from Monday 1st September 2014.

In-Person Bookings: From Monday 8th September 2014 Tickets from Waterstones Bookshop 72 King Street, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6ED

Tel: 01565 621920Open: Monday to Saturday 9.30am – 5pm

Sunday 10.30am – 4pm

Telephone Enquiries: Monday to Friday 10.00am - 4.00pm Call: 07804 553 171 from 1st Sept.

Refunds and Admissions:Please check your tickets as soon as you receive them. The Festival cannot refund money, or exchange tickets, exceptwhen an event is cancelled. The Festival reserves the right torefuse admission and to change or amend events if necessary.

Books will be available for purchase

at all book signing events. ✍

Festival Information

www.knutsfordlitfest.org

The Knutsford Literature Festival is now in its fifteenthsuccessful year. The committee would like to thank allFriends of the Festival for their continuing support andWaterstones Bookshop , King Street, Knutsford for theirsponsorship.

Produced by BB Design T: 01606 48074

Eric Knowles

Naomi Wood

Kate Williams

9-19 October

Thursday 9th October

Michael Rosen

Roy Hattersley

Jans Ondaatje RollsMethodist Church, Princess Street

2

Friday 10th October

8pm Book Signing

Eric Knowles is a highly regarded expert inantiques with a special interest in Ceramics. Hemoved south from his native Lancashire to joinBonhams, the London Auctioneers, in the1970s. Here he rose from porter to start The ArtNouveau and Art Deco departments in 1979 andbecame Head of English and European Ceramicsand Works of Art in 1981. He was appointed aDirector of the firm three years later.

His wide knowledge and vibrant personalityrecommended him to the BBC when antiquestook to the air more than 30 years ago. Sincethen he has become one of the best knownfaces on the long-standing Antiques Roadshow, and afrequent TV and radio broadcaster. Eric now works as an independentvaluer, lecturer and freelance journalist. We welcome him to the Festival toshare with us his experience of the world of antiques and to introduce hisrecent book on the glass of Rene Lalique and his new volume on Art Deco.

“Eric Knowles is a wonderful mix of unabashed comedian and enthusiasticantiques expert.” The Oxford Times

An Evening with Eric KnowlesEric Knowles shares his enthusiasmfor Lalique and Art Deco

9 October – 19 October 2014

Festival Venues1 Leicester Warren Hall (Approximately 1 mile from railway station)2 The Methodist Church3 Little Theatre4 Mere Golf Resort & Spa Other useful locations5 Waterstones Bookshop6 The Heritage Centre7 The Railway Station8 The Bus Station

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Little Theatre, Queen Street

4

Sunday 12th October

Vesta: Worcester’s Wonder of The Music HallsA one-woman show about the life and music of Vesta Tilley,written by Chris Jaeger and performed by Claire Worboys

Book Signing

Festival Venues and Parking

Knutsford LiteratureFestival

Mere Golf Resort and Spa

This book charts the incredible rise andunbelievable fall of a woman whose energyand ambitions are often overshadowed byNapoleon’s military might. Abandoned inParis by her aristocratic husband, Josephinesought refuge in a convent. She learnt skills thatbecame her chief currency and reinvented herself.She survived prison and emerged as the doyenneof a wildly debauched party scene. Glamorous,promiscuous and charming, she dominated thenewspapers and encouraged the advances of ashort, marginalised Corsican soldier six yearsher junior. Together, they made a formidablecouple.

Historian Kate Williams is a lecturer, writer and television presenter,appearing regularly on BBC and Channel 4. Her previous works,England’s Mistress, a biography of Emma Hamilton and BecomingQueen, about the youth of Queen Victoria, were both highly acclaimed.

“Kate Williams' entrancing biography of Josephine is asparkling account of this most fallible and endearing ofwomen.” Daily Mail

Refreshmentsavailable

Book Signing

Ticketessential

Mrs. HemingwayNaomi Wood tells the story of how it was to love, and be lovedby, the most famous writer of his generation 5

Tuesday 14th October

2.30pm

Leicester Warren Hall, Bexton Lane

Refreshmentsavailable

Book Signing

1 The Devonshires: The Story of a Family and a Nation

Ticketessential

Vesta Tilley is one of the most remarkable female entertainers that hasever lived. Born in Worcester in 1864, she became an internationalsuperstar, equally famous on both sides of the Atlantic. She alwaysappeared on stage dressed as a man, although ironically, she did a greatdeal to further the cause of women’s emancipation.

When she retired, nearly 2 million people signed the ‘People’s Tribute toVesta Tilley’. She was one of the most beloved performers ever, taken tothe very hearts of the British people.

Naomi Wood has written a wonderful book,carefully crafted, richly imagined and meticulouslyresearched. She has trawled through the archives,read the letters and travelled the locations,Antibes, Paris, Key West and Cuba, where four verydifferent women shared the often glamorous butultimately tragic life of Ernest Hemingway. Theirpersonal story is set against the backdrop ofbohemian Paris in the 1920s, the years of theSecond World War and 1960s Cold War America,providing a memorably sharp portrait of thecontemporary social and literary milieu.

Mrs Hemingway has been published in the US andwidely throughout Europe.

Naomi teaches Creative Writing at Goldsmiths and has been writer inresidence at the Library of Congress, Washington DC. and the BritishLibrary. The film option on her first novel, The Godless Boys, has been takenup and Naomi has written the screenplay.

“This fictionalised account based on known facts, is so beautifully written,so vivid and so true that it eclipses anything strictly biographical.”The Daily Mail

Ticket essential (redeemable againstfeatured hardback)

Ticket essential

Given unique access to previouslyunpublished material from the Devonshirearchives for his recent book, Roy Hattersleybrings to life the sexual liaisons and highpolitics of a long aristocratic line, and a vastdynasty of huge personalities - soldiers,patrons, scientists, builders of great houses,politicians, race-horse breeders, philanderersand powerful women - all at the heart offashionable society and the centre ofpolitical power.

In this fascinating study, he also tells theperhaps lesser-known story of the servantsand workers and those like HeadGardener, Joseph Paxton, whose art andinvention benefited from their patronage.

After a long and successful career in politics, Roy Hattersley nowdevotes his time to writing. He has written 22 books and is a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Literature.

“The Devonshires continue and so does Roy Hattersley’s brilliant run ofacute, stylish history books.” The Independent

2014

A Literary Lunch with Roy Hattersley

Ticket essential

Refreshmentsavailable

2.30pm 2 hours including interval

12 noonfor 12.30pm

Sponsored By

Refreshmentsavailable

Actress and singer ClaireWorboys’ performance willdelight and enchantaudiences, giving them ahistorically accurate insightinto Vesta’s life and times.

“Jaeger has created amasterpiece.”

“Claire Worboys…a fabulously talented youngwoman who oozes talent from every pore.”

John Phillpott, Worcester News

Dora Wordsworth and Sara Coleridge werebrought up as close as sisters and stayedfriends all their lives. They were also thedaughters of best friends, WilliamWordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

In different ways, each father almostdestroyed his daughter, but each girl madeit her life’s ambition to dedicate herself toher father’s writing and reputation.Anorexia, drug addiction and depressionwere part of the legacy of fame, but so toowere great friendship and love. Drawingon a host of new sources, KatieWaldegrave tells the never before toldstory of how two young women, borninto greatness, shaped their own legacies.

Katie Waldegrave is Director of ‘First Story’, a charity she founded in 2007 with author William Fiennes, to improve literacy and foster creativity in the young.

“An important and moving book…quite simply fascinating.” LiteraryReview John Lewis-Stempel’s delightful book chronicles a year in the life of anancient meadow on his farm in Herefordshire, charting the lives of itsbirds, beasts and flora, lyrically recording the passage of the seasons fromcowslips in spring to the onset of winter. But, while celebrating the varietyand history of his meadow, he regrets the fast-disappearing traditionalways of rural life. With a mixture of humorous anecdote and keenobservation John talks about these issues and the pleasures and pains oflife on the farm.

John Lewis-Stempel is a writer, historian, farmer, naturalist and forager. Hehas written books on both military history and nature and a biography ofJames Herriot.

“This is a great book - a magnificent love letter to the natural world, full ofwisdom and experience, written with wit, poetry and love.” Eden Project

6

2.30pm

Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Tel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9 October - 19 October 2014Booking Form

Knutsford Literature Festival

Please return this booking form with S.A.E. to:

Knutsford Literature Festival 201476 Glebelands Road, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 9DZ

✃

Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field

11

Good Ideas – How to be your child’s(and your own) Best Teacher

Michael Rosen suggests learning can bemuch more fun - and shows us how

Leicester Warren Hall, Bexton Lane

7Wednesday 15th October

7pm

Sunday 19th October

John Lewis-Stempel gives a unique insight into the diversityof life in an English meadow

The Poets’ Daughters: Dora Wordsworthand Sara Coleridge

Leicester Warren Hall, Bexton Lane

Wednesday 15th October

Katie Waldegrave allows these extraordinary women toemerge from the shadows cast by poetic genius

Book Signing

Licensed Bar

A Schools’ Event with Michael Rosen8Wednesday 15th October

Knutsford Literature Festival is delightedto sponsor this exciting event which hasbeen arranged exclusively for Knutsfordschool children.

Renowned author and poet, MichaelRosen, will interest and enthuse junioraged children in the rhyme and rhythm oflanguage with his unique style of fun andfantasy.

This event will be supported by KnutsfordLibrary.

Ticket essential

Ticket essential

Part Dangerous Book for Boys (and girls!), partalternative curriculum, packed with games, storiesand memorable information, this new book willprove to parents and children alike that the bestkind of education really does start at home.Michael shows us that everything around us canbe used to learn more - and how enjoyable andsatisfying that process can be.

A former children’s laureate and best sellingauthor, Michael Rosen is uniquely placed towrite this book. He has presented Word ofMouth on BBC Radio 4 since 1998 and in 2013 he becameProfessor of Education Studies at Goldsmiths. A passionatechampion for children’s literacy, his approach to learning isexciting, interactive, adventurous and playful.

Good Ideas will be published in September 2014.

The Bloomsbury Cookbook:Recipes for Life, Love and Art

Jans Ondaatje Rolls surprisingly reveals the Bloomsbury Groupelite as the ‘foodies’ of their day9

Thursday 16th October

Leicester Warren Hall,Bexton Lane

Refreshments available

Leicester Warren Hall,Bexton Lane

Book Signing2.30pm

Ticket essential (redeemable againstfeatured hardback)

Refreshments available

Book Signing

2.30pm

Ticket essential(redeemable againstfeatured hardback)

Refreshments available

Book Signing

Wilfred Owen: An Illustrated Life

Jane Potter considers the life and work of the leading war poetWilfred Owen

Methodist Church,Princess Street

10

Saturday 18th October

This generously illustratedbook tells the story of WilfredOwen’s life and work anew,from his birth in 1893 until hisdeath one week beforeArmistice on 4th November1918. It chronicles Owen’sjourney from a romantic youth,steeped in the poetry of Keats, tomature soldier awakened to thehorrors of the Western Front.Drawing on rich archival material -personal books, artefacts, familyphotographs and numerousmanuscripts - the volume takes afresh look at Owen’sapprenticeship and eventualmastery of poetry.

Jane Potter is a senior lecturer and researcher at Oxford BrookesUniversity. She is the author of Boys in Khaki, Girls in Print: Women’sLiterary Responses to the Great War, 1914-1918 and The Selected Letters of Wilfred Owen.

2.30pm

Ticket essential(redeemable againstfeatured hardback)

Refreshmentsavailable

Book Signing

Sponsored By

No.

tickets

Price

Total

Event

Event

no.

Date

9 Oct

1A Literary Lunch with Roy Hattersley

£27

10 Oct

2An Evening with Eric Knowles

£8

11 Oct

3Josephine

£5

12 Oct

4Vesta Tilley

£8

14 Oct

5Mrs Hemingway

£5

15 Oct

6The Poets' Daughters

£5

15 Oct

7Michael Rosen's Good Ideas

£5

16 Oct

9The Bloomsbury Cookbook

£5

18 Oct

10Wilfred Owen

£5

19 Oct

11Meadowland

£5

Total

With nearly 200 recipes, found indiaries, letters and memoirs, andsumptuously illustrated with artfrom group members, TheBloomsbury Cookbook is as much asocial and cultural history as acookbook.

In seven chapters, Jans OndaatjeRolls tells the Bloomsbury story fromthe 1890’s to the recent past, withwitty summaries relevant to eachrecipe, which illustrate thepersonalities, ideas and thecomplicated relationships of thewriters, painters, philosophers andpoets who met around each others’tables.

Jans Ondaatje Rolls is a culinary enthusiast and an active supporter ofthe Charleston Trust. She is the authorof Bosham Bisque and Chester Chowder.

“Frances Wilson salutes a newbiographical approach that puts foodat the heart of the Bloomsbury story.”Daily Telegraph