Lowdham Book Festival

Tuesday 19th – Saturday 30th June 2018Lowdham, Nottinghamshire

Tickets: The Bookcase, Lowdham 0115 9663219

Lowdham Book

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Hello and welcome to Lowdham Book Festival 2018. This is our 19th year and we are delighted to bring you a fantasticline-up encompassing the worlds of fiction, travel, medicine, trains, poetry, cricket, art, music and food! With the usualeclectic mix of talks, music, film and discussions we hope there will be something for everyone at this year’s festival – do come along and join the fun!

Jane Streeter and Ross Bradshaw

janestreeter@thebookcase.co.ukwww.thebookcase.co.uk

www.nottinghambooks.co.uk

bookshop@fiveleaves.co.ukwww.fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk

www.fiveleaves.co.uk

Become a Friend of Lowdham Book FestivalTake advantage of discounted tickets for many of our events and receive our programmes before anyone else – plus a£5 voucher to spend at the summer festival!

All for just £15 a year! (£25 for couples)

Send a cheque (payable to Lowdham Festivals Ltd) along with your name, address, and email address if you have one,to: Lowdham Book Festival, The Bookcase, 50 Main Street, Lowdham, Notts NG14 7BE

Why not join when you order your tickets for this year’s festival and save money immediately!

Festival 2018 Tuesday 19th June – Friday 22nd June

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Wednesday 20th June 7.30pmLowdham Village Hall, Main Street,Lowdham, Notts NG14 7BDShore 2 Shore with Carol AnnDuffy, Jackie Kay, Gillian Clarkeand Imtiaz Dharker These amazing poets will be hittingthe road to perform their work acrossthe UK to celebrate IndependentBookshop Week, and we are honouredto be one of the stops along the way!MC John Simpson will steer the show,and we’ll be welcoming special guestGeorgina Wilding – Nottingham’sYoung Poet Laureate.£20 including a glass of wine and a copy of Off The Shelf: A Celebration ofBookshops in Verse

Tuesday 19th June 2.30–4.15pm Harts Restaurant, Standard Hill, ParkRow, Nottingham NG1 6GNProsecco Afternoon Tea with Victoria HislopWe are delighted to open this year’sfestival with such a lovely event.Victoria will be in conversation withBBC Radio Nottingham’s Frances Finn,and will talk about her bestsellingbooks, her travelling life and herpassion for Greece, followed by adelicious Hart’s style afternoon tea!£35 including traditional afternoon teaand a copy of Cartes Postales (special dietary needs catered for –please inform us when booking)

Friday 22nd June 10.00am–12.00pmWI Hall, Main Street, Lowdham, Notts NG14 7ABFood at the Festival – a cookery demonstrationDon’t miss our traditional foodiemorning with Jackie Skinner, CatherineHumphries and their assistant Abigail(now 4 years old!). Demo and tasting Tickets: £5 full, £4 concessions, £3 Festival Friends

8.00pm Lowdham Village Hall, MainStreet, Lowdham, Notts NG14 7BD

Judie TzukeOne of the UK’s finestsinger/ songwriters,known all over the worldfor the timeless song,

‘Stay With Me Till Dawn’. This intimateevening will consist of old favouritesand songs from Judie’s new album,combined with stories from across herlife and career. Tickets: £22.50 www.warthogpromotions.com

Saturday 23rd June Lowdham Book

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3.00–5.00pm Lowdham Village Hall,Main Street, Lowdham, Notts NG14 7BDFestival Film - Oranges andSunshine (15, 1hr, 45mins)Set in 1980s Nottingham, social workerMargaret Humphreys holds the Britishgovernment accountable for childmigration schemes and reunites thechildren involved – now adults livingmostly in Australia – with their parentsin Britain. A shocking expose of a storyburied for many years. Directed by JimLoach and starring Emily Watson.Tickets: £6 full, £5 concessions, £4 FestivalFriends. Cafe serving hot and cold drinks,homemade cake, popcorn and ice-creams

6.30–8.00pm St Marys Church, ChurchLane, Lowdham Notts NG14 7BQBy George! - A Handel aria forevery occasion – a Lecture RecitalJoin Dave Machell with guest SopranoSarah Jane Carlin in a tour of theextraordinary world of Handel Operas,

Saturday 23rd June 10.45–1.00pmLowdham Village Hall, Main Street,Lowdham, Notts NG14 7BDReading Group morningJoin us for a fascinating session with crime writer Sarah Ward,author of three DC Childs novels, InBitter Chill, A Deadly Thaw and A PatientFury set in the Peak District. A PatientFury was The Observer’s Thriller of theMonth in 2017. The fourth in the series,The Shrouded Path, is out in September.She is a book reviewer for variousonline publications and is a judge forthe Petrona Award for Scandinaviancrime fiction. www.crimepieces.com. 

NB – you don’t need tobelong to a readinggroup to come along tothis lovely event! Tickets: £15 includingcoffee and cake and a copy of In Bitter Chill

with live performances of many Ariasand Duets, set in the context ofHandel’s remarkable career. SarahJane Carlin is a recitalist, opera/musictheatre artist, and oratorio performer,and was in the Gold medal winningCantamus Choir in the World ChoirOlympics.

A Cambridge Choral Scholar, Dave wasDirector of Music at Nottingham Girls’High School, has given Lectures onClassical Music on cruise ships, and isactively involved in promoting,composing and performing choralmusic in Nottingham. Tickets: £8 full, £7 concessions, £6 FestivalFriends – includes a glass of wine

Festival 2018 Sunday 24th June

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internationally acclaimed novels. Hermemoir, The Language of Kindness, is anastonishing account of the nursingprofession, and is fast becoming oneof 2018’s most talked about books.

Dr Kathryn Mannix is apalliative medicine pioneerwho has worked withthousands of dying people.She has found their ability to deal with illness anddeath both fascinating and inspirational,and believes that a better awarenessabout what happens as we die wouldenable us to discuss our hopes and fearswith the people who matter to us. With The End in Mind is a beautiful andpowerful book, exploring the biggesttaboo in our society and the onlycertainty we all share.Tickets: £10 full, £9 concessions, £8 Festival Friends. Licensed café serving hot and cold drinksand light refreshments in the interval.

Sunday 24th June 12.30–2.30pmLowdham Village Hall, Main Street,Lowdham, Notts NG14 7BDA Matter of Life and Death – with Adam Kay, Christie Watsonand Kathryn Mannix

This is going to be anamazing session - threemedical professionalsturned authors shine alight on the realities ofliving and dying, in the

year in which we celebrate the 70thanniversary of the NHS. Adam Kay is anaward-winning comedian and writerfor TV and film. His first book, This isGoing to Hurt is the often hilarious, attimes horrifying, and occasionallyheartbreaking diary of a former juniordoctor, and the story of why hedecided to hang up his stethoscope.

Christie Watson was anurse for twenty yearsbefore writing two

3.00–5.30pm Olde Mill Pottery, 22 Main Street, Caythorpe, Nottingham NG14 7EDProsecco and PoetryLocal poets Jane Wyles and FionaTheokritoff invite you to relax with aglass of prosecco/cup of tea andhomemade cake, as they share theirwork and others’ poems, includingtheir popular poetry bingo and aliterary picnic! Plus the chance tobrowse round Judy’s delightful Olde Mill studio and shop.Tickets £10 to include refreshments.

Sunday 24th – Monday 25th June Lowdham Book

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4.00–6.00pm, Lowdham Village Hall,Main Street, Lowdham, Notts NG14 7BDKarl KopinskiWe are so thrilled to host this eventwith Lowdham’s own world renownedartist. Karl Kopinski will talk about hisillustrating life and there will be awonderful (and rare) opportunity towatch him draw! Nottingham born Karlbegan his career with Games Workshopand has worked with such high profilenames as Sir Paul Smith, Peter Jackson,and Ferrari to name but a few. His firstsolo show last year featured cyclingportraits including Bradley Wiggins,and his style has earned him thousandsof social media followers. We areindeed privileged to welcome Karl toour festival. There will be an exhibitionof his amazing illustrations and achance to chat to Karl about his work.Tickets: £8 full, £7 concessions, £6 Festival Friends, £5 children/studentsLicensed cafe available.http://karlkopinski.com

7.30pm, Nottingham Playhouse,Wellington Circus, Nottingham NG1 5ALCaitlin Moran – How To Be FamousWe will be running a bookstall atCaitlin’s event so hope to see some ofyou there!NB - Tickets from Nottingham PlayhouseBox Office only – 0115 941 9419

Monday 25th June7.15–8.45pm St Mary’s Church,Church Lane, LowdhamNotts NG14 7BQAlastair Sawday –Travelling LightEnvironmentalcampaigner, wanderer,and publisher of the Special Places toStay books, Alastair Sawday shareswith us this charming and beautifullywritten account of the pleasures ofslow travel. In Travelling Light, he givesvoice to those of us who have climbedno mountains, discovered no rivers,created no great institutions, poweredno legislation, changed very little – butwho yearn to understand the worldand make sense of its infinite variety.

Tickets: £8 full, £7 concessions, £6 FestivalFriends – includes a glass of wine.www.sawdays.co.uk

Tuesday 26th June 10.00 – 3.00pm St Mary’s Church, Church Lane,Lowdham Notts NG14 7BQCraft Day ... stalls showcasing local craft companiesand designers, the opportunity to workon your own projects in the company oflike-minded crafters, and the realhighlight of the day:

Craftivist Sarah Corbett inconversation with Jane Waite.11.30am – 12.30pmSarah is an award-winning professionalcampaigner who set up the global andaward-winning Craftivist Collective in2009 providing products and services todo craftivism using her ‘gentle protest’approach. She works with arts

organisations,the charitysector, academicinstitutions andunexpectedcollaborations

Festival 2018 Tuesday 26th June – Wednesday 27th June

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Wednesday 27th June7.30pm – 9.00pm St Mary’s Church,Church Lane, LowdhamNG14 7BQFifty Not Out: The Six SixesRevisited

To celebrate Nottinghamshire captainGarry Sobers hitting an historic 36 runsoff one over at Swansea in 1968,Grahame Lloyd recalls both the famousfeat and the mysterious fate of the ballbowled by Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash.An iconic moment, a disturbing tale offake news and a whodunnit? – with aball instead of a body.

Grahame Lloyd is a freelancebroadcaster, journalist, short storywriter and poet. He has written eightbooks and produced two one-manshows about football and cricket. Tickets: £7 full, £6 concessions, £5 FestivalFriends – includes a glass of wine

such as with organisations Tatty Devine& Secret Cinema, and regularly givestalks around the world. In her books ALittle Book of Craftivism and How To Be ACraftivist: the art of gentle protest , Sarahshows how to respond to injustice notwith apathy or aggression, but withgentle, effective protest. Sarah will havea stall 12:30 - 2.00pm too so there will bethe chance to chat to her informally, geta signed book and buy some of her kitsand tools to use during the day. She willbe on hand if you need help using them!Tickets: £10. Café serving lightrefreshments throughout the day.

Huge thanks to Lowdham Cast-Offs for alltheir hard work putting together theamazing book-ish themed yarn-bombingaround the village and at the festivalvenues. Yarn-bombing (or guerilla knitting)started in the US in 2005 and this “knitfitti”art form is now carried out worldwide.Look out for the studious bookworms andwell-known book characters!

Thursday 28th June Lowdham Book

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experience can only be recreated bytaking three separate sleepers, theintriguing characters and exoticatmospheres have survived. Whetherthe backdrop is 3am at a Turkishcustoms post, the sun rising over theRiviera, or the constant twilight of aNorwegian summer night, Andrewrediscovers the pleasures of acontinent connectedby rail.Tickets: £8 full, £7 concessions, £6 Festival Friends – includes a glass of wine

7.30–9.00pm, St Mary’s Church, ChurchLane, Lowdham Notts NG14 7BQNight Trains – with Andrew MartinNight trains have long fascinated uswith the possibilities of their privatesleeping compartments, gilded diningcars, champagne bars and wealthytravellers. Authors from AgathaChristie to Graham Greene have usednight trains to tell tales of romance,intrigue and decadence against arolling background of dramaticlandscapes. The reality could often beas thrilling: early British travellers onthe Orient Express were advised tocarry a revolver (as well as a teapot).In Night Trains, Andrew Martinattempts to relive the golden age ofthe great European sleeper trains byusing their modern-day equivalents.This is no simple matter. The nighttrains have fallen on hard times, andthe services are disappearing one byone. But if the Orient Express

Thursday 28th June 2.00–3.30pm – for the train-lovers in our audience! St Mary’s Church, Church Lane,Lowdham Notts NG14 7BQ East Coast Main LineDisasters – with Adrian GrayThe East Coast Main Line runs throughour region from Peterborough toDoncaster on its way between Londonand Edinburgh. As the author of adefinitive book on the topic, AdrianGray can explain how accidents anddisasters influenced the gradualimprovement of safety down the years,with some graphic illustrations of whatwent wrong including famousaccidents atDoncaster andGrantham.Tickets: £6 full, £5 concessions, £4 Festival Friends

Anthony Cropper has published twonovels and a collection of short stories,plus plays and screenplays. He hastaught creative writing both in thiscountry and abroad and worked withschools to promote literacy.

Tickets: £15 toinclude a copy of the book (rrp £10). Please note this session islimited to 30places so earlybooking isadvisable.

Friday 29th June 2.00–3.30pmSt Mary’s Church, Church Lane,Lowdham Notts NG14 7BQThe Accidental Memoir withEve Makis and Anthony CropperWant to flex your writing muscles? Eve Makis and Anthony Cropper willshow you how!The Accidental Memoir takes you on ajourney from the origins of your familyname and earliest memories, to whatyou’d invent and how you’d changethe world.

This beautifully illustrated book is filledwith imaginative and accessiblewriting prompts, as well as tips foranyone wanting to document theirlives and explore their creativity.

Eve Makis studied at LeicesterUniversity and worked as a journalistand radio presenter in the UK andCyprus before becoming an award-winning novelist.

Festival 2018 Film FridaysFriday 29th June

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Friday 28th SeptemberFilm Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool(15, 1 hr 45 mins)

Friday 26th OctoberJourney’s End(12A, 1 hr 47 mins)

Sunday 9th DecemberWhite Christmas(U, 2 hrs)

Film Fridays Autumn/Winter 2018

Lowdham Village Hall, Main Street, Lowdham. 7.30pm.Tickets: £6 full, £5 concessions

There is a licensed bar at all the FilmFriday evenings, plus ice cream,popcorn, hot drinks and a deliciousselection of home made cakes.

10.00am–5.00pm:All Day Book Fair and CafeVillage Hall, Main Street, LowdhamThroughout the day the Village Hallhosts a cafe serving hot and colddrinks, salads and panini, cakes andice-cream. The bookfair is spread overthe Village Hall, a marquee behind thevillage hall and assorted gazebos. Itfeatures booksellers, publishers,charities and book trade organisations.There’s an (always popular!) display ofold fashioned printing equipment,books by all the festival authors, plus arange of events for adults and children. And it’s all free, so pitch up early!

This year our programme includes ourusual helping of local history, poetry,crime fiction... but also includes fictionfrom East Europe and Ireland, historytalks on the Spanish Flu Epidemic,landscape, skeletons andneuroscience...

11.00–12.00am:Lost Nottingham –A city in pictures, anillustrated talk by Ian RotherhamMethodist Chapel,

Main StreetTo include the launch of the new bookNottingham: Unique Images from theArchives of Historic England andextracts from Lost Nottingham incolour and Sherwood Forest and theDukeries - a companion to the land ofRobin Hood.

Skeletons, with Jan ZalasiewiczWomen’s Institute, Main StreetFrom the bones of dinosaurs to thecapsules of microscopiclife, skeletons hold lifetogether. Jan Zalasiewiczis a Professor ofPalaeobiology at theUniversity of Leicester.

First Fridays Saturday 30th June Lowdham Book

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Friday June 1stChris Arnott on Bill ShanklyFriday July 6thHow To Pack a Suitcase with Alison Lowe from Adelanta TravelFriday September 7thTravels of an Aged Gardener with Stuart DixonFriday October 5thMeet local author Maria DziedzanFriday November 2ndA Celebration of Poetrywith Voice VersaFriday December 7thChristmas Quiz

Lowdham Festivals & The Bookcase presents:

First FridaysSeptember– December 2018

Lowdham Primitive Methodist Chapel,Main Street, Lowdham, 2 – 3.30pm.Tickets: £6 full, £5 concessions, £4 Festival Friends (always including tea & cake!)

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Gogh’s last paintings. He has beenfeatured in The Independent, on Arenaon Radio 1, and in the NationalGeographic.

12.30–1.30pm:The Piano Room, with Jaroslav MelnikMethodist Chapel, Main StreetJaroslav Melnik (Jaroslavas Melnikas) isa celebrated Ukrainian/ Lithuanianwriter, and winner of the BBC UkrainianService Book of the Year Award. Todayhe will be reading in English anddiscussing East European fiction withStephan Collishaw (Noir Press).

Writing about Neuroscience, with Jonathan TaylorCommittee Room, Village HallJonathan Taylor’s memoir Take MeHome: Parkinson’s, My Father, Myself(Granta, 2007) was recently named asone of the Five Best Books onNeuroscience . In this session,Jonathan talks about this and his otherwritings inspiredby neuroscience,and recommendshis own favouritebooks on thesubject.

The Afterlives of Dr Gachet, with Sam MeekingsMarquee behind the Village Hall

Sam Meekings returnsto his childhood homeof Nottingham to readfrom his novel aboutthe life of Dr Gachet, thesubject of one of Van

Pandemic, 1918 – An illustrated talk,with Catharine ArnoldWomen’s Institute, Main Street“In the same city, the Victoria Bathsswimming pool was drained andturned into a temporary morgue whenthe local council ran out of places tostore the dead.

By the week ending 16 November1918, Nottingham had the highestdeath rate in the country: 60,000.” Thisis the story of Spanish flu, which killed100 million people globally.

Women in Science Fiction and FantasyPanel, with Dr Teika BellamyWomen’s Institute, Main StreetJoin Teika Bellamy, the founder ofMother’s Milk Books and the editor ofthe popular series The Forgotten andthe Fantastical, to discuss the currentstate of the genre with regards towomen authors. She will be joined byother local writers and readers.

The Shoestring Poetry Hour, withJonathan Taylor and Robert EttyCommittee Room, Village HallNottinghamshire’s leading specialistpoetry publisher and Lowdhamregular, John Lucas, launches a new

How to Read the English Landscape,with Andrew BibbyCommittee Room, Village HallAndrew’s books includeBackbone of England

focussing on northern uplandlandscapes. His new book delves intothe landscapes of ‘middle England’,using the device of a journey made bybicycle along the belt of Jurassiclimestone from west Dorset to northLincolnshire.

New Irish Writing, with Deirdre O’ByrneMarquee behind the Village HallSally Rooney, Eimear McBride, ClaireKeegan and Sara Baume are all makingwaves as a new generation of Irishwriters.

Deirdre will introduce these and othersand give out samples of their writingto discuss.

Saturday 30th June Lowdham Book

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2.00–3.00pm:The Welbeck Atlas – An illustrated talk,by Steph MastorisMethodist Chapel, Main StreetThe editor of The Welbeck Atlaspresents this Thoroton Society titlewhich includes maps of the Earl ofNewcastle’s estates, much of which laywithin Sherwood Forest.

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VikingNottinghamshire –An illustrated talk,by Rebecca GregoryWomen’s Institute,Main StreetNottingham was one of the five EastMidlands boroughs of the Danelaw, apart of England under Viking rule1,000 year ago. Rebecca will talk abouthow place names and street namesshow the extent of Danish occupation.

Words Best Sung,with Lee Stuart EvansCommittee Room, Village HallLee Evans writes for Stephen Fry, JulieWalters and a host of top stars, appearinghere in his own right with Words BestSung, a loosely autobiographical novelwith a soundtrack of the 1960s.

Crime fiction, with Roz WatkinsMarquee behind the Village HallRoz Watkins’s Detective Inspector

collection by Jonathan Taylor andoffers a welcome return by Robert Etty.

The Boy with the PerpetualNervousness, with Graham Caveney Marquee behind the Village HallA memoir of a northern, Irish-immigrantworking class family, and anadolescence that was redeemed, thenbetrayed, by his headteacher. One of themost widely reviewed books of 2017.

3.30–4.30pm:In Transit – poems about travel, with Sarah Jackson and Tim YoungsMethodist Chapel, Main StreetThe editors of this collection of travelinspired poetry will be joined bycontributors JoDixon, RichardGoodson, RoryWaterman andothers from thecollection.

Saturday 30th June 11am–4pmFREE Family Fun at the Festival!Come along and join in the fun in ourspecial yurt behind the Village Hall.Storytelling and crafts run by thelovely team fromNottinghamLiteracyVolunteers – plusa treasure trail,and of coursecake!Look out formore details onwww.thebookcase.co.uk nearer the time.

Meg Dalton plies her trade in the PeakDistrict. In Devil’s Dice, a body is foundnear a network of caves where thevictim’s initials and a figure of the GrimReaper are carved into the cave wall –but the carvings have existed for overone hundred years...

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The Bookcase /Five LeavesVoucherThe Bookcase opening hours:Monday - Friday 9am–5.30pmSaturday 9am–4pm

£1.00 off any bookpriced £4.99 or more

Redeemable duringLowdham Book Festival atThe Bookcase, 50 Main Street,Lowdham, Nottingham NG147BE, or at Festival stalls run byThe Bookcase or Five LeavesBookshop

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Lowdham Book Festival InformationTicket informationTickets are available from The Bookcase, 50 Main Street,Lowdham NG14 7BE over thecounter, by mail or by creditcard over the phone (FestivalBox Office is 0115 966 321910am–4pm Monday–Saturday)or, subject to availability, on thedoor at events.

If ordering by post pleaseenclose a first class SAE andinclude a contact telephonenumber. Cheques are payableto Lowdham Festivals Ltd. Thereis a 75p postage charge addedto all telephone bookings.Tickets are not required for freeevents.

Travel information for LowdhamLowdham is off the A6097 (Bingham to Doncaster) andA612 (Nottingham to Southwell) between Newark andLowdham.

Lowdham railway station: A brisk ten minute walkfrom the centre of the village.

Lowdham bus stop: Pathfinder 100 buses drop offONLY at the bottom of Main Street by the cricketground/war memorial, seven minutes from the mainFestival site.

Car parking: There is car parking at the Village Hall andon and off Main Street. There is limited car parking atthe Methodist Chapel and the WI Hall and opposite theLibrary on Franklin Road. There is a car park at St Mary’sChurch.

Note: car parking fills up quickly at popular events –please allow time to park. If you require disabled parking,please contact the Festival Box Office in advance.