Booktown Festival
What are Words Worth?
The Festival of Words and Ideas
from Sedbergh England’s Booktown.
25 May – 1 June 2024
THE PRICE OF LIFE, in Search of What we're Worth
Saturday 1 June 2024
We say that life is priceless. Yet the cost of saving a life, creating a life or compensating for a life
taken is routinely calculated and put into practice. In a world in love with data, it is possible to run a
cost-benefit analysis on anything – including life itself. For philanthropists, judges, criminals,
healthcare providers and government ministers, it’s just part of the job. In The Price of Life, Jenny
Kleeman takes us on an adventure to meet some of the people who decide who gets to live, and who
doesn’t.
Jenny Kleeman is a journalist, documentary- maker and radio presenter. She writes for the
Guardian, Tortoise, The Times and The Sunday Times. She has reported for BBC One's Panorama,
Channel 4's Dispatches and VICE News Tonight on HBO, as well as making thirteen films from
across the globe for Channel 4's Unreported World. Her first book, Sex Robots and Vegan Meat
(Picador) was published in 2020 to great acclaim.
The People's Hall
SEASON TICKET - WHAT ARE WORDS WORTH FESTIVAL
Saturday 25 May 2024
Enjoy all of the events In the What are Words Worth? Festival.
The People's Hall
EXPLORING THE TRAIL - A Guide Book Journey
Saturday 1 June 2024
Exploring the Trail: A Guidebook Journey with Jonathan and Lesley Williams of Cicerone
For over 50 years, Cicerone has been your go-to guide for exploring the great outdoors. In this event, join Cicerone directors, Jonathan and Lesley Williams, as they take you behind the scenes of guidebook publishing and their journey from the day-to-day running of Cicerone to their more recent experiences as authors. Whether you're a hiking enthusiast or simply curious about what makes a guidebook, you won't want to miss this chance to learn more about the world of publishing and adventure travel.
The People's Hall
ALFRED WAINWRIGHT HIS LEGACY, Chris Butterfield Film&Talk
Friday 31 May 2024
A lifelong love of the outdoors and admiration for Alfred Wainwright inspired Chris to build an extensive archive honouring the world-famous fell walker and safeguarding his legacy.
Chris discusses the life of Alfred Wainwright, his book publishing history and how it all began over 70 years ago. He also reveals new discoveries, including never-before-seen photos of Wainwright taken by his good friend Ken Shepherd and a rare interview with Wainwright.
The highlight of the event is a film commemorating Andrew Nichol’s extraordinary ascent to Innominate Tarn atop Haystacks with the help of the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team. Emmy-nominated duo Chris and Lorena Linke have crafted this film, which is enriched with fresh content and interviews.
Facebook group, Alfred Wainwright Books & Memorabilia, website, alfredwainwright.co.uk
The People's Hall
THE DALES DETECTIVE series, Julia Chapman in conversation
Thursday 30 May 2024
The Dales Detective series, follows the adventures of Samson O'Brien and Delilah Metcalfe as they solve cases in the Yorkshire Dales. Born with a wanderlust that keeps her moving, Julia has followed her restless feet to Japan, Australia, the USA and France. Her first series of books, the Fogas Chronicles, were written while she was running an auberge in the French Pyrenees with her husband. Now, having spent many years wandering, she is glad to call the Yorkshire Dales home, its distinctive landscape and way of life providing the setting for her latest stories.
Julia will be chatting to Sedbergh author J. C. Briggs.
Afternoon tea available.
The People's Hall
THE WORLD OF OLD BOOKS with ROGER TREGLOWN
Wednesday 29 May 2024
As a young boy I stumbled into the world of old books quite accidentally when one afternoon, bored listening to my parents talking to their friends at their house, I wandered up the hall and went into the lounge. Facing me there was an alcove lined with old brown books. To reach them I cautiously stood on a stool, stretched up and extracted a book, stepped down and opened it. That sweet slightly vanilla smell hit me and I was hooked. I have now been selling antiquarian books for forty years, initially on a part-time basis for five years and full time for the other 35. I am a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) and a recent Past President. The ABA is the oldest bookselling association in the world and certainly the most august. It has enabled me to travel all over Europe to buy and sell books and ephemera, though the numerous attendant adventures are not for repeating!
BRING YOUR BOOKS FOR VALUATION
The People's Hall
CHRIS'S MAGIC SHOW with the Extraordinary Book of Spells
Wednesday 29 May 2024
Chris is a double award-winning magician and children’s entertainer from Kendal. His children’s and family shows are noted for his comedy storytelling and the way he draws children into a fantasy world where magic can almost become real. With plenty of audience participation and opportunities to take part – for mums and dads too – be sure to be entertained!
The People's Hall
STRANGE BOOKS .........? RAY RUSSELL of Tartarus Press
Tuesday 28 May 2024
Tartarus Press, a Dales publisher with an international readership, has always eschewed the ordinary and everyday, intrigued by books that are a little different, odd or strange. Ray Russell and Rosalie Parker have been publishing for over thirty years, alonside classic authors such as Arthur Machen, they recently published a new collection of stories by M.R. James that sold out in a few days. But have you heard of Robert Aickman? His stories inspired The League of Gentlemen and even Barry Humphries. Or 'Sarban', the British diplomat who kept his very odd books under a pseudonym because the establishment would have frowned on his rather personal fantasies? Come along and hear a talk not just on publishing but collecting books, and collecting some very odd authors.
The People's Hall
THE LEGACY OF FOULSTONE MANOR with J. C. BRIGGS
Tuesday 28 May 2024
An intriguing Gothic house mystery novel you don’t want to miss! What secrets have been taken to the grave…?
Westmorland, England, 1970 Dark and imposing in a bleak landscape, Foulstone Manor stands abandoned on the edges of the Lake District.
SEDBERGH author Jean Briggs weaves her story around the historic houses and countryside of this area.
Afternoon tea available.
The People's Hall
DRINK MAPS, a History of Alcohol with Craft Beer Tasting
Monday 27 May 2024
Kris Butler, lawyer and brewer says in her introduction: ‘This is the story of drink maps, and it’s probably not what you think. It’s not about pub crawls or plotted ale trails. Instead these are maps with an agenda that was adamantly hostile to drinking alcohol, made by an organized faction known as the Temperance Movement. If people were shown how many places there were to buy alcohol, they would be so appalled that they would join the effort to end drinking, but In hindsight this logic is obviously flawed.’
The People's Hall
THE BOOK OF DOORS 'SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER', by Gareth Brown
Sunday 26 May 2024
Cassie is about to discover that the Book of Doors is a special book – a magic book. A book that bestows extraordinary abilities on whoever possesses it, there are other magic books out there that can also do wondrous – or dreadful and terrifying – things. Addictive, brilliantly written and utterly irresistible, The Book of Doors is the spell-binding, mind-bending, heart-pounding new adventure. ‘A stunning fever dream of a story.’ LEE CHILD
The People's Hall
Trial by Jury with Mark Bridgeman (afternoon tea available)
Sunday 26 May 2024
After many years buried in research, Scottish based writer Mark Bridgeman released his first book, The River Runs Red, in 2019. Further best selling titles, Blood Beneath Ben Nevis and The Dark Side of the Dales followed in 2020.
His unique copyrighted event 'Trial By Jury' has proved a popular and entertaining event at several festivals, be ready to PLAY YOUR PART!
The People's Hall
WEATHERING by Ruth Allen
Saturday 25 May 2024
In a world shaken by physical, political and medical disasters, Weathering argues for a better understanding of the ground beneath our feet to better serve ourselves and the world we live in. Ruth Allen takes readers on a journey, framed by the two tectonic plates of her own life – land and people. She demonstrates how geology can offer us a new way of thinking about our own changes, grief and boundaries. In her own words:
Working therapeutically outside puts us in direct contact with our evolutionary history, as a people that sought home and safety in the trees, looking out to the horizon. We are designed to work in this way with the land.
The People's Hall
GUIDED WALK - GLOBETROTTING: Writers Walk the World
Saturday 25 May 2024
Duncan Minshull brings together over fifty walker-writers who have travelled the world’s seven continents. Globetrotting takes us across the streets of London, Rome, Melbourne, Cairo, Kyiv and Kabul; through the frozen wastes of Antarctica; along the pilgrim paths of Japan; into the jungles of Ghana; around the Great Wall of China...... and of course, around and about Sedbergh's pathways.
MEETING PLACE - Sedbergh Information Centre
13 Reasons not to Write an Historical Novel (CANCELLED)
Saturday 25 May 2024
Author Sue Millard from Tebay explains the trials and tribulations!
Sedbergh Library