Last year, Patrick Marlowe told three ghost stories to an audience of the living and the dead in St Mary’s churchyard. This year, he’s back, and his thoughts have turned … Continue reading "Crime Stories with Patrick Marlowe"
Event Postponed: Unfortunately, our host John Rogers is unable to attend due to medical reasons. This event will be rescheduled and all ticket holders offered a transfer or refund (look … Continue reading "Pariah Genius: Wanstead Book Festival presents Iain Sinclair"
Since 2017, the UK has seen 15 terrible terrorist attacks. But the atrocities we see on our BBC news alerts are the tip of an iceberg – at least twice … Continue reading "Plotters: Wanstead Book Festival presents Lizzie Dearden"
Paul Sinha is an award-winning comedian, a quizzing mastermind and a happily-married husband. But for much of his life none of these seemed remotely imaginable. As a boy, Paul struggled … Continue reading "One Sinha Lifetime: Wanstead Book Festival presents Paul Sinha"
New York Times bestselling author Daisy Goodwin tells the story of a scandalous love affair between the most celebrated opera singer in history, Maria Callas, and one of the richest … Continue reading "Diva: Wanstead Book Festival presents Daisy Goodwin"
From Captain Scott to JFK, from Mother Teresa to Che Guevara, Otto English’s Fake Heroes debunks conventional wisdom about some of history’s biggest names, bringint to light some of the darker truths they would rather have kept buried, while also celebrating unsung heroes. Otto English, aka journalist Andrew Scott, has become one of the country’s … Continue reading "Fake Heroes: Wanstead Book Festival presents Otto English"
Philosopher Julian Baggini has for two decades demystified the role of philosophy in public life, discussing in clear and easy-to-understand terms the principles behind some of our modern dilemmas. In … Continue reading "How The World Eats: Wanstead Book Festival presents Julian Baggini"
Next year marks 10 years since Geraldine Roberts’ book The Angel and the Cad revived a generation’s interest in the tragedy of Wanstead House. Historian Hannah Armstrong, author of Wanstead House: East London’s Lost Palace knows more about the building that was at the centre of the romance than anyone else. Join the two of … Continue reading "The Angel, The Cad and The House: Wanstead Book Festival presents Geraldine Roberts and Hannah Armstrong"
NB. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED. Ticket-holders will be contacted by email. Death of a Bookseller has become a hit novel in the past year but unlike many popular crime novels this is dark. Written by Walthamstow-based author Alice Slater, a former bookseller herself, the book is about a true crime fanatic who has all … Continue reading "Death of a Bookseller: Wanstead Book Festival presents Alice Slater"
Parents have plenty of worries to occupy their minds… how to deal deal with anxiety, peer pressure, phones, stress. And that’s just the parents – children face a whole load … Continue reading "How to be the Grown-Up: Wanstead Book Festival presents Martha Deiros Collado"
Until 1965, Wanstead was truly a part of Essex, and even now there are tell-tale signs all around us of a time before it became part of a London borough. In the 1980s, though, Essex became the stuff of tabloid headlines, supposed stereotypes and populist politics. Author Tim Burrows, in his book The Invention of … Continue reading "Wanstead Book Festival presents: Tim Burrows"
Ladybird Books are instantly recognisable. As well as helping generations of children to learn to read, they represented a vision of how people perceived their lives as things were changing … Continue reading "Wanstead Book Festival presents: Helen Day – Visions of our future"
It’s time everyone knew the story of Charles Ignatius Sancho. In the mid-1700s, a boy born on a slave ship found his way to Georgian London and miraculously survived. The boy grew and went on to tread the boards of London’s theatres, become a composer, lead the fight to end slavery and become the very … Continue reading "Wanstead Book Festival presents: Paterson Joseph"
Jonathan Coe is one of Britain’s greatest living novelists whose books shine a light on how we as a society see ourselves. From his hit 1994 book What a Carve Up, through The Rotters Club, Number 11 and Middle England, he has found a moving, funny and true way to tell the story of Britain. … Continue reading "Wanstead Book Festival presents: Jonathan Coe"
Artists see things differently. Will Gompertz is familiar to audiences throughout the country from his years as the BBC’s Arts Editor. For years Will was a fixture on the Ten O’Clock News as he would introduce Turner or Booker Prize winners, or explain why a statue or painting had been sold for record prices. No … Continue reading "Wanstead Book Festival presents: Will Gompertz"
