Fascinating Non Fiction

Fascinating Non Fiction

Fascinating Non-Fiction will explore everything from moving memoirs to scientific excavations, family odysseys to travelogues. Highlights include Naga Munchetty exposing the misogyny she discovered to be rife throughout the British healthcare system, smash-hit podcaster Adam Buxton rambling on in his inimitable manner with his new memoir, I Love You, Byeee, indefatigable comedian Ivo Graham extolling the benefits of failure, and Labour politician Diane Abbott discusses her inspirational new memoir, A Woman Like Me.

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Frances Wilson & Francesca Wade: Rediscovering Muriel Spark and Gertrude Stein

Tuesday 19 August 16:00 - 17:00

Frances Wilson & Francesca Wade: Rediscovering Muriel Spark and Gertrude Stein Find out more
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In Electric Spark, Frances Wilson digs into Muriel Spark's young life, uncovering untold experiences and strange encounters that ultimately shaped Spark as a person and writer. Meanwhile, in Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife, Francesca Wade shares unseen…
 

Richard Flanagan: A Question of Consequence

Tuesday 19 August 18:45 - 19:45

Richard Flanagan: A Question of Consequence Find out more
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'That it is a masterpiece is without question' is how the Observer described Question 7: Richard Flanagan's 12th book, winner of 2024's Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. Today the multitalented author shares with Chris Power how he brought together…
 

Kate Anderson, Rosemary Goring & Jade Scott: The Captive Queen and Her Son

Wednesday 20 August 12:45 - 13:45

Kate Anderson, Rosemary Goring & Jade Scott: The Captive Queen and Her Son Find out more
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Rosemary Goring's Exile: The Captive Years of Mary, Queen of Scots and Jade Scott's Captive Queen shed remarkable new light on the duplicitous years of Mary's English imprisonment. Meanwhile, Kate Anderson's Art & Court of James VI & I reconsiders Mary's…
 

Geoff Dyer: Stories from a Vanished Time

Wednesday 20 August 13:15 - 14:15

Geoff Dyer: Stories from a Vanished Time Find out more
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Post-war Britain can seem increasingly distant, yet Geoff Dyer's delightful new memoir, Homework, brings it back to life with verve and wit. Recalling his working-class Cheltenham childhood of the SOs and 60s, Dyer (a Fellow of the Royal Society of…
 

Irene Revell, Sarah Shin & Alice Vincent: Hearing and Listening, Profoundly

Wednesday 20 August 13:45 - 14:45

Irene Revell, Sarah Shin & Alice Vincent: Hearing and Listening, Profoundly Find out more
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Join us for a fascinating event exploring the art and politics of listening. Bodies of Sound, an anthology edited by Irene Revell and Sarah Shin, brings together poets, musicians, and writers to offer new insights into how we listen and hear. Alice……
 

Dan Gunn & Frances Wilson: The Legacy of Muriel Spark

Wednesday 20 August 14:15 - 15:15

Dan Gunn & Frances Wilson: The Legacy of Muriel Spark Find out more
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With access to over 3,000 letters penned by Muriel Spark, distinguished professor Dan Gunn has spent five years decoding the enigmatic author while compiling The Letters of Muriel Spark. Meanwhile, journalist Frances Wilson's fascination with Spark led…
 

Paul French: Wallis Simpson’s Lost Years in China

Wednesday 20 August 15:30 - 16:30

Paul French: Wallis Simpson’s Lost Years in China Find out more
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For her unimpeachable fashion sense, her role in the abdication of her husband, and her shameful connection with Adolf Hitler - fascination with Wallis Simpson continues unabated nearly 40 years after her death. Now, award-winning historian Paul French…
 

Shaun Walker: The Spies Next Door

Wednesday 20 August 17:45 - 18:45

Shaun Walker: The Spies Next Door Find out more
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Guardian central and eastern Europe correspondent Shaun Walker joins us in conversation with Charlotte Higgins, discussing his secret history, The Illegals, where he puts a decade reporting from Moscow to good use, revealing, with the pace and intrigue…
 

Anthony Delaney & Alice Loxton: Cobwebs Not Included

Wednesday 20 August 18:30 - 19:30

Anthony Delaney & Alice Loxton: Cobwebs Not Included Find out more
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Ah, history… musty, stuffy, cobwebby stuff, right? Wrong – with Anthony Delaney’s Queer Georgians and Alice Loxton’s Eighteen, you’re getting history that’s as fizzing with verve and wit as its authors. Join two of the brightest young historians today…
 

Chris Bryant: A Life Less Ordinary

Wednesday 20 August 20:30 - 21:30

Chris Bryant: A Life Less Ordinary Find out more
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Winner of the 2020 Parliamentary Book Award for Best Non-Fiction and the first MP to celebrate his civil partnership in the Palace of Westminster, Chris Bryant brings his candid new memoir, A Life and a Half, to this year’s Festival…