Bath Literature Festival
Friday 25 February - Sunday 6 March 2011


After much anticipation the veil can finally be lifted on Artistic Director James Runcie’s second programme for Bath Literature Festival. Securing a roll-call of literary heavy-weights alongside up-and-coming and cutting-edge authors, commentators and experts, the 2011 Festival will challenge, inspire and surprise Bath audiences, provoking both thought and debate.

The 2011 Festival will cater for all literary imaginations by enlisting the talents of the world’s most prolific writers including the 2010 Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson alongside Dr David Starkey, Kazuo Ishiguro, Alexander McCall Smith, Helen Dunmore, Andrea Levy, Louis de Berniéres, Howard Marks, Bettany Hughes and the 2011 Big Bath Read author Aminatta Forna. Combining the best contemporary fiction with intelligent debate, dramatic performance, history, science, poetry, politics, music, art and architecture, James Runcie’s innovative approach to programming is informative and involving, inventive and intensive:

“I hope that the 2011 LitFest will have something for everyone. It’s an opportunity for us all to come together and discuss what we think about our lives, our country, and the future of the world. Each event features some of the most talented and inspiring people we know; and every single one is part of a continuing conversation about what life is all about. The overall aim is simple; to encourage audiences to feel glad to be alive, fully engaged with the thoughts and ideas that matter.”

Introducing new elements together with popular aspects from 2010, the next Festival will begin with ‘Voices in the City’; a day of free events held on Friday 25 February to celebrate the spoken word. The day will include the Bath Poetry Café residency at Bath Central Library, a Poetry Pub Crawl, a haiku flash-mob, storytelling, music and much more.

Each following day of the Festival will then commence with a compelling Morning Talk featuring the likes of English Heritage’s CEO Dr Simon Thurley, entertaining historian Amanda Vickery and the presenter of the BBC’s The Power of Maps TV series, Professor Jerry Brotton. Other regular features will include Morning Walks, a strand looking at Fiction from the USA, several films and a series of special events marking the four hundredth anniversary of The King James Bible, the history of the Monarchy, and Bath’s Georgian splendour.

Wavewatchers, giant panda’s and Patrick Barkham’s best-selling The Butterfly Isles will contribute toward a Nature strand, while the country’s delicate finances will be kept in-mind with events looking at ‘Money Matters’ and the future of our education system.

The education theme will continue with a full Bath Festivals Learning & Participation programme to complement the Festival events; featuring author visits to local schools, the Young Writers Competition, a celebration of World Book Day, the Kids Big Bath Read and a series of workshops at the Holburne Museum.

The hugely popular Prospect Debates will also be warmly welcomed back in 2011 with eight provocative topics to be tackled by internationally renowned experts. Audiences will gain exclusive insight as they join Bridget Kendall, Allan Little, Bishop Richard Harries, Kate Mosse, Dr Oscar Guardiola- Rivera and many others in a wrestle with some of the most challenging issues of our day: Should Britain legalise assisted suicide? Does humanitarian aid prolong war? Is “peace with honour” possible in Afghanistan? Does feminism have to start all over again? As is customary, LitFest audience members will be invited to take part by asking questions and sharing their opinion.

Mariella Frostrup and the Sky Arts’ Book Show team will be in town to interview our top Festival authors for broadcast on the UK’s leading weekly dedication to all things literary. Our eminent broadcast partner will also be hosting the Sky Arts Den where you can kick-start your creativity or simply pass the time of day. Enjoy performances by local artists or learn something new with workshops provided throughout the day in this hub of Festival activity.

The 2011 Bath Literature Festival will be an inclusive event of reputable quality. Whether you enjoy books about boats or bikes, Portuguese poetry or period paperbacks, Norwegian novelists or maths, meteorites and multiple universes; the Festival caters for all.


Tickets can be booked by telephone 01225 463362, online at www.bathfestivals.org.uk or in person at Bath Festivals Box Office, 2 Church Street, Abbey Green, Bath BA1 1NL