Giants come to Wimbledon Bookfest 2010:
Salman Rushdie, The Wombles and Antony Gormley
Two giants from the book publishing world are headlining at Wimbledon Bookfest: Salman Rushdie who will be talking about Luka and the Fire of Life; and The Wombles who are returning to their homeland of Wimbledon Common!
 Joining them at Bookfest will be sculptor Antony Gormley, creator of the giant Angel of the North and One and Other, the occupation of the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Salman Rushdie will be in conversation with broadcaster James Naughtie. Rushdie’s new book Luka and the Fire of Life is a gift for his second son and follows Haroun and the Sea of Stories, written for his first.
 Bookfest celebrates the original furry friends of Wimbledon Common as Bloomsbury re-launches The Wombles’ titles. And what better venue than Wimbledon Common in the huge Bookfest Marquee? Bring your own sock!
Bookfest is committed to hosting events with leading artists. Sir Peter Blake attended in 2009 and this year Antony Gormley is the guest artist. He will be speaking at Wimbledon College of Art.
And the infinite variety show continues!
Selected highlights:
Michael Morpurgo with Virginia McKenna
Bestselling children’s author Michael Morpurgo and actress Virginia McKenna, founder of the Born Free foundation, talk about their love of animals.
Lynda La Plante with Lynda Bellingham
An enduring friendship between the two Lyndas informs a warm and entertaining evening .
Penny Vincenzi, Harriet Evans and David Nicholls
Penny and Harriet, novelists and friends, join forces for a Girls’ Night Out with David Nicholls author of One Fine Day.
Tracy Chevalier
Tracy talks about Remarkable Creatures, her new book about Mary Anning, 19th century fossil finder.
Tony Parsons
Author of the acclaimed Man and Boy trilogy separates the men from the boys.
Virginia Ironside
Novelist and agony aunt performs The Virginia Monologues.
Maggie O’Farrell
Maggie talks about The Hand that First Held Mine.
And many drops to drink...
There’s a welcome return of the popular Literary Pub Quiz – your chance to show off your knowledge about the world of books over a drop of something!
Browse further in the packed Wimbledon Bookfest programme
Children
Michelle Magorian author of Goodnight Mr Tom with children’s dramatist David Wood
Food and drink
Jay Rayner and Olly Smith, journalists and food writers, whet the appetites.
Gardening
Andrew Fisher Tomlin, gardener and writer, with Toby Buckland, presenter of Gardeners’ World.
Music
Philip Ball will discuss the necessity for music; internationally renowned pianist Susan Tomes presents her new book Out of Silence.
Poetry
Adam O’Riordan, one of Britain’s finest emerging poets, performs from his debut collection.
Travel
Alex Maitland gives an illustrated talk on traveller Sir Wilfred Thesiger.
History and politics
Will Hutton offers trenchant solutions to political leaders; broadcaster Peter Snow talks on Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon.
Screen, stage and radio
The 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird is to be marked with screenings and discussions.
The winning entries of Bookfest’s scriptwriting competition, Stage Write, will be performed by Encore Youth Theatre, young actors from New Wimbledon Theatre.
The Archers Miscellany presents the first official trivia collection
Director Martha Fiennes talks about her film Onegin.
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Tickets for Bookfest 2010
You can now order tickets for Bookfest 2010.
Call the Box Office at Polka Theatre on 020 8543 4888 to order your tickets, or book online.
Note: Not all links are currently working on this site, so please call 020 8543 4888 to book for any events which are not currently available on the site.
Bookfest Marquee on Wimbledon Common
As usual the Festival will take place in venues all over the area (currently 20 and counting), but we are delighted to announce that the Putney and Wimbledon Conservators have accepted our request for a Bookfest ‘Big Tent’ from Friday 8 - Sunday 10th October.
The Bookfest marquee will be positioned close to the War Memorial and we will be holding a variety of book-related events over the period.
Bookfest Bookclub with writer Jennifer Cox
Thanks to everyone who attended our Bookclub with Jennifer Cox on the 15th June.
The next Bookclub event will be on Tuesday, 20th July at hmvCurzon. We will be discussing Liz Jensen's The Rapture.
Read all about it here.
Stage Write 2010
The 2010 scriptwriting competition, Stage Write, is now open and runs until 9th July.
You can write about anything you like, but your play must take no longer than 10 minutes to perform. This year we have launched a new category for under 18s.
The winning entries will be performed by New Wimbledon Theatre's Youth Theatre, Encore, at our Festival launch on Sat 2nd October in St Mark's Church, Wimbledon.
Workshops are currently being planned to take place during the Festival so please visit the website where information will be regularly updated.
Email your submissions to stagewrite@wimbledonbookfest.org
This competition is kindly sponsored by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Services, (ALCS)
Become A Friend
In order to make Bookfest happen, we rely heavily on the support of our Friends, who also get two weeks advance booking on all of our events. You can become a Friend for only £25 as year by clicking here. We also offer a fantastic five year membership for only £100, which you can order by clicking here. |
