Category: events

events

The Conversation 2026: Dame Harriet Walters

ramblingmads

On Tuesday I spent a few hours listening to the incredible Shakespearean actor Dame Harriet Walter talk about her career and read from her book, She Speaks! What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said where she revisits many roles she’s played and others she hasn’t to imagine their inner lives and what they might have wanted to say but weren’t given the opportunity to.

As someone whose career started in the 70s, Harriet has been in dozens of plays, films and TV shows and she had so many fascinating stories. She’s incredibly knowledgeable about Shakespeare, having been involved with the RSC and it was incredible to hear about her work and her process from her directly.

She was interviewed by publisher Lennie Goodings, who is responsible for She Speaks!, encouraging Harriet to explore the characters and give them a voice.

The Q & A section was interesting too, lots of really good questions from the crowd.

We were down in the crypt cafe of St-Martin’s-in-the-Field, which is a very atmospheric space. It was an intimate venue, which reflected the event – a modern take on something over 400 years old – in a revamped space lined with the graves of old Londoners.

There are still tickets available for many of the other events in this season of fascinating conversations, in person and online – which you can buy here.

events

Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival 2026

ramblingmads

I really wish I was going to this year’s festival – the line up is incredible. So many of my favourite writers are going to be there. If anyone could put me up for the weekend that would be amazing!

Running the 23rd – 26th July in Harrogate the full line up has been announced.

This year’s programme has been curated by bestselling psychological thriller writer Lisa Jewell and features over 140 crime and thriller writers, making it the biggest event ever in the Festival’s illustrious twenty-three-year history. An all-star line-up of bestselling authors and crime fiction names including Richard Armitage, Ardal O’Hanlon, Andi Osho, Denise Mina, Adam Kay, Abir Mukherjee, Elly Griffiths, Vaseem Khan, Val McDermid and M.W. Craven join Special Guest headliners Ann Cleeves and Brenda Blethyn, Anthony Horowitz, Holly Jackson, Chris Brookmyre, Chris Whitaker, Jane Harper, LJ Ross, Nadine Matheson, Gillian McAllister, Steve Cavanagh, Alice Feeney, and US crime superstar David Baldacci, on the packed programme.

Taking place at Harrogate’s Old Swan Hotel from 23-26 July, this year’s Festival offers crime fiction fans even more opportunities to hear from superstar writers and discover new talent with the launch of the Swift Half Stage. This innovative new space championing brilliant storytellers, rising stars and boundary-pushing creatives in a series of bite-size events, features authors including Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall, Mick Herron, Ahana Virdi, Will Carver, Clare McGowan, Kia Abdullah and Traitor’s star Harriet Tyce. 

Festival highlights include the prestigious Theakston Old Peculier Crime Awards Ceremony and the much-anticipated Critics’ New Blood panel showcasing four extraordinary debut novelists, Anna Maloney, Leodora Darlington, M.K. Oliver and Mel Pennant, selected by leading crime fiction critics. For aspiring writers, Creative Thursday offers an immersive day of workshops and talks led by industry experts and bestselling writers including A.A Dhand, GR Halliday and Julie Mae Cohen, with the rare opportunity to pitch work in the ‘Dragon’s Pen.’  

For more info and tickets, head to the website

events

The Conversation 2026 Summer Line Up

ramblingmads

The summer line up of The Conversation at St-Martin’s-in-the-Field has been released and it looks so good. From May to July on Tuesdays in this gorgeous church, a selection of fascinating writers and thinkers will be talking about their work.

The summer season of The Conversation 2026 will tackle topics including the LGBTQ+ culture of San Francisco as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of  author Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City; what Shakespeare’s women really were thinking with Harriet Walter; why conversations on our planet’s future must focus on those most affected with Selina Nwulu; the battle for modern America with historian Sarah Churchwell; the limits and breaking points of democracy in the modern world with Jonathan Sumption; how money laundering and the dirty economy works with Oliver Bullough; and we explore contemporary life and language with Ali Smith. We imagine how the lives of birds intersect with our own with Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane; reveal the real women behind historical legends with Janina Ramirez, and celebrate the life of explorer George Forster with Andrea Wulf.

For more details and to book tickets to be there or to watch online, visit the website.

Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields since 2012 has said: “St Martin in the Fields has always been a beacon of social justice campaigning and action. We hope The Conversation will continue and extend that tradition of questioning and challenging assumptions and narratives, and will celebrate all our many, welcome visitors.”  

events, reviews

The Conversation; Hallie Rubenhold

ramblingmads

Last Tuesday I was kindly offered the opportunity to go and see historian and author Hallie Rubenhold talk about her work at the gorgeous St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

Truly a great setting to listen to one of my favourite authors talk about The Five, The Covent Garden Ladies, The Scandalous Lady W and her most recent, Story of a Murder.  

This was all part of a series of talks called The Conversation 2026 where different very interesting people are invited to talk about their life and work and you can be in the audience, either in person or via live stream from your sofa.

I took my mum, who hadn’t read any of Hallie’s books before but was very interested in how she reframes the cases she writes about so that the women, who are often the victim, are the main character, not the killer, who is usually a man.

In the case of Story of a Murder, the victim is Belle Elmore, a music hall performer, by her husband Dr Crippen, who buried her in the cellar of their London home and then took off with his mistress, Ethel.

Hallie brings their world to life in her book, creating a wonderful sense of time and place, exploring why the police were so reluctant to believe anything was wrong, despite how often Belle’s friends in The Music Hall Ladies’ Guild insisted it was. The Belle they knew wouldn’t just vanish to America without a word, as her husband claimed, she would have written. It is really shocking how long it took to get Scotland Yard to investigate, and it ended in a transatlantic race to catch Crippen and Ethel who were trying to escape to Canada.

It was really interesting hearing Hallie talk about how she goes about researching and learning about the cases, and how she reconstructs the events from often quite small comments in trial transcripts and newspaper reports. She never loses sight of the fact that these were real people and only quotes dialogue that is in the record.

Honestly I could have listened to her for hours, she was so fascinating, her work intriguing and important in re-centering women in history and not letting them end up sidelined in their own lives. Her most famous book, The Five, upset a lot of Ripperologists, because of the focus on his victims, and not who the killer might have been.

Both The Scandalous Lady W and The Covent Garden Ladies have been adapted for TV (the Ladies as Harlots) and you can see why, the books are clever and full of fascinating details.

If you’re interested in seeing any of the other conversations, visit the link above to check out the upcoming dates and book your tickets.