festiv al of li te ra tu re film &M usi c Pocket Guide

festival ofliteraturefilm & Music

Thursday 24 –Sunday 27 September 2015

Pocket Guide

Featuring Orhan Pamuk • Dr Maki Mandela • Alfred BrendelMaureen Lipman • Alexander Armstrong • Sue MacGregorSir Karl Jenkins • Bel Mooney • John Suchet • Max Mosley

Gino D’Acampo • Paul Gambaccini

Welcome to your pocket guide tothe 2015 Blenheim Palace Festivalof Literature, Film & MusicFESTIVAL TICKETSThe festival is a ‘ticketless’ event. Festival-goers will receive an emailconfirmation and no physical tickets will be posted to those who havebooked. On the door, we will ask for the named holder of the bookingand check it against our record. There is no need to bring print-outs ofyour email. Tickets can be bought as follows:

ONLINE Please visit www.blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com Tickets canbe booked up to one hour before the event.

IN PERSON Feathers Hotel, 16-20 Market Street, Woodstock OX20 1SX.

TELEPHONE The Feathers will operate a daily telephone box office on 01993 812291 between 11am and 2.30pm

FESTIVAL BOX OFFICE A walk-up box office at Blenheim Palace will beopen throughout the festival.

Festival box office opening hours are

• Thursday, September 24, 10.30am-6pm

• Friday, September 25, 10am-6pm

• Saturday, September 26, 10am-4.30pm

• Sunday, September 27, 9.30am-5pm

Immediately before events: Bookings can be made online or from thefestival box office up to one hour before each event. Any remainingplaces will be sold on the door.

Tickets for Festival events on all four days, at the Palace, include freeentry to the park and gardens on the day of the ticket (price normally£13.80).

Cover photo by kind perm

ission of Blenheim

Palace

Special Guest talks to Peter HennessyThe Inaugural Duke of Gloucester Lecture

2.15pm / Blenheim Palace: The Orangery / £12

One of Britain’s mostprominent politicians talksto contemporary historianand broadcaster Lord PeterHennessy about his life,career and influences.

This event will beintroduced by HRH TheDuke of Gloucester, RoyalPatron of The Festival.

FRIDAY 25th SEPTEMBER

STOP PRESSCheck www.blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com

for new events in the coming weeks

Peter Hennessy

THURSDAY 24th SEPTEMBER

Maki Mandela talks to John BattersbyMandela: Life Legacy and Art

12 noon / Blenheim Palace: The Orangery / £12

Dr Maki Mandela, the eldest daughter of NelsonMandela, talks to leading South Africanjournalist John Battersby about her father's lifeand legacy and about the works of art that hecreated in later life.

James Russell Introduced by Steven ParissienThe Compton Verney Lecture:Ravilious – The Watercolours

12 noon / Blenheim Palace: The MarlboroughRoom / £12

Writer and curator James Russell introduces hisnew and definitive guide to one of the finestpainters of the 20th century Eric Ravilious.

Jonathan FenbyThe Revolution to Charlie Hebdo: AHistory of Modern France

2pm / Blenheim Palace: The Marlborough Room / £12

Journalist and author Jonathan Fenby explains200 years of tumultuous events that makeFrance both proud of its past and a prisoner ofits history.

Dan Jones talks to Paul BlezardMagna Carta – The Making andLegacy of the Great Charter

2pm / Blenheim Palace: The Orangery / £12

Bestselling historian, journalist and broadcasterDr Dan Jones brings to life the Magna Carta onthe 800th anniversary of its signing in 1215.

James Russell

Dan Jones

THURSDAY 24th SEPTEMBER

Beth Powning, Michael Crummy,Serge Patrice Thibodeau and Sue GoyetteHistory and Place in Atlantic Canada

4pm / Blenheim Palace: The Marlborough Room /£12

Canada’s Frye Festival brings four leadingwriters from Canada's Atlantic coastline todiscuss the history culture and landscape ofthe region they describe in their novels, poetryand travelogues.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and otherguests What is Englishness?


Journalist and commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is joined by other panellists to considerthe question of Englishness. What is it? Andcan we create a new national consensus onEnglishness based on shared values fromdifferent traditions.

Orhan Pamuk talks to Boyd TonkinA Strangeness in my Mind


Nobel-prize-winningTurkish novelist OrhanPamuk talks to TheIndependent journalistand chair of judges forthe 2016 BookerInternational Prize BoydTonkin about his newand ninth novel AStrangeness in My Mind– an unforgettable lovestory and a modern epic.

Beth Powning

Sue Goyette

Michael Crummy Serge Patrice Thibodeau


Asfa-Wossen AsserateKing of Kings: The Triumph andTragedy of Haile Selassie of Ethiopia

10.30am / Blenheim Palace: The Orangery / £12

Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate talks about hiscolourful new biography of the life of his great-uncle Emperor Haile Selassie.

Ann Treneman and Peter BrookesPencils Sharpened: The Satirists'Take on Recent Politics


The Times writer Ann Treneman and cartoonistPeter Brookes explore the subversive power ofpolitical satire with a serious eye and a healthydose of humour.

Paul Gambaccini talks to Daniel Finkelstein My Year under the Yewtree


One of Britain’s best-known and mostrespected DJs and radio presenters PaulGambaccini gives Lord Daniel Finkelstein a no-holds-barred account of the year he spentunder a cloud of suspicion before being told hewould not face historic sex assault charges.

Jonathan Fenby and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Chaired by Gwenan EdwardsBreaking News: A Review of Today's Newspapers

10.30am / Blenheim Palace: The Marlborough Room / £12

Well-known journalists Jonathan Fenby and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown review theday's newspapers with BBC presenter Gwenan Edwards.

Dermot Turing and Gordon Corera From Turing to Today:The Changing Face of the Spy in the Internet Age

12 noon / Blenheim Palace: Indian Room / £12

Alan Turing’s nephew Sir John Dermot Turing and security correspondent forBBC news Gordon Corera look at Turing the man and his genius in breakingthe Nazi codes in World War II and at how his legacy and the Internet agehave bred a new kind of spy.

Ann Treneman

Paul Gambaccini


Andrew LambertThe Gibraltar Lecture: The Royal Navyand Gibraltar in World War II

4pm / Blenheim Palace: The Indian Room / £12

Naval historian Professor Andrew Lambert marksthe 70th anniversary of the end of World War IIwith a look at the part played by Gibraltar.

John Suchet talks to Gwenan EdwardsThe Last Waltz: The Story of theStrauss Dynasty

5.45pm / Blenheim Palace: The Gallery / £12

Former television journalist-turned Classic FMpresenter John Suchet explains how the Straussfamily took Europe by storm in the 19th century.

Hugh Purcell talks to Sue MacGregorA Very Private Celebrity: The NineLives of John Freeman

5.45pm / Blenheim Palace: The Marlborough Room / £12

Journalist, biographer and former televisionproducer Hugh Purcell talks to radio presenterSue MacGregor about the polymath and forensictelevision interviewer John Freeman who believedin changing his life – and his wife – every tenyears.

Patrick Gale A Place Called Winter

6pm / St Mary Magdalene Church / £12

Novelist Patrick Gale talks about his new andpoignant historical novel of love, relationships,secrets and escape A Place Called Winter – a TheSunday Times bestseller and a pick for the BBCRadio 2 Simon Mayo Book Club.

Festival Black Tie DinnerSpeaker to be confirmed


The traditional festival dinner takes place in themagnificent Orangery of Blenheim Palace.

Sponsored by

SATURDAY 26th SEPTEMBER

Alexander Armstrong ITV Preview Screening: Land of theMidnight Sun

11am / Blenheim Palace: Gallery / £12

Actor, comedian and game show host AlexanderArmstrong discusses his new three-part ITVdocumentary and book, Land of the Midnight Sun– recounting his epic 8,000-mile journey aroundthe Arctic – and introduces preview clips from thethree episodes before they are premiered on ITV.

Alfred Brendel talks to Gina Thomas Music Sense and Nonsense

12 noon / St Mary Magdalene Church / £12

One of the world's greatest living pianists AlfredBrendel reflects on music and his work inconversation with journalist Gina Thomas.

Gino D’AcampoITV Preview Screening

2pm / Blenheim Palace: Gallery / £12

Celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo introduces someclips from his upcoming new television series andtalks food and Italy with the head of OxfordGastronomica Donald Sloan.

Martin Jennings, Jamie Muir and Ed Taylor Chaired by Paul Blezard ITV Preview Screening: In the Shadow of Mary Seacole

4.30pm / Blenheim Palace: Gallery / £12

Watch some preview clips of a new ITV documentary film about the creationof Britain's first statue of a named black woman in Britain – Crimean Warheroine, Mary Seacole – and hear discussion between the sculptor MartinJennings, film director Jamie Muir and executive producer Ed Taylor.

Karl Jenkins talks to Gwenan EdwardsStill With the Music


Leading contemporary composer and musician SirKarl Jenkins talks about his life and the creativeprocess that has given him a huge internationalfollowing. He is one of the world's most-performedliving composers. Well-known works includeAdiemus: Songs of Sanctuary, The Armed Man: AMass for Peace and Requiem.

SUNDAY 27th SEPTEMBER

Two Earnest: A Reworking of Oscar Wilde

10am / Blenheim Palace: The Orangery / £12

Oscar Wilde's classic comedy TheImportance of Being Earnest is forciblyrewired for one table, two actors and threehats in a gender-flexing assault on Victorianfamily values.

Sonia PurnellFirst Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill

10.30am / Blenheim Palace: The Marlborough Room / £12

Biographer Sonia Purnell explains why Blenheim Palace-born Sir WinstonChurchill said his leadership in World War II would have been impossiblewithout his wife Clementine beside him.

Festival service (Preacher to be confirmed)

11am / St Mary Magdalene Church / Free

Bel Mooney talks to Ernie ReaBel Mooney’s Lifelines: Words toHelp You Through


One of Britain's best-known writers BelMooney offers some advice on gettingthrough the tough times we all face at somepoint in our lives.

Max MosleyFormula One and Beyond


One of the most influential figures in FormulaOne history and a formidable campaigner forthe right to privacy Max Mosley talks abouthis compelling and controversial new memoir.

Madeleine ShawGet the Glow: Recipes to Nourishyou from the Inside Out

2pm / Blenheim Palace: Indian Room / £12

Nutritional health coach Madeleine Shawshows how eating well can become a way oflife and make you healthier and happier.

SUNDAY 27th SEPTEMBER

Michael Billington talks to Paul BlezardThe 101 Greatest Plays: From Antiquity to the PresentThe University of Worcester Lecture


Renowned theatre critic Michael Billington explains to author and journalistPaul Blezard how he chose the 101 greatest plays written from the time of theGreeks to the present day and why they made his final list. Actors MichaelSimkins and Amy Enticknap will read excerpts from selected plays.

Andrew Gant talks to Adrian DaffernO Sing Unto the Lord: A History of English Church Music


Composer, choirmaster, teacher and writer Andrew Gant talks to Canon AdrianDaffern about his new account of English church music from its Anglo-Saxonorigins to the present day. With the choir of Jesus College, Oxford.

Daphne Selfe The Way We Wore: A Life in Clothes


Britain's oldest supermodel Daphne Selfe talks tojournalist Lucia van der Post about her extraordinarylife from being a young model in post-war Britain tostill being in demand today in her late eighties.

Douglas Hurd Queen Elizabeth II: The Steadfast

4pm / Blenheim Palace: The Indian Room / £12

Former Foreign Secretary Lord Douglas Hurd looks at the life and role ofBritain's reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II and the way she has adapted tochanging times over her 60-year reign.

Maureen Lipman, Jeremy Robson,Jacqui Dankworth and Charlie WoodNew Blues in the Park

5pm / Blenheim Palace: The Orangery / £15-£20

Actress Maureen Lipman, poet Jeremy Robson, andacclaimed jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth return bypopular request to Blenheim for more poetry, witand music following their hugely successful concertlast year. For this special event Dankworth will bejoined by her husband, the acclaimed pianist-vocalist Charlie Wood, saxophonist Julian Siegel andbassist Oli Hayhurst – paying tribute to jazz divas.This event lasts two hours including a 30-minutedrinks interval.

Maureen Lipman

Jacqui Dankworth

Festival Patrons, Sponsors and Partners

Regional Media Sponsor

Broadcast Television Partner

Global Banking Partner

Festival London Hotel Partner

Regional Magazine Partner

Ian and Carol Sellars

Eileen and Munir Majid

Festival Hotel

Partners

Sponsors

Patron Donors

Sponsor of the Festival green room

Festival Bookseller

The festival on-sitebookseller is

Blenheim Palace Retail whoprovide speakers’ books at

festival venues.

Festival Online Bookseller

AssociatesCity Audio Visual

La Galleria Restaurant

The Marlborough School

St Mary Magdalene Church

Save the Children Bookshop

Wake up to Woodstock

Woodstock Bookshop

For information onsponsorship opportunities forthe 2016 Festival (Thursday

22nd to Sunday 25thSeptember), please contact

Tony Byrne [email protected] on 07801 287510

This pocket guide was correct at the time of going to press. Events aresometimes subject to change, and a few more events may be added to

the programme. For all the latest details, check our website at www.blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com

Enquiries Tel 07444 318986Email [email protected]

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Entrance

The Orangery

Campaign Rooms

Marlborough Room

The Indian Room

Spencer Churchill Room

The Gallery

Café and shop

Courtyard

Festival venues Blenheim Palace

To Oxford

To Chipping Norton

MANOR ROAD

OXFORD ROAD

PARK STREET

HIGH STREET

MARKET STREET

OXFORD STREET

HENSINGTON ROAD

St Mary Magdalene Church

The Feathers Hotel

Marlborough School, Shipton Road

La Galleria Restaurant

Blenheim PalacePedestrian Access –Park Street

Blenheim PalaceVehicular Access –Oxford Road

Festival venues Woodstock

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The BearHotel

The WoodstockBookshop

FESTIVAL VENUES

Box office: 01993 812291 (11am – 2.30pm)www.blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com

festiv al of li te ra tu re film &M usi c Pocket Guide

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