Events

Here in the medieval splendour of Dragon Hall, a short walk from the witches' ducking stool on Fye Bridge, we have the perfect setting for this spellbinding panel. Join Cathi Unsworth, Syd Moore and Roz Watkins as they delve into the dark art of writing crime laced with paranoia, superstition and magic. Winner of multiple awards, Cathi Unsworth transports us to wartime Britain in That Old Black Magic, a heady brew of superstition, the supernatural, and undercover espionage. Syd Moore conjures up myth and murder, crimes old and new, all with a touch of humour, in Strange Fascination, an Essex Witch Museum Mystery. Roz Watkins's Devil's Dice 'teems with shivery atmosphere' (The Times) and was selected as their crime book of the month, and shortlisted for a CWA Debut Dagger.Read More

Tough guys and tougher broads, gangland hoods in sharp suits and trails of cigarette smoke, cops on the take and the band on the run. Brit Noir dates back to the brutal, heady days of Get Carter and has never gone out of fashion. Nick Triplow has documented the life of Jack Carter's creator Ted Lewis and the Brit Noir phenomenon. He is joined by two authors whose novels ably carry on this rich tradition. Harry Brett's Red Hot Front tells of gangsters in Great Yarmouth, while Cathi Unsworth's 40s-set That Old Black Magic is stylish and entrancing.Read More

Sarah Perry's new novel Melmoth is a chilling examination of guilt and forgiveness, and one of our most anticipated books of 2018. We are thrilled to welcome Sarah to the beautiful French Protestant Church, on the day Melmoth is published, to discuss her work with the Guardian's Alex Clark.Read More

Where would we be without a little adventure? Join debut novelist Abi Andrews and awardwinning writer and gardener Alys Fowler, as they discuss the life-changing impact of travelling across lesser and greater spaces. From the Midlands to Alaska, their tales of local and international adventure showcase their sense of wonder for the natural world and a fierce love for preserving it. Combining travelogue, memoir, and exquisite nature writing, their beautifully written fiction and non-fiction stories chart honest, physical and emotional journeys that sometimes only come about when you embark into uncharted territory and answer the call of the wild.Read More

Melmoth is watching and she's coming for the guilty. They can choose to live with what they've done, or follow Melmoth into a life of wandering. Sarah Perry's third novel is a haunting, Gothic tale of ordinary people making seemingly small decisions that lead to terrible consequences. Unnerving and unsettling, it gives the readers the sense they're also being watched. Like Sarah's critically-acclaimed and bestselling 2016 novel, The Essex Serpent, it considers ideas of friendship, morality, politics, and the stories we tell each other. Join us to hear from a writer who is rapidly becoming one of our best contemporary novelists. Sarah will be in conversation with Beth Underdown, author of The Witchfinder's Sister. Presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing.Read More

Join Sarah Perry, author of international bestseller The Essex Serpent, as she talks about her new novel Melmoth, a chilling and deeply moving book that speaks urgently to our times. Melmoth tells the story of Helen Franklin, who 20 years ago did something for which she cannot forgive herself. As Helen's past finally catches up with her, she must make a choice - to live with what she's done, or be led into the darkness by Melmoth the Witness. Gripping until the very last page, this is a masterpiece of moral complexity, asking us profound questions about mercy, redemption, and how to make the best of our conflicted world. Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent won Waterstones Book of the Year in 2016 and both Fiction Book of the Year and Overall Book of the Year in 2017 at the British Book Awards. Chaired by Professor Simon James, Durham UniversityRead More

Go on a voyage of discovery with authors Esi Edugyan and Aida Edemariam, as they present stories about characters who are looking for a better life. Discussing their latest novels, the two award-winning writers explore the universal desire for improved circumstances and how they found inspiration in history and in characters who share an unbroken spirit. Edugyan's latest novel Washington Black tells the story of an eleven-year-old field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation whose quest for freedom takes him on an odyssey from the Canadian Arctic to the muddy streets of London.Read More

Bridport Literary FestivalRead More