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Welcome to the Dorchester Literary Festival

We had a fantastic 2019 festival with a great array of writers, all of whom entertained and enlightened us. In our final event former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy joined us at Thomas Hardye's School Theatre to read and talk about her work.

This was a truly memorable close to our festival which began with an evening in which Alexander McCall Smith regaled the captivated audience with hilarious stories about his writing career. The festival continued with appearances from novelists Tracy Chevalier, Tim Pears and Victoria Hislop who shared insights about their creative processes. Historians A N Wilson, Simon Heffer, Kate Williams, Fiona Davison, Martin Kemp and Leo McKinstry discussed subjects that included Prince Albert, World War 1, Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I, forgotten gardeners, Leonardo and Attlee and Churchill. Cookery writers Prue Leith and Sabrina Ghayour revealed what lies behind their food inspiration. Intrepid travellers Raynor Winn, Henrietta Lovell and Dom Joly, talked about their adventures. Nature writers John Wright, Tristan Gooley and John Copley enlightened audiences on how to eat a flying ant, tell the time from shadows and what lives in the deepest oceans. The Countess of Carnarvon lifted the veil on life in Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey, and Adam Nicolson explored poetry in Somerset with Wordsworth and Coleridge. Farrow and Ball colour specialist Joa Studholme told us how to decorate our houses. All in all we hope we achieved our mission and there was something for every literary taste.

Planning is under way for this year's festival so do keep in touch with the latest news via our website. Meanwhile, scroll down to see some pictures of last year's highlights.

If you enjoyed last year's festival and would like to benefit from special offers why not join us as a Friend and help support our festival. We look forward to seeing you soon.

You can download the 2019 programme as a PDF file here.

Paul Atterbury and Janet Gleeson

Festival Directors