Hardy Today: Brian Patten - Paying Calls

Brian (who went to tea with Robert Graves who went to tea with Thomas Hardy) takes us on a hilarious, sometimes dark, sometimes heart-rending and always fascinating journey through a chaotic boyhood, a love-struck adolescent, a disrespectful middle-age, and to the time in life when, in Hardy’s words, one starts Paying Calls… New poems and old favourites guaranteed.

Brian Patten was born in 1946 in Liverpool. He left school at fifteen, and at sixteen he edited and produced the magazine underdog in which many of the iconic poems in Penguin Modern Classic’s ground breaking anthology, The Mersey Sound, first appeared. An accomplished performer, his mixture of humour and seriousness make for a varied and fascinating evening. His many books include Selected Poems (Penguin) and The Collected Love Poems Harper Perennial). His latest collection (June, 2018) is The Book of Upside Down Thinking, a beautifully designed gift book of verse based on 10^th century sufi stories. He has been honoured with the Freedom of the City of Liverpool and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Brian will perform and discuss his fondness for Thomas Hardy in conversation with Dr Tony Fincham, acting President of the Thomas Hardy Society

Sponsored by the Thomas Hardy Society

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Listing Details

Thursday 18th October 6.30pm

Venue

Duke's Galleries

Ticket Prices

Adults: £10.00

Booking

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Feedback

I very much enjoyed giving my talk and meeting you and all your colleagues. I can think of no way you could have been more accommodating.

John Wright
Feedback From 2016 Festival

I enjoyed my festival event in Dorchester very much. What a friendly welcome the audience gave me! Good luck with future festivals -- and well done.

Val McDermid
Feedback From 2017 Festival

Thanks very much... It was fun and the audience very responsive.

Adam Nicolson
Feedback From 2017 Festival

I attended 4 events, next year I will want to attend even more talks.

A friend came to stay with us and she was equally impressed by the talks she attended.

Gill Borg
Feedback From 2017 Festival

Thanks for your warm welcome at the festival!

A N Wilson
Feedback From 2017 Festival

All of us in the Hardy Society were very positive about 'our' first night and the subsequent events. I thought Tony's event with Rachel and Dinah worked very well with interesting conversations from the both of the women.

You and Paul must be very happy with the positive way Dorchester people are continuing to embrace the Festival, and in impressively increasing numbers. Congratulations to both of you.

Next year's dates are already in our diaries and we are looking forward to meeting up with you soon to discuss our involvement.

Mike Nixon, Thomas Hardy Society
Feedback From 2016 Festival