Derby Book Festival’s Autumn Edition starts today

Derby Book Festival’s Autumn Edition starts today, Friday 5 November with 10 events in QUAD over the weekend and a special event with poet Pam Ayres in Derby Theatre on Tuesday 9 November.

You can buy tickets for all events online or from QUAD and Derby Theatre for the events they are hosting. Tickets can be bought on the day but there are very limited tickets now for Pam Ayres’ event.

All the events to be held at QUAD will be available as both in-person and live streamed events. An Evening with Pam Ayres is only available as an in-person event at Derby Theatre. A Digital Pass is available which includes recordings of nine events at QUAD. This costs £15 and enables people to view the recordings from Monday 8 November to Monday 6 December.

This is the second Autumn Edition, the first one being held in 2019. It gives a flavour of what to expect in the main Festival, which is held each spring over nine days with around 80 events in the programme. The seventh Derby Book Festival will be held from 20 - 28 May 2022.

The Festival’s Autumn Edition programme will include:

• Politician and author David Lammy MP who will discuss his book, Tribes: A Search for Belonging in a Divided Society with BBC East Midlands Today presenter, Navtej Johal

• Journalist and political columnist Steve Richards considers The Prime Ministers We Never Had

• Author Wendy Moore looks at the pioneering women who ran Britain’s Trailblazing Military Hospital: Endell Street in the first world war

• Author Katherine May talks about her memoir, Wintering, and explains her experiences of the healing powers of the natural world

• Author and autograph collector Adam Andrusier talks about his memoir: Two Hitlers and a Marilyn

• Former MP and Home Secretary Alan Johnson discusses his first novel, The Late Train to Gipsy Hill

• Nottingham-based author T M Logan shares his experience of becoming a best-selling novelist with over a million copies of his novels sold to date

• Historian Alison Weir presents the final novel in her series about Henry VIII’s wives: Katharine Parr: The Sixth Queen

• Costa Novel winner and Booker longlisted author Jon McGregor discusses his latest: Lean Fall Stand

• Guardian columnist and TV critic Lucy Mangan discusses her first novel, Are We Having Fun Yet?

The Festival is organised in partnership with all the major arts and cultural partners in the city with funding from the Arts Council England, the University of Derby and over 20 businesses and individuals across the city.

Liz Fothergill, Chair of the Festival says: “We held our first Autumn Edition in 2019 and it was a great success. Little did we think it would be our last Festival for 18 months and we were delighted we were able to go ahead with our Festival in the summer.

“As things start to return to normal, we hope to welcome old and new audiences back to our wonderful partner venues, encouraging people to enjoy the pleasure that books bring to our lives.”

Professor Kathryn Mitchell DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby, said:

“I am delighted that the University of Derby continues to support Derby Book Festival and look forward to seeing the inspirational activities planned for this year’s Autumn Edition.

“The Festival continues to go from strength to strength, enriching the city’s diverse arts and cultural offering and providing people with more ways to explore, celebrate and share experiences to create a sense of place.”

The Festival will have book sales and author signings at all events plus a Book Stall selling books from previous Festivals as well as a selection of children’s books and a Mystery Book selection.

Tickets can be booked online at: https://www.derbybookfestival.co.uk/whats-on/events/ or in person or by phone at Derby Theatre or QUAD.