Hertford Club Literary Festival

Rewiring The Matrix with Matt Stroud on Saturday the 6th July at 2pm. Join Matt on our Garden Stage as he explores the imminent convergence of three critical drivers of our future - data, artificial intelligence, society’s intricate social graph, and warns of a looming crisis that threatens to challenge the very foundations of liberal democracies.
Be prepared to think differently!
Remember entry to the Hertford Literary Festival is FREE!
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Join Aoife on Friday 5th July at 3pm as she speaks candidly about her journey over the past year discovering her estranged fathers past. From his experiences being kidnapped and tortured by the Provisional IRA to learning of his passing, Aoife tells the tale of her father’s life and the fascinating and sometimes harrowing journey her exploration has led her on.

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil is the 7th Marquess of Salisbury and lives in Hatfield House, home of the Cecil family since 1611.

Lord Salisbury will be joining us on Friday 5th July at 4pm to talk about the history of the House and the Estate as well as setting out his hopes and aspirations for the future.

Remember it’s free entry to the Hertford Literary Festival. All inquisitive minds welcome! Sign up to the newsletter on our website. Hertfordlitfest.co.uk

Carly was the first person in the UK to receive a prescription for herbal Cannabis privately since the law change in 2018. She now advocates for patient access to Medical Cannabis as director of Cancard .

We’re thrilled that Carly can join us on Saturday 6th July at 4pm to talk about her extraordinary journey… and her hopes for the future.

Remember entry to the Hertford Literary Festival is FREE! Sign up to our newsletter via the website and keep up to date.

Www.hertfordlitfest.co.uk

Richard’s grandfather, Sir Lionel Faudel-Phillips was the last owner of Balls Park, the Grade I Listed mid-17th-century house in Hertford. The estate and house are set in over 63 acres of parkland and has been claimed to have been the inspiration for Netherfield in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice.

Richard is currently writing the family history during the time they lived there, between 1880-1945 and is joining us on Friday 5th at 5pm to talk about this fascinating subject.

So here we go! Delighted that Helen Lederer is joining us at this year’s festival to talk about her book ‘Not That I’m Bitter’ on Saturday 6th July at 6pm.

Helen is probably best known for her role as the dippy ‘Catriona’ in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ alongside Jennifer Saunders in all six series and more recently in ‘Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie’.

will be talking to Helen about her book, life and everything in between. Join us on 5th and 6th July for the 6th annual Hertford Literary Festival at the The Hertford Club

Keep up to date and subscribe via our website for the latest news. www.hertfordlitfest.co.uk

We're delighted to announce that as part of this year's festival we are organising a weekend trip to Co. Mayo, Ireland to take the award winning tour of The Quiet Man filming locations. It's a must for any Quiet Man enthusiasts! From 28th - 30th June 2024.

Spaces are expected to go quickly so do fill in our Quiet Man excursion form on our website if you are interested in coming along.

The Quiet Man Tour | Hertford Lit Fest 28th - 30th June 2024. As part of this year's festival we are organising a weekend trip to Co. Mayo, Ireland to take the award winning tour of The Quiet Man filming locations, a must for any Quiet Man enthusiasts.

We are really happy to announce that the Hertford Literary Festival will be taking place on 5th and 6th July 2024. AND we have a new website where you can find out more, watch videos from the 3023 festival and keep up to date with all the latest for the 2024 festival. Do take a look! www.hertfordlitfest.co.uk

👀👇🏽 check it out . Tomorrow hosted online

Looking forward to The Book Nook author event with NBC News Correspondent Chloes Melas Live on our Facebook and YouTube channels this coming Monday evening? Don't forget to reserve your FREE spot on our Ticket Source Page https://tinyurl.com/8uczjrmn In the meantime, here's a sneak peek of the trailer of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks Apple TV series, Masters of The Air, featuring the character based upon Chloe Melas Grandfather, Frank Murphy's story from his NYT Best Selling book, Luck of The Draw.

The stage is set. Join us for the 2023 Hertford Literary Festival today and tomorrow. Free entry! At the Hertford Club.
Visit Hertford.club/litfest for the full line up

This time next week, the Club Literary Festival begins in earnest.

We only have THREE places left for the first event, A stroll through Hertford with Les Middlewood, author of “One for the Road: A History of Hertford Pubs”. Come in to the Club to stake your place.

Join Les for a pleasant hour ambling through the streets of historic Hertford town centre, stopping at the homes of some of the town’s famous former residents and writers and hearing about their lives, times and works in our town. Along the way, you can look forward to hearing about prominent Hertfordshire historian, Henry Chauncy, suffragist and fiction writer Annie Swan, firebrand MP Eric Heffer, novelist W.E. Johns (creator of “Biggles”), naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection plus a few more!

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at https://hertford.club

11am, Friday 30th June
Les Middlewood
TALK TITLE: A stroll through Hertford with Les Middlewood, author of “One for the Road: A History of Hertford Pubs”
Join Les for a pleasant hour ambling through the streets of historic Hertford town centre, stopping at the homes of some of the town’s famous former residents and writers and hearing about their lives, times and works in our town. Along the way, you can look forward to hearing about prominent Hertfordshire historian, Henry Chauncy, suffragist and fiction writer Annie Swan, firebrand MP Eric Heffer, novelist W.E. Johns (creator of “Biggles”), naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection plus a few more!

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

Saturday 1st July at 3pm
Jon Trigg
TALK TITLE: Death in the Fields – The IRA and East Tyrone
A graduate of Bristol University and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Jon served as an infantry officer in the Royal Anglian Regiment, serving tours in Northern Ireland and Bosnia, before finishing his service on loan to the United Arab Emirates army. He is the author of over a dozen books on military history, and his work has been translated into more than half a dozen different languages. His book on the destruction of Hitler’s Axis allies in Russia, Death on the Don, was nominated for the Pushkin Prize for Russian history in 2014.

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

2pm, 30 June
Songwriters showcase

Peter Crossley was born in Halifax, studied interior design and has lived in London and Germany and has eventually ended up living in a Hertfordshire village. Peter is a teacher of violin and guitar and is a very popular local singer songwriter and performer. Peter writes inspirational and uplifting folksy songs that make you think. His subjects range from childhood memories of skimming stones with his father to getting married later in life. His latest album is “Rags to Riches” has been very well received.

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

4pm, Friday 30th June
Alex Deane
PLAY TITLE: More Lessons from History: Uncovering the colourful characters of the past
After an enjoyable talk at last year’s festival, we’re very pleased to announce that Alex Deane is back to share with us the second volume of his popular series rummaging around history’s most absurd stories and eccentric characters. As before, he reminds us that throughout history human nature has remained the same – and that people’s comical, crazy or downright horrific reactions in the past can teach us a lot about who we are today.

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

Friday 30 June, 4pm
The Poets
Tará McKerr
Tará is an Irish polymath with specific interests in the environment, human rights, and finance. With a law degree and several years in the industry under her belt, she decided to shake things up and she now works as a journalist for one of the creative industries’ top publications in the heart of Soho, where she helps celebrate creativity and the people behind it. For Tará, the common thread has always been poetry: spoken word has been her way of understanding the world outside of the regular narrative and Tará joins us here tonight having appeared at most open mic nights around London’s creative areas.

2pm, Saturday 1st July
Dr Joe Saunders
TALK TITLE: Alfred Russell Wallace: Dispelling the myths about Hertford’s almost forgotten hero of science

Joe explains the story of Wallace and Darwin both arriving at the Theory
of Evolution – and looks into questions such as:
Did Darwin really keep his discoveries secret for 20 years? Did Darwin plagiarise Wallace? And were their theories the same?

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

4pm, Friday 30th June
Poet: Tom Hurst

Passionate about poetry from a young age, Tom sought to imitate the classic English poets in the study of ancient languages, which he eventually pursued at Downing College, Cambridge, where he was awarded two Browne medals for his Latin lyrics, Consolatio contra mortem voluntariam and De laetitia indecenti. He didn’t neglect English poetry, though, and, under the influence of Sidney, Donne, Pope, and the Dolce Stil Nuovo, developed a style that synthesises the Elizabethan poets’ rhetoric with Miltonic learning, and the paradoxes of Mannerism with Augustan symmetry. To date, Tom has composed over a thousand sonnets.

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

2pm, Friday 30th June
Songwriters’ Showcase

Laura Dannan is a singer songwriter from St Albans. She loves writing songs and has a unique style and quirky insights into subjects such as having a midlife crisis, being addicted to chocolate and a love of romantic stories all which make for entertaining listening. Laura’s songwriting has a lighthearted narrative style with vivid imagery reflecting life’s trials and tribulations. She is also the founder and host of The Flying Squirrels Club that promotes local singer songwriters and original artists.
You will be drawn into the songwriting process starting with the writer’s inspiration, through their word smithing and eventually the editing but more importantly the passion they bring. In addition in the evening all the presenters will perform a 30 minute showcase of their songs.

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

5pm, Saturday 1st July
Jason McCue
TALK TITLE: Modern Lawfare: Taking on the Bad Guys
“There are lawyers who weigh their words carefully, who are guarded when talking to journalists, and then there’s McCue.” Esther Addley, The Guardian
Jason McCue is renowned for pioneering “lawfare” against terrorists, dictators, rogue states and corporations that otherwise appear to be above the law. And he does so with a great deal of success. For instance, helping families afflicted by the Omagh bombing to sue the Real IRA, prosecuting Belarus dictator Alexander Lushenko for torture and hostage-taking and as UN facilitator of Sudan peace talks. So, it’s no surprise that Jason’s in demand as a speaker (perhaps you’ve seen his 2012 Ted Talk entitled “Terrorism is a failed brand”) – and it’s a privilege to have him join us.

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

1pm, Saturday 1st July
Daren Peary
TALK TITLE: Lettermorphosis – Poetry in performance and on the page
Influenced and inspired by the likes
of Spike Milligan, John Cooper Clarke,
Mark Grist and Harry Baker, as well as
the visual arts and music in general,
Daren is a local poet and spoken
word artist who’s been writing for
some twenty years. As an education
professional, Daren loves sharing his
passion for poetry and getting people
engaged with it. Today he’ll be talking
about the poetry process – and his
approach to writing – as well as performing a selection from his book Lettermorphosis.

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest

3pm, Friday 30th June
Aoife McMahon
TALK TITLE: Aoife’s debut novel This Grace
Originally from Co. Clare, Aoife McMahon is a multiple award-winning actress and voiceover artist with over two hundred books, an Audofile Award and places in The Irish Times’, The New York Times’ and Amazon’s top ten audiobooks to her credit. This Grace is her first novel and with a bit of luck, it will be gracing your bookshelves soon.

The Hertford Literary Festival takes place over two days at the Hertford Club. Free entry. 30th June and 1st July. The full programme can be found at Hertford.club/litfest