Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Buckingham since 2015, is one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors. He was head of Brighton College and of Wellington College, two of Britain's leading independent schools, and is the author of over 40 books on contemporary history (including the inside books on the last four Prime Ministers), politics and education. He was the co-founder and first director of the Institute for Contemporary British History, is co-founder of Action for Happiness, honorary historical adviser to 10 Downing Street, chair of the National Comment Awards, a member of the Government’s First World War Culture Committee, and a governor of The Royal Shakespeare Company.
Sir Anthony will be speaking about the fourth education revolution and the impact of AI. His talk is sponsored by Perrott Hill School.
Sir Anthony will be speaking about the fourth education revolution and the impact of AI. His talk is sponsored by Perrott Hill School.
Susan Owens is an art historian, curator and writer. She read English Language and Literature at Somerville College, Oxford and then studied for an MA in history of art at the Courtauld. She began her curatorial career in the Art Collections at University College London while doing a PhD on Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations to Oscar Wilde’s play Salome. Susan then worked as a curator for the Royal Collection, before becoming Curator of Paintings at the V & A. She has written or co-authored books on decadent interiors, natural history illustration, watercolours, drawings and self-portraits, and is a regular contributor to publications including the Times Literary Supplement, the Burlington Magazine and the World of Interiors.
Susan will speak about her new book The Ghost: A Cultural History and describe some of the huge variety of ways in which artists and writers have presented ghosts. How has their appearance and behaviour changed over time, and what this reveals about them – and us?
Susan will speak about her new book The Ghost: A Cultural History and describe some of the huge variety of ways in which artists and writers have presented ghosts. How has their appearance and behaviour changed over time, and what this reveals about them – and us?
Douglas Herbert, a native New Yorker, began his journalism career more than two decades ago, in the halcyon days before US journalists were 'enemies of the people'. As a freelancer in the Moscow bureau of The New York Times in the 1990s, Douglas reported on Boris Yeltsin’s Russia in the wake of Soviet collapse. Over the years, his reporting has spanned a wide range of media (from print newspapers to radio to Internet and, for the past 12 years, television) and 'beats'. He previously worked for CNN International, in New York and London. Today, Douglas is an on-air commentator for France 24, an international news channel based in Paris, specialising in US and Russian society. An avid Russophile, Douglas received his Masters’ Degree in Russian studies from Harvard University. He recently covered the US presidential election cycle on special assignment for France 24.
Douglas will be discussing how ordinary Americans are drawing inspiration from artists, writers, filmmakers, intellectuals and other creative types to fight back against the arrival of what he describes as 'a brash and narcissistic casino-magnate-cum-reality-TV-star' in the White House, and the scourge of nativist politics at the dawn of the 21st century.
Douglas will be discussing how ordinary Americans are drawing inspiration from artists, writers, filmmakers, intellectuals and other creative types to fight back against the arrival of what he describes as 'a brash and narcissistic casino-magnate-cum-reality-TV-star' in the White House, and the scourge of nativist politics at the dawn of the 21st century.
Anna Pavord's books include her bestseller, The Tulip, The Naming of Names and her most recent work, Landskipping. Her column in the Independent newspaper has appeared ever since the paper was launched in 1986 and for many years she was an Associate Editor of the magazine Gardens Illustrated. She served for ten years on the Gardens Panel of the National Trust, the last five as chairman. She also served three 3-year terms on English Heritage's Parks and Gardens Panel. In 2001 she was awarded the Gold Veitch medal from the Royal Horticultural Society. For more than 40 years she has lived in Dorset where she gardens on a steep sunny slope among arisaemas and magnolias.
Anna will discuss her new book, Landskipping, which celebrates the magnificent diversity of the English landscape, its beauty and its potential to both comfort and awe us. Her talk is sponsored by Kilmington Gardening Club.
Anna will discuss her new book, Landskipping, which celebrates the magnificent diversity of the English landscape, its beauty and its potential to both comfort and awe us. Her talk is sponsored by Kilmington Gardening Club.
In July 2015, Rebecca Lowe set off on a 11,000km, year-long solo cycle ride through Europe and the Middle East to Tehran. Her main goal was to challenge people's preconceptions about this much-misunderstood part of the world and show that a woman could cycle through it safely. She also hoped to humanise the region at a time of increasing Islamophobia by moving away from the usual stories about terrorists and conflict to those about everyday people. Before her trip, Rebecca was the Senior Reporter at the International Bar Association, where she specialised in articles on rule of law and human rights issues, as well as interviews with leading lawyers and activists – including, most recently, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and Nobel laureate and Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi. Rebecca has also written for the Guardian, Sunday Times, Independent, Economist, Huffington Post, Evening Standard and Spectator. She has a degree in English Literature from Cambridge University and an MA in Journalism from Stanford University, where she was awarded a scholarship.
Rebecca will be speaking about her epic journey to Tehran. You can get a taste of the trip by visiting www.thebicyclediaries.co.uk.
Rebecca will be speaking about her epic journey to Tehran. You can get a taste of the trip by visiting www.thebicyclediaries.co.uk.
Hugo Bugg was named Young Designer of the Year by the RHS in 2010 and since then has become the youngest ever Gold medal winner at Chelsea Flower Show for his large show garden ‘The RBC Waterscape Garden, 2014’. Since graduating with a BA (Hons) in Garden Design, he has also won two other Gold medals at prestigious RHS flower shows including Hampton Court Palace Show in 2011 and Tatton Park in 2010 where he also won Best in Show. 2016 saw Hugo return to Chelsea Flower Show with the highly acclaimed and publicised Royal Bank of Canada garden that was inspired by the Aleppo Pine forests of Jordan. This was the first time that a large show garden featured only native plants from the Levant area for which 80% had to be propagated from seed.
Hugo will speak about designing landscapes, including award-winning Chelsea gardens, the Royal Botanic Garden in Jordan, and private client work. His talk is sponsored by The Pig at Combe.
Hugo will speak about designing landscapes, including award-winning Chelsea gardens, the Royal Botanic Garden in Jordan, and private client work. His talk is sponsored by The Pig at Combe.
Rosamund Bartlett is a writer, biographer and translator, and an acknowledged authority on Russian cultural history. The author of Chekhov: Scenes From a Life (2004), and Tolstoy: A Russian Life (2010), she has also published a number of books and articles in the field of Russian music, and the first uncensored edition of Chekhov's letters. Her translations of Chekhov's stories and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina have been greeted with acclaim. After spending fifteen years as an academic in the US and the UK, she now divides her time between Oxford and Sydney, where she is an Honorary Associate in the School of Languages and Cultures at the University, and a popular lecturer at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Rosamund will talk about the relationship between Chekhov and Tolstoy, placing this celebrated relationship in the political climate of late imperial Russia, and showing how Chekhov’s short stories and plays subtly challenged the towering edifice of Tolstoy’s literary output.
Rosamund will talk about the relationship between Chekhov and Tolstoy, placing this celebrated relationship in the political climate of late imperial Russia, and showing how Chekhov’s short stories and plays subtly challenged the towering edifice of Tolstoy’s literary output.
Sophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling crime fiction writer and poet. Her critically acclaimed psychological thrillers have been translated into more than twenty languages. Since 2014, with the blessing of Agatha Christie’s estate, Sophie has published two bestselling mysteries featuring Hercule Poirot, The Monogram Murders and Closed Casket, and she has been commissioned to write two more. She lives in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College.
Sophie will introduce her new psychological thriller, Did You See Melody? She will also talk about how, with the blessing of Agatha Christie’s estate, she came to write new novels featuring Hercule Poirot. Her talk is sponsored by the Deer Park Country Hotel.
Sophie will introduce her new psychological thriller, Did You See Melody? She will also talk about how, with the blessing of Agatha Christie’s estate, she came to write new novels featuring Hercule Poirot. Her talk is sponsored by the Deer Park Country Hotel.
Annie Freud is a poet, teacher and artist. Her first collection, The Best Man That Ever Was (Picador 2007), was a Poetry Book Society recommendation and was awarded The Dimplex Prize for New Writing. The Mirabelles (Picador 2010), her second collection, was a Poetry Book Society Choice and was short-listed for the TS Eliot Prize. Her third collection, The Remains, was published in June 2015. Annie has been named by the Poetry Book Society as one of the Next Generation Poets 2014. She is renowned for her public performances.
Annie will talk about where her poems come from – and the relationship between them and her paintings and drawings.
Annie will talk about where her poems come from – and the relationship between them and her paintings and drawings.
Raageshwari Loomba Swaroop is an award winning Indian Singer, Actress, Model and Mindfulness Speaker. She has a distinct fan following that cuts across all age groups thanks to her diverse career. Her pop albums topped every chart, her movies were blockbusters and her MTV career won her the ‘VJ of the year award’. Known as an Icon for the youth by India Today, Raageshwari was struck by Bell’s Palsy at the peak of her career that left her face paralysed. She miraculously cured her herself with Yoga and Mindfulness and since then, is an ardent follower and speaker for both.
Raageshwari worked on the path-breaking DVD for The Tibetan Rites called the ‘Ancient Secret for the fountain of youth’ which went viral on youtube. HH Dalai Lama is an avid supporter of her works for Tibet. Raageshwari has also worked with the renowned Louise Hay on a musical CD for ‘You can Heal your life’.
Join her for an insightful journey on Tibetan Yoga and Mindfulness through Theta Healing.
Raageshwari worked on the path-breaking DVD for The Tibetan Rites called the ‘Ancient Secret for the fountain of youth’ which went viral on youtube. HH Dalai Lama is an avid supporter of her works for Tibet. Raageshwari has also worked with the renowned Louise Hay on a musical CD for ‘You can Heal your life’.
Join her for an insightful journey on Tibetan Yoga and Mindfulness through Theta Healing.
Tahir Shah is a British author with a world-wide readership, whose twenty books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His best-known work, The Caliph's House, was rated as a TIME Magazine Top 10 Book of the Year. Born and raised in the UK, Shah has lived and travelled all over the world. For the last decade he has been based in Casablanca, Morocco. He lives in a sprawling mansion, haunted with genies, set squarely in the middle of a shantytown. His work is characterised by adventure, intrigue, treasure, and cross-cultural exploration. In addition to writing books, Shah has presented a number of acclaimed television documentaries, which have been screened internationally on National Geographic TV and The History Channel.
Tahir will talk about ZigZag thinking – approaching problems and challenges in a non-linear way to increase creativity.
Tahir will talk about ZigZag thinking – approaching problems and challenges in a non-linear way to increase creativity.
For the last 30 years, Peter Nasmyth has not only recorded the tumultuous transformation of Georgia, the Soviet Union’s richest republic, into a wild capitalist outpost, but been an intimate participant. As writer, publisher, investigative walker, broadcaster (the BBC nominated him for the United Nations Media Peace Prize in 1990), he co-founded Prospero's bookshop in Tbilisi, which thrives today. He has also curated exhibitions for the British Council and FCO, been a director of Georgia’s first international arts festival (GIFT), and created and run a charity in its war zones. He is currently setting up Georgia’s version of the National Trust (in association with the National Trust here). Much is documented in his books Georgia, in the Mountains of Poetry and Walking in the Caucasus, Georgia, the country’s first ever walking guide.
Peter is also a native of East Devon. His recent book Literature and Landscape in East Devon is, he claims, the necessary rediscovery of his roots via a nation in the Caucasus. He will talk about his efforts to help preserve the rich literary atmosphere in both.
Peter is also a native of East Devon. His recent book Literature and Landscape in East Devon is, he claims, the necessary rediscovery of his roots via a nation in the Caucasus. He will talk about his efforts to help preserve the rich literary atmosphere in both.
