Secrets of spies and servants revealed at new University of Warwick Book Festival
The secret life of spies and what servants really got up to below stairs will all be revealed at the new University of Warwick Book Festival next month.
Tickets have now gone on sale for the event, taking place at Warwick Arts Centre on Saturday 15 June. The theme for the festival is ‘Worlds of History’ and the programme includes bestselling authors and BBC historians.
The new festival is an initiative launched by the University of Warwick’s Institute of Advanced Study, in partnership with Queen Mary University, London, and celebrates some of the finest contemporary writing on a diverse range of historical periods, themes and ideas.
Some of the highlights of the day include Ben Macintyre, Associate Editor of The Times speaking about Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies, described by critics as an “utterly gripping story” about the five key D-Day double agents. A panel on Bletchley Park will feature intelligence specialists Sinclair McKay and Michael Smith, while Peter Hennessy will lead a panel “Spies and Secrecy” with Calder Walton and Christopher Moran.
Other authors appearing include Pamela Cox, presenter of recent BBC2 series Servants: the True Story of Life Below Stairs, and Professor Michael Scott, from the University of Warwick, who has presented a number of BBC programmes including Guilty Pleasures: Luxury in the Ancient Greek and Medieval Worlds and is currently working on new series for BBC 4 and BBC 2.
The University of Warwick’s Warwick Prize for Writing panel will welcome back 2011 winner Peter Forbes to read from his work, and Ian Sansom, chair of the 2013 judging panel, will announce the longlist for the 2013 Prize.
Michael Hulse and Donald Singer will be joined by winners of the Hippocrates Initiative for Poetry and Medicine, and a celebration of The Warwick Review’s Silver Jubilee issue will feature award-winning novelist Kirsty Gunn and highly acclaimed poet Lesley Saunders.
Full details of the event and how to book tickets are available on the Warwick Book Festival website. You can also follow the Festival on Twitter @UoWBookFestival
Notes to editors
For more details or to discuss organising interviews with any of the authors, please contact Kelly Parkes-Harrison, Press and Communications Manager, University of Warwick, 02476 150868, k.e.parkes@warwick.ac.uk