There is genuinely something for everyone. Well done to all the organisers. The Festival will run from April 20 to May 4 in venues across the town. Full details here:
http://hexhambookfestival.co.uk/
Showing posts with label Hexham Book Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hexham Book Festival. Show all posts
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Monday, 21 April 2014
Hehxam Book Festival starts in a few days but some tickets still available
The festival starts very soon on the 24th April but some events to see, hear and meet some amazing writers are still available - all details on the website: http://www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk/
At the same time it is worth pointing out that various people are doing a series on the greatest novels of all time. Surely "Literature" is the book that the reader wants, and most importantly reads. There is no greatest ever novel - just the book that you or your child considers a classic.
But ... I attach below one greatest ever list of the 20 British and Irish novels. Many would agree that Great Expectations, and Middlemarch should be on such a list but good also to see The New Confessions, Wolf Hall, and even Jilly Cooper's Riders! A book is great if it makes you or your child read! And if you want to give someone a present this Easter - give a book! Preferably from our two wonderful local independent bookshops in Hexham and Corbridge
The full list is below but try and go along and support your local book festival:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10629373/20-best-British-novels-of-all-time.html
At the same time it is worth pointing out that various people are doing a series on the greatest novels of all time. Surely "Literature" is the book that the reader wants, and most importantly reads. There is no greatest ever novel - just the book that you or your child considers a classic.
But ... I attach below one greatest ever list of the 20 British and Irish novels. Many would agree that Great Expectations, and Middlemarch should be on such a list but good also to see The New Confessions, Wolf Hall, and even Jilly Cooper's Riders! A book is great if it makes you or your child read! And if you want to give someone a present this Easter - give a book! Preferably from our two wonderful local independent bookshops in Hexham and Corbridge
The full list is below but try and go along and support your local book festival:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10629373/20-best-British-novels-of-all-time.html
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Speaking about my book "Doing Time" Hexham Book Festival 6.30 Monday Queens Hall
Prison reform and criminal justice are the issues addressed in my book which I am discussing in a Q and A session Monday evening at the Queens Hall Hexham - the proceeds from the book go to my favourite NHS charity the National Brain Appeal
Please feel free to come along - its my first Book Festival! I will be signing copies of the book with the bookshop Cogito Books afterwards in the foyer.
The BBC reviewed the Book here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20270600
The short summary would be as follows:
A ground-breaking study of national importance of our criminal justice system by an MP and a former criminal barrister of note.
Prison does work. It locks people up so that the prisoner cannot then commit a crime: yet prison for years has failed to change the prisoner's behaviour. It is a disappointing fact of our prison system that under the last government released prisoners had a reoffending rate of approximately 70%. Prisons are a short term fix, not a long term solution. The public does not want us to be soft on prisoners. The Justice system needs to command the respect and confidence of the people. It clearly has not commanded that respect for some considerable time. Repeated polling shows that the public wants prison to be more effective at changing prisoners' behaviour. Put simply, it wants government to knuckle down and make prisons work . This study attempts to analyse what went wrong with the prison regimes in the past, makes suggestions for future changes, and assesses how things are changing under the new government. By ignoring prisoners, locking them up, and then discharging them with no basic skills, and still drug addicted, we have created a recipe for disaster and ever increasing prison numbers. This government should make the tackling of crime and reoffending a number one priority. The key point is that we know what the problems are: all are capable of being addressed.
Please feel free to come along - its my first Book Festival! I will be signing copies of the book with the bookshop Cogito Books afterwards in the foyer.
The BBC reviewed the Book here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20270600
The short summary would be as follows:
A ground-breaking study of national importance of our criminal justice system by an MP and a former criminal barrister of note.
Prison does work. It locks people up so that the prisoner cannot then commit a crime: yet prison for years has failed to change the prisoner's behaviour. It is a disappointing fact of our prison system that under the last government released prisoners had a reoffending rate of approximately 70%. Prisons are a short term fix, not a long term solution. The public does not want us to be soft on prisoners. The Justice system needs to command the respect and confidence of the people. It clearly has not commanded that respect for some considerable time. Repeated polling shows that the public wants prison to be more effective at changing prisoners' behaviour. Put simply, it wants government to knuckle down and make prisons work . This study attempts to analyse what went wrong with the prison regimes in the past, makes suggestions for future changes, and assesses how things are changing under the new government. By ignoring prisoners, locking them up, and then discharging them with no basic skills, and still drug addicted, we have created a recipe for disaster and ever increasing prison numbers. This government should make the tackling of crime and reoffending a number one priority. The key point is that we know what the problems are: all are capable of being addressed.
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Hexham Book Festival - top authors speaking [& me too - on "Doing Time"]
http://www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk/
A packed programme featuring Claire Tomalin, Michael Frayn, Joe Simpson, Dan Snow, Gavin Hewitt, Alan Johnson, Martin Bell, Edward Stourton, Chris Mullin and many more ... including yours truly on Monday April 29th April at 6.30 in the Queens Hall, Hexham
I shall be talking about prison reform and my book, Doing Time.
To my amazement the book is selling really well!
My publisher recently informed me that I am shortly to receive a royalty cheque - which goes to the National Brain Appeal, the NHS charity that backs the hospital that saved my life, and which pioneers treatment and research in to brain tumours
http://www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk/programme/guy-opperman-doing-time/
A packed programme featuring Claire Tomalin, Michael Frayn, Joe Simpson, Dan Snow, Gavin Hewitt, Alan Johnson, Martin Bell, Edward Stourton, Chris Mullin and many more ... including yours truly on Monday April 29th April at 6.30 in the Queens Hall, Hexham
I shall be talking about prison reform and my book, Doing Time.
To my amazement the book is selling really well!
My publisher recently informed me that I am shortly to receive a royalty cheque - which goes to the National Brain Appeal, the NHS charity that backs the hospital that saved my life, and which pioneers treatment and research in to brain tumours
http://www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk/programme/guy-opperman-doing-time/
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