Cuckfield Bookfest 2021

October 8th-10th CBUOCOKKFFIEESLTD2021 Queen’s Hall, High Street, Cuckfield, RH17 5EL Annette Badland Sam Lee Ella Berthoud Andrew Lownie Philip Collins Ian Dunt Tim Marshall Claire Fuller Juliet Nicolson Mel Giedroyc Ruth Pavey Guinevere Glasfurd Helen Peters A C Grayling Andrew Pettie Monique Roffey Michael Henderson John Hilary Neil Sadler Cath Howe Laura Shepherd-Robinson Jake Kerridge Amanda Smyth Caroline Lea Sally Symes Marina Wheeler Ian Williams Julian Worricker www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

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Welcome Cuckfest 2021 is the fifth book festival in generously supported by Cumnor House Sussex. Cuckfield. Probably the very first literary festival Head for the Old School in Cuckfield on Saturday took place at Cheltenham in 1949 but 50 years 9th October. ago, on 28 May 1971, the Bedford Square Book Bang was launched and the man behind it, There will be coffee, tea, light refreshments and Martin Goff, was determined to shake up wine on offer and there are several places in the the staid and unadventurous book world. He village for food. Don’t forget Cuckfield Museum, succeeded beyond all expectations and within a which is packed with interesting artefacts and few years, book festivals sprang up all over the will be open on the Saturday. country – and in 2017 in Cuckfield. The festival is a Community Interest Company, Don’t let’s dwell on 2020, a year unlike any other. run by volunteers, funded by the sales of tickets But Cuckfield Book Festival did not turn its face and sponsorship. Prompted by many of you, this to the wall and the one day of online events year we have launched a Friends group. Find raised spirits throughout the village. What makes details on how to join on the website: our fifth festival so exciting is the enthusiasm and www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk co-operation we’ve had from so many authors, publishers and publicists as we have set about Sheila Mortimer assembling a vivid and engaging programme. Head of Programming We hope you’ll find at least one session to entice © Sophie Harvey you – or perhaps you’ve written something of your own. Time to dig it out and take it along to Gavin Jamieson’s workshop on Sunday afternoon at The Talbot – How to Get Published. There is one event missing this year – the opening supper at Ockenden Manor. The hotel has been so supportive since we began but this year we have jointly agreed that we should limit our presence at Ockenden to their very special afternoon tea on Sunday, where Annette Badland will be reading a selection of poems as you sip your Prosecco and nibble your sandwiches. Last year the children’s day of book events was a casualty but this year it’s back with a bang, organised by Shauna Bevan and Charlie Keenan, www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk 3

FRIDAY 8TH OCTOBER This remarkable social history told through the frosty lens of the winter of 1962-63 immediately 7.30pm for 8pm entered the Sunday Times bestseller list on publication in January 2021. Juliet is the author Literary Quiz of two highly acclaimed non-fiction books that bookend the First World War, plus a memoir of The Queen’s Hall her own family A House Full of Daughters. She lives near Sissinghurst where she spent her £5.00 per person to include a glass childhood. of wine Juliet will be talking to Kate Harris, a frequent Once again, a local book group has provided a visitor to Cuckfest who worked in publishing for fascinating selection of quiz questions for what many years. is now the legendary Cuckfest literary quiz. Tables are for six people but no need to come in 11.30am – 12.30pm a group of six as we can allocate tables to make up numbers. Please see p.17 for booking details. Tim Marshall SATURDAY 9TH OCTOBER The Power of Geography 10.00am -11am with Ian Moss Juliet Nicolson Frostquake £12.00 per person with Kate Harris If you want to understand what’s happening in the world, look at a map. £12.00 per person Tim Marshall’s global bestseller Prisoners of On Boxing Day 1962, when Geography showed how every nation’s choices Juliet Nicolson was eight are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and years old, the snow began concrete. Since then, the geography hasn’t to fall. It did not stop for changed, but the world has. ten weeks. It wasn't just the weather that was bad. There was the threat of nuclear war with the In this revealing new book, Marshall explores recent Cuban Missile Crisis, unemployment was ten regions that are set to shape global politics on the rise and de Gaulle was blocking Britain in a new age of great-power rivalry. Find out from joining the European Economic Community. why Europe’s next refugee crisis is closer than it seems as trouble brews in the Sahel; why the And yet underneath the frozen surface, new life Middle East must look beyond oil and sand to was beginning to stir and when the thaw came, secure its future; why the eastern Mediterranean ten weeks of extraordinary weather had acted is one of the most volatile flashpoints of the 21st as a catalyst between two distinct eras. From century; and why the Earth’s atmosphere is set poets to pop stars, shopkeepers to schoolchildren, to become the world’s next battleground. and her own family’s experiences, Juliet Nicolson traces the hardship of that frozen winter and the Delivered with Marshall’s trademark wit and emancipation that followed. insight, this is a lucid and gripping exploration of the power of geography to shape humanity’s ‘A brilliant concept transformed into a revelatory past, present – and future. book … completely fascinating and engrossing ‘ says William Boyd. Tim Marshall is a leading authority on foreign affairs with more than 30 years of reporting experience in over 40 countries. He was diplomatic editor at Sky News, and before that was working for the BBC and LBC/IRN radio. Tim will be discussing his book with Ian Moss, whose career has spanned politics and 4 www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

government, the music industry and academic 1pm – 2pm publishing. Ian lives in Cuckfield with his family. Laura Shepherd- UPSTAIRS@CUCKFEST Robinson 1pm – 2pm Daughters of Night John Hilary with Jake Kerridge From Refugees £12.00 per person to Royalty: The Remarkable Story of London, 1782. Desperate the Messel Family of for her politician husband to return home from Nymans France, Caroline 'Caro' Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed £12.00 per person woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The Bow Street Nymans is a vision of English beauty in the constables are swift to act, until they discover Sussex countryside. The picturesque house that the deceased woman was a highly-paid and spectacular garden were the creation of prostitute, at which point they cease to care the Messel dynasty that came to Britain as entirely. But Caro has motives of her own for German-Jewish immigrants and prospered. wanting to see justice done, and so sets out to solve the crime herself. Enlisting the help of a Individual family members found fame as thieftaker, Peregrine Child, their inquiry delves designers, collectors, scientists, gardeners into the hidden corners of Georgian society, a and photographers. Yet the Messels rose to world of artifice, deception and secret lives. international stardom when Tony Armstrong- Jones married the Queen’s sister, Princess The Times said of Daughters of Night: ‘The best Margaret. Their son David, the youngest historical crime novel I will read this year'. Messel, was born fifth in line to the British throne. Laura Shepherd-Robinson worked in politics for nearly 20 years before re-entering normal John Hilary is a great-great-grandson of life to complete an MA in Creative Writing at Ludwig Messel, who founded the garden at City University. Blood & Sugar, her first novel, Nymans. He is an Honorary Professor in the won the Historical Writers’ Association Debut School of Politics and International Relations Crown, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month, at the University of Nottingham and has and a Guardian and Telegraph novel of the year. published widely on global issues over the past 20 years. John is one of the Messel Laura will be in conversation with Jake family representatives on the National Trust Kerridge, journalist and critic. He has been the advisory board for Nymans. crime fiction reviewer of the Telegraph since 2005. www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk 5

2.30pm – 3.30pm door. What does an ordinary woman do when the bottom falls out? Sally Parker is about to A.C.Grayling surprise everybody. Most of all herself. The Frontiers of A funny, tender, timely story about a family on Knowledge the brink, from one of our best-loved entertainers and national treasure Mel Giedroyc. What We Now Know about Science, History Mel has been entertaining the nation for and the Mind nearly 30 years. A comedian, writer, actor and presenter, she is best known for her work with £12.00 per person Sue Perkins in the double act Mel & Sue. They have presented many TV shows such as multi What do we know, and how do we know it? Bafta-winning The Great British Bake Off (BBC) What do we now know that we don't know? and Light Lunch (Channel 4). The Best Things is And what have we learnt about the obstacles to Mel Giedroyc’s first novel. knowing more? In a time of deepening battles over what knowledge and truth mean, these In conversation with Mel will be Ella Berthoud questions matter more than ever. Polymath – they have been friends since they met at and philosopher A.C. Grayling seeks to answer Cambridge University. Ella is an artist and them in three crucial areas at the frontiers of bibliotherapist who loves reading, thinking about knowledge: science, history and psychology. books, and meeting authors. She sometimes paints them too! This a compelling and fascinating tour de force, written with Grayling's verve, clarity and UPSTAIRS@CUCKFEST remarkable breadth of knowledge. The Daily Telegraph included the book in its best of 5.30pm – 6.30pm summer reading feature, and Stephen Pinker says: ‘Grayling brings satisfying order to Neil Sadler daunting subjects'. The Inspector Calls Professor A.C. Grayling is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a This is a very special Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, community event Oxford. He has written and edited over 30 with well-known local books on philosophy and other subjects. personality, former policeman Neil Sadler 4pm – 5pm talking about his book The Inspector Calls, in which he reveals many humorous aspects Mel Giedroyc of policing in Sussex over the last 40 years. The Best Things Although entry is free, please ensure you obtain a ticket through Ticketsource as there with Ella Berthoud is a limit to the number of places available. There will be a donation box. £12.00 per person Neil will be selling his book upstairs (cash Have you ever felt as if only please). you’re losing your grip? Then you will love Sally Parker... Sally Parker is struggling to find the hero inside herself. All she wants to do is lie down. Her husband Frank has lost his business, their home and their savings, in one fell swoop. Their bankcards are being rejected. The children have gone feral. And now the bailiffs are at the 6 www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

5.30pm – 6.30pm Monique and Amanda will be discussing their work with Dr Vicky Macleroy who is Head of Monique Roffey the Centre for Language, Culture and Learning and MA Children's Literature at Goldsmiths, The Mermaid of University of London. Black Conch 7pm – 8pm and Michael Henderson Amanda Smyth That Will be England Fortune Gone with Vicky Macleroy with David Mortimer £12.00 per person £12.00 per person Near the Caribbean Michael Henderson is as island of Black Conch, a much at home talking about the generations fisherman sings to himself of Lancastrian comedians born to entertain as while waiting for a catch. he is when extolling Schubert’s exploration of But David attracts a ‘the crooked timber of humanity’ or recalling sea-dweller that he never conversations with, say, Harold Pinter, expected - Aycayia, an Sebastian Faulks and Simon Rattle. innocent young woman cursed by jealous wives to ‘Cricket,’ he says, ‘has always been part of live as a mermaid. my other life.’ In That will be England Gone he journeys around England during the 2019 The Mermaid of Black Conch is a lyrical and season reflecting on the ways the game has vivid story of love, loss, family and friendship, as evolved, whether at the great grounds like Trent well as the destructive power of jealousy, and Bridge or the Oval, at the county grounds, or the terrible force of nature. at clubs and schools. But cricket, wherever he encounters it in the year of World Cup victory Winner of the Costa Book of the Year Prize for and four Ashes tests, is the vehicle he uses to 2020, Monique Roffey is a Trinidadian-born reflect not just on the game but on the changes writer who lectures on the Novel Master of Fine in expectations, lifestyles and society as a Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University. whole in the course of not much more than a She is an active member of Extinction generation. Rebellion, and a co-founder of Writers Rebel, an initiative set up to encourage writers to Michael has written regularly for the Guardian, address the climate emergency in their work. Observer, The Times and Daily Mail; on cricket Praise includes A.L. Kennedy saying ‘Monique for the Daily Telegraph and The Cricketer; and Roffey continues to be one of our most exciting regularly about the arts for The Spectator and Caribbean writers.’ New Statesman. Fortune begins in 1920s Trinidad. It is a novel David Mortimer, Cuckfield resident, music and based on a real-life event about love, money, cricket lover, will be talking to Michael. greed and ambition. Irish-Trinidadian writer Amanda Smyth was born in Ireland, but spent long summers back in Trinidad with her mother, who told her the true story that underpins her gripping and moving third novel. Amanda has been chosen as one of Waterstones New Voices and her first novel was selected as an Oprah Winfrey Summer Read. The Guardian said: ‘Fortune is a magnificently absorbing tale of passion, greed and the misplaced energies that cause environmental as well as personal ruin.’ www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk 7

SUNDAY 10TH 0CT0BER feuding with his family over status for his wife and denied any real job. Drawing on extensive 10am – 11am research into hitherto unused archives and Freedom of Information requests, Andrew Ian Dunt makes the case that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were not the naïve dupes of the How to be a Liberal Germans but actively intrigued against Britain in both war and peace. with Philip Collins Andrew Lownie is a trustee of the Campaign £12.00 per person for Freedom of Information and President of The Biographers’ Club and runs his own literary The authoritarian right agency. He has written for The Times, The is taking control. In this Telegraph, Wall Street Journal, The Spectator groundbreaking new and The Guardian. Lownie’s previous book book, Ian Dunt tells the story of liberalism, from The Mountbattens, was a Sunday Times its birth in the fight against absolute monarchy bestseller and a Waterstones’ Book of the Year. to the modern-day resistance against the new populism. Stretching from the battlefields of 1pm – 2pm the English Civil War to the 2008 financial crash and beyond, this vivid book explains the Ian Williams political ideas that underpin the modern world. But it is also a rallying cry for those who still Every Breath You Take believe in freedom and reason. with Andrew Lownie The Secret Barrister has called it ’a tour de force; a mighty trumpet blast for the forces of £12.00 per person liberalism and enlightenment in the face of a global tide of ignorance and populism.’ China is building the world’s first digital Ian Dunt is a political journalist who specialises totalitarian state, a system in issues around immigration, civil liberties and of hitherto unimaginable control which threatens social justice and appears as a pundit on BBC to make the world of Orwell’s 1984 a terrifying TV, Sky News and Al-Jazeera. He is talking to reality. Internet freedom has been eliminated and Philip Collins, author, journalist and political ubiquitous surveillance cameras make use of the speechwriter who writes a weekly column in latest facial recognition technology. the New Statesman. Ian Williams examines the extraordinary rise of 11.30am – 12.30pm the Chinese surveillance state, and supporting interviews and first-hand accounts highlight the Andrew Lownie ruthless efficiency with which the government can now act. There are implications too for Traitor King: The the rest of the world: how to deal with an Duke and Duchess of increasingly strident, aggressive Beijing is one of Windsor in Exile the biggest and most urgent challenges facing the West in what has become a technological £12.00 per person Cold War. Few books tell the story Based in Russia and then Asia, Williams was of what happened after foreign correspondent for Channel 4 News and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor supposedly has reported from China over the last 25 years. walked into the sunset after the abdication, He writes for The Spectator and is currently a even though he had another thirty-six years to doctoral student in the War Studies department live and his wife fifty. Traitor King looks at the at King’s College, London, focusing on cyber years when the former king was kept in exile, issues. ‘Superb and deeply informed’ – Chris Patten, Governor of Hong Kong 1992–97 8 www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

Ian will be discussing his book with his literary 2.30pm – 3.30pm agent, Andrew Lownie, a regular visitor to Cuckfest. Claire Fuller UPSTAIRS@CUCKFEST Unsettled Ground 2.30pm – 3.30pm and Caroline Lea Philip Collins The Metal Heart To Be Clear with Kate Harris £12.00 per person £12.00 per person Journalist Philip Collins What if the life you've has spent years writing always known is taken from speeches for high- you in an instant? What profile politicians and would you do to get it back? big corporations. He realised that almost all business writing has become dreary, At 51 years old, twins Jeanie boring and incomprehensible. But this wasn’t and Julius still live with always the case. In To Be Clear, he explores their mother, Dot, in rural why and how business writing has declined isolation and poverty. But and provides a style guide for clearer, more when Dot dies suddenly, concise writing. threats to their livelihood start raining down. At risk of To Be Clear is a call to arms, urging losing everything, Jeanie and her brother must businesses to stop using the language of fight to survive in an increasingly dangerous nonsense and start using language that has world as their mother's secrets unfold. clarity and meaning. It’s a lucid, entertaining and practical guide for anyone who cares Unsettled Ground is a thrilling novel of resilience about language to help them improve their and hope, of love and survival, that explores with communications and thus also their business dazzling emotional power how the truths closest practices. to us are often hardest to see. The Times says the story ‘is told with compassion and honesty Philip Collins is a contributing editor at the by a novelist doing her strongest work yet.’ New Statesman and was for 13 years, a writer on The Times. He is a former chief Claire Fuller had a long career in marketing and speechwriter for Prime Minister Tony Blair. didn't start writing until she was forty. She has He is also the founder and writer-in-chief of a written three earlier novels. Unsettled Ground writing company, The Draft Writers. was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021. Elspeth Chasser will be introducing Philip Collins. Twins are also at the centre of The Metal Heart, a story set on a remote island, where a prisoner- of-war camp is constructed to house 500 Italian soldiers. Based on the true story of the building of the Orkney Wedding Chapel during the Second World War and set in a vanishing world of myth and superstition, The Metal Heart is an astonishing novel about an island community torn apart by the arrival of outsiders. Caroline Lea grew up in Jersey. Her 2019 novel The Glass Woman was shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown. Claire and Caroline will be discussing their books with Kate Harris who worked in publishing for many years and has been a frequent visitor to Cuckfest. 9

2.30pm – 5pm 4pm – 5pm GET Marina Wheeler PUBLISHED The Lost Homestead An Insider Guide to Self-Publishing with Julian Worricker with Gavin Jamieson £12.00 per person £20 per person The Lost Homestead is a story about loss and new PLEASE NOTE THIS WORKSHOP IS beginnings, personal and TAKING PLACE IN THE HAYLOFT political freedom; about coming to terms with OF THE TALBOT, HIGH STREET, the past, and about the stories we choose to tell CUCKFIELD RH17 5JX about ourselves. It will be limited to a maximum of 15 people to allow for plenty of interaction and Its central event is the Partition of British India audience participation. Please bring pens in 1947, when Marina’s mother Dip and her Sikh and paper. family were forced to flee their home. Some For anyone who has an ambition to publish years after Partition, Dip was again ‘displaced,’ a non-fiction work on a topic they are this time by choice, when she married Marina’s fascinated by, write a children's book, a English father, Charles Wheeler, and left India novel, or produce a memoir, getting a for good. book published must be the first step. But understanding the processes that go In The Lost Homestead Marina delves into into self-publishing can appear daunting. her family’s past. She writes about a world This workshop will provide would-be left behind when the Punjab was divided, authors with a guide through the maze of and about how the new nations and peoples decision making from preparation of the struggled to recover from the horror of this manuscript and illustrations, copyright and event. crowdfunding, through to the importance of promotion and distribution of the published The Financial Times called it … ‘A deeply book. This will be followed by a roundtable personal story of identity and a highly relatable session where individual book ideas journey for many in the diaspora... Wheeler submitted to the publisher will be discussed taps a rich vein of personal history... Evocative... with a plan for publication. Gripping.' Gavin Jamieson is a director of Cuckfield Book Festival, an author and publisher Marina is an Anglo-Indian, London-based with over 25 years’ experience in book barrister specialising in constitutional and commissioning. He is the founder of human rights law. She was made Queen’s Lapwing Publishing Services – an imprint Counsel in 2016 and also teaches mediation dedicated to self-publishing. and conflict resolution. Julian Worricker, without whom Cuckfest wouldn’t be the same, is a familiar BBC R4 voice and will be talking to Marina. 10 www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

5.30pm – 6.30pm 7pm – 8pm Sam Lee Guinevere Glasfurd The Nightingale The Year Without Summer with Ruth Pavey The Big Book Group £12.00 per person with Julian Worricker Passionate conservationist, £12.00 per person renowned musician and folk expert Sam Lee tells The Year Without Summer tells the story of a the story of the nightingale. This book reveals fateful year when temperatures fell and the in beautiful detail the bird's song, habitat, summer failed to arrive. It is a story of the books characteristics and migration patterns, as well written, the art made; of the journeys taken, of as the environmental issues that threaten its the love longed for and the lives lost. livelihood. Six separate lives, connected only by an event Lee delves into the various ways we have many thousands of miles away. Few had celebrated the nightingale through traditions, heard of Tambora, which in 1815 exploded in a folklore, music and literature, from ancient cataclysmic eruption - but none could escape its history to the present day. The Nightingale is a effects. In Switzerland, Mary Shelley finds dark unique and lyrical portrait of a famed yet elusive inspiration, in Britain John Constable struggles to songbird. reconcile the England he paints with the misery that surrounds him. A group of revolutionaries Sam Lee is a Mercury Prize-nominated and BBC speak of a better life, whatever the cost. As Folk Award-winning singer, conservationist and desperation sets in, Britain becomes racked with curator. With a lifelong passion for wilderness riots – rebellion is in the air. studies and nature connection, Sam is a folk music specialist dedicated to collecting, sharing The FT Weekend called it ‘superb, beautifully and interpreting ancient oral music from Britain written … unforgettable.’ and Ireland. He has combined these interests through his ‘Singing with Nightingales’ annual In her afterword, Glasfurd emphasises what we springtime concert series, many of which take could not, really, fail to miss. ‘What is this story place in the woodlands of Sussex. for?’ she asks. ‘Where does all the knowing take us? Towards comfort? Towards hope? What use We hope to hear a song or two from Sam. is that? What is a story for if not to propel us? To provide, above all, urgent impetus for us to act.’ John Lewis-Stempel called The Nightingale ‘the nature book of the year.’ Guinevere Glasfurd was born in Lancaster and lives near Cambridge with her husband and Sam will be in conversation with Ruth Pavey daughter. Her debut novel, The Words in My whose latest book Deeper in the Wood has Hand, was shortlisted for the 2016 Costa First just been published. Ruth bought a wood in Novel Award. The Year Without Summer was Somerset 20 years ago and her captivating longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for book reflects on the resilience of nature and the Historical Fiction. legacies we leave behind. Guinevere will be discussing her book with Julian Worricker who will field questions from the audience. If any Book Group would like to send in questions before the event, please email [email protected] There is absolutely no need to have read the book before coming to listen to Guinevere. www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk 11

Sunday 10th October Family Events 4.00pm – 5.30pm These will take place in the Afternoon tea at Old School, Cuckfield, RH17 5JZ Ockenden Manor Adults are free but must book a ticket. Tranquil, elegant and indulgent, that Please note that children must is Ockenden Manor in Cuckfield and be accompanied by an adult afternoon tea there will be the perfect way throughout each session. to spend Sunday afternoon. Limited to just 30 people, it makes a wonderful gift SATURDAY 9TH OCTOBER for someone who deserves to be spoiled. Tea consists of a delicious selection 10.30am - 11.15am of sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, cakes and various blends of tea, Sally Symes accompanied by a glass of Ridgeview Rhymes with Symes sparkling wine. And the icing on the cake will be the Under 5s presence of Annette Badland, an award- winning actress recently appearing in £5.00 per person Strike, Criminal 2, Ted Lasso and as the pathologist Fleur Perkins in Midsomer Bring your wriggly little people along for some Murders. Annette will be reading a finger-wiggling giggle-time with local author, selection of poems, reminiscing about her Sally Symes! There’ll be rhymes and wriggles acting career and answering questions. and dressing up too – with a suitably sleepy ending to finish off the session. This interactive Tickets are £39.50 each workshop includes dressing-up and colouring and are only available from and is perfect for book-mad under-fives. [email protected] Sally Symes worked for many years as a designer of children’s books before turning her skills to writing them too. Her collaborations with Nick Sharratt have won many awards and she now works as a freelance writer and book designer for children aged up to 10 years. Sally lives in Cuckfield with her family. 12 www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

12 noon – 12.45pm for – he doesn't know how to be around new people and he can't stand performing. But the Helen Peters people Lucas meets at the club force him to open up and start talking, and when disaster strikes, The Jasmine Green Lucas is forced to step in and help. Can his new- Series / A Foal Called found friends teach Lucas how to be himself? Storm Join author Cath Howe for a brilliant workshop Ages 6-9 exploring characters and how to find inspirations for your own stories. With simple writing tips and £5.00 per child prompts for you to try, discover what inspires Cath’s characters, including Lucas, super rich, Join Helen Peters for a reading of the latest super shy… and super lonely. book in her fantastic Jasmine Green series, A Foal Called Storm, and learn all about her Cath Howe is a teacher working in London, life growing up on a farm and the wonderful writing for, and working with, Key Stage 2 animals that have inspired her stories. primary age children. She runs workshops in schools on everything to do with writing and Jasmine’s dad is a farmer, and her mum is a performing. large-animal vet, so Jasmine spends a lot of time caring for animals and keeping them out 3pm – 3.45pm of trouble. Unfortunately, this often means she gets into hot water herself. Andrew Pettie Helen Peters grew up on an old-fashioned farm Listified! in Sussex, surrounded by family, animals and mud. She spent most of her childhood reading Ages 7 plus stories and putting on plays in a tumbledown shed that she and her friends turned into a £5.00 per child theatre. After university, she became an English and Drama teacher. Helen lives in Brighton with Join author Andrew her two children, two cats and one husband. Pettie for a hilarious and interactive family quiz, based on the mind- A perfect animal story for younger readers by blowing facts in Listified! – his amazing new Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-shortlisted book of lists for children, from Encyclopaedia author Helen Peters, with delightful black-and- Britannica. white illustrations by Ellie Snowdon. How long would it take to drive to the Moon, 1.30pm – 2.15pm Could you outrun a Tyrannosaurus Rex? What is the only mammal that cannot fart? Cath Howe Discover the answers to all these questions and How to be Me more as you play the brilliant new family quiz based on the mind-blowing facts in Listified! Ages 9-12 Test your trivia power. Spin the mighty Wheel of Facts! £5.00 per child The format of the session is that How to Be Me is a beautiful, it's a quiz for family teams moving story of family, with responses being put friendship and self- into a phone or ipad or it discovery. can be done with pen and paper! Since his mum died, Lucas and his dad don't seem to understand each other at all. With a long, hot summer facing him, Lucas is dreading the drama club that his dad has signed him up

Programme of Events Friday 8th October 7.30pm Literary Quiz Queen’s Hall Saturday 9th October 10.00am Frostquake Juliet Nicolson with Kate Harris Tim Marshall 11.30am The Power of Geography with Ian Moss Laura Shepherd-Robinson with Jake Kerridge 1pm Daughters of Night John Hilary A C Grayling 1pm From Refugees to Royalty (upstairs) Mel Giedroyc with Ella Berthoud 2.30pm The Frontiers of Knowledge Monique Roffey 4.00pm The Best Things and Amanda Smyth with Vicky Macleroy 5.30pm The Mermaid of Black Conch Neil Sadler and Michael Henderson with David Mortimer Fortune 5.30pm The Inspector Calls (upstairs) 7pm That Will Be England Gone Sunday 10th October 10.00am How to be a Liberal Ian Dunt with Philip Collins Andrew Lownie 11.30am Traitor King Ian Williams 1pm Every Breath You Take with Andrew Lownie Claire Fuller and 2.30pm Unsettled Ground Caroline Lea with Kate Harris and Philip Collins The Metal Heart with Elspeth Chasser Workshop with Gavin Jamieson 2.30pm To Be Clear Marina Wheeler with Julian Worricker (upstairs) Annette Badland 2.30pm How to Get Published (in The Talbot) Sam Lee with Ruth Pavey 4pm The Lost Homestead Guinevere Glasfurd with Julian Worricker 4pm Tea at Ockenden Manor 5.30pm The Nightingale 7pm The Year Without Summer 14 www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

Family Events (to be held in the Old School, Cuckfield, RH17 5JZ) Saturday 9th October 10.30am Rhymes with Symes Sally Symes (under 5s) Helen Peters 12 noon A Foal Called Storm (ages 6-9) Cath Howe (ages 9-12) 1.30pm How to be Me Andrew Pettie (ages 7 plus) 3pm Listified! Building Character CUMNOR HOUSE Growing Imagination SUSSEX NURSERY, PRE-PREP & PREP SCHOOL Proudly sponsoring Cuckfield Bookfest To book your place or to arrange a private visit, contact: [email protected] Danehill | Haywards Heath | RH17 7HT wwww.cwuwck.cfiuemldnboor.ockof.euskt.c| o0.u1k825 79210506

Thanks Once again we want to say thank you to the people and organisations who have generously supported Cuckfest in 2021. We particularly thank our main sponsor, Hurstpierpoint College, and Cumnor House Sussex whose generosity enabled the children’s events to go ahead. Special thanks to: • Adelphi Holdings • Stephen and Judy Cockburn • Cuckfish • Cuckfield Life • Cuckfield Society • Independent State of Cuckfield • Flint & Co • Mrs Maggie Kapff • The Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust • Ockenden Manor Hotel • The Talbot • The Wheatsheaf Pub And of course, thanks to those who gave anonymously. Also to Cuckfield Dramatic Society, Cuckfield Museum, Louis Mackay, Sophie Harvey, Jane Gareze, Parish Council staff and Waterstones. The enthusiasm and commitment of our volunteers is outstanding . Their huge effort allows the festival to go ahead smoothly and happily – thank you all. Management team: Shauna Bevan, Claire-Louise Clark, Georgie Goddard, Patricia Hegarty, Charlotte Keenan, Sally Nakajima, Annie Rees, Julia Webb and Allie Young. Cuckfest Board: Elspeth Chasser, Gavin Jamieson, Michael Maine, Sheila Mortimer and Sam Oliver. If you would like to be involved in any aspect of the festival, please contact [email protected] 16 www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

HOW TO BOOK 10th October – Sunday afternoon tea at Ockenden Manor, Cuckfield Online There are only 30 tickets for this event which BOOKING OPENS FOR FRIENDS ON are only available by applying to Shauna Bevan: 1st SEPTEMBER. OTHERWISE ON 4TH [email protected] SEPTEMBER FOR EVERYONE ELSE. Shauna will provide information on how to pay BOOKING FOR THE QUIZ WILL NOT OPEN TO when she confirms your application for tickets has ANYONE UNTIL 4TH SEPTEMBER. been successful. You can buy tickets online with NO EXTRA Events are subject to change and Cuckfield BOOKING FEE OR EXTRA CHARGES at Book Festival cannot be held responsible for programming changes. Seating is unreserved. www.ticketsource.co.uk/cuckfieldbookfest or Doors open approximately 15 minutes before each event. via the link on the website By buying a ticket, you are choosing to visit the www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk book festival at your own risk. For information on how to become a Friend, go to Social Media www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk/friends Keep up to date with the latest news about Cuckfield Bookfest: 10% discount if tickets at £12 each for 5 events over the two days are bought at the same time. Do Facebook CuckfieldBookFest apply early as some events are expected to sell Twitter @cuckfieldbf out quickly. Website www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk Email [email protected] We welcome 16-24 year olds and invite you to pay Instagram Cuckfieldbookfest at the door at half-price for all £12 tickets, providing spaces are available. Check Ticketsource on the Refreshments day (details above). There will be refreshments available each day in In person the Queen’s Hall - tea, coffee, wine, soft drinks, cakes, sandwiches and biscuits. You can also buy tickets in person (cash or card) at Marcus Grimes, South Street, Cuckfield during The Cuckfield Pantry normal office hours. High Street, RH17 5JU On the door is offering a 20% discount to all ticket While we recommend advance booking for all holders with a minimum spend of £5.00. events, if seats or cancellations are available, you can buy these on the door on the day (cash Book sales or card), both at the Queen’s Hall or at the Old School for children’s events. Once again Waterstones will be selling books signed by the authors appearing at Cuckfield Under normal circumstances, tickets are non- Bookfest. refundable unless the event in question has been cancelled. If refunds become necessary due to reintroduction of Covid restrictions, Ticketsource will refund the ticket cost. www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk 17

CUCKFIELD VILLAGE MAP THE TALBOT SPONSORS 18 Designed and printed by Action Press, Burgess Hill

© Adrian Scottow © Philip Sayer © Adrian Harvey © Axel Hasslenberg © Hollin Jones © Imogen Forte © Marcus Bastel © Dominick Tyler © Bill Waters © Stefano Masse, 2014 © Laurie Fletcher © Ruth Crater

DROP IN FOR A DELICIOUS LUNCH AT OCKENDEN MANOR, CUCKFIELD We use the freshest ingredients, locally sourced in Sussex, to ensure a meal to remember. Pudding & coffee is on us! Enjoy a delicious two course lunch in our Hotel restaurant and pudding and coffee is on us Enjoy the view of the South Downs while you eat. If you’re looking for a great lunch then call in at Ockenden Manor and experience our award-winning restaurant. Ockenden Manor Hotel & Spa, Cuckfield To book a table, call: 01444 416 111 More information: www.hshotels.co.uk/ockenden-manor/restaurant This voucher entitles you to a complimentary pudding and coffee per person, when having lunch in our hotel restaurant, minimum order two courses per person. Valid until 30th November 2021, Monday to Friday. Maximum six guests per table. Excludes key dates, subject to availability and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Bring this voucher with you to redeem this offer. Call 01444 416 111 to book your table.