- 28 February - 31 March 2020
February 2020
- Fiction
Launch Event: How the Dead Speak
Val McDermid, Queen of Crime and number one bestseller, joins us for the launch of Essex Book Festival. Perhaps best known for her Wire in the Blood series, Val will talk about her latest heart-pounding thriller in the series How the Dead Speak. Read more
- Performance
Wet Sounds
Get ready for a truly unique experience. Wet Sounds will be transforming Riverside swimming pool with soundscapes both above the surface and underwater, to produce an immersive audio-visual performance which promises to be bizarre, magical and astonishing. Read more
March 2020
- For writers
- Writers House
Essex Writers House
Metal is delighted to be hosting, for the 3rd consecutive year, the Essex Writers House at Chalkwell Hall in Southend on Sea, for a month of development opportunities and exchange for writers as part of the Essex Book Festival. Read more
- Memoir
- Non-fiction
Staunch
Honest, funny and poignant, Staunch follows Eleanor as she journeys to India with her grandmother and two great aunts in the wake of a painful break-up. As she spends time with the older women in her family, in the country they fled over fifty years before, Eleanor learns what it truly means to be staunch in the face of true adversity. Read more
- Essex 2020
- Fiction
Sunfall
Quantum physicist, author and presenter of the long-running weekly BBC Radio 4 programme, The Life Scientific, Jim Al-Khalili OBE FRS, joins us to talk about his debut novel Sunfall which combines rip-roaring storytelling and mind-expanding science. Read more
- Non-fiction
Murray’s Cabaret Club: Discovering Soho’s Secret
Today, 16-18 Beak Street is a burger bar but it was once filled with dancing showgirls in glitzy costumes as Murray's Cabaret Club forged fantasies for deadened aristocrats, served dishes of dreams to Arab businessmen, and provided refuge for hounded celebrities. Read more
- SOLD OUT!
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Moving, powerful, compassionate and beautifully written, The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit. Christy Lefteri will speak about her experiences in refugee camps and the simple steps we can all take to encourage hope for those who need it most. Read more
- Non-fiction
Truth to Power
Labour MP Jess Phillips will discuss her book Truth To Power. Powerful, moving and uncompromising, it is an incredible collection of interviews with exceptional people who spoke out at a time when the world wasn’t listening. Read more
- SOLD OUT!
The Jamestown Brides – The Bartered Wives of the New World
Hear Jennifer Potter tell the extraordinary story of the British women who made the perilous journey to Jamestown, Virginia, to become wives for tobacco planters in the New Colony. Read more
- Fiction
- SOLD OUT!
The Forgotten Wife
Emma Robinson is the author of five novels about motherhood and friendship and writes the humorous blog Motherhood For Slackers. Emma will share her own journey to publication as well as reading from her latest novel The Forgotten Wife – a heart-breaking family drama with a stunning twist. Read more
- Essex 2020
- Theatre
STELLA a story of women, their men and astronomy
In this play two women astronomers, Jessica Bell from the C21st and Caroline Herschel from the C18th both look up at the same night sky and find themselves colliding in their search for understanding. Read more
- Non-fiction
Because we are worth it! On changes in advertising, gender and society.
Celebrating International Women’s Day. How have men and women been portrayed in advertising and does it matter? Dr Magdalena Zawisza-Riley will take you on her research journey into the land of psychology. Read more
- Non-fiction
- SOLD OUT!
Threads of Life – A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle
An eloquent history of the language of sewing over centuries and across continents. Clare Hunter's Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we all have to tell our story. Read more
- Guided Tour
- PLACE
- SOLD OUT!
Colchester’s Literary Legacies
This guided walk will take you on a literary quest to discover serpents, detectives, serving wenches and many other fictional characters and their creators who have known the streets of the ancient town. Read more
- PLACE
- SOLD OUT!
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Printing and Illustration Workshop – Manifesto For Essex
Join resident artist Tom Armstrong and Lee Thomas for a children’s printing and illustration extravaganza as part of our Manifesto For Essex activities and hosted in partnership with Colchester’s Extinction Rebellion. Ages 11-16. Read more
- For writers
- PLACE
- Workshop
Wild Writing Workshop
Join James Canton for a workshop which delves into the nature that exists in the cracks between our human constructs, in the wilds just a few feet from our doors. Work with words, reframe your view of how you see the wild, and become mindful of the living landscapes that exist around us. Read more
- PLACE
- Young Essex
Tallulah Goes to the Festival
Join children’s author Rachel Jane for a Campervan storytime and craft session. Sing along with Tallulah the Campervan as she counts down the days to her first festival and get into the Festival spirit by decorating your very own festival headband! Read more
- Performance
- PLACE
Sweatbox
Travelling across the UK, Chloë Moss’s Sweatbox invites you to enter the back of a prison van in which three women share their stories of arrival and anticipation as they are transported from court to prison, from prison to prison, from prison to court. Read more
- Storytelling
- Young Essex
Pop-Up Storytelling Armchair
Our Pop-Up Storytelling Armchair will be at Firstsite, Colchester on Saturday 14 March as part of our PLACE weekend. A super comfy treat for book lovers young and old to enjoy their favourite stories out loud. Read more
- PLACE
- Storytelling
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Dragon Detective:Catnapped! Workshop
The Dragon Detective is in town and he needs your help to solve a mystery. Unpredictable, musical and hilarious, Gareth P Jones' performances are totally unique and not to be missed. Read more
- PLACE
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Printing and Illustration Workshop – Manifesto For Essex
Join resident artist Tom Armstrong and Lee Thomas for a children’s printing and illustration extravaganza as part of our Manifesto For Essex activities and hosted in partnership with Colchester’s Extinction Rebellion. Ages 5 and up. Read more
- For writers
- PLACE
- Workshop
Writing on Place in a Changing World
This writing workshop will be looking at how writers place themselves in their physical surroundings and how this embodies itself in their work. Participants will be invited to write, walk and workshop their words as we examine what lies beneath the surface of the places we move through. Read more
- Essex 2020
- PLACE
- Young Essex
The Timebubble Machine
Come along and have a go in the interactive Timebubble Machine and get closer to the past… our amazing past. Then use your time-travelling adventures to inspire you to build your own toys using Timebubble Toys sustainable wooden construction kits. Read more
- Discussion
- Non-fiction
- PLACE
All at Sea?
The unusually long coastline of Essex makes it especially vulnerable to flooding. Writer and social historian Ken Worpole will be in conversation with Hana Loftus. The talk will be illustrated with archive and contemporary photographs, and graphic material opening out to a discussion of the wider issues raised for the Essex coast as a result of Climate Change. Read more
- Non-fiction
- PLACE
Apples, Orchards and Community
Two different talks with a common thread. Hear Adrian May discuss how apples are closer to human life than Nature. Marina O’Connell will talk about how the back to the land movement is still relevant today with our climate crisis and in re-creating local food supplies. Followed by an open discussion, hosted by Ken Worpole around the subjects of apples, orchards and community. Read more
- Non-fiction
- PLACE
Smashing It – Working Class Artists Making It Happen
Smashing It celebrates the exceptional works and words of 30 leading working-class artists in Britain including reflections on how class has impacted these creators’ careers and offers guidance for those looking for a way into the creative arts industry. Read more
- For writers
- PLACE
- Workshop
Writing for Radio Masterclass
This workshop offers an introduction to writing drama for the radio. Robin Brooks has over twenty years’ experience of writing original plays and adaptations for BBC Radio. Suitable for all tastes and levels of experience. Read more
- Music
- Performance
- PLACE
- Poetry
Blackwaterside
Ultramarine (Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond) present Blackwaterside, performing music inspired by their time working close to the Blackwater estuary. The performance will feature Philip Terry reading poems from his Quennets collection and a screening of the Blackwaterside film with live soundtrack based on the Survey East photography of Ian Cooper. Read more
- Discussion
- Non-fiction
- PLACE
The power of protest: where should we draw the line?
Join Observer columnist Kenan Malik, legendary LGBT campaigner Peter Tatchell and actor Stella Odunlami for a debate on whether we should stand up for the right to protest. Chaired by Index on Censorship editor in chief Rachael Jolley. Read more
- PLACE
- Poetry
The Word From Paris
The Penguin Book of Oulipo book launch. This is the first collection in English to bring together 100 pieces of "Oulipo" writing. Editor and translator Philip Terry will be joined by novelist Tony White to read and discuss selections from the book. Read more
- Non-fiction
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE
Come along to hear Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE, a space scientist whose passion is presenting science to a general audience. Her BBC 2 programme “Do We Really Need the Moon?” earned Maggie the talkback Thames new talent award. Read more
- Fiction
Bone China
Join award-winning author, Laura Purcell, to hear about her latest spine-tinglingly eerie book, Bone China. It’s a Daphne du Maurier-esque chilling tale set on the mysterious Cornish coast. Menacing and macabre…you may want to bring somebody to hold your hand. Read more
- Fiction
A Death in Mayfair
Mark Ellis is a thriller writer and the creator of DCI Frank Merlin. Mark grew up under the shadow of his parents’ experience of the Second World War and has always been fascinated by the Home Front and the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavour, crime flourished. Read more
- Fiction
The Museum of Broken Promises
The Museum of Broken Promises, the latest novel by the Sunday Times bestselling Elizabeth Buchan is a beautiful, evocative love-story and a heart-breaking exploration of some of the darkest moments in European history. Read more
- Fiction
Gallowstree Lane
Kate London will talk about her latest crime novel, Gallowstree Lane. When a teenage boy is stabbed in the shadows of Gallowstree Lane, the murder threatens to derail a covert police investigation into an organised criminal network. Read more
- Fiction
After the Snow / Summer in Mayfair
Summer in Mayfair is Susannah Constantine's stunning sequel to After the Snow. Arriving in London in 1979, Esme Munroe has escaped the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. But the fast, frenetic pace of the city is easy to become lost in - will Esme discover a long-hidden secret about herself and who she can really trust, before it's too late? Read more
- Non-fiction
Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement
An event to celebrate the launch of Mike Chinoy's latest book Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement. He tells the remarkable story of the late Prof. Kevin Boyle, one of the world's great human rights lawyers. Read more
- Non-fiction
The Prime Ministers
As well as taking the audience behind the scenes of the latest political dramas, columnist and presenter, Steve Richards, will reflect on the lessons of leadership with reference to every modern Prime Minister from Harold Wilson to Boris Johnson, vividly outlining their successes and failures - and what made each of them special. Read more
- Essex 2020
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Invasion! Illustration and Sound Art Workshops
Join illustrator, Tom Armstrong and sound artist, Chris Adam for a number of workshops based on HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds. This iconic work of science fiction details a catastrophic conflict between humans and extraterrestrial ‘Martians’ so these workshops are sure to be out of this world. Part of the BBC’s Novels That Shaped Our World festival. Read more
- SOLD OUT!
- Young Essex
Oh, the Places We’ll Go!
A fun-packed day of storytelling and family activities, on the theme of journeys, adventures and cultures from around the world. Get comfy in our pop-up storytelling armchair and listen to alphabetical adventures with children’s author Sade Fadipe. Read more
- Fiction
The Girl With the Louding Voice
An unforgettable, award-winning debut novel by Abi Daré about one girl’s struggle for freedom in modern-day Nigeria, lifting the curtain on the unchecked epidemic of unpaid housework and exploitation of young girls. Read more
- Fiction
The Narrow Land
The Narrow Land is the stunning new novel from the beloved Christine Dwyer Hickey, the bestselling author of Last Train from Liguria. A fictionalized account of the long and often troubled marriage of American artist Edward
Hopper to his wife Jo, played out over one summer in Cape Cod in 1950.
Read more
- Fiction
- SOLD OUT!
Meet Me at the Museum
British author Anne Youngson worked in the car industry for many years, but she always wanted to be a writer. Meet Me at the Museum, her debut novel, fulfills that life-long dream. Written as a series of letters between an English farmer and a museum curator in Denmark, the novel sings with compassion and self-reflection. It is a unique novel of friendship and second chances which reflects that it is never too late for adventure. Read more
- Fiction
Things in Jars
Things in Jars is a literary mystery set in Victorian London by Costa Award-winning author, Jess Kidd. It captures a time when the world was obsessed with the unusual, from natural anomalies and medical curiosities to those with the first tattoos. Read more
- Essex 2020
- Non-fiction
Last Train to Hilversum
In Last Train To Hilversum Charlie Connelly explores the place of radio in our world, taking stock of the history of the medium and celebrating its role as one of the very few genuinely shared national experiences. Read more
- SOLD OUT!
Dorothy L Sayers Society Lecture: The Female of the Species: Key Women Crime Writers from Sayers and Highsmith to the Present
Barry Forshaw, the UK's leading crime fiction expert, examines – in lively detail - how female writers have energised the genre from the Golden Age to the present. Barry’s Crime Fiction: A Reader’s Guide covers everything from the beginnings of the genre to current bestselling writers from America, Britain and all across the world. Read more
- Essex 2020
- Workshop
- Young Essex
Fashion/Remade
The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry and emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Southend will celebrate all things recycled fashion as part of our Manifesto For Essex. Read more
- Discussion
- Golden Age of Crime
“Nothing wasted.” The Real PD James
PD James once said: “Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other people. Nothing that happens to a writer – however happy, however tragic – is ever wasted.” Frances Fyfield, fellow writer and friend of PD James, will be in discussion with Geraldine Perriam, exploring the life and work of the late author. Read more
- Discussion
- Golden Age of Crime
Mysteries for ever: the ongoing popularity of PD James and Agatha Christie
As we celebrate the 130th anniversary of the birth of Agatha Christie and the centenary of PD James, join Frances Fyfield, Jared Cade and Ruth Ware as they compare and celebrate these two true Queens of Crime. Read more
- Fiction
- Golden Age of Crime
The Stranger in Our Bed
Samantha Lee Howe began her professional writing career predominately writing horror and fantasy under the pen name Sam Stone. Samantha’s breakaway debut thriller, The Stranger in Our Bed, is a gripping debut psychological thriller about the dark secrets in a perfect marriage. Read more
- Fiction
- Golden Age of Crime
The Guest List
Get ready for 2020’s hotly anticipated thriller from Lucy Foley. Guests are called to a remote island off the Irish coast to celebrate the wedding of the year – the marriage of Jules and Will. Everything has been meticulously planned. It should be the perfect day, but instead it turns out to be the perfect murder. Read more
- Golden Age of Crime
- Non-fiction
The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective
Susannah Stapleton is a historical researcher with over twenty years’ experience unravelling mysteries for museums, organizations and private individuals. The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective is the enthralling true story of the curious life and career of one of Britain's first and best-known female detectives. Read more
- Golden Age of Crime
- SOLD OUT!
A Criminally Good Afternoon Tea
Enjoy a delicious Afternoon Tea and take in the splendid view overlooking the World’s longest pleasure pier as the million copy Sunday Times bestselling author, CL Taylor, talks about her latest, and darkest book to date, Sleep. Read more
April 2020
- Performance
The Cultural Assembly present House Of Hip Hop
Following the huge success of the Broadway hit, Hamilton, come and discover Hip Hop Theatre in Southend. Performers will have attended the House of Hip Hop course led by pioneer Kwesi Johnson learning how to create Hip Hop theatre for the stage and film. Read more