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5 SUNDAY
APRIL 2009
Fran Sandham 805
Traversa: A Solo Walk Across
Africa, from the Skeleton Coast
to the Indian Ocean
2pm / Festival Room 2, Christ Church / £7.50
As editor of Rough Guides, Fran Sandham has already
travelled through more than 40 countries. Traversa
tells his story, when inspired by the legendary
crossings of the great explorers, he left the daily grind
of London to undertake an extraordinary adventure,
walking 3,000 miles across an entire continent from
Namibia to Zanzibar. A classic account of one man’s
struggle to test himself against nature, the book is
both uplifting and thoroughly engaging.
Sponsored by Cox & Kings
Linda Grant 850
The Thoughtful Dresser
David Gentleman,
Brian Webb and
Peyton Skipwith
837
Artists, Designers and Illustrators:
Their Impact On Our Society
2pm / Festival Room 1, Christ Church / £7.50
The renowned Design series grew out of an exhibition
and its catalogue at the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Waldon,
celebrating the centenaries of Edward Bawden and
Eric Ravilious. Peyton Skipwith’s and Brian Webb’s
latest book on Curwen Press covers the work of the
groundbreaking printing house, which listed many
of the early 20th century’s best-known designers,
artists and illustrators among its contributors.
David Gentleman has designed British postage
stamps and a platform-length mural on the London
Underground. There have been many exhibitions
of his landscape watercolours and architectural
lithographs; his posters have been carried on
marches protesting against the wars in Iraq and
Gaza. Here he, Brian Webb and Peyton Skipworth
talk about the design of the past and present and its
impact on our lives.
Sponsored by Belgravia Gallery
2pm/ McKenna Room, Christ Church / £7.50
For centuries, an interest in clothes has been dismissed
as the trivial pursuit of vain, empty-headed women.
But clothes matter, says Man Booker-shortlisted novelist
Linda Grant, because what we choose to dress ourselves
in defines our identity. Celebrating the pleasures of
adornment, this intriguing book offers a thinking
woman’s guide to our relationship with what we wear:
why we want to look our best and why it matters.
108
The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival
is in a class of its own: Wonderful
programmes, always a friendly welcome,
very interesting audiences and a setting that
is unforgettable.
Tony Benn