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Ritchie Robertson
Kafka: A Very Short Introduction
5.15pm / Blackwell Festival Bookshop, Meadows
Marquee, Christ Church
Franz Kafka is among the most intriguing and
influential writers of the twentieth century. During
his lifetime he worked as a civil servant and published
only a handful of short stories, his most famous
novels only appearing after his death. Join Ritchie
Robertson as he gives a brief portrait of this
fascinating author and helps us make sense of his
absorbing and perplexing work.
John Harris
Gin Tasting
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5.30pm-7pm / Hall, Christ Church / £12.00
Gin, with its fragrant and colourful history, has made
a long journey to become Britain’s favourite spirit
aperitif. Take a break from the Festival’s literary
treats and join John Harris, Steward of Christ Church,
who leads this tasting of five different gins, all of
which may surprise you with their difference, diversity
and restorative qualities!
Sponsored by Plymouth Gin and
the Gin & Vodka Association
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Richard Holmes
interviewed by John Carey
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The Age of Wonder: How the
Romantic Generation Discovered
the Beauty and Terror of Science
6pm / Garden Marquee, Christ Church / £7.50
In his first major work for over a decade, Richard
Holmes, prize-winning biographer of Coleridge
and Shelley, explores the scientific ferment that
swept across Britain at the end of 18th century.
Taking us from Joseph Banks to Humphry Davy,
Holmes proposes a radical vision of science before
Darwin, exploring the earliest ideas of deep time
and deep space, the creative rivalry with the French
scientific establishment, and the startling impact
of discovery on great writers and poets such as
Mary Shelley, Coleridge, Byron and Keats. With his
trademark sense of the human drama, he shows
how great ideas and experiments are born out of
lonely passion, how scientific discoveries (and errors)
are made, how intense relationships are forged
and broken by research, and how religious faith
and scientific truth collide. Richard Holmes talks to
Sunday Times Chief Critic, John Carey.
Sponsored by Blackwell
TUESDAY MARCH 2009
Killcanon Building
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