Culture & Diversity

Onjali Raúf OBE

Bring the children along to meet the characters from three heartwarming tales by bestselling children's author Onjali Raúf: The Boy at the Back of the Class; The Night Bus Hero; and The Letter With the Golden Stamp. Suitable for age 7–11.

Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Accompanying adults need to purchase a ticket for this event.

Event Date Sat 22 Feb 10:00am
Individual Price £8.00
Location The Almshouses Chapel
Categories Children & Family Events, Sat 22 Feb, Children / Family, Culture & Diversity
Tasneem Abdur-Rashid

British Bengali-born writer Tasneem Abdur-Rashid talks to author Maggie Brookes about her uplifting, laugh-out-loud story, The Thirty Before Thirty List, which confronts the choices that a young woman has to make between forging an exciting, independent life or accepting a life defined by family and tradition.

Event Date Sat 22 Feb 12:30pm
Individual Price £5.00
Location The Guildhall
Categories 2025, Sat 22 Feb, Culture & Diversity, Fiction
Nicolas Padamsee

The lives of two east London teenage boys become fatally entwined in this assured debut addressing themes of the online 'targeting' and 'recruiting' of teenagers, masculinity and marginalisation, Britishness, and the pernicious pull of extremist politics. Darkly humorous and highly topical, this is an Observer Best Debut Novel 2024; and shortlisted for the prestigious Gordon Burns Prize.

Event Date Sat 22 Feb 3:00pm
Individual Price £8.00
Location The Mayor's Parlour
Categories 2025, Sat 22 Feb, Culture & Diversity, Fiction
Helen Heckety

A sharp, funny, heartbreaking debut novel that explores the journey of self-discovery of a young woman who as a child was diagnosed with a condition that would alter the course of her life. With author and disability campaigner Chloe Timms.

Event Date Sat 22 Feb 4:30pm
Individual Price £8.00
Location The Almshouses Chapel
Categories 2025, Sat 22 Feb, Fiction, Culture & Diversity
DJG Palmer

A well-researched, carefully crafted and lovingly told LGBTQ+ tale of the brutalities of love and war, about two men’s fight for survival against the backdrop of the emotive Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. With host Graeme Bosley.

Event Date Sun 23 Feb 12:00pm
Individual Price Free event
Location The Mayor's Parlour
Categories Free Events, Sun 23 Feb, Culture & Diversity, Free Events, Historical
Neil Alexander

A nostalgic coming-of-age tale, The Lost Past of Billy McQueen follows a young man drawn back to his native Ireland, on a quest to find out about the unexplained disappearance of his secret schoolboy sweetheart 30 years earlier. With host Graeme Bosley.

Event Date Sun 23 Feb 2:00pm
Individual Price £5.00
Location The Mayor's Parlour
Categories 2025, Sun 23 Feb, Culture & Diversity