Historical
One of the best historical debut novels of 2024. Inspired by true events in 18th-century Venice, The Instrumentalist tells the story of Anna Maria della Pietà – orphan, musical prodigy and favourite student of Antonio Vivaldi. With host Sarah Lonsdale.
| Event Date | Fri 21 Feb 2:00pm |
| Individual Price | £8.00 |
| Location | Faversham Assembly Rooms |
| Categories | 2025, Fri 21 Feb, Fiction, Historical |
Iain Sinclair’s latest book, Pariah Genius, follows the life of photographer John Deakin, whose chronicles of Soho life – and the world of Francis Bacon and his friends – have so influenced our perception of that generation’s work. He talks to author and broadcaster Horatio Clare about why Deakin remains such a compelling figure.
| Event Date | Sat 22 Feb 3:00pm |
| Individual Price | £10.00 |
| Location | The Alexander Centre |
| Categories | 2025, Sat 22 Feb, Biography & Memoir, Historical, Non Fiction, Place, Geography & Travel |
Rethinking Hemingway, with translator Daniel Hahn and author Sonia Overall, whose novel Eden melds the persona of Hemingway himself with characters from his last book, written while he was living in Cuba.
| Event Date | Sat 22 Feb 6:30pm |
| Individual Price | £8.00 |
| Location | The Almshouses Chapel |
| Categories | 2025, Sat 22 Feb, Canterbury Christ Church University, Fiction, Historical |
Kate Mosse returns to Faversham to share more tales of adventure, intrigue and courage set in southern Africa across the 17th to the 19th centuries. She talks to Steven Gale about The Map of Bones, the final part in her sweeping historical tale about the Huguenot Joubert clan.
| Event Date | Sat 22 Feb 7:00pm |
| Individual Price | £14.00 |
| Location | The Alexander Centre |
| Categories | 2025, Sat 22 Feb, Fiction, Historical |
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 |
Britain's position in 1940 was often described as 'alone' and 'weak'. Yet the reality was very different. Not only did Britain have powerful navy and RAF forces... the nation's Home Guard held thousands of men and women in secret roles ready to help fight against invasion. Historian Andrew Chatterton shares some of the incredible stories of derring-do.
| Event Date | Sun 23 Feb 1:00pm |
| Individual Price | £8.00 |
| Location | The Alexander Centre |
| Categories | 2025, Sun 23 Feb, Historical, Non Fiction |
A tale of corruption and conspiracy, GD Harper’s new novel, Arden, delves into the life of William Shakespeare and the infamous murder of Thomas Arden, former mayor of Faversham, by his wife Alice Arden. With host Liam Cohen.
| Event Date | Sun 23 Feb 3:30pm |
| Individual Price | Free event |
| Location | The Mayor's Parlour |
| Categories | Free Events, Sun 23 Feb, Free Events, Historical, Local Authors |
Dame Harriet Walter, renowned for her roles in Succession and Killing Eve, The Crown and Downton Abbey, is one of Britain’s most esteemed Shakespearean actors. Having played most of the Bard’s female characters she now, in her book She Speaks!, boldly lets them speak their minds... with new parts for 30 Shakespearean women written in verse and prose... a 'between the lines' that playfully and searchingly lets us hear what she imagines these women were really thinking.
| Event Date | Sun 23 Feb 5:00pm |
| Individual Price | £16.00 |
| Location | The Alexander Centre |
| Categories | 2025, Sun 23 Feb, Historical, Non Fiction |
A heartbreaking, sweeping portrayal of friendship forged in the trenches of the First World War, by the acclaimed author of Rain, which is based on the author’s own soldierly experiences in Afghanistan.
| Event Date | Mon 24 Feb 1:30pm |
| Individual Price | £8.00 |
| Location | Faversham Assembly Rooms |
| Categories | 2025, Mon 24 Feb, Fiction, Historical |
In a feat of magnificent storytelling, award-winning historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes reveals secrets from the ancient world told through its seven greatest monuments: The Great Pyramid of Giza, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Temple of Artemis, The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, The Lighthouse of Alexandria; The Colossus at Rhodes, and The Mausoleum of Halikarnassos.
| Event Date | Thu 27 Feb 3:00pm |
| Individual Price | £16.00 |
| Location | St Mary of Charity |
| Categories | 2025, Thu 27 Feb, Non Fiction, Historical, Place, Geography & Travel |
Historian Clare Mulley talks to Julia Wheeler about the incredible story of the courageous resistance fighter Elżbieta Zawacka, also known as ‘Elizabeth Watson’ but more often as ‘Zo’ – the only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi-German occupied Poland during the Second World War and the sole female member of the Polish special forces.
| Event Date | Fri 28 Feb 1:00pm |
| Individual Price | £10.00 |
| Location | The Old Brewery Store |
| Categories | 2025, Fri 28 Feb, Historical, Non Fiction |
Set against a backdrop of economic recession, rampant hooliganism and suspect fashion, Go To War tells the story of how triumph and tragedy shaped English football during the 1980s. Jon will be talking to host Graham Symon.
| Event Date | Fri 28 Feb 6:00pm |
| Individual Price | £10.00 |
| Location | The Old Brewery Store |
| Categories | 2025, Fri 28 Feb, Non Fiction, Historical |
The bestselling author of Small Pleasures discusses her new novel, Shy Creatures, about a talented artist incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital in Croydon in the 1960s, and the female art therapist who sets out to discover his story. With host Ann Morgan.
| Event Date | Sat 1 Mar 11:00am |
| Individual Price | £10.00 |
| Location | The Old Brewery Store |
| Categories | 2025, Sat 01 Mar, Fiction, Historical |
A gentle ode to nature, history and the simple art of looking and finding treasure in every season. With warmth and wisdom, the London Mudlark will be talking to Julia Wheeler about discovering hidden objects in the most overlooked part of the city, the secrets they reveal and the stories that are patiently waiting to be told.
| Event Date | Sun 2 Mar 1:00pm |
| Individual Price | £8.00 |
| Location | St Mary of Charity |
| Categories | 2025, Sun 02 Mar, Historical, Local Authors, Non Fiction |
Winner of this year's Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, a tragicomic tale of two unemployed potters in ancient Syracuse who decide to stage two of Euripides' greatest tragedies in a quarry, using Athenian prisoners of war. A tale of brotherhood, war, art, and what happens when contemporary Irish dialect meets the ancients. With host Alex Preston.
| Event Date | Sun 2 Mar 3:30pm |
| Individual Price | £8.00 |
| Location | The Arden Theatre |
| Categories | 2025, Sun 02 Mar, Fiction, Historical |
Historian Sarah Lonsdale brings to life the globe-trotting tales of five women who fought for the right to work in, enjoy and help to save the wild places of the earth. A journey from sub-Saharan Africa to the Peak District, it recounts the adventures of five pioneering women across five continents. With host Caroline Millar.
| Event Date | Sun 2 Mar 5:00pm |
| Individual Price | £8.00 |
| Location | The Arden Theatre |
| Categories | 2025, Sun 02 Mar, Historical, Non Fiction, Science & Nature |
Author of The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry returns to Faversham for the closing event to the festival, in conversation with author and journalist Alex Preston. Her latest novel Enlightenment, longlisted for the Booker Prize 2024, is a story of love and astronomy told over the course of 20 years through the lives of two improbable best friends. Described by the Guardian as 'luxuriously – defiantly – old-fashioned' it is full of heartfelt wisdom about the stars, faith, friendship and unrequited love. A gem.
| Event Date | Sun 2 Mar 7:00pm |
| Individual Price | £14.00 |
| Location | St Mary of Charity |
| Categories | 2025, Sun 02 Mar, Fiction, Historical, Science & Nature |
Faversham Literary Festival CIC