The Cheltenham Literature Festival, (sponsored this year by The Times and Sunday Times),  the oldest literary festival in the world, reveals part of its unmissable line-up for 2019 www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature takes place from 4 – 13 October when the vibrant Festival Village in Montpellier Gardens will welcome over 1000 of the very best writers, thinkers and performers for ten extraordinary days of literary revelry.

Seventy years is an anniversary well worth celebrating and the Cheltenham Literature Festival has just released its plans to do just that with a part of its line-up of writers and authors guaranteed to please everyone, from the casual reader to the most critical devourer of literature.

This year’s theme – Seven at Seventy – celebrates 70 years since Cheltenham Town Hall hosted the world’s first literature festival and started a global, cultural phenomenon.

Some of the illustrious names, drawn from the world of commentators, celebrity and academics include: Ali Smith | Ian McEwan | Richard Ayoade |Debbie Harry | Nadiya Hussain | Francis Rossi |Julian Fellowes | Philippa Gregory | Alastair Cook |Paul Whitehouse | Bob Mortimer | Tom Kerridge | Emily Maitlis| Richard Dawkins |James O’Brien, John Humphreys|William Dalrymple | Emily Chappell | Gareth Neame| Aeham Ahmad | Virginia Nicholson | Dermot O’Leary| Juno Dawson

Alongside the biggest new book releases and up to the minute political debate, there will be food, history, poetry, current affairs, art, sport, faith, fashion, lifestyle, psychology, science and business events on offer, as well as a packed family programme for toddlers to teens.

A packed Family programme has more on offer than ever before including, presenter Dermot O’Leary and illustrator Nick East with the latest escapades of Toto the Ninja Cat, and some horrendously horrid fun with Francesca Simon.

For littles ones there will be family fun with multi-award winning Oi Puppes! duo Kes Gray and Jim Field, mesmerising storytelling from Atinuke, and Elmer creator David McKee will be celebrating the 30^th birthday of the much-loved patchwork elephant.

The celebration of international literature continues with 70 global book festivals each recommending one title they would like Cheltenham audiences to add to their bookshelves to form a ‘Reading the World’ reading list.

The Full Programme and Booking

The full Festival line – up will be announced on Friday 16^th August at cheltenhamfestivals.com Booking for the Literature Festival opens to Cheltenham Festival Members at 10.00am on Wednesday 28^th August and general booking opens at 10am on Wednesday 4 September.

The 2019 Festival will run from 4 – 13 October

Follow @cheltlitfest on Twitter and #cheltlitfest for further updates

www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature

“Evocative, mesmerising and surprisingly emotional”

Wigmore Hall is a glorious oasis within the hustle of central London. Their year-round programme of classical music from all over the world inspires just from reading the listings!

Today, courtesy of the Avex Recital Series 2019, there was a performance from HONJOH Hidejiro, playing the traditional shamisen.

[HONJOH – Ⓒ RESOBOX]

The shamisen is a three-stringed instrument, similar in shape to a conventional guitar or banjo or, as one of the pieces demonstrated, a sitar. Yet, the tones are – to this Western ear – so very ‘Japanese’. Evocative, mesmerising and surprisingly emotional.

My previous Japanese music experience is perhaps best explained in the John Williams soundtrack to the film Memoirs Of A Geisha – with its shakuhachi and koto solos (that’s like a traditional Japanese flute and a steel guitar, respectively).

[HONJOH – Ⓒ RESOBOX]

HONJOH presented some world premières within his set of eight pieces of contemporary music – my breath taken away by Red, composed by Marios Joannou Elia. HONJOH describes it thus: “the overall impression resembling the falling of a maple leaf to the ground.” Brilliant.

The 60-minute concert comprised a programme of music by a range of composers: Urata, Takahashi, Sakamoto, Elia, Iyer and Fujikura. All creating music specifically for the shamisen, some in conjunction with HONJOH.

[HONJOH – Ⓒ Yo Hirai]

HONJOH plucks the strings with his fingers or with the aid of a bachi – commonly mistaken for a putty knife or grouting stick (this is no joke!). It looks the same, but helps to create the unique sound of the shamisen: its sawari.

Not just a musical experience – an educational event as well!

The Avex Recital Series is over for this year, but events for 2020 are planned for May 23rd, June 27th, November 28th and December 19th. Visit avexrecitalseries.com for more details.

Photographs courtesy of Yo Hirai and RESOBOX

Twitter:  @AvexRecitals @wigmore_hall

“It was almost brilliant, almost great fun, almost very touching”

Imagine a classic television programme from the 1970s involving space, heroes, arch-villains and ridiculous quests. Do Doctor Who, Blake’s Seven and The Tomorrow People come to mind? Remember the earnest acting, wobbly sets and dodgy dialogue? And don’t forget the aliens… Welcome to Dark Sublime. A show that was of this genre – now cut to today. The star of the show is a hard-drinking, jobbing actress, trying to make ends meet and full of more than her fair share of bitterness. This is Marianne – played by Marina Sirtis, in reality famed for her role in Star Trek: The Next Generation and one does wonder where the similarities cease…

[ Marina Sirtis as Marianne ]

Enter Oli, an overly-camp and needy nerd played by Kwaku Mills. He was, of course, not even born when the show first aired, but has immersed himself into it, launched a website, sought out the cast and crew and is organising a weekend in Walsall for fans to gather.

[ Kwaku Mills as Oli ]

Michael Dennis has written a comedy about this blending of the real and fictional worlds we all have within us. Our hopes and dreams crashing against what can be harsh reality. Years pass by, we get old, but we don’t want to let our innocent youth go. Unfortunately, his storytelling is a little too slow. Dark Sublime is on the long side – a good thirty minutes could be trimmed. There is too much repetition and not enough pace. When the play is funny – boy is it funny! Simon Thorp steals the show with his many superb, earnest interruptions as Vykar (assisted by the voice of Mark Gatiss).

[ Simon Thorp as Vykar ]

But the story wanders into a few territories, unsure which one it wishes to concentrate on. Is it love and friendship? Brought out by Jacqueline King’s genuine portrayal of Kate, Marianne’s best friend of many years, who is introducing her new lover Suzanne, played by Sophie Ward. In the flurry of it all, I think the part of Suzanne gets a little lost in the chaos.

[ Jacqueline King as Kate and Sophie Ward as Suzanne ]

Andrew Keates has directed a wonderful piece that doesn’t quite know whether it’s going for emotional realism or escapist homage. The two styles don’t quite sit happily together. People who can recollect the 1970s will probably recall the film Galaxy Quest that managed to do this.

Dark Sublime is an almost-evening. It was almost brilliant, almost great fun, almost very touching. The set design, though, in such a small space, is sublime.

Photographer    Scott Ryland

Director            Andrew Keates

Producer           Rigmarole Productions

Designer           Tim McQuillen-Wright

Composer         Matthew Strachan

Performances   Until 3rd August – Monday to Saturday at 7.45pm

Matinees: Thursday and Saturday at 3pm

Venue               Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, London SW1A 2DY

Nearest Tubes  Charing Cross Station (Bakerloo and Northern lines)

Tickets              Box Office 0844 871 7632 or online at www.atgtickets.com/venues/trafalgar-studios

Price                 £25 – £35

Running Time   2 hours 40 (including an interval)

Twitter              @DarkSublimePlay, @TrafStudios

I received my first Karri Barron 3D card, so beautifully crafted and personalised, from my pal Michael when my first Milly Adams novel was launched.

I keep it covered by a glass dome. It is a work of art.

Since then I have ordered countless cards from them, all personalised for the person who ‘deserves’ one.

Karri Barron Cards was founded in 1994 as a family run business and since then they have been creating these ‘Little Worlds’. Their catalogue is extensive and are open to personalised changes, and every one I’ve ordered has arrived in good time. The difficulty then is, that one has to put selfishness in one’s pocket because you end up wanting to keep them for yourself.

No, no, they are for someone else.

Several recipients have, they tell me, put them in their ‘precious’ cabinets or under glass domes, as I have. They are more than cards, they are a momento.

This family run  business  produces not only original products but is efficient, and each card arrives in good time. They tell Frost Magazine that they’ve poured all their energy into the family-run business, expanding along the way. As well as online, they have a stall in Covent Garden, but now there is this exciting   news. Are you ready?

Karri Barron Cards have opened their own gift shop in Hampstead. Selling not only  3D cards, but a variety of different luxury toys, gifts and photography. That’s not all. They’re having a celebratory Grand Opening on the 13th & 14th July where everything is 20% off!

Tania’s cafe next door will also be giving a free cup of coffee for those who spend over £30. So why not check out what’s going on in Hampstead and most of all, stop by the shop.

13 & 14 July, Hampstead Antique and Craft Emporium, 12 Heath Street, Hampstead, London NW3 6TE

Opening times: Mon – Wed by appt. Thurs – Sat 10.30 am – 5 pm.

Sunday 11 am – 5 pm.

www.karriebarron.com