Previous WORDS Speakers

2024

Luke Kennard - " Poems and Locks " - July 16th.

John Benjamin - " From Elizabeth 1st to Elizabeth Taylor - A History of Jewellery " - July 4th

Patrick Burns - “ Without Fear or Favour “ - May 15th

Robin Ince - “ Bibliomaniac “ - March 20th

Sam Taylor - “ My All Time Most Memorable Mistakes in Running a Bookshop “ - February 1st.

2023

Stephen Page - “ Five Revolutions and Counting “ - October 12th.

Quentin Letts - “ Blasted Politicians !! “ - July 21st.

Ashley Giles, Pat Murphy and Jim Rosenthal - “ Behind The Mics “ - July 12th

Emma Purshouse and Johnny " Mogs " Morris - " Black Country Poetry Brunchtime " - June 29th.

Jean Harrod - “ Deadly Diplomacy “ - May 10th

Jennifer Rigby - “ Shakespeare and Me “ - February 16th


2022

John Mullan - " Dickens Tricks " - October 5th.
Pat Murphy - This Sporting Life - July 14th
Steve Richards -  Reflections on Leadership  May 11th. 
Peter Lloyd - From Script to Screen - March 26th.
 

2021

Joanna ToyeFrom The Archers to Victory Girls - October 6th.
 

2020

Cleeves, Ann, writer. An Evening With Ann Cleeves, 25th February

2019

John, Liz, Writer & Ahmed, Naylor, Writer and Director, Living with 'The Archers', 2nd October

Bell, Jo, poet. The Currency of Kindness, 18th July

Edgar, David, playwright, Crampton, Robert, journalist, Cooper, Ben, BBC Radio 1 Controller; WORDS 40th Anniversary Event, 24th February

2018

Spiers, Di, Book Editor of BBC Radio & Cooper, Ben, Controller, BBC Radio 1, 4th February
Fowler, Alys,
gardener, journalist, presenter, 22nd April
Yarker, James,
Director of Stan's Cafe Theatre Company, 8th July
McMillan, Andrew,
award winning poet, 16th September
Crace, Jim,
writer and novelist, 18th November

2017

Coe, Jonathan, Novelist ,Biographer, award-winner,  19th February
Nagra, Daljit,
Poet, BBC Radio 4 Poet in Residence, award-winner, 9th April
Crystal, Professor David,
Linguist, Author, Academic, 11th June
Mangan, Lucy, 
Journalist, Author, Critic, 24th September
Bell, Maureen,
Leading Book Historian, Author, Academic,  12th November

2016

Norris, Rufus, Director of The National Theatre, 28th February

Feinstein, Elaine, Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Translator, 24th April

Garnett, Tony, Writer and Producer, 5th June

Sharrat, Nick, Childrens' Author and Illustrator, 10th July

Brett, Lucy, Head of Education, British Board of Film Classification, 15th September

O'Neil, Bruce, Director of Music, Royal Shakespeare Company, 16th October

2015

Wertenbaker, Timberlake 1 Mar 15 Playwriting

Mullan, John 26 Apr 15 Jane Austen

Pennington, Michael 19 Jul 15 'Sweet William' Shakespeare

Smith, Zadie 7 Aug 15 Novelist

Lockheed, Liz 15 Nov 15, An Evening with the National Poet for Scotland

2014

Haynes, Natalie 14 Mar 14 Judging the Man Booker Prize
Cooper, Ben 11 Apr 14 Controlling BBC Radio 1
Toye , Jo 13 Jul 14 Scripting the Archer
Fraser, Antonia,  19 Sep 14 Perilous Question and The Gunpowder Plot

Clarke, Gillian,  7 November 2014  Poet

2013

Moore, Claire et al 25 Jan 13 LONDON ROAD
Ronsson, Robert and Joseph, Fiona 15 Mar 13 New Local Writing
Oswald, Alice 19 Apr 13 [Her Poems]
Smith, Ed 7 Jun 13 Luck in Sport and Life
Hart, Linda & Woolf, Gabriel 30 Aug 84 Charing Cross Road
Briggs, Anthony 20 Sep 13 War & Peace
Fraser, Giles 15 Nov 13 Between Two Worlds

2012

Duffy, Carol Ann 24 Feb 12 Evening of Poetry and Music
Holroyd, Michael 20 Apr 12 A Biographical Trilogy
Edgar, David 8 Jun 12 Writing and Directing for the Theatre
Billington, Michael 21 Sept 12 A Critic shares his views
Lodge, David 9 Nov 12 The Craft of the Novel

2011

Drabble, Margaret 11Feb 11 Patterns of the Past
Lewycka, Marina 18  Mar 11 Readings from her novels
Harvey, Jonathan 10 Jun 11 Writing for Stage and Screen
Hart, Linda and Woolf, Gabriel 16 Sep 11 The English Years of Robert Frost
Ellis , Steve 11 Nov 11 Literature at the Outbreak of WWII

2010

Padel, Ruth 5 Mar 10 Darwin, the Man and the Life
Beauman, Nicola 16 Apr 10 Persephone Books
Inge, Denise 11 Jun 10 Thomas Traherne in Love with Love
Brett, Simon 17 Sep 10 Tickled to Death
Worthen, John 12 Nov 10 Marketing Laurence

2009

Taylor, Malcolm and Thomas, Aeronwy 6 Feb 09 After Milk Wood
Martin-Jenkins, Christopher 3 Apr 09 Cricket
O’Brien, Sean 2 Jun 09  Reading his Poems
Sanghera, Sathnam 11 Sep 09 If you don’t Know me Now
Rayne, Sarah and Carter Maureen 13 Nov 13 From Laptop to Bookshop

2008

Truss, Lynne 8 Feb 08 A Certain Age
Southall, Brian 11 Apr 08 The Business of Music
Kay, Jackie 20 Jun 08 Reading her poems and Talking
Morrison, Conall 12 Sep 08 The Play’s the Thing
Hoggart, Simon 7 Nov 08 Political People and Loony Letters

2007

Davies, Andrew 2 Mar 07 Adapting the Classics for Television
Vickers, Salley 20 Apr 07 Novelist 
Hughes, Kathryn 8 Jun 07 The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beaton
McMillan, Ian 21 Sep 07 The Big Family Show
Kington, Miles 9 Nov 07 The Serious Business of Being Funny

2006

Harvey, Anne 24 Feb 06 What the Women Thought
Sissay, Lenn 7 April 06 Reads and Discusses
Angelis, April de  9 June 06 What is useful to know about Playwriting 
BateJonathon 22 Sep 06 John Clare
Simpson, John 10 Nov 06 Revising the Oxford English

2005

Galloway, Janice 11 Feb 05 What’s Ordinary and What’s Extra
Starkey, David 29 Apr 05 The Six Wives of Henry VIII
[Paulin, Tom 10 Jun 05 The Secret Life of Poems- booked but did not come]
Carey, John 23 Sep 05 What Good are the Arts?
Hopkinson, Amanda 11 Nov 05 Reading the World

2004

Hill, Geoffrey 13 Feb 04 Poet - Goldengrove
Wells, Stanley 30 Apr 04 Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Morrall Clare 11 Jun 04 From Obscurity to Booker
McCrum, Robert 17 Sep 04 P. G. Wodehouse - A Life
Hill, Tobias 19 Nov 04  Poet -Dancing and Walking

2003

Conradi, Peter 21 Feb 03 Writing about Iris Murdoch
Pinney, Colin 01 Apr 03 I’ve taken my fun where I’ve found it
Motion, Andrew 6 Jun 03 Poetry Reading
Hibbert, Dominic 19 Sep 03 Wilfred Owen - a New Biograpy
Bennett Charles 21 Nov 03 A Pair of Shoes

2002

Bron, Eleanor 8 Feb 02 An Evening with Ellen Terry
Cope, Wendy 19 Apr 02 Poetry Reading
Thwaite, Antony 7 Jun 02 Philip Larkin: Looking Back
Plater, Alan 27 Sep 02 Drama: Who Needs It?
Page, Stephen 15 Nov 02 Chief Executive Faber - Modern Publishing

2001

Gunesekera, Ramesh 9 Feb 01 Writing and Serendipity
Verrall, Douglas and Thomas 20 Apr 01 Fathers and Sons in Fiction
Hart , David 21 Sep 01 The New Public Poem
Whitburn, Vanessa 9 Nov 01 The Archers - from Roots to Radio

2000

Dalrymple, William 25 Feb 00 A Travel Writer in India
Howard, Anthony 14 Apr 00 The Times Obitiary Column Six Years on Death Row
Fine, Anne 9 Jun 00 Writing for Adults & Children
Hicks, Kim 29 Sep 00 An Evening with Dorothy Parker
Hamilton, Ian 10 Nov 00  Poetry Reading

1999

Green, Jonathan 19 Feb 99 Slang down the Ages
Joseph, Jenny 16 Apr 99 Poet
Lavery, Bryony 11 Jun 99 The Art of the Playwright
Woolf, Gabriel 10 Sep 99 Robert Frost - The Road not Taken
Harvey, Anne 12 Nov 99 Walter de la Mere

1998

Knowles, Gerry 13 Feb 98 The Lost Languages of England
Dunmore, Helen  20 Mar 98 Poetry and Prose
MacMillan, Ian 19 Jun 98 Poetry Reading
French, Judith 9 Oct 98 A Solitary Elegance - Jane Austen
Uglow, Jenny 6 Nov 98 William Hogarth & Biography

1997

Scruton, Roger 21 Feb 97 Use & abuse of Language in Argument
Engel, Matthew 8 May 97 The Greeks to Gazza
Stannard, Russel 20 Jun 97 Science for All?
Astley, Neil 26 Sep 97 Publishing, Writing & Reading Poetry
Storey, Graham 31 Oct 97 Charles Dickens - Letters

1996

Wesker, Arnold 16 Feb 96 Wobbler, Annie
Donaghy, Michael 26 Apr 96 Poetry Reading
Bayley, John 14 Jun 96 Housman’s Poetry
Crace , Jim 13 Sep 96 The Novel - Who needs it?
Hattersley, Roy 1 Nov 96 The Odd Couple - Writing & Politics

1995

Ellis, Stanley 28 Apr 95 Dialect, Accent & Regional Speech
Fanthorpe, U A 23 Jun 95 Poetry Reading
Duffy, Maureen 22 Sep 95 A Musician’s Life
Marsh, Jan 3 Nov 95 Biography

1994

Smith, Margaret 18 Feb 94 Letters of Charlotte Bronte
Diamond, John 15 Apr 94 Newspeak /Tagspeak
Morton, Anthony 10 Jun 94 My Betjeman
Duffy, Carol Ann 16 Sep 94 Poetry Reading
Mantel, Hilary 4 Nov 94 The Craft of Writing

1993

Dexter, Colin 19 Feb 93 Morse
Clarke, Catherine 2 Apr 93 What Makes a Classic
Adams, John 11 Jun 93 A Director’s Lot
Kay, Jackie 1 Oct 93 Poetry Reading
Mulcahy, Betty 12 Nov 93 Stevie Smith

1992

Parris, Matthew 7 Feb 92 A Parliamentary Writer
Schmidt, Michael 13 Mar 92 Publishing & European Literature
Sweeney, Matthew & Simon Armitage 19 Jun 92 Poetry Reading
Hood, Stuart 9 Oct 92 The Literary Translator
Harvey, Anne , Lapotaire, Jane & Gabtiel Woolf 15 Nov 92 Crime in Literature

1991

Miles, Rosalind 15 Feb 91 In the Beginning was the Word
Goff, Martyn 22 Mar 91 Book Booker Bookest
Porter, Peter 21 Jun 91 Poet
Ween, Natalie 20 Sep 90 Arts-Speak
Alsop, Lenny & Oughton, Marion 8 Nov 91 Story-telling through the Ages

1990

Page, Norman 9 Mar 90 Literary legacy of Thomas Hardy
Edgar, David, Devlin, Anne & Stephen, Bill 18 May 90 Community Theatre
Scupham, Peter 8 Jun 90 Poet
Woolf, Gabriel 15 July 90 Words and the French Revolution
Spurling, Hilary 12 Oct 90 Biography & Paul Scott
Forde, Nigel 9 Nov 90 Mixed Metafordes

1989

Treglown, Jeremy 3 Feb 89 The Art of the Reviewer
McCaig, Norman 3 Mar 89 Poetry Recital
Holmes, Richard 14 Apr 89 A Dresm of Revolution
Crystal, David 22 Sep 89 Pushing Language to the Limits
Berry, Cicely 13 Oct 89 The Spoken Word in the Theatre
Sinclair, John 17 Nov 89 Definition and Change

1988

Atkins, Eileen & Glover, Julian 14 Feb 88 Teller of Tales

Venables, Clare 8 April 88 The Director’s approach to the Text
Jennings, Elizabeth 10 Jun 88 Reading her Poetry
Coe, Jonathan 9 Sep 88 The Novelist of the Nineties
Buckley, Geoffrey 13 Nov 88 No Words [Mime]

1987

McKenna, Virginia & Rees, Roger 8 Feb 87 Mothers and Sons
Moorehouse, Geoffrey 10 Apr 87 The Art of the Travel Writer
Clarke, Gillian & Feaver Vicki 12 Jun 87 Reading their Poetry
Oliver, Stephen 13 Sep 87 Staging a Dickens Musical
McEwan, Ian 13 Nov 87 Short Stories and their Bizarre Tradition

1986

Weldon, Fay 14 Feb 86 Women’s Authors
Scanell, Vernon 25 Apr 86  Poet
Wells, Stanley 6 Jun 86 Shakespeare Text and Performance
Brownjohn, Alan 12 Sep 86 Reading Poetry
Pasco, Richard & Leigh Hunt 16 Nov 86 Thos. Hardy -through his Poetry

1985

Drabble, Margaret 1 Feb 85 Fiction Today
Woolf, Gabriel & Fairs, Alan & Heather 21 Apr 85 Far from Home ,1914 - 1918
Glover, Julian 16 Jun 85 Beowulf
Pownall, David 7 June 85 Modern Playwriting
Adcock, Fleur 27 Sep 85 Poetry Reading
Crystal, David 8 Nov 85 Developments in Language

1984

Crick, Bernard 11 Feb 84 Orwell’s 1984
Bawden, Nina & Leon Garfield 6 Apr 84 Writing for Children
Barrow Poets 15 Jun 84
Turnbull, Gael 21 Sep 84 Poet
Nicholls, Graham 9 Nov 84 Samuel Johnson and Dictionary

1983

Jenkins, Martin 11 Feb 83 Radio Drama
Raine, Craig 15 Apr 83 Poet 
Lodge, David 10 Jun 83 Novels
Clarke, Gillian 9 Sep 83 A Tribute to Molly Holden & Frances Horowitz
Latham, Robert 11 Nov 83 Editing the Pepys Diaries

1982

Wells, John 24 Jan 82 Satire
Luckham, Cyril & Violet 2 Apr 82 At home with the Gaskells
James, P D 18 Jun 82 The Crime Novelist
Rudkin, David 10 Sep 82 Playwrighting
Feaver, Vicki 12 Nov 82 Reading Poetry

1981

Holroyd, Michael 20 Feb 81 On Biography
Harvey, A and others 3 Apr 81 A Pine in Solitude
Black, Jill 12 Jun 81 The Literary Midwife
Silkin, Jon 18 Sep 81  Poet
Green, B and Kanalt, T 6 Nov 81 The Follies of 1812

1980

Bainbridge, Beryl 8 Jan 80 About Her Novels
Hill, Geoffrey 18 Apr 80  Poet
Livings, Henry and Glasgow Alex 13 Jun 80 The Northern Drift
Woolf, Gabriel 12 Sep 80 A Victorian Penny Reading
Mulcahy, Betty and Hill, E 7 Nov 80 Poetry and Guitar

 

1979

McGough, Roger 2 Feb 79 Reading own Poetry
Gittins, Robert and Horowitz, Frances, 6 Jun 79 Hardy and his Women
Ewart, Gavin 8 June 79 Reading own Poetry
Edmonds, Richard, Woolf, John & Davies Frederick 14 Sep 79 Mozart’s Letters
Morley, Sheridan 9 Nov79 The Problems of Reviewing

Previous littleWORDS Speakers

2014

Korky Paul

Nick Sharratt

2013

Jenkinson, Ceci 26 Oct 13 Hubble Bubble
Corderoy, Tracey 26 Oct 13 Tales of Trouble

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