An Evening of Words and Music in aid of our Nature Reserves Appeal
Event details
30 March 2018 - 7:30pm - 11:00pm
An Evening of Words and Music, in association with the Wild Hare Club will feature author and broadcaster Rob Penn, prize-winning poet and author Miriam Darlington and Herefordshire’s popular world-folk band Slippery Slope.
The first half of the evening will see Rob in conversation with Miriam chaired by Andy Fryers (Director of the Hay Winter Weekend Festival and Hay Festival’s sustainability Director). The second half will see Slippery Slope take the stage and people will be free to sit, drink, chat and listen or take to the dance floor.
Doors will open at 7.30pm with the first half of the evening starting at 8pm. There will be a paying bar throughout the evening.
Booking
Please book online using the form below:
Line Up
Miriam Darlington
Miriam Darlington was born in Lewes, Sussex but has lived in the US, France, the Isles of Scilly and now lives in Devon. She became a school teacher in 1996 and taught in schools until she became a full-time writer in 2008. Her first collection of poetry, Windfall, was published by Oversteps Books in 2008.
'Otter Country, In Search of the Wild Otter', a creative non-fiction travel and nature memoir based on her search for the wild otter in Britain, following in the footsteps of famous otter writers Henry Williamson and Gavin Maxwell, formed the creative part of the PhD. This was published as a lead title by Granta in Autumn 2012. 'Otter Country' is a close reading of the wild otter as an emblem of nature conservation in Britain. The book's narrative is a meticulous search for the real wild animal through the many different wetlands, coastlines, rivers and urban areas of Britain.
Miriam's new owl-watching book, a creative non-fiction study of the wild owl and the accumulation of mythology around Britain's own owl species, including an ecological study of them and encounters across Europe is published by Guardian Faber in February 2018 and serialised by BBC Radio as Book of the Week.
Rob Penn
Robert Penn is an author, journalist, TV presenter and broadcaster. As a journalist, Robert writes features and comment for the Financial Times, Sunday Times, Guardian and Observer. His last book, The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees (‘Beautifully crafted’ – Times, Books of the Year) was BBC Radio 4 ‘Book of the Week’ in December 2015. Before that, It’s All About the Bike (‘Gem of a book… a joy’ – Economist) was a Sunday Times bestseller in the UK. It has been translated into 14 languages. He has written and presented TV documentary series for the BBC and Sky, including Tales From the Wildwood, a six-part series for BBC Four about British woodlands. He co-presented four series for Sky One with Freddie Flintoff, including a journey through the Amazon by bicycle. Robert is patron of the Small Woods Association. He helped set up two community woodland groups near his home in the Black Mountains, South Wales where he lives with his family. https://robpenn.net/
Andy Fryers
After completing an Honours Degree in Environmental Science Andy joined the Forestry Commission in 1993 as a Ranger in East Anglia then spent three years in the Forest of Dean as Chief Ranger from 1999 before moving to Wales in 2003 as Recreation and Interpretation Advisor for Wales.
In 2007 he joined Hay Festival as Sustainability Director. His main responsibility is for the Hay on Earth programme.
Since 2008 Andy has also has run a consultancy business, EqualState, which undertakes sustainability related projects both in the UK and abroad. He sits on the board of Brecon Beacons Tourism and has been a parish councillor for eight years in the Herefordshire parish of Cusop.
He lives just outside Hay-on-Wye on a small-holding with his wife and young son where he grows vegetables for the slugs and chickens for the foxes.
Slippery Slope
Slippery Slope are one of the finest of Herefordshire’s many folk-roots acts and the group is a particular favourite with the Wild Hare Club audience. Their globe-trotting repertoire takes in songs and instrumentals encompassing a wide variety of styles, ranging from Irish folk to ska, Klezmer to French chanson. Steel pan adds a joyous Caribbean flavour to the more traditional folk group instrumentation of guitar, accordion and fiddle. https://www.facebook.com/slipperyslopehereford/
Venue location
Tomkins Theatre, 148 Whitecross Road,
Hereford,
HR4 0DH