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Fishbourne Literary Festival
March 25, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
£24.00
Phil Hewitt 10.00-10.45
“Outrunning The Demons”.
Sussex Newspapers group arts editor and marathon runner Phil Hewitt is beating back the demons with a new book which celebrates the massive mental health benefits of running.
He will be talking about the book, Outrunning The Demons (Bloomsbury, 2019), at the Fishbourne Literary Festival.
As Phil says: “Running can take us to fantastic places. Just as importantly, it can also bring us back from terrible ones. For people in times of crisis, trauma and physical or mental illness – when normality collapses – running can put things back together again.”
After watching a cricket match in Cape Town, South Africa, three years ago, Phil was mugged – stabbed, punched, kicked and effectively left for dead in a grim, desolate suburb.
Astonishingly, just as he could feel himself starting to drift away, he was scooped up and whisked to hospital by a passing pizza delivery driver. Two deep stab wounds, 18 stitches, three broken ribs, battered liver and stomach, bruised all over.
Phil resolved to put himself back together again by getting back to his first love, running…. And it proved a remarkable way to outrun the demons of PTSD and his blood-soaked pavement. Which is why it became the title of his new book – Outrunning The Demons.
Claire Fuller 11.15 – 12.00
“The Role of Nature in Fiction”.
A look at some favourite novels and how they’ve used nature, including Claire’s latest novel, Unsettled Ground and a preview of her next.
William Shaw 12.30-13.15
“See The World Through Crime-Tinted Glasses“
Don’t just think of crime fiction as escapist pleasure, says William Shaw. It’s the literature that’s saying the most about our world right now.
Best-selling crime novelist, William Shaw, described by Peter May as “simply, an astounding storyteller”, wonders why the genre he has chosen to write in has such power in today’s contemporary culture – and comes up with some surprising answers.
Deborah Moggach 14.00-14.45
“Adventures in the Screen Trade”.
Deborah will talk about her various adaptations – the difference between adapting her own work and that of others, for instance Jane Austen and Anne Frank. She will talk about the process from page to screen, and her adventures and misadventures on the set, including the disaster of her film of “Tulip Fever” and the pleasures of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”. She will talk about what one needs to be a screenwriter, and her many ups and downs.
Tom Holland. 15.15-16.00
“Pax”
Tom Holland will talk about his latest book, Pax, which explores the heyday of the Roman Empire: from the death of Nero to the Antonines.