What's On
All our venues are wheelchair accessible & have disabled toilets. For more detailed accessibility & facilities information, please go to the 'Venues' page.
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When: Saturday 8th February 2025 2-4pm
Where: The Glapthorn Suite, Fletton House, Fletton Way, Oundle, PE8 4JA
Our next Classic & Cake offering is one we know you're going to love and we expect tickets to fly, so get yours quickly!
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Dr Diana Hallam examines Margaret Atwood's iconic 'The Handmaid's Tale' and challenges us to consider :
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'Is Offred a Survivor or a Collaborator?'
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Choose your hot beverage at the start of the event, take your table complete with a selection of cakes, and enjoy a thought provoking session as Diana guides us through this modern classic.
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Tickets: £12.50, to include the lecture, a hot drink, and a selection of homemade cakes. Tickets can be purchased in person at The Oundle Bookshop (cash only) or online via TicketSource by clicking 'Book Tickets' below.
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The Oundle Bookshop will be present with copies of Atwood's books to purchase.
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When: Tuesday 18th March 2025 2-4pm
Where: The Glapthorn Suite, Fletton House, Fletton Way, Oundle, PE8 4JA
A legendary classic amongst classics this time!
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Dr Diana Hallam looks at what lies at the core of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
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'To judge from behaviour and behave with judgement'
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Choose your hot beverage at the start of the event, take your table complete with a selection of cakes, and enjoy a thought provoking session as Diana guides us through this classic text. ​
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Tickets: £12.50, to include the lecture, a hot drink, and a selection of homemade cakes. Tickets can be purchased in person at The Oundle Bookshop (cash only) or online via TicketSource by clicking 'Book Tickets' below.​​
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The Oundle Bookshop will be present with copies to buy.
Click photo for more speaker info.
When: Friday 16th May 2025, 7.30-9pm
Where: Queen Victoria Hall, 7 West Street, Oundle PE8 4EJ
Oundle welcomes international authors, Katherine Mezzacappa & Lisa Medved to discuss their latest historical fiction novels, which give voice to women history cast aside.
Based on true events, Mezzacappa's, book, tells the tale of orphan Giulia, who is thrust into the orbit of the powerful Medici's after they call the virility of a prince marrying into their family into question.
'Immaculately researched and imagined, rich in period detail and emotionally compelling, The Maiden of Florence is a historical fiction tour de force' —Deborah Swift, author of The Poison Keeper
Medved's 'The Engraver's Secret' melds history and thriller in this dual timeline tale. Charlotte's and Antonia's lives intertwine as they unearth long-buried secrets about a master artist and his engraver where theft, betrayal and the fallout of family loyalty run rampant.
'An inspired blend of history and suspense... This wonderful debut novel will inhabit your dreams.' -Dominic Smith New York Times bestselling author of 'The Last Painting of Sara de Vos'.
The evening will feature a conversation between Katherine, Lisa and our Festival Curator, Karen, an audience Q&A and a book signing.
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Tickets: £9 - available in person at The Oundle Bookshop (cash only) or online via TicketSource by clicking 'Book Tickets' below.
The Oundle Bookshop will be present with copies of both author's books available to purchase.
Click photo for more speaker info.
When: Thursday 3rd July 2025, 7.30-9pm
Where: St Peter's Church, North Street,
Oundle PE8 4AL
​6th August 2025 marks 80 years since the bombing of Hiroshima, arguably the most significant event of WWII.
Award winning writer, Iain MacGregor’s latest book, ‘The Hiroshima Men’ tells the decade-long (1936-46) story of the race for the atomic bomb, through the eyes of four main participants (American and Japanese), the war across Europe and the Pacific, and ends when Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and war journalist John Hersey breaks the story of what 'Little Boy' actually did to Hiroshima in his iconic article for The New Yorker magazine.
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'I can think of no more important book for our time. Written with moral clarity, tremendous verve, and the ability of a truly great historian to render the immensity of a moment through the smaller voices as well as being faithful to the facts. I recommend this magisterial, haunting book to all generations.' Fergal Keane - Foreign Correspondent, BBC
Iain has worked with bestselling historians such as Simon Schama, Alice Roberts and John Nicol as a successful editor, and on podcasts with The Imperial War Museum and R4’s ‘In Our Time’ series with Melvyn Bragg. He has been published in The Guardian, BBC History Magazine, The Spectator and The Washington Post. The Hiroshima Men is his fourth historical non-fiction book. ​​​
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Tickets: £9 - available in person at The Oundle Bookshop (cash only) or online via TicketSource by clicking 'Book Tickets' below.​​​
The Oundle Bookshop will be present with copies of the book available to purchase.
Click photo for more speaker info.
When: Thursday 20th February 2025, 7.30-9pm
Where: The Oundle Suite, Fletton House, Glapthorn Road, Oundle PE8 4JA
Join us as local Author, Beth Lynch comes to Oundle Festival of Literature for an interview style event. Melding themes of nature and loss into her literary memoirs, Beth joins us after the critical success of her first book, 'Where the Hornbeam Grows', and with her new book 'The Cove - a Cornish Haunting.' garnering similarly effusive reviews.
Unfolding through a medium of salt and slate, and the elemental indifference of Atlantic Cornwall, The Cove is a lyrical meditation on being a revenant, on haunting and being haunted.
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'A mesmerising, elegiac mix of meditation and memoir.' Saga Magazine
'Lynch writes lyrically about the natural world.' Daily Mail
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An audience Q&A and book signing will follow the interview.
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Tickets: £9 - available in person at The Oundle Bookshop (cash only) or online via TicketSource by clicking 'Book Tickets' below.
The Oundle Bookshop will be present with copies of the book/ previous books available to purchase.
Click photo for more speaker info.
When: Wednesday 9th April 2025, 7.30-9pm
Where: St Peter's Church, North Street,
Oundle PE8 4AL
Nick Bailey, leading English Plantsman, Garden Designer and BBC Gardeners' World Presenter, guides us through the knowledge captured in his best selling book, '365 Days of Colour in Your Garden', sharing tips on how to plant and manage your garden to ensure year-round colour and interest, whatever its size.
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Nick has created and and managed gardens on four continents and brings a wealth of gardening knowledge and experience to share with you at this sure-to-be inspirational event.
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After his talk, there will be an audience Q&A, and a book signing. Nick will have copies of his book available to purchase.
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'A beautifully photographed guide for gardeners' - Daily Telegraph
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Tickets: £15 - available in person at The Oundle Bookshop (cash only) or online via TicketSource by clicking 'Book Tickets' below.
Nick will have copies of his book available to purchase on the night.
Click photo for more speaker info.
When: Tuesday 3rd June 2025 2-4pm
Where: The Glapthorn Suite, Fletton House, Fletton Way, Oundle, PE8 4JA
The great American jazz age novel...
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Dr Diana Hallam asks the key question at the heart of this book.
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'Who is Jay Gatsby?'
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Choose your hot beverage at the start of the event, take your table complete with a selection of cakes, and enjoy a thought provoking session as Diana guides us through this classic text. ​
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Tickets: £12.50, to include the lecture, a hot drink, and a selection of homemade cakes. Tickets can be purchased in person at The Oundle Bookshop (cash only) or online via TicketSource by clicking 'Book Tickets' below.​​
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