The Award-winning author and comedian brings us an unputdownable novel about love, secrets and wartime espionage…

Oxford, 1938. Ida and Medora are two brilliant young philosophers at the heart of a group who gather in storied rooms to dance, drink and debate theories of right and wrong.

But as the world spins towards war, theoretical questions of life and death become all too real. While her friends are called up to do intelligence work, Ida, the irrepressible Texan outsider, seeks academic distraction. Then she stumbles across secret Nazi information that could radically change the direction of the war.

Can she and Medora capture the attention of the spymasters and mandarins in London in time to save thousands of lives? Seductive, witty and page-turning: an unputdownable new novel from one of the UK’s best-loved writers and comedians.

Robert Newman is an award-winning author, comedian and broadcaster who made his name in the 1990s as a writer and performer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Newman & Baddiel. Intelligence is his seventh book. He has written and starred in many TV and radio shows, including Robert Newman’s Total Eclipse of Descartes, History of Oil and No Planet B– or the History of the World Backwards, and has performed sold-out stand-up shows all over the world.

Join John Robb, talking about his new memoir.

The irresistible story of a one-man cultural phenomenon.

Minister for the Counterculture, Mancunian mainstay and alternative national treasure John Robb has lived a life in music. In this book he charts his adventures on the cultural frontline, chronicling the making of a DIY icon.

Robb’s quest began in his hometown of Blackpool – where punk was a battle against the odds – and went international when he toured the world with his band. The first person to interview Nirvana, he also discovered The Stone Roses for weekly newspaper Sounds and did early interviews with The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Manics, before moving on to legends such as Mark E. Smith, Nick Cave and Patti Smith. Along the way, he became an on-screen commentator and author of bestselling books.

Robb’s memoir tells of deep friendships with figures from Poly Styrene to Chris Packham. Packed with riotous stories, it provides an alternative account of British musical and cultural history and a triumphant blueprint for a punk rock life.

She’s coming out of her cage, and she’s been writing new lines…

Once described by Tony Walsh as “A Fred Astaire of Words,” Alice McCullough has come a long way since she made her start performing ‘Alice Fresco’ on the cobble stones of the Cathedral Quarter.

For over a decade she has been winning awards and delighting audiences with various incarnations of her one-woman show, “Earth To Alice,” a candid collection of poems and songs that became her calling card and way to express a painful truth about the isolation of her own struggles with Bipolar Disorder.

Alice has performed internationally, has given a TEDx talk, was Poet In Residence for Disability Rights California, and wrote, directed and starred in a critically acclaimed TV adaptation of her “Earth To Alice” show for BBC.

But in between all of these excitements, she felt trapped. She kept finding herself back in psychiatric hospital. Her career was punctuated by six hospitalisations, stopping and starting more times than a Delorian trying to reach 88 miles per hour.

So what is the next chapter of the “Earth to Alice” story? How did she get unstuck? And what’s with the Delorian? In this brand new collection of poems, songs and spoken word surprises, Alice will share a whole new adventure.

Did you know that the Sistine Chapel of Belfast has no roof? Have you noticed how the starlings above the city are growing in numbers? What does it mean to break free? What does it mean to time travel? What does it mean to escape, and find your place in the murmuration of life?

Alice will share her meditations on the theme of escapism – not just the metaphorical escape we can find through Art and poetry, but also the story of how she herself escaped from psychiatric hospital, went to clown school and learned how to reach beyond the limitations that once held her back.

“Alice McCullough is radiant when she reads her poems – she is one of the rare gems I’ve discovered on my gigging circuits across the waters. Her words cover all corners as she quietly stamps down injustice and concocts poetry potions with equal part sadness and joy. Basically, she’s bloody great.” Hollie McNish

 “Mesmerising. Delightfully unforgettable. A true original.” Naomi Shihab Nye

“Great show – fragile but in control, real, and in the moment.” Kevin McAleer

 “A sensational new voice. New to me, anyway!” Stephen Fry

 “Marvellous.” Michael Longley

 “McCullough infuses all of her poems with her love of Belfast, which is enchanting. Poems that are inventive, fresh and with so much heart, it left her audience spellbound.” ★ ★ ★ ★  The Neurodiverse Review (Earth To Alice, Edinburgh Fringe 2022)

“Her presence on stage is as mesmerising as ever. We joked after that we are getting tired of each show we come to getting a standing ovation. Of course, it is a sign of the high watermark of McCullough’s work across the board.” ★ ★ ★ ★ ★The Neurodiverse Review (The Song of The Bones, Lyric Theatre 2022)

 

Henry Normal and Dubliner Jan Brierton present an afternoon of poetry and laughs.

Henry will be reading poems from his new book ‘A Quiet Promise’ whilst Jans’ poems reflect on being a wife, mother, daughter, sister and retired raver. Expect a highly engaging day of poetry.

Age guide: 14+

Book signing: Jan and Henry’s books will be available to buy on the day and they will be available to sign during the interval and post show.