21 - 24 March 2024

This March, the Lichfield Literature Festival returns, promising four vibrant days dedicated to the celebration of the written word.

Renowned authors will attend various venues across the city including The George Hotel.

Attendees can expect the usual mix of eclectic events, featuring Festival favorite authors such as Alison Weir (Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown), Sarah Sands (The Hedgehog Diaries), Peter Moore (Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness), along with first-time visitors including Rory Cellan-Jones (Ruskin Park), Professor Carl Chinn (The Real Peaky Blinders), Ian Dunt (How Westminster Works and Why It Doesn't), and Nick Wallis (The Great Post Office Scandal).

Events hosted at the George Hotel 

 Clicking on the event title will take you to the Lichfield Literature Festival website (external link) to book tickets
through the Lichfield Festival box office. 

Thursday 21 March

10am, Peter Moore Peter Moore - Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness  

Enlightenment Britain was ablaze with ambition and energy. Great writers like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Samuel Johnson and Catharine Macaulay were part of a pioneering generation that shaped and inspired the American Dream. For the first time, bestselling historian Peter Moore vividly traces the transatlantic friendships and revolutionary ideas that inspired the Declaration of Independence. 

£12.50

12pm, Professor David Nutt David Nutt - Psychedelics  

We are on the cusp of a major revolution in psychiatric medicine and neuroscience. At a time where there is an enormous amount of noise around the benefits of psychedelics, 'Psychedelics' contains the knowledge you need to know about a drug that is about to go mainstream, free from the hot air, direct from the expert. The definitive guide by a world-renowned, leading authority, Professor David Nutt. 

£10

1.45pm, Rosamund Young The Wisdom of Sheep 

Be transported to Kite's Nest Farm and peek into the surprising private lives of some of our most familiar of animals. A life-enhancing read from the author of the bestselling gem 'The Secret Life of Cows'.

We talk about people behaving like sheep, which assumes that sheep all behave in the same way. That has not been my experience. Some are affectionate, others prone to head-butting. Some are determinedly self-sufficient, others seek our help when they need it. And some can be trusted to lead the flock home. They are as individual as we are. £12.50

Friday 22 March

10am, Katherine MacInnes Katherine Macinnes - Snow Widows

With unprecedented access to family archives, Snow Widows is the story of the race for the South Pole from the perspective of the women whose lives would be forever changed by it..

Katherine MacInnes vividly depicts the lives, loves and losses of five women forced into the public eye by tragedy and shaped by the unrelenting culture of empire: Kathleen Scott, the fierce young wife of the expedition leader, Oriana Wilson, ‘Empire’ Emily Bowers, Lois Evans, and the indomitable Caroline Oates, who was the very picture of decorum and everything an Edwardian woman aspired to be. £12.50

12pm, Professor Carl Chinn Carl Chinn - Peaky Blinders: Historical Reality 

The Peaky Blinders as we know them, thanks to the hit TV series, are infused with drama and dread. Fashionably dressed, the charismatic but deeply flawed Shelby family blind enemies by slashing them with the disposable safety razor blades stitched in to the peaks of their flat caps, as they fight bloody gangland wars and defy the authorities.

But who were the real Peaky Blinders? Did they really exist? Professor Carl Chinn has spent decades searching them out, revealing the true story of the notorious Peaky Blinders, one of whom was his own great grandfather.  £12.50

Saturday 23 March

10am, Dr Phil Jones Dr Phil Jones - Reading Dr Johnson: Johnson among the Writers 

Rambunctious, opinionated, Dr Johnson, Lichfield’s greatest writer, never knowingly undersold himself. But what did later writers think of him? Dr Phil Jones examines in this entertaining book how Johnson’s legacy has been fought over, mis-represented and re-interpreted over the last 220 years.

£12.50

12pm, Tiffany Jenkins Tiffany Jenkins - Keeping Their Marbles 

The fabulous collections housed in the world's most famous museums are trophies from an imperial age. Yet the huge crowds who visit the British Museum, the Louvre or the Met each year have little idea that the objects on display were acquired by coercion or theft. Now the countries from which these treasures came would like them back. The Greek demand for the return of the Elgin Marbles is the tip of an iceberg that includes claims for the Benin Bronzes from Nigeria, the bust of Nefertiti and Aboriginal human remains. 'Keeping Their Marbles' tells the bloody story of how western museums came to acquire these objects and investigates why repatriation claims have recently soared.  £12.50