2012 Summer Programme

All events take place in the Henrietta Barnett School, Central Square, NW11 7BN

Saturday 23rd June

11.00am - 12.00 noon:   Sir Michael Parkinson

Prize-winning journalist and chat show king, Sir Michael Parkinson CBE presented one of the top ten British TV programmes of all time. After teasing secrets out of all comers, he now reveals in the opening event of the Proms Literary Festival nuggets about his own humble beginnings and starry career.

2.00pm - 3.00pm:   Mihir Bose

As the London Olympics approaches, former BBC Sports Editor Mihir Bose tells the story of how sport has lost its original spirit and how it has emerged in the 20th century to become the most powerful political tool in the world. He will be interviewed by Proms Patron and sports enthusiast, Henry Kelly, about his book The Spirit of the Game which was published in January 2012.

3.30pm - 4.30pm:   Diana Athill

Diana Athill OBE (born 1917) worked in publishing for over 50 years, but it was only after her retirement, at the age of 83, that she found success with her autobiography, Stet: an Editor's Life. In 2009, she won the Costa Prize for biography for Somewhere Towards the End, a remarkable account of ageing and what it means to be old in modern Britain.    

5.00pm - 6.00pm:   A. D. Miller

A. D. Miller became The Economist's correspondent in Moscow in 2004, travelling widely across Russia and the former Soviet Union. Proms Patron and former British ambassador in Moscow, Sir Rodric Braithwaite, talks to him about his first novel, Snowdrops, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2011. “An electrifying tour of the dark side of Moscow, and of human nature” – The Independent

Sunday 24th June

12.30pm - 1.30pm:   Claudia Roden

Suburb resident Claudia Roden, award-winning author of the classics A Book of Middle Eastern Food and The Book of Jewish Food, and one of our foremost authorities on Mediterranean, North African, Italian and Spanish cuisine, discusses writing, cooking and researching her latest book, The Food of Spain, with Yotam Ottolenghi, chef, food writer and restaurateur.

2.00pm - 3.00pm:   Prof. John Mullan

Is there any sex in Jane Austen? What do the characters call each other, and why? What are the right and wrong ways to propose marriage? John Mullan, Professor of English at University College, London, Guardian writer and 2009 Man Booker Prize judge, talks about his latest work, What Matters in Jane Austen?, to be published in May 2012.

3.30pm - 4.30pm:   Gillian Slovo

Gillian Slovo - daughter of anti-apartheid activists Jo Slovo and Ruth First – is interviewed about her latest book, An Honourable Man.  Set in the Sudan and London of 1884, against the backdrop of General Gordon's defence of Khartoum, the Guardian described it as “an ambitious and accomplished novel…that explores the essential nature of goodness”. She will be in conversation with Sue MacGregor, former presenter of ‘A Good Read’ on BBC Radio 4.

5.00pm - 6.00pm:   Tom Service

Tom Service writes about music for The Guardian and presents BBC Radio 3's Music Matters. In the last LitFest event of 2012, he talks about his new book on conductors and conducting, Music as Alchemy.




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