Mariella to launch our 2023 Festival
April 14 2023Somerset resident and one of the UK’s most recognised cultural critics, Mariella Frostrup is the natural choice to launch our 31st Festival!
Having spent 20 years presenting Open Book on BBC Radio 4, she now helms a current affairs and culture show on @TimesRadio which airs at lunchtime on Monday to Thursday. Mariella has also served on the judging panel of every major book award including the Booker and the Women’s Prize; she has presented programmes from Panorama to Novel Britain, is an ambassador for Save the Children and chairs the campaigning organisation Menopause Mandate.
Her pioneering book Cracking the Menopause is an Amazon bestseller and she has also edited a number of anthologies including Wild Women (a collection of first hand accounts from female explorers) and Dear Mariella, a collection of her Observer agony columns.
We are delighted that on 4 July Mariella will be guest speaker at the very first event of 2023: an evening at which the Festival organisers express our gratitude to the many Friends and sponsors without whose support we would be unable to provide a hugely successful and entertaining Festival AND help fund a large number of educational projects for state schools and colleges in the local area.
This exclusive evening will take place on Tuesday 4 July: Mariella will discuss her career, her passion for books and her campaigning journalism. Have a look at our Support Us page to see how your input can help the Festival – and give you the chance to join Mariella at this very special event.