FRIDAY 27th November
Seawords : Creative workshop for people living with dementia, and their carers
Fairland Church Centre
10.30am – 12 noon
FREE
Making waves in Wymondham at the Friday café with Cheryl Moskowitz. Taking inspiration from sensory objects like seashells and stones, we’ll explore stories and create new poetry together.
Cheryl Moskowitz is a poet and experienced community artist who has run poetry projects for those living with dementia with organisations such as Carers UK, Arts4Dementia and Age UK.
This Cultural Life with George Szirtes
The Green Dragon 12 noon 1.30pm £5 (plus £12.95 for a buffet lunch)
Hosted by Sue Burge
What cultural influences, experiences and works of art shaped the life and work of George Szirtes, acclaimed local poet, holder of the King’s Gold Medal for poetry.
George Szirtes’s twelfth book of poems, Reel (2004) won the T S Eliot Prize for which he has been twice shortlisted since. In 2012 he won the CLPE Prize for his book of poems for children, In the Land of the Giants. In 2020 he was awarded the James Tait Black prize for his memoir about his mother, The Photographer at Sixteen. He has also received various prizes for his translations including the International Booker Prize in 2015 for his translations of the later Nobel Prize winning Hungarian novelist, László Krasznahorkai. His most recent book of poems is Fresh Out of the Sky (2021). He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 1982. In 2024 he received The King’s Gold Medal for Poetry. He and his artist wife, Clarissa Upchurch, have lived in Wymondham since 1994.
Sue Burge is an established poet, writer, and tutor based in Norfolk. With over thirty years of experience teaching literature, film, and creative writing in the UK and abroad, she now works as a freelance tutor and mentor, supporting writers at every stage of their journey.
Enjoy a light buffet lunch of soup, sandwiches and sweet treats to enjoy during the event. Pre-book with The Green Dragon.
Opening the Listening Room
Upstairs at the Green Dragon
2pm – 4pm
Donations on the door
The Listening Room meets once a month to discuss a collection of contemporary poetry. We choose a poem each to read aloud and discuss in the context of the collection as a whole.
Read the book in advance, and join us to discuss Forward Prize shortlisted Tishani Doshi Egrets, While War
Messing About on the River: The Wind in the Willows
Wymondham Library Meeting Room 4.30pm – 5.30pm
£5
Alaric Mark Lewis invites you to drift downstream into the enduring world of The Wind in the Willows—a book where rivers become places of friendship, freedom, adventure and escape. We’ll explore why Grahame’s classic still speaks so powerfully to our imaginations—and why our love of rivers runs so deep. Expect readings, reflections, stories and watery wanderings, as we celebrate the poetry and pleasure of rivers in literature and life.
Whether you are a lifelong lover of The Wind in the Willows, a keen reader, a river wanderer, or simply someone who enjoys messing about, come along and join us.
Alaric Mark Lewis has been a piano bar performer, bartender, waiter, film critic, teacher, wedding singer, pizza maker, Benedictine monk, and writer in the US, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Navigating a world of eccentric figures and fantastic storytellers, his path led him to become the priest of three city-centre Medieval churches in Norwich. He has written four books on the spirituality of loss and illness.
All Saints Sessions THE KISS OF A WAVE
Becket’s Chapel 7pm – 7.45pm
£10
Cheryl Moskowitz and Alastair Gavin, with their special guests lute virtuoso Sam Brown and dazzling soprano Elinor Popham, have used the centenary of the publication of Mrs Dalloway as a springboard for a mesmerising journey inside Virginia Woolf’s preoccupations with war, society and mental health, through new poetry and text, music from Elizabethan to contemporary, electronic soundscapes and specially made field recordings, presented in All Saints Sessions’ trademark 360º sound system.
The All Saints Sessions new show The Kiss of a Wave, was commissioned by Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival 2025 where it premiered last November. A rare opportunity to see a live production of this show, cited by many Aldeburgh 2025 festival-goers as the highlight of their weekend. www.allsaintssessions.uk
All Saints Sessions, founded by poet Cheryl Moskowitz and composer and sound artist Alastair Gavin, have been staging groundbreaking poetry and electronics shows since their inception in All Saints Church, Edmonton in 2017.
SATURDAY 28th NOVEMBER
PEOPLE AND PLACES
Amazing Animals
Wymondham Library 10am – 11am FREE
Storytelling and crafting with Isabelle King. Fun for all the family!
Join children’s author Isabelle King for a fun, relaxed storytelling. In Isabelle’s stories, together we step back in time, discover lots of animal characters and make some noise! There will be time to get creative with crafts and make your own animal character. Isabelle will be signing copies of her books inspired by local history. The Norfolk Story Book, Once Upon a Time in Norfolk, Once Upon A Street: Norfolk Stories for Children, Emelia Moorgrim and the Medieval Monsters of Norfolk. Suitable for all ages.
Isabelle King writes children’s books that bring local history to life with imagination and fun. Her storytelling events encourage children to make up stories inspired by history, too.
Poetry Surgery
Becket’s Chapel 10am – 12noon
£5
Bring along a poem and work on it with poets George Szirtes, Moniza Alvi, Sue Burge, Jane Wilkinson and Elizabeth Lewis Williams.
Book a 20-minute 1-1 session, and receive feedback on performing your work to an audience of gathered poets and participants between 11.20am and 12noon
Silver Harvest
Becket’s Chapel 2pm – 3pm
£5
Silver Harvest follows successive generations of a Lowestoft fishing family navigating social, economic, and cultural change over two centuries. In the early nineteenth century, a channel was cut to create a harbour in Lake Lothing, a landlocked freshwater lake. This transformed the town from a small, nondescript backwater into one of the largest ports and resorts along the East Coast. This talk explores how the sea shapes both the geography and the lives of those living on the coast.
Daryl Fraser was born and raised in Lowestoft, and now lives in Norwich with his wife, Jo. He studied Literature and History at the University of East Anglia. Daryl discovered a passion for writing after he retired from a career in publicity, and is the recent winner of the East Anglian Book Awards Debut Novel.
Dark Deeds in Lonely Places
Becket’s Chapel 3.30pm – 4.30pm £5
Three crime writers uncover dark secrets in remote places, in three thrilling new books: THE SHARK by Emma Styles, THE SPIRIT GUIDE by Bridget Walsh, and THE LOST DETECTIVE by Elspeth Latimer. With a shared passion for compelling characters, gripping stories and vivid settings – from the coast of Western Australia to the depths of East Anglia – Emma, Bridget, and Elspeth will read from their latest novels and discuss what inspires them to write about the undercurrents of human nature, and the unsettling power of landscape.
Elspeth Latimer’s debut murder mystery The Lost Detective is shortlisted for the 2026 Crime Writers’ Association First Novel Dagger. The story was inspired by the haunting landscape of the Brecks, where she lives with her family. Elspeth has also written a guide to crime fiction series, Writing the Detectives.
Emma Styles writes Australian noir about badass young women. She grew up in Western Australia, loves open water swimming, and lives on the Sussex coast. Emma’s debut novel, No Country for Girls, won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. Her second novel, subversive serial killer thriller The Shark, is out now.
Emma Styles writes Australian noir about badass young women. She grew up in Western Australia, loves open water swimming, and lives on the Sussex coast. Emma’s debut novel, No Country for Girls, won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. Her second novel, subversive serial killer thriller The Shark, is out now.
An obsessive interest in the weirder elements of nineteenth-century life has led Bridget to write a series of crime novels set in a down-at-heel Victorian London music hall. Her books have been described as ‘delightful, dark and depraved’, a description she likes to think suits her as well as the novels.
An obsessive interest in the weirder elements of nineteenth-century life has led Bridget to write a series of crime novels set in a down-at-heel Victorian London music hall. Her books have been described as ‘delightful, dark and depraved’, a description she likes to think suits her as well as the novels.
UEA MA showcase and Open Mic
Becket’s Chapel 7pm – 9pm Donations on the door
Students from the acclaimed Creative Writing course at the University of East Anglia will showcase work in progress alongside readings by local published poets. There will be an open mic session for anyone wishing to share their work.
Settle in with a drink from the Green Dragon next door!
SUNDAY 29th November
CONCERNING RIVERS
What does a river mean to you?
Becket’s Chapel |10am – 11.30am
FREE
Join in with discussions and readings which answer this question. Includes a short presentation by John Beckett, Chairman of Wymondham Nature Group, and a showcase of work from Rebecca Stonehill’s workshop in October.
Myths and Legends from East Anglia’s Rivers
Becket’s Chapel 2pm – 3pm
£5
East Anglia is a famously watery region, and myths and legends concerning rivers are woven into its history and culture just like those same rivers weave through the landscape. Join us in this talk to explore some of these stories and what they reveal about the place of rivers in East Anglian culture.
Dr Rebecca Pinner is Associate Professor at the University of East Anglia, where she teaches medieval literature, and researches medieval culture. She is particularly interested in the relationship between literature, art and landscapes.
Juba II and the Hunt for the Source of the Nile
Becket’s Chapel 3.30pm – 4.30pm
£5
Juba II of Mauretania lived an extraordinary life: orphaned by Julius Caesar, raised by the emperor Augustus and married to the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, before returning to North Africa to rule over the kingdom of Mauretania. He was famed in the ancient world as both a diplomat, a scholar-king and an explorer. Amongst his most interesting exploits was his search for the source of the River Nile, a mystery that perplexed and fascinated ancient geographers – and so at the end of the first century BC, Juba personally set off at the head of an expedition in search of this most elusive of rivers, but what did he find and why was he so obsessed with the Nile? Join author Dr Andrew Kenrick as he introduces you to the subject of his book, Rex Juba.
Dr Andrew Kenrick teaches Creative Non-Fiction at the University of Cambridge and CityLit in London, and he is the founder of the non-fiction magazine Hinterland. His interdisciplinary studies have taken him from ancient history and archaeology to the movie Gladiator and Roman cooking, as well as researching new methods for writing ancient biography. His debut book is Rex Juba, out in August.
Nocturne |
5pm – 6pm Becket’s Chapel
£5
Come along and conclude a weekend of words with readings, and songs from some of the Common Lot singers.
The Common Lot is a collective of people dedicated to producing high-quality accessible theatre that can be enjoyed by all.
