Speaking at the Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival this evening at 6.30pm.
I’m part of a panel with Jonathan ‘Soul of the Age’ Bate and Christopher ‘Will’ Rush; it’s being chaired by Paul Allen – there’s a link to the Literary Festival’s website here…
Come one, come all…
After selling out at The Bath Literature Festival, The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival and the Shakespeare Bookshop Literary Lunch, a quick note to give the heads up to:
* The Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival on May 1st, at 6.30pm, where I’ll be speaking with Jonathan Bates and Christopher Rush
* The Hay-on-Wye Literature Festival on May 31st, at 9am (Toast will be served)
* The first London Toast talk, at the Notting Hill Waterstones, on June 4th, at 7pm…
More details of these events – and links to their websites – can be found here…
* And hot on their heels, fresh from the oven, the paperback edition of Shakespeare on Toast will be published on 4th June by Icon Books…
In the meantime, a write-up of Toast and growing discussion at Lizzy’s Literary Life:
This is a fascinating read – Shakespeare toasted lightly and buttered, slice by slice, by an author/actor whose passion for the subject shines through.
Speaking today at 1pm at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, as part of the Shakespeare Bookshop’s literary lunchtime series…
Speaking at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival next week, on Thursday 2nd April at 7pm:
Shakespearean actor Ben Crystal brings the language and colourful characters of the world’s greatest writer to life.
In his lighthearted but highly accessible book, he opens the door to a fresh understanding of Shakespeare’s plays, helps us negotiate our way through his more challenging writing, and makes him newly accessible and relevant.
As The Independent said of the book, “Having Crystal as a companion through the stickier parts of Hamlet and Macbeth is like going to the theatre with an intelligent friend.”
Click here for more…
I gave my talk at the Bath Literature Festival yesterday to a terrific crowd of over 200 people. EssentialWriter.com‘s Judy Darley has posted a write-up…
Ben opened the presentation with a reading that began in the stilted voice of an eleven-year-old, before exploding into a passion and fervour than made some audience members choke on their complimentary glass of Highland Park malt whisky.
Speaking at the Bath Lit Fest this Friday 6th, at the Guildhall, 1pm…
Come one, come all. Click here for more…
A Happy New Year one and all!
After the near-avalanche of Toast-related events last autumn & winter, the new year is a little quieter, as the US rights to Toast are being sold (watch this space for news on this), and a few other exciting developments slowly unfold (ditto) before the paperback of Toast appears in the summer.
IN THE MEANTIME, there are a few new features to the site:
** Talks at both the Bath Literature Festival and the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival have now been confirmed. Take a stroll over to the Book Festival Dates page for more info…
** There is now an Excerpt of the book for your reading pleasure, so you can grab a wee taste of Toast before you buy, and a Gallery, too.
** I’ve also added a School Talks & Workshops page – I’ve long given workshops and talks at schools around the UK and Europe – mainly to GCSE and A-Level (indeed, such a workshop was part of Toast’s genesis). If you’re a school and would like me to come and give a talk, click here.
** And the Facebook Group is still flourishing, so do come and find me out…
As for those January blues, I find a little Shakespeare always does the trick… but then I would say that… sickening, isn’t it…
Speaking at The English Bookshop, Amsterdam, on Weds 10th December at 7pm.
Click here for more details…
Peak Festival talk postponed once more, this time due to heavy snow forecast tomorrow.
Apols once more to those intending to come… Hopefully we’ll re-arrange for the New Year… third time lucky…
After a terrific weekend in Hay-on-Wye, and a sell-out talk at their Winter Weekend Literary Festival, now to the postponed talk at the Peak Festival of Literature on Thurs 4th December, before winding my way back to Europe, to Amsterdam and The English Bookshop, for a talk on Toast there on Weds 10th December.
See here for more on the upcoming talks…
Toast is selling well as we head towards Christmas, and a few more reviews have just come in. I’ll be posting these soon…
