Andrew Bibby
Literary tour
A
ndrew Bibby is currently
half-way through a series
of engagements at literary
festivals, linked to his recent title
Back Roads through Middle England.
His book, which uses the narrative
device of a cycle ride made along the
belt of Jurassic limestone (sometimes
described as cotswold stone) from
west Dorset to north Lincolnshire,
delves deep into the landscapes of
‘middle England’ .
In the process Andrew turns
to a wide range of disciplines,
including social history, economics,
and literature, to help him try to
communicate why the countryside
looks the way it does – and whether
the landscape can offer any insights
into what ‘Englishness’ might mean
in these troubled times of political
change.
So far this year Andrew has spoken
to well-attended events in Halifax,
Wellingborough and – most recently
– at the Lowdham Literary Festival in
Nottinghamshire. His forthcoming
engagements are:
Sat Sep 15 Durlston Country Park,
near Swanage, Dorset
Fri Sep 21 Oundle Book Festival,
Oundle, Northants
Thu Oct 4 Ilkley Literature Festival,
Ilkley, W Yorks
Wed Nov 21 Todmorden Book
Festival, Todmorden, W Yorks
Andrew has given the title of his talk
How to Read the English Landscape. He
features in the talk three particular
villages: Steeple Barton (where WG
Hoskins wrote his seminal book The
Making of the English Landscape),
Juniper Hill (the real-life Lark Rise,
written about by Flora Thompson)
and Charterville near Minster Lovell,
a working-class land community from
the 1840s which remains distinctively
different today.
Back Roads through Middle England
is published by Gritstone Publishing
at £13.95. Trade distribution is by
Cordee. For review copies, contact the
publisher at [email protected].
Contact Andrew...
telephone 01422 844026
email [email protected]
website www.andrewbibby.com