Damian Barr’s Literary Salon and the British Library present An Evening with Miss Marple.
Damian Barr’s Literary Salon and the British Library present An Evening with Miss Marple.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE!

Join Damian on the 13th September for an in-person and online Salon at the British Library, as the Literary Salon launches Marple: Twelve New Stories, a brand-new collection of original tales penned by some of the world’s most acclaimed and bestselling female writers. Each story takes inspiration from Agatha Christie’s classic originals to feature a new mystery for Miss Marple to solve. As ever, she knows more than she appears to.

Damian Barr will be joined by contributing authors Lucy Foley and Kate Mosse, as well as historian, presenter and Christie biographer Lucy Worsley. The evening will feature exclusive readings, expert insights, and special appearances from Marple super-fans, celebrating the incomparable, enigmatic spirt of Jane Marple and her legendary creator Agatha Christie.

Tickets start at £10 for the in-person event (concessions are available) and £5 online. A ticket and book bundle will also be available and books will be on sale on the night. The box office and bar open at 6pm, theatre doors at 6.45pm and the Salon will start at 7pm. Lucy Foley, Kate Mosse and Lucy Worsley will also be signing books after the event.

See you there!

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Guest UserThe British LibraryDamian Barr, The British Library, Kate Mosse, Kate Foley, Lucy Worsley, Damian Barr's Literary Salon, Literary Salon, Miss Marple, Harper Collins, Miss Marple: Twelve New Stories
The Big Scottish Book Club is back!
The Big Scottish Book Club is back!

The Big Scottish Book Club has been recommissioned by BBC Scotland for a fourth series. The IWC (a Banijay UK company) series will return later this year for a further eight episodes, with some exciting changes to the format.

Writer and host, Damian Barr, will be joined by three guests together in the studio, each with a great story to tell and stories to share. Guests will range from authors with a new fiction, non-fiction book or memoir to well-known book lovers talking about the books that changed their life and the writers they are most passionate about.

In addition to studio guests, The Big Scottish Book Club will head out and about to speak to book lovers across Scotland. Readers will be invited to give a book review of a classic title, and each week, the show visits a different village or town and challenges three residents to tell viewers in 45 seconds about their bucket-list book on a new theme each week.

Pauline Law, Executive Producer for The Big Scottish Book Club, said:

“We’re really looking forward to bringing The Big Scottish Book Club back. It’s a wonderful series to make and while some elements might look slightly different, the series remains a celebration of literature, and our love for books remains very much at the heart of the series.“

Damian Barr said:

“2022 is Scotland’s year of stories and I am thrilled that The Big Scottish Book Club will return for a fourth series among the celebrations. We are bringing the audience at home right into the heart of the show by making it even cosier and more conversational. This next chapter is exciting and I hope it brings even more viewers and readers to the show. I love

hearing from folk who have picked up new books because of the show or got back in to reading again so thanks for your feedback and keep in touch. Happy reading.”

Gareth Hydes, Commissioning Editor at BBC Scotland, said:

“We are delighted to have a fourth series later this year, with just a few tweaks to the format. Viewers love The Big Scottish Book Club and Damian for the warmth, intelligence but also accessibility of the series and that very much remains the core of the show.”

The Big Scottish Book Club (8x45’) is an IWC production for BBC Scotland. It was

commissioned by Gareth Hydes. It will be executive produced by Pauline Law for IWC and will

broadcast later this year.

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Guest UserBSBC, The Big Scottish Book Club, #bigscottishbookclub, Big Scottish Book Club, Damian Barr, BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland
In Search of Sir Walter Scott on BBC iPlayer for only five more weeks!
In Search of Sir Walter Scott on BBC iPlayer for only five more weeks!

Just five weeks left to watch this! I mean, we are all just glued to the news but should you wish to escape into my documentary about Sir Walter Scott, you have not long left to catch it!

Made by Factory Films.

Watch now!

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Guest UserIn Search of Walter Scott, In Search of Sir Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott 250, Sir Walter Scott’s 250th birthday, Factory Films, Damian Barr, BBC iPlayer, BBC Four
Treasures of The National Library of Scotland podcast
Treasures of The National Library of Scotland podcast

To mark the opening of Treasures of the National Library of Scotland, the National Library asked some of Scotland’s real-life national treasures to select their favourite items. What riches to pick from! This makes me officially vintage! And one of the other folk on my episode is Liz Lochead—one of my actual heroes!

Listen to them all here!

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Guest UserNational Library of ScotlandTreasures of the National Library of Scotland, National Library of Scotland, Liz Lochead
Author and campaigner Damian Barr on why we still need Pride
Author and campaigner Damian Barr on why we still need Pride

Yes, we still need Pride. We are still being harassed and attacked and fired and evicted. Now, more than ever, your LGBTQ+ beloveds need your support. This piece addresses the renewed attempts to divide us by attacking trans and non binary folk and looks at new ‘section 28’ laws here and in the US.

i’ve written a piece and made a video about why we still need Pride. I hope it speaks to you and that you speak with the lqbtq+ people and allies in your life about standing together.

Click here to read the full article and watch the video.

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Guest UserPride, Pride Month, Yahoo, Yahoo Life, Damian Barr
World Premiere of 'This is Not A Pity Memoir'!
World Premiere of 'This is Not A Pity Memoir'!

Abi Morgan is the BAFTA and Emmy-winning playwright and screenwriter who created the BBC's rave series The Split, The Iron Lady, Suffragette, The Hour and much more. She's just published the incredible This Is Not A Pity Memoir, and we were thrilled to have the world premiere at the Salon recently.

Poignant and heart-breaking but resolutely unwilling to rely on sentimental platitudes, Abi's memoir is a profoundly powerful and perceptive read on love, grief and the eternal promise of hope.

Listen HERE!

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Guest UserThe London LibraryAbi Morgan, This Is Not A Pity Memoir, The Split, The Iron Lady, Suffragette, The Hour, Emmy-winning playwright, Damian Barr, Damian Barr's Literary Salon, The London Library, World Premiere
Listen to Douglas Stuart in conversation with me on the Literary Salon podcast!
Listen to Douglas Stuart in conversation with me on the Literary Salon podcast!


EXTRA SPECIAL EPISODE ALERT! Enjoy this full-length Literary Salon with Douglas Stuart, hot-off-the-press!

Last week the Literary Salon held a very special evening with Douglas in conversation with me at an in-person Salon in Brighton - it was an incredible conversation, and I’m still thinking about it. So join us me and the Literary Salon team as we celebrate Douglas' brilliant new novel 'Young Mungo', the story of two boys, two tribes and two Scotlands. Catholic James and Protestant Mungo live in the violent, macho world of Glasgow’s council schemes. They dream of escaping the gangs and the grey, fractured city. Will their dream come true?

'Thanks so much for a wonderful Salon Damian. I could have listened to Douglas all night. Such a tender, interesting and poignant interview.' - Araminta Hall

Young Mungo is out now and available at your local indie bookshop or from the Salon shop at bookshop.org


LISTEN HERE!

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Guest UserIronworks StudiosDamian Barr, Douglas Stuart, Young Mungo, Shuggie Bain, Ironworks Studios, Brighton
Damian announced as Fellow at The Royal Society of Edinburgh
Damian announced as Fellow at The Royal Society of Edinburgh

This doesn’t feel quite real. I used to gawp up The Royal Society of Edinburgh building when I was a student and be in awe of all the knowledge that emanated from it. And, frankly, intimated by the power. Today they honoured me as a Fellow along with 79 incredibly talented people- scientists and intellectuals and pillars of civic society. I plan to work with the RSE to make the joys and benefits of reading and writing available to all.

Thanks to the President and Trustees and to everyone who has ever given me an opportunity and thus helped me get here. Thanks Mum ❤️

Click here to learn more about The Royal Society of Edinburgh.

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Guest UserThe Royal Society of EdinburghThe Royal Society of Edinburgh, Damian Barr
Salon at The London Library with world premieres from Kit de Waal and Abi Morgan!
Salon at The London Library with world premieres from Kit de Waal and Abi Morgan!

Kit and Abi two of our most thrilling writers unveil their memoirs at a very special Salon.

Kit is the award-winning and bestselling author of My Name Is Leon and edited the pioneering collection Common People. Without Warning & Only Sometimes: Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood is her story of growing up in a household of opposites and extremes. Her haphazard mother was a devout Jehovah’s Witness who believed the world would end in 1975. Her father was the opposite. Kit was caught between three worlds: Irish, Caribbean and British in 1960s Birmingham. It’s funny, honest and as compelling as her fiction.

Abi Morgan is the BAFTA and Emmy-winning playwright who created The Iron Lady, Suffragette and The Hour. She shifts from screen to page for This Is Not A Pity Memoir. From the very first page it is intimate and within five pages I was falling in love with her and her husband Jacob: ‘This is the man I love, the man I have known for nearly twenty years. The man who have fought with and laughed with and loved with. The man who is never going to be the same again.’

Tickets will be available to newsletter subscribers at 9am on 23rd March and to the general public at 12pm. Prices start at £15 plus booking fee. Doors and bar open at 6.30pm and the Salon will start at 7.30pm and finish at 9pm.

Join us for this very special Salon all about memoir. And it’s the world premiere for both books! See you there.

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Guest Userthe london libraryKit de Waal, Abi Morgan, Damian Barr, Damian Barr's Literary Salon, The London Library, My Name Is Leon, Without Warning & Only Sometimes: Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood, Common People