Cliveden Literary Festival is returning for a fourth year on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 October 2021, with a programme featuring an array of world-renowned writers, thinkers and opinion-makers – a programme celebrating literature, history, culture, politics and more.
Taking place on either The Arts Club Stage or in Cliveden’s Great Hall, speakers include David Baddiel, Amor Towles, Emerald Fennell, Olivette Otele, Peter Frankopan, Lionel Shriver, Dan Jones, Kate Bingham, Hallie Rubenhold, Chibundu Onuzo, Ronen Bergman, General David Petraeus, Mervyn King, Antonia Fraser, Candace Owens, Zareer Masani, Michael Gove, Andrew Roberts, Kate Mosse,
Also in the Cliveden Literary Festival 2021 programme of sessions are Dambisa Moyo, Elif Shafak, Dominic Sandbrook, Sebastian Faulks, A.N.Wilson, Catherine Ostler, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Matthew d’Ancona, Tristram Hunt, Anne McElvoy, Jonathan Bate, Barbara Amiel, Jessica Pulay, Yana Peel, Camilla Long, Saul David, Hannah Rothschild, Natalie Livingstone, John Preston, Conrad Black, Simon Heffer, Gordon Corera, Robert Hardman, Emma Soames, Sam Leith, Sasha Swire, Lucasta Miller, Camilla Tominey and Jesse Norman.
Natalie Livingstone, Founder and Chairman of Cliveden Literary Festival and author of The Mistresses of Cliveden and the upcoming The Women of Rothschild, said: “We’re delighted to be featuring such a great variety of stellar speakers who will be discussing topics as wide-ranging as anti-semitism, cancel culture, the art of storytelling and women’s place in history. It’s so thrilling that all the sessions will be taking place in person, and we can’t wait to welcome new and longstanding guests alike to Cliveden House.”
The Cliveden Literary Festival takes place at Cliveden House, which sits above the Thames in Buckinghamshire, surrounded by 376 acres of National Trust grounds. In its 350 year history, Cliveden has been a setting for political machinations, romantic intrigues, and intellectual debates, hosting poets and film stars, conservatives and communists, satirists and Prime Ministers. Cliveden has welcomed every monarch since Charles II.
CHANEL will be supporting the festival this year, extending the House’s 100-year legacy of literary and cultural engagement to imagine the next. Returning sponsors include Citi Private Bank and The Arts Club. The festival is presented in partnership with The National Trust and Iconic Luxury Hotels and in association with Tatler. Other partners include Champagne Veuve Clicquot, John Sandoe Books and Jardine Jaguar and Land Rover.
The Cliveden Literary Festival was launched in 2017 to revive the rich literary heritage of Cliveden House, which has been inspiring writers and thinkers from Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Alfred Lord Tennyson, George Bernard Shaw and Jonathan Swift to Sir Winston Churchill.
Previous festivals have featured speakers, including Leila Slimani, Bret Easton Ellis, Emily Maitlis, Ian McEwan, Ben Okri, Elif Shafak, Howard Jacobson, Robert Harris, Lucy Worsley, Alain de Botton, Candice Carty-Williams and Professor Brian Cox.
Day tickets for Saturday 23 October and Sunday 24 October cost £120 and £110 respectively. Weekend tickets for entry to both Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 October cost £195. Student discounts are available, and pricing is subject to a booking fee at the time of purchase.
Visit clivedenliteraryfestival.org to find out more about the Cliveden Literary Festival 2021 programme and to book tickets.
Cliveden Literary Festival 2021 programme
Saturday 23 October
End of days or a new world order?
Peter Frankopan, oracle of The Silk Road, navigates the globe with Simon Sebag Montefiore.
Queen and country: How will history define the second Elizabethan age?
Robert Hardman (chair), AN Wilson, Camilla Long and Camilla Tominey take on the Crown.
The race to a vaccine
Kate Bingham tells Jessica Pulay how she brought the life-saving vaccine to Britain.
Great men; forgotten women?
Saul David (chair), Hallie Rubenhold, Natalie Livingstone and Dan Jones discuss history versus herstory.
Rebel with a cause
The outrageous pundit and scourge of Biden’s America, Candace Owens, argues her case with Matthew D’Ancona.
Minority Report
David Baddiel talks to Simon Sebag Montefiore about how progressives foster anti-semitism.
How to write fiction in 2021: a masterclass of storytellers
Kate Mosse (chair), Sebastian Faulks, Elif Shafak, Lionel Shriver and Chibundu Onuzo on the art of their craft.
Uncivil war: can our polarised society find peace?
Anne McElvoy (chair), Lionel Shriver, Candace Owens and Sam Leith on one nation, two cultures.
Outlaws and outliers
Antonia Fraser and Catherine Ostler talk to Hallie Rubenhold about how history’s female trailblazers – Caroline Norton and the Duchess of Kingston – challenged the patriarchy and rewrote the rules of society.
Beyond Empire
Jesse Norman (chair), Zareer Masani, Peter Frankopan and Olivette Otele debate the legacy of imperialism.
Lady Black fights back
Barbara Amiel tells Andrew Roberts about her rollercoaster ride from Hendon schoolgirl to press baroness.
Sunday 24 October
The titans of media
Conrad Black, former newspaper baron, and Robert Maxwell’s biographer John Preston talk to Catherine Ostler about press potentates now and then.
Crazy Rich Georgians
Andrew Roberts, Tristram Hunt and Catherine Ostler celebrate the daring and decadence of the age of beauty.
Operation Phoenix: how to reconstruct Britain’s economy after covid
Anne McElvoy (chair), Mervyn King, Ian Livingstone and Dambisa Moyo map out the road to the recovery
The brightest stars
Sam Leith (chair) talks to Jonathan Bate and Lucasta Miller about the genius of Keats and Scott Fitzgerald.
Catastrophe in Kabul
General Petraeus, the former director of the CIA talks to Andrew Roberts about his all-star career, the hunt for Bin Laden and Afghanistan today.
Gilded cages and dynastic duties
Hannah Rothschild and Natalie Livingstone talk about facts vs fiction and the untold stories of Rothschild women.
The making of a modern classic
After the extraordinary success of A Gentleman in Moscow, a banker turned breakout novelist Amor Towles discusses his singular style and success with Chris Cleave.
Rise and kill
Ronen Bergman tells Gordon Corera about the astonishing trials, triumphs and tragedies of the Israeli secret service.
The Diary enquiry
Andrew Roberts (chair), Dominic Sambrook, Simon Heffer, Sasha Swire, Emma Soames and Michael Gove discuss the power of the political journal, from Chips Channon to today, via Thatcher’s Britain.
A Promising Young Woman
The dazzling Emerald Fennell talks to Natalie Livingstone about Hollywood, her first Oscar and playing Camilla.
