Sunday, May 20, 2012

Roman Weekend, Chester, UK, June 2nd-3rd 2012

Come and see the Romans in Chester's Grosvenor Park on June 2nd-3rd!  We're setting up on the Friday afternoon, and when I say 'we' I mean the Roman Army and their civilians, and their subject peoples (aka the Little Brits), and a bunch of traders selling anything from lovely Roman beads to dried meat, to candy floss! (judging by last year).  By Saturday morning, we shall be resplendent in a our Roman gear - the blokes in shiny helmets and armour, and the women in saggy baggy old tube dresses elegant gowns! 

The might of the Early Imperial Army will be there, with contingents from all over the country, and indeed the wider Roman Empire. In lesser numbers (maybe reflecting the smaller army of the later Empire?) also appearing will be the Late Romans - no, just because they wear sensible trousers and long sleeved tunics they are NOT Vikings ;) There are some even later Romans too, all the way from Constantinople (it's a jolly long way to come from there just for the weekend, methinks.)

My partner and I will be with the Late Romans (aka Britannia), but since we're aged and close to being pensioned off (some hope!), we're confined to camp and work on crafts such as antler working and maybe mosaic making. Oh, and there will be cavalry, courtesy of Romanorum.  There'll be plenty of action in the nearby amphitheatre, including Roman drill, gladiators and even a bear!

More up-to-date, but writing stories about Romans, are a bevy historical novelists, who will be haunting the Roman Camp.  Those attending are: the delightful Ruth Downie, Robert Fabbri , Ben Kane, Anthony Riches (who once did me the honour of pronouncing my specialised archaeology reports 'abstruse'), and Russ Whitfield.  They will be happy to talk about their books, and will no doubt sell them to you and sign them for you.

For further details of timings go to this website.

York's Big City Read July - September 2012

Here's an extract of the historical novel/historical research events going on in York over the summer:
 
In Conversation with Susanna Gregory
Susanna Gregory will be reading from her book Mystery in the Minster, written especially for this year's Big City Read event.
Wed, 25 Jul 2012
Literary Luncheon with Susanna Gregory
Join Susanna Gregory for an intimate buffet lunch to find out more about her writing.
Thu, 26 Jul 2012
Rory Clements
Rory Clements talks about his historical thrillers.
Tue, 7 Aug 2012

York 1212 - The City, the Charter and the King
Join historian, Dr. Sarah Rees-Jones and take a trip back to York during the reign of King John.
Sun, 12 Aug 2012
An evening with Elizabeth Chadwick
Elizabeth Chadwick joins us to talk about her fascinating experiences of turning medieval history into fiction.
Thu, 16 Aug 2012

Alison Weir: A Dangerous Inheritance
Alison's talk will be largely factual. She will also discuss the writing of historical fiction, and how historical sources can be used to create a novel like this.
Wed, 22 Aug 2012
A Treasury of Stained Glass - York Minster
Sarah Brown talks about York Minister's stained glass.
Thu, 30 Aug 2012
The World in 1212 - Professor Robert Bartlett
Professor Bartlett talks about the world in 1212 and medieval views of the earth.
Tue, 4 Sep 2012

An evening with Karen Maitland
Karen Maitland talks about her latest book, Falcon of Fire and Ice.
Thu, 6 Sep 2012
Medieval Literature
An introduction to medieval literature.
Thu, 13 Sep 2012
Medieval Murderers
Michael Jecks, Ian Morson and Susanna Gregory talk at the final event of the Big City Read.
Thu, 20 Sep 2012

Meat Tile Anyone?



Bit off the beaten ceramic tile track, but arguably gets into the 100 and 1 uses for brick and tile book: a short article on the Historical Novel Society webpages, copied from Bloody Good Read blog.  Tile as food eh? ;)