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As part of the RSL/Booker Prize Foundation Masterclass series, Adam Foulds gave a class on 'bio-fiction' on 8 September 2012. Here, RSL Events Manager Lucy Clouting interviews him about his work and his top tips for aspiring biographical and historical fiction writers.

Adam Foulds on biographical and historical fiction

THE COSMO DAVENPORT-HINES MEMORIAL MEETING

Tens of thousands of novels are published in the UK every year – so how do new voices get heard? Two well-established authors, Michael Holroyd and Deborah Moggach, introduce two outstanding young writers with novels coming out this month. Karin Altenberg’s first novel, Island of Wings, was set on St Kilda, and was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book Prize. Her second, Breaking Light, is set on Dartmoor. ‘I am a hard rock of a reader,’ says Michael Holroyd, ‘but this has more than once moved me to tears.’ Jessie Burton’s debut, The Miniaturist, set in the 17th Century, follows a young woman as she travels to Amsterdam to marry an illustrious merchant trader, and finds herself in a closed and dangerous world. It is, says Deborah Moggach, ‘complex, involving and deeply atmospheric’. As well as talking about their own work, Altenberg and Burton ask Holroyd and Moggach about their lives in literature. Michael Holroyd’s novel A Dog’s Life, started when he was 19, is re-released today (rather too hurriedly, he believes), and Deborah Moggach’s Tulip Fever – also set in 17th-century Amsterdam - is currently being made into a Hollywood film.

This meeting is generously sponsored by Richard and Jenny Davenport-Hines, and is held in memory of their son Cosmo.

Beginning, middle and end

Since its first publication 150 years ago, Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has become the most popular and influential children's story of all time. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, whose biography of Lewis Carroll,The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and The Secret History of Wonderland, is published this spring, investigates the other story that lurks between the lines of Carroll's book - his mysterious friendship with Alice Liddell, the real girl he transformed into a fictional heroine - and explores the history of the imaginary world he created for her. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst is a Fellow and Tutor in English at Magdalen College, Oxford. His books include Becoming Dickens, which was awarded the 2011 Duff Cooper Prize.

The event will be introduced by Robert MacFarlane, whose latest book Landmarks explores the relationship between words and landscape.

This meeting is generously sponsored by Richard and Jenny Davenport-Hines, and is held in memory of their son Cosmo.

Finding Wonderland - Robert Douglas - Fairhurst celebrates Lewis Carroll

Your Strategy Needs A Strategy by Martin Reeves and Knut Haanaes on Audible:
  
http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B019P9JGMO&source_code=AUDORWS1228159FW6
  
Get this audiobook for free when you try Audible:"
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Summary:


You think you have a winning strategy. But do you? Executives are bombarded with best-selling ideas and best practices for achieving competitive advantage, but many of these ideas and practices contradict each other. Should you aim to be big or fast? Should you create a blue ocean, be adaptive, play to win - or forget about a sustainable competitive advantage altogether?

In a business environment that is changing faster and becoming more uncertain and complex almost by the day, it's never been more important - or more difficult - to choose the right approach to strategy. In this book, The Boston Consulting Group's Martin Reeves, Knut Haanæs, and Janmejaya Sinha offer a proven method to determine the strategy approach that is best for your company. They start by helping you assess your business environment: how unpredictable it is, how much power you have to change it, and how harsh it is - a critical component of getting strategy right. They show how existing strategy approaches sort into five categories - Be Big, Be Fast, Be First, Be the Orchestrator, or simply Be Viable - depending on the extent of predictability, malleability, and harshness. In-depth explanations of each of these approaches will provide critical insight to help you match your approach to strategy to your environment, determine when and how to execute each one, and avoid a potentially fatal mismatch. Addressing your most pressing strategic challenges, you'll be able to answer questions such as:

    What replaces planning when the annual cycle is obsolete?
    When can we - and when should we - shape the game to our advantage?
    How do we simultaneously implement different strategic approaches for different business units?
    How do we manage the inherent contradictions in formulating and executing different strategies across multiple businesses and geographies? 

Until now, no book has brought it all together and offered a practical tool for understanding which strategic approach to apply. Get started today. 


Buy on Audible

Your Strategy Needs A Strategy by  Martin Reeves and Knut Haanaes, Narrated by Jeffrey Schmidt

This spring it is 400 years since William Shakespeare's death. To mark this, a consortium of leading cultural, creative and educational organisations co-ordinated by King's College London, has come together as Shakespeare400 to curate a series of public performances, programmes, exhibitons and creative activities. Working with King's, the Arden Shakespeare and the British Council, the RSL has commissioned some of the country's greatest poets to respond in verse to Shakespeare's sonnets. This evening we celebrate the publication of the anthology, On Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Poets' Celebration, and listen to ten poets read and discuss their work. The reading is chaired by the Shakespeare scholar Margreta de Grazia.

On Shakespeare's sonnets

For the eight-year-old Louisa Smith, a day trip to the beach with her father became an experience which shaped her life. The family car was stopped by an armed man, who makes it clear he is prepared to kill them unless he is driven to where he wants to go. But Louisa’s father is a Vietnam veteran, with a unique insight into how to unsettle their abductor. 

Shobande Shina recalls a mistake with money which stayed with him forever, and Nelson Bohorquez from Colombia, offers a unique glimpse of his mother’s sense of humour. And, from Syria, Layal Mahfoud remembers her mother’s lesson in standing up for her future.

Plus, contributions from Debbie Camara, Masiliso Akayombokwa, Dana Silcox, Paola Ribadeneira and Jake Crawford.

The Response is open to all and for the next topic we want you to tell us a story about an inspirational woman. As part of the World Service 100 Women series we are asking for your tales about women who changed your life or your community – or you may be a woman who changed things. How did you do it? Email us a voice memo or message recorded on your phone to  worldservice.letters@bbc.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!

Picture: A child holding an adult's hand, Credit: Thinkstock Published on December 7, 2016.

What My Parents Taught Me

Between 1949 and 1989 the Soviet Union tested 456 nuclear bombs in Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. The area the size of Belgium became known as the Polygon and when Kazakhstan became independent – 25 years ago this week - it inherited the world’s fourth biggest nuclear arsenal. The BBC’s Rustam Qobil visits the Polygon to piece together its remarkable story. Published on December 18, 2016.

The Polygon People

Will Grant takes a ride in Cuba to discover how people get around and whether the thaw in relations with the United States will make any difference to their lives. Published on August 13, 2015.

Cuba on the Move

Two well established poets, David Harsent and Lavinia Greenlaw, and two younger poets, Emma Jones and Ahren Warners, reflect on who and what first drew them to poetry, and ask tough, practical questions: how does a young poet go about getting work published? How important is it to have an agent? What are the pros and cons of self-publishing? And is it possible to make a living from poetry?

Being A Poet (Lavinia Greenlaw, David Harsent, Emma Jones & Ahren Warner)

Dr. Charles Stanley just completed his series "Healing Damaged Emotions". In this six-part series, Dr. Stanley addressed some of the personal battles we face. He explained how negative feelings such as anxiety, guilt, fear, rejection, anger, and unforgiveness hinder our lives and how God can help us gain the victory over them. In this Question and Answer session, Dr. Stanley reveals some details about the emotions covered in this sermon series.

Healing Damaged Emotions Q&A with Dr. Charles Stanley

A Prayer to Listen to God's Voice! A prayer led by Minister Tara Christie.

Join us for our weekly prayer calls Monday through Friday at 7am EST. Dial in at 712-775-7031 and use code 943334#.

A Prayer to Listen to God's Voice

An indepth look at stories and issues from around the world. This podcast offers you the chance to access landmark series from our archive.

What My Parents Taught Me

WSDocumentaries