2021 Speakers

Here are the speakers in our  2021 Digital Festival.

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Speaker details

Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the highly successful No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold...

Andrew Lownie

Andrew Lownie was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was Dunster History Prizeman and President of the Union,...

• Friday 8th October 18:00 - 19:00 Traitor King: the Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor | Digital

Chris Atkins

Chris Atkins is a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker. His documentaries Taking Liberties and Starsuckers were critically acclaimed and made front-page news. He has also...

• Saturday 9th October 16:00 - 16:45 A Bit of a Stretch: the Diaries of a Prisoner | Digital

Dick Carter

Dick Carter began racing small boats on Cape Cod and came out of Yale’s Corinthian Sailing Club as a...

• Saturday 9th October 14:00 - 14:45 Dick Carter Yacht Designer: In the Golden Age of Offshore Racing | Digital

Dr Ed Patrick

Dr Ed Patrick is an anaesthetist and a comedian. He has performed across the UK, including at the Edinburgh...

• Sunday 10th October 14:00 - 14:45 Catch Your Breath: the Secret Life of a Sleepless Anaesthetist | Digital

Dr Gwen Adshead

Dr Gwen Adshead trained at St George’s Hospital, the Institute of Psychiatry and the Institute of Group Analysis. She...

• Saturday 9th October 15:00 - 15:45 The Devil You Know | Digital

Felicity Fair Thompson

Felicity Fair Thompson is an author and film maker. Her drama documentary about Carisbrooke Castle was broadcast on SKY...

• Saturday 9th October 17:00 - 17:45 Write on Wight: Grandpa’s Dear Old Girl | Digital

Josh Barry

Writer and podcaster Josh Barry was diagnosed with Athetoid Cerebral Palsy following complications with his birth on the Isle...

• Saturday 9th October 17:00 - 17:45 Write on Wight: Beyond the Title | Digital

Lia Leendertz

Lia Leendertz is an award-winning garden and food writer based in Bristol. She writes regularly for the Daily Telegraph, The Garden,...

• Sunday 10th October 12:00 - 12:45 The Almanac: a Seasonal Guide to 2022 | Digital

Mara Menzies

Mara Menzies is a narrative artist who draws on her rich, dual Kenyan/Scottish cultural heritage to create worlds that...

• Sunday 10th October 17:00 - 17:45 Blood and Gold | Digital

Michael Cockerell

Michael Cockerell has been a political reporter for over 50 years for TV, radio and the press. His documentaries...

• Sunday 10th October 16:00 - 16:45 Unmasking Our Leaders | Digital

Roger Hermiston

Roger Hermiston is a writer and journalist who worked as assistant editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme from...

• Sunday 10th October 15:00 - 15:45 Two Minutes to Midnight: 1953-the Year of Living Dangerously | Digital

Stephan Roman

Stephan Roman studied History at the University of Oxford, where he specialised in European and British history. He then...

• Saturday 9th October 12:00 - 12:45 Isle and Empires: Romanov Russia, Britain and the Isle of Wight | Digital

Steve Love

Steve Love, after a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, rather incongruously joined the police where his later...

• Saturday 9th October 17:00 - 17:45 Write on Wight: The Bank Robber’s Daughter | Digital

Tracy Borman

Tracy Borman is a best selling author, historian and broadcaster, specialising in the Tudor period. Her books include Elizabeth’s Women,...

• Saturday 9th October 11:00 - 11:45 The Fallen Angel | Digital