The pandemic has meant that we are taking our day with Riddley Walker online – to request the link to view these events, please click here. This will be sent to you shortly before the Sum Poasyum. The full schedule can be found here

SESSION FOUR – 15.45 OCTOBER 2020

15.45 Dominic Power, interview with Paul March-Russell (30 mins)

Dominic Power writes for radio and the stage. His dramatization of Riddley Walker was transmitted on BBC Radio 4 in 1996 and, in a slightly longer version, on BBC Radio 3. Dominic was Associate Director and Text Editor for Bristol’s Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory theatre company, from 2001-2017, preparing performance editions throughout this period. Other works for theatre include Tales of the Undead (Hen and Chicken Theatre, Bristol/Croydon Warehouse Theatre 1991) and a new edition of Tartuffe, co-written with Andrew Hilton (The Tobacco Factory Theatre, Bristol 2017)

Dominic was head of Screen Arts at The National Film and Television School from 1999 until 2016 and was also co-editor of the journal The New Soundtrack (Edinburgh University Press).

c.16.15 Festival Read Book Club (30 mins)

With Dominic Power, Paul March-Russell, Sonia Overall and Peter Vujakovic. 

How does Riddley Walker speak to us now? Join a panel of Riddley enthusiasts to discuss the novel’s continuing resonance and relevance. What does Riddley Walker tell us about East Kent, now and in the future? Bring your questions, responses and contributions to share in the panel chat space. 

Riddley Walker is the Festival Read for 2020. Get your copy of the book at the special Festival Read price of £8 (RRP £10.99) from the Canterbury Christ Church University Bookshop, situated on the North Holmes Road campus. 

Dr Paul March-Russell is Editor of Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction and the commissioning editor for SF Storyworlds and has been a judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Paul’s expertise in speculative fiction is combined with research in the role of storytelling and the poetics of landscape, ecocriticism and critical theory.

Dr Sonia Overall is a writer, psychogeographer and Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, where she runs the MA in Creative Writing. Her publications include the East Kent novel The Realm of Shells and the poetry collection The Art of Walking. Her book on psychogeographical pilgrimage Heavy Time, and walking-writing manual walk write (repeat), are due for publication in 2021. Sonia is the founder of the Women Who Walk network of walking artists and academics.  

Dominic Power writes for radio and the stage. His dramatization of Riddley Walker was transmitted on BBC Radio 4 in 1996 and, in a slightly longer version, on BBC Radio 3.

Professor Peter Vujakovic is Emeritus Professor of Geography, with research interests in landscape, cultural geography, cartography, geopolitics, and biogeography at Canterbury Christ Church University. He conceived and developed the university’s ‘Bioversity Initiative’.

c.16.45 Sign-off and Thanks (5-10 mins)

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These events are part of Sum Tyms Bytin Sum Tyms Bit – a programme of talks, creative responses and interventions inspired by Russell Hoban’s cult novel Riddley Walker, on the 40th anniversary of publication. 

Riddley Walker, first published in 1980, is the Festival Read for 2020. Set in post-apocalyptic East Kent, written in a futuristic Kentish dialect, and with Canterbury at its heart, where better to host a celebration of Riddley Walker’s legacy?

Sum Tyms Bytin Sum Tyms Bit is a collaboration between Dr Andrew M. Butler, Dr Sonia Overall, Dr Paul March-Russell, and Feral Practice, with the support of Canterbury Christ Church University and The University of Kent. With thanks to The Russell Hoban Estate, The Arthur C. Clarke Award, The Science Fiction Foundation, The Canterbury Festival and Festival CHAT 2020. Russell Hoban’s illustrations are used with the kind permission of the Beinecke Library, Yale University.