Description
Our panellists discuss the legacy of J.B Priestley and his seminal work 90 years after he travelled across the country chronicling the thoughts of ordinary people.
Priestley visited everywhere from Bradford to Norfolk, Southampton to Lancashire and the book it inspired, English Journey, has become one of his most popular works.
It has inspired countless writers since, from George Orwell and W.H. Auden to Margaret Drabble and Beryl Bainbridge, and helped popularise the travelogue genre, showing that writing about the everyday lives of people could be both informative and entertaining.
Join our panellists, writer John Higgs, Dr Kathryn Walchester, and Lindsay Sutton, Chair of the J.B. Priestley Society Explore, as they discuss how Priestley’s work has encouraged countless writers and poets to investigate their own personal histories and experiences.
About the Chair
Lindsay Sutton
Lindsay Sutton, Chair of the J.B. Priestley Society, brings vast expertise to discussions. Raised in Bradford, his journalism career encompassed esteemed publications and broadcasters. Despite international acclaim, his heart lies in the North, reflected in his works exploring Bradford City FC and Morecambe Bay. With three writing awards, including IPW American Travel Writer of the Year, Lindsay captivates audiences with diverse literary pursuits. His recent hit, 111 Things You Shouldn’t Miss in Lancaster and Morecambe, underscores his passion for regional exploration. Expect forthcoming publications to delve into both British and American history, promising captivating insights.
About the Artists
Kathryn Walchester
Kathryn Walchester is Subject Leader and Reader in English Literature at Liverpool John Moores University. She has published widely on travel writing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, northern travel and mountaineering. Her interest in J.B. Priestley’s travel writing came from research into working travellers, which was the subject of a journal article, ‘Working, Travelling, and Identity; J.B. Priestley’s ] English Journey (1934)’, Studies in Travel Writing (February 2021) and a monograph, Travelling Servants: Mobility and Employment in British Fiction and Travel Writing 1750-1850 (Routledge, 2019). She is currently working on a co-edited collection of essays on ‘microtravel’ and a monograph, Travelling Gardens: Roots and Mobility in British Travel Writing about Europe, 1700-1830.
John Higgs
John Higgs is a writer who specialises in finding previously unsuspected narratives, hidden in obscure corners of our history and culture, which can change the way we see the world. His work has been described as “Absolutely wonderful” by Terry Gilliam and “breathtakingly lucid” by Alan Moore. According to The Times, “Higgs’s prose has a diamond-hard quality. He knows how to make us relate.” “A while ago I decided to read anything Higgs writes,” said Frank Cottrell Boyce, “He seems to be able to take any subject — pop music, Watling Street, conspiracy theories, robotics — and poke at it until it yields up its secrets.”
His books include The KLF, Stranger Than We Can Imagine, Watling Street and William Blake Vs The World . His last book, Love And Let Die: Bond, the Beatles and the British Psyche , was published in September 2022.
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