July 29th 2025

2025 Speakers

We have curated an eclectic mix of speakers for this year's festival.

There will be five speakers on the day - here's a brief summary (more details on the speaker page):

 

Dr Ahmed Handy will talk about his book 'Quacks'

Through this humorous and heartfelt memoir, Dr Handy imparts his extensive collection of bonkers stories about the various quirky doctors and nurses he worked alongside, ranging from the mildly eccentric to the overtly sociopathic.

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Ray Martin will talk about 'Life Without a Tie'

I will talk about a six-month sabbatical in 2005, that didn’t quite go according to plan. I unexpectedly ended up living out of a backpack for 14 years, and it totally changed my thinking about life. I’ll touch on some of the insight and wisdom that I gained during the journey.

 

Joanne Barker - Not My Book Launch - how to self-publish in a year.

Self-published author, Joanne Barker, will be launching a collaborative and affordable 12 month writing scheme at this year’s Southam Book Festival. The first project to come out of her self-publishing start-up, Penny Black Press, Keyboard to Kindle, aims to create a community where aspiring authors are supported to deliver a good book, faster.  Whilst the arguments against Amazon are well-known, Joanne will assert it’s still the best route to publication for many. 

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Celia Tandy - The Pear Tree (inspired by the Cubbington Pear).

Celia Tandy is a local author who writes contemporary romance books.

She’ll be sharing her writing journey – the hard work and the fun – and perhaps she’ll also inspire you to write your own book too, because it’s never too late!

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She’ll also be talking about how the campaign to save the 250-year-old Cubbington pear tree was the inspiration behind her second book, The Pear Tree. While the story and characters are different, she has kept faith with the spirit of the original community campaign.

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Sarah Whitton

Sarah will talk about her childhood and writing aspirations, how she was diverted from her writing, then onto why she picked up the book and started again and within the talk, she discuss a twist of fate with an old college tutor and a disastrous boyfriend.

The talk will be given in the style of an interview.

 

There will also be a guest speaker appearing at the Community Hub at Galanos House.

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John Horton - Behind the Wire

John's parents, Alan and Peggy Horton were married in 1940, shortly before going to serve in WW2 where he was taken prisoner in Germany.

Alan & Peggy were able to write to one another, and John has collated their letters from when in captivity into a book.

This correspondence has been described by The Imperial War Museum as one of the most complete sets of letters they have ever been written between husband and wife.

The complete letters are now with the Imperial War Museum and several were recently included in their ‘Letters to loved ones’ produced for VE Day 80 earlier this year.

 

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