Programme 2025-2026
2025
18th September 2025
Charles Darwin – The Evolution of a Theory Talk by: Douglas Irvine
Charles Darwin published his book “Origin of Species by Natural Selection” in 1859. It is now considered to be a key work of both literature and science and it immediately sold out at the time. However, it also provoked outrage among some in the clergy and the scientific communities.
This talk will outline Darwin’s early life, including his adventures while collecting the evidence that formed the basis of his ideas, the books that helped him to reach his conclusions and the events leading to the publication of his theory.
16th October 2025
From Facts to Fascination: The Art of Popular Science Talk by: Neill Allan
Why do millions read science for pleasure? This talk journeys through the voices of Britain’s most engaging science writers — from Brian Cox’s cosmic metaphors to Mary Roach’s morbid curiosities — uncovering what makes their work irresistible. We’ll explore what readers truly want: clarity, wonder, relevance, and a human touch beneath the facts.
20th November 2025
Celebrating the Booker Prize for Fiction
Talks by: Christine Harrington, Rosemary Hughes and Eileen Davis
It’s the Booker Prize season, and we are celebrating this prestigious award for fiction. There will be a brief history of the prizes, which was first awarded in 1969. We shall then take a look at three prizewinners:
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively is a layered novel that explores memory, history, and identity through Claudia Hampton, an intelligent, independent woman reflecting on her life as she nears death. Blending personal memory with historical events—especially World War II and a lost wartime love—the novel reveals how lives are shaped as much by experience as by the stories we tell about them.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, winner of the 1989 Booker Prize, follows Stevens, a devoted English butler serving Lord Darlington in the years leading up to World War II. The novel explores Stevens’s reflections on his employer’s ties to the Nazis and his complex relationship with housekeeper Miss Kenton. Set mainly in the 1930s, it examines themes of duty, regret, and missed opportunities. The story was adapted into a critically acclaimed 1993 film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the 2024 Booker Prize winner, the novel captures the experiences of six astronauts aboard the International Space Station over sixteen Earth orbits, blending their daily routines, physical challenges, and reflections with a deep connection to the planet they observe from space. Inspired by live ISS footage, the book offers a unique and extraordinary perspective on life in orbit and our relationship with Earth.
4th December 2025 – Christmas Special Christmas readings and a quiz
2026
15th January 2026 – New Horizons, Campus novels of Malcolm Bradbury & David Lodge.
Talk by: Hugh Davis
After the Second World War, new opportunities opened up for secondary and higher education, which was regarded as a benefit in itself. Bradbury and Lodge followed this trajectory to its pinnacle of a career in academic life, for them teaching English Literature. They practised what they taught as novelists. They each wrote comic “campus novels” about their academic world: Eating People is Wrong, Stepping Westwards and The History Man from Bradbury, Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work from Lodge. These were much appreciated by optimistic beneficiaries of the new educational opportunities. Are they more than a nostalgic reminder of the past?
19th February 2026 – Compare & Contrast The Go-Between & Room with a View
Talk by: John Andrew
These two well-known coming-of-age stories contain many similarities, not least their settings at the start of the twentieth century. Their central characters both undergo significant transformations in their understanding of themselves and the world around them. Yet their authors use very different lenses to throw light on these changes. This talk will tease out the similarities and differences between these two compelling novels.
12th March 2026 – Penguin Books
Talk by: Angela Wade.
Not the publishing house, but rather a waddle along with 3 diverse authors and their tales of the social, tuxedoed, adorable creatures. By turn tense, threatening, charming, and heart-warming…all human emotions evoked by penguins!
16th April 2026 – The Writers of Romney Marsh
Talk by: Christopher Carter
The calm and eerie beauty of Romney Marsh has long cast its spell over writers and painters. A remote, sheep-dotted area, with scattered farmhouses, steeped in smuggling lore, it is a place of both retreat and inspiration. The beginning of the 20th century witnessed an extraordinary literary gathering there of some of England’s greatest writers. In this talk, we explore their interactions and the effect on them of the Marsh’s timeless scenery.
21st May 2026 – Desert Island Books
Presented by: John Andrew.
(This will follow the Annual General Meeting)
Following the Society’s brief AGM, one of our members will be interviewed and asked to share the eight books they would choose to be marooned with if they were shipwrecked on a desert island and the reasons for their choices. From stories of ancient times, through modern romantic fiction to scientific treatises, this event will throw a light on what might while away their lonely days waiting to be rescued. Which books would you choose?
Previous year’s programmes can be viewed by clicking on the link below:
Programme for the year 2024/2025: https://wokinghamliterarysociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2024-2025.pdf