Lucinda’s Diary

Talk at Alderney Lit Fest: Dickens & Travel – the start of modern travel writing

Date: 22 March 2024
Time: 4:30 - 5:30pm
Location: The Alderney Literary Festival, Anne French Room, Island Hall, Alderney, Channel Islands
Talks & Events
Dickens and Travel

From childhood, Charles Dickens was fascinated by tales from other countries and other cultures, and he longed to see the world. In Dickens and Travel, Lucinda Hawksley looks at the journeys made by him. …

The Goldster Magazine Show: Lucinda Chats to Sara Barnes

Date: 26 March 2024
Time: 1:00pm UK Time
Location: Online
Goldster Book Club
The Winter of Our Lives book cover

Sara Barnes, who is 62, believes daily cold water immersion has unlocked her creative and romantic spirit. Her first two published books, The Cold Fix (Nov 2022) and The Winter of Our Lives (Nov 2023) are testament to that power. The Cold Fix is Sara’s deeply intimate story of overcoming physical and emotional pain following major leg surgery. Not about how to or where to go cold water swimming, but a touchy feely dive into the inner world of those who have made it a non-negotiable part of their lives. …

Talk at Chalfont St Giles Lit Fest: Charles Dickens; A Victorian Traveller

Date: 12 May 2024
Time: 8:00pm
Location: Stone Cottage, Chalfont St Giles
Talks & Events
Lucinda Hawksley

Speaker at a unique literary festival held in characterful venues in the picturesque Chiltern villages of Chalfont St. Giles and Jordans. …

Recent Events

Goldster Conversations: Inside Story Live At Riverstone with Lucinda and Andrew Lycett

Date: 14 March 2024
Time: 12 Noon UK Time
Location: Online and live from Riverstone
Goldster Book Club
The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes book jacket

Andrew’s latest book, published by Frances Lincoln, is  The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes, a lavishly illustrated examination of the social, political and intellectual environments which spawned both Sherlock Holmes and his creator Conan Doyle. Andrew and Lucinda will be chatting about this latest title, as well as about Wilkie Collins, because 2024 is the bicentenary of Collins’s birth. …

Dickens Fellowship talk in Canterbury

Date: 12 March 2024
Time: 3:00pm
Location: St Dunstan's Church Hall, 80 London Road, Canterbury, CT2 8LS
Talks & Events
Portrait painting of Wilkie Collins by Rudolph Lehmann

Talk on ‘Charlie & Wilkie Collins and their relationship to the Dickens Family’.

Please join us in St Dunstan’s church hall in Canterbury if you can, or request the Zoom link by email: [email protected]

Guest Speaker at Brushstrokes Art Exhibition

Date: 11 March 2024
Time: 10:30 am onwards
Location: Sudbury Arts Centre, Sudbury (Formerly St Peter’s Church)
Talks & Events
BrushStrokes poster

Success After Stroke biennial fundraising event. The BrushStroke art exhibition held at St. Peter’s Church, Market Hill, Sudbury. …

Goldster Conversations: Inside Story with Lucinda and Karim Alrawi

Date: 29 February 2024
Time: 12 Noon UK Time
Location: Online
Goldster Book Club
The Book of Sands book jacket

Join Lucinda Hawksley for the final Inside Story, with special guest Karim Alrawi, who will be joining us very early in the morning his time, from Canada. Karim grew up in both of his parents’ countries: England and Egypt. His experiences of both countries’ literary heritages have made him a superb writer, able to master several genres. …

Goldster Conversations: Book Of The Month, Cuckoo in the Nest

Date: 23 February 2024
Time: 12 Noon UK Time
Location: Online
Goldster Book Club
Cuckoo in the Nest book jacket

Earlier this month, Lucinda interviewed Fran Hill, an author and retired English teacher, about her brilliant debut novel Cuckoo in the Nest. Set in the heatwave summer of 1976, it is inspired by Fran’s own experience of being fostered. Its narrator is bright, sarcastic, 14-year-old poet, Jackie Chadwick, newly-fostered by the Wall family. Jackie desperately needs stability but the Walls’ insecure, jealous teenage daughter Amanda isn’t happy about the ‘cuckoo’ and sets about ousting her. …

Goldster Conversations: Inside Story with Lucinda and Jean Briggs

Date: 15 February 2024
Time: 12 Noon UK Time
Location: Online
Goldster Book Club

Watch again

Artistic Fields: in conversation with Victoria Panton-Bacon

Date: 10 February 2024
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm
Location: The Fleece Inn, St Mary's St, Bungay NR35 1AX
Talks & Events
Artistic Fields poster

Talking with fellow author Victoria Panton-Bacon. Tickets are on sale now. New venue for this event. Please book early to avoid disappointment. …

Goldster Conversations: Inside Story Live At Riverstone with Lucinda and Humphrey Hawksley

Date: 8 February 2024
Time: 12 Noon UK Time
Location: Online and live from Riverstone
Goldster Book Club
Lucinda and Humphrey

A very special Inside Story brings together Goldster Conversations’ two founding hosts Lucinda and Humphrey Hawksley […] Today, the tables will turn with Lucinda asking Humphrey about his books and work. Why did he work his passage to Australia straight after leaving school? What drew him into journalism to become one of the BBC’s most respected foreign correspondents? …