There will be a panel on Evelyn Waugh at the Blenheim Palace Festival of Literature, Film & Music in October. This will consist of Paula Byrne, Alex Preston and Justine Picardie who will discuss the life and loves of Evelyn Waugh that were at one time played out in the pages of Harper’s Bazaar magazine.
Preston, a novelist and writer for Harper’s Bazaar, recently researched the magazine’s archives to explore the story of Waugh, his wife, Evelyn Gardner, and her lover, John Heygate, all of whom were writing for Harper’s Bazaar. Waugh’s work was serialised in Harper’s Bazaar, notably A Flat in London, which ultimately became the classic novel, A Handful of Dust. Biographer Paula Byrne’s book, Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead, looks at how the writer’s famous novel was inspired by his own experiences, loves and obsessions.
Preston is an award-winning novelist whose works include In Love and War. He writes for The Observer, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar and Town & Country Magazine, and is a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Kent. Byrne is author of a number of biographical works including The Genius of Jane Austen: Why She is a Hit in Hollywood; and Kick: The True Story of JFK’s Forgotten Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth. Here they talk to Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief Justine Picardie, author of four books including a memoir, If The Spirit Moves You, a biography of Coco Chanel, and Daphne: A Novel. This event is one of a series devoted to writers past and present associated with Harper’s Bazaar to mark the 150th anniversary of the magazine.
The event is sponsored by Harper’s Bazaar and is scheduled for 14 October at 2pm in the Marlborough Room of Blenheim Palace, north of Oxford. Tickets and other details are available here.
This event will take place during the display of the Evelyn Waugh exhibit at the Bodleian Library in Oxford itself. This is called “The City of Acquatint” and will run through 22 October. See earlier post for details.
The New York Public Library has selected Brideshead Revisited as its September book for its series “Discuss Great Books in a Great Space.” This will be at the main library on Fifth Avenue & 42nd St on Tu, 21 September at 2pm. Details will be posted later. Watch this site.
