In celebration of 175 years of ground-breaking research into religion, spirituality and the arts, In December 2021 the School of Divinity at New College, hosted its first ever literary festival. There was an array of top speakers and writers from the UK and beyond all exploring the relationship between belief and fiction, religion and pluralism, the complex web of religion, politics and the environment, the darker side of religion and crime fiction and much more.
The festival of literature, religion and imagination ran over three days and featured prominent authors and scholars from around the UK and beyond. The event was hosted in the beautiful building of New College; within this impressive setting guests enjoyed an array of authors alongside a bespoke bookshop and pop up cafe. Over the three days we welcomed an audience of well over 1000 at around 30 events.
Some of our highlights were; Mara Menzies and her dramatic story telling, Val McDermid with her tales of growing up in Fife, Robert Harris discussing the uses and abuses of power in his novels, Sally Magnusson reflecting on her mother living with dementia and Miles Jupp reminiscing about his time at New College while acting in Balamory.
We also enjoyed many other fascinating sessions including: Cathy Fox, James Robertson and Rachel Mann’s discussion of creative writing and theology; panels on Jewish Tales from Scotland; on George Mackay Brown; and on Science, Religion and Literature. As well as hearing local poets Christine de Luca and Lizzie Smith, along with authors Charles Foster on Being a Human and Francis Spufford on Light Perpetual.
Recordings from the New College Festival 2021
Whilst you wait for this year's festival, why not catch up on last year's event with full recordings available now.