When award-winning food writer Felicity Cloake announced her dream to cycle across America, the reactions were… mixed: “You’ll die,” warned a Californian colleague. “You’ll be murdered,” added her mum. Friends panicked: “But… what will you eat?”

Determined to prove there’s more to American cuisine than burgers and doughnuts, Felicity embarks on the ultimate coast-to-coast adventure, tackling America’s highways, byways and pieways by bike in election year, counting campaign flags and uncovering local favourites like crawfish stew and sauerkraut balls. from Memphis barbecue to Mission burritos, Italian beef to Tex-Mex-Chinese breakfast dumplings, she dives headfirst into iconic American dishes and the fascinating stories and journeys behind them.

Felicity Cloake is the multi award-winning author of the Guardian’s long-running How to Make the Perfect series, the New Statesman’s food column and seven books, including One More Croissant for the Road and Red Sauce Brown Sauce , which won the Fortnum and Mason food book of the year award in 2023.

In association with James Allen’s Girls’ School

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Why did so many Germans take part in the crimes of Nazi Germany? How did they come to support Hitler and follow him almost to the very end? For too long, the Nazis have been presented as little more than psychopaths or criminals. In his major new work, renowned historian Richard J. Evans makes use of a mass of recently unearthed new evidence to strip away the veneer of myth and legend from the faces of the Third Reich and present a more realistic view of Nazi perpetrators as human beings who were disturbingly like us.

Hitler’s People is a chilling, brilliantly written work which allows the reader to understand the texture and values of the Third Reich and just how far individuals will go when so many normal moral constraints have disappeared.

A Dulwich Festival event.

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In Tree Hunting , Paul Wood seeks out the best individual trees – the most charismatic, quirky or downright spectacular – that grow in Britain and Ireland’s towns, cities and villages (and, in one case, from the crack in a church steeple). From a stumpy sycamore in Shetland, contorted by wind and hard weather, to the shining jewel in Brighton’s unlikely treasure trove of elms, Paul travels on a quest from north to south rooting out the legends and tall tales behind these marvellous specimens. As he delves into this rich ecosystem, he reveals how trees are inextricably bound to the story of our towns and cities: they have always meant a great deal to those that live near them, and they continue to shape the fabric of urban life in deep, and often surprising ways.

Including sumptuous maps, grid references and charming travel notes so you can plan adventures of your own, Tree Hunting will help you unlock the secrets of Britain and Ireland’s urban forests.

Paul’s event will be taking place during the Urban Tree Festival.

A Dulwich Festival event.

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**CANCELLED** DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Pull up a chair to Martha Collison’s table, where the recipes are big on flavour with minimal fuss, making sharing food with friends easier than ever.

Whether you’re looking for a weekend brunch spread, a little treat to share over coffee with a friend, a three-course extravaganza or a weeknight winner for two, Martha has got you covered. The recipes are all easy to follow, and produce delicious results without hours of effort in the kitchen.

Martha Collison is a bestselling food writer and recipe creator. She has written three cookbooks, established a regular column for Waitrose Weekend, built a dedicated online following and become resident Show Chef on the Graham Norton Radio Show with Virgin Radio. She was also a finalist in the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2024, and has appeared on Saturday Kitchen. In 2014, aged 17, she took part in the fifth series of The Great British Bake Off and remains the youngest ever contestant.

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From the Women’s Prize longlisted, British Book award-winning, bestselling author of Small Pleasures, a new novel about love, family and the joy of freedom.

Croydon, 1964. Helen Hansford is in her thirties and an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital where she has been having a long love affair with Gil: a charismatic, married doctor.

One spring afternoon they receive a call about a disturbance from a derelict house not far from Helen’s home. A thirty-seven-year-old man called William Tapping, with a beard down to his waist, has been discovered along with his elderly aunt. It is clear he has been shut up in the house for decades, but when it emerges that William is a talented artist, Helen is determined to discover his story.

Shy Creatures is a life-affirming novel about all the different ways we can be confined, how ordinary lives are built of delicate layers of experience, the joy of freedom and the transformative power of kindness.

A Dulwich Festival event.

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Lugma in Arabic means a bite. For Noor, as a chef and co-author of two Ottolenghi Test Kitchen cookbooks, her career has been centred around taking bites of food and analysing them to create the perfect dish. Raised in Bahrain and now based in London, Noor takes you on a culinary journey to celebrate her own food culture. Her recipes are inspired by the foods of her upbringing: the elaborate rice dishes and black limes of the Gulf, an abundance of herbs and sour flavours from Iran, liberal spice and chilli heat from India and the vibrant foods of the Levant – to create a unique collection of traditional and re-imagined dishes from the Middle East.

From Spring Time Fattoush and Stuffed Baby Aubergines to Slow-cooked Fenugreek Lamb with Pickled Chillies and Pistachio Cake with Labneh, these beautiful and inspirational recipes are full of love and warmth to be recreated in your own kitchen.

“ There’s an incredible generosity to Noor’s cooking, capturing the spirit of so many cooks across the Middle East: bold gestures, big flavours, whole universes of food around a single table. Noor is also a unique talent; her cooking reflects the essence of home comfort, plus an unmatched innovative palate. ” – Yotam Ottolenghi

A Dulwich Festival event.

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Ever wondered what donuts get up to when they’re not being eaten?

No, because that would be silly! But it turns out, donuts have BIG PLANS FOR WORLD DOMINATION!!!

Meet Sprinkles, the leader of the Squad; Jammyboi, who spreads stickiness EVERYWHERE; Dadnut and Lil’ Timmy, who explain obscure facts, and Spronky, who is bizarrely unconventional! But don’t mention the arch-nemeses of the donuts . . . the bagels , secretly plotting Donut Squad’s doom!

Guffaws guaranteed!

Neill Cameron is a cartoonist and writer, and creator of the award-winning Mega Robo Bros series and How to Make Awesome Comics. He is also the author/illustrator of the popular middle-grade novels Freddy vs School, Freddy and the New Kid and Freddy the Superstar. Neill also runs regular comic workshops for children at The Story Museum in Oxford.

A Dulwich Festival event.

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When Emma Barnett began her second maternity leave, she realized that, despite having been there before, as soon as her first leave finished the rose-tinted lenses had descended and she immediately forgot what the experience was actually like when you’re in it. This collective forgetting, which leads to well-meaning comments such as ‘enjoy every minute’ and ‘treasure this special time’, is doing a disservice to women, leaving them unprepared for the more complicated reality of what it means to be on maternity service .

In this warmly reassuring, refreshingly honest book, Emma sets out to capture this reality, in real time while on her latest tour of duty . She isn’t offering advice on sleep-training or weaning or helping your baby reach milestones. Instead, this book is a celebration and acknowledgement of the work of being on maternity leave, with its soaring highs and challenging lows, and its impact on how women feel about our purpose and ourselves.

A Dulwich Festival event.

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