Talks, Broadcasts, Articles...
Public Speaking
I am always happy to speak to festival and society audiences. Recent venues include:
- Dartington Ways with Words Festival
- Oxford Literature Festival
- Warwick Literature Festival
- Cheltenham Literature Festival
- Hampton Court
- The Historical Association
- The British Library
- English Heritage History in Action Festival
- Southwell Literary Dinner
- The National Maritime Museum
- The British Museum
- Lancaster Literature Festival
- Heffers, Cambridge
- Waterstones, Tunbridge Wells
- Waterstones, Stratford on Avon
- Windsor Literature Festival
- National Army Museum
- Methvens, Windsor
- Several U3A groups
Some comments:
“Derek Wilson did an excellent job of communicating to a disparate audience. His engaging style held hearers captivated by bringing the personalities of history to life. ; He has a fine gift for clarity and cutting through the morass of extraneous detail to the salient points.” Richard Lee, Historical Novel Society
“All the audience were held captive by the talk you gave, it was so vivid.” Liz Froggett, Southwell Literary Dinner
“Story-telling? Derek Wilson shows that this way of "doing history", which was of course the way it all began, is still the best. What makes Derek so good is the way that he combines this with a real empathy for his historical characters. He reminds us that they were, quite simply, human, and not some abstractions from a book.” Dr Rob Johnson, Historical Association
Current repertoire of talks includes:
- Who on earth were the Plantagenets? *
- The story of the King James Bible *
- History - Bunk or essential for civilised living?
- Hans Holbein Junior *
- The Real Henry VIII *
- Thomas More, Warts and All
*PowerPoint presentations as requested
Media Journalism
I have scripted and presented scores of dramas and documentaries for TV and radio and often contributed to television programmes. Notable successes include:
- Let Saints on Earth in Concert Sing - the Amazing Wesleys - Radio 4 (Sandford St. Martin Award)
- Drake's Last Voyage - BBC Timewatch
- Pirates - Discovery Channel
- Armada - Radio 4
My press features are too numerous to list. Among the magazines and newspapers for which I frequently write are:
- The Times
- The Sunday Times
- The Daily Telegraph
- The Sunday Telegraph
- Daily Express
- Daily Mail
- Historically Speaking (USA)
- History Today
- BBC History Magazine
- Tate Etc
- The Lady
- Heritage Magazine
- Warships magazine
To enquire about my availability as speaker or journalist, please contact me directly on: enquiries@derekwilson.com
To enquire about my availability as speaker or journalist, please contact me directly on: enquiries@derekwilson.com
The quatercentenary of the King James Bible has produced many invitations to speak about The People’s Bible with PowerPoint presentation. A tour in February involved addressing audiences in Brighton, Guildford, Peterborough, Wakefield, Manchester, Stafford, Malmesbury and Exeter.
The rest of 2011 involved appearances at the Edinburgh Festival and in more than 20 other locations throughout the country.
This year I will be touring with 'Sad Stories of the Death of Kings' and other topics based on The Plantagenets.
Wed 4 April: 'A Painting can Deceive' (The real Henry VIII): at East Exe Probus Club in Exmouth:10.30am.
Watch this space for further fixtures or contact me directly to arrange a meeting in your area.
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