Captain Corelli’s Mandolin author joins Chichester Cathedral celebration

The event will be a highlight of this year’s Festival of Chichester and also features the music of Rachmaninov from concert pianist Elena Toponogova.

Event organiser Barry Smith, the director of the South Downs Poetry Festival, said: “It’s great to be able to link up once again with Chichester’s very special arts festival for Poetry and Music at the Cathedral. We’re delighted that one of the UK’s most famous authors will be revisiting the city to put the spotlight on his latest output. Audiences are invited to join us for a session with one of the most successful writers of our times.”

Barry added: “Louis de Bernières shot to fame with his iconic story of love and war set in Cephalonia, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the subject of a popular film starring Penelope Cruz and Nicolas Cage. Recognised by Granta as one of our most promising novelists, he has amply fulfilled that prediction with a series of major novels including Birds Without Wings, A Patriot’s Daughter and the recent So Much Life Left Over. Louis is also a significant poet with three full collections to his name, Imagining Alexandria, Of Love and Desire and his latest collection, The Cat in the Treble Clef, which features poems about family, places, love and time. He is a keen musician, playing the mandolin, guitar and saxophone.

“His many acclaimed books include Birds Without Wings, set in Istanbul during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, which Louis is on record as saying is his favourite and the one he’d like to be remembered by. In 2020 he completed the trilogy of books inspired by his grandfather who was a pilot in the First World War with the release of The Autumn of the Ace. As a writer, his range is notably wide. In Australia, he is most famous for his children’s story of Red Dog, based on a famous hitch-hiking dog which is commemorated by a statue in Karratha. The film of the story is hugely popular in Australia and the Red Dog has become a national institution.”

Barry added: “Poetry and Music also celebrates some significant anniversaries. The musical side of the evening is in the hands of admired concert pianist Elena Toponogova. She’ll be marking the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninov’s birth by playing his Musical Moments as well as music from a Ukrainian Romantic composer. Actress Emily Rose Smith will be reading from the best-loved works of three Romantic poets with a connection to Sussex – Keats, Shelley and Byron – in their bicentenary years. Contemporary Sussex poets get a look in with short readings from Barry Smith and Naomi Foyle.”

Poetry and Music with Louis de Bernières, Tuesday, July 4, 7pm, Chichester Cathedral. Tickets £15 from the Novium on 01243 816525. https://festivalofchichester.co.uk/