It’s the end of September again, so it’s time to head to Berkhamsted for the annual Graham Greene Festival. Highlights include a screening of The Quiet American, Stephen Woolley and Quentin Falk discussing Greene’s cinema, and the launch of Creina Mansfield’s book The Quiet Soldier; a Wide Sargasso Sea to the Jane Eyre of Greene’s The Quiet American.
Thursday 25 September
Evening Session
The Town Hall
A visual exhibition of Greene’s Berkhamsted, by Jenny Sherwood and Bill Willett (displayed throughout the Festival)
5:15 Film supper in the Great Hall, preceded by drinks
5:15 Festival gathering: at pay bar in the Town Hall
This is a very happy social occasion when old friends meet, and new ones are introduced to our Festival good cheer. It is a chance to meet up with some of those at the centre of the Greene world. All are most welcome.
6:00 Supper (waitress-served, with wine): beef bourguignon with new potatoes and green beans; crème brulee; coffee and mints. Gluten-free vegan option: Mediterranean vegetable stack served with a tomato and basil sauce, followed by fruit salad.
Book by Thursday 18th September at the latest.
7:15 for 7:30 Film: Loser Takes All, 1956
Directed by Ken Annakin, and starring Glynis Johns, Rossano Brazzi and Robert Morley. Introduced by Mike Hill.
Supper and film: £28
Film only: £10
Friday 26 September
All the day’s events are in the Town Hall, Berkhamsted
Morning Session
9.45 Book launch: Creina Mansfield’s The Quiet Soldier, launched by Prof. Joyce Stavick
10:15 Graham Greene and Film Noir, by Prof. Brian McDonnell
Break for tea and coffee
11:30 Graham Greene in Mexico: A Hint of an Explanation, by Rubén Moheno
Morning session: £14
Break for lunch. Please make your own arrangements
Afternoon Session
2.15 Merriment or Make-Believe? Reflections on the Congo Journal, Missionaries, and a Home Video Showing Graham Greene in the Belgian Congo, by Prof. Michael Meeuwis
3:15 Journeys to the Border: W.H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, and Graham Greene, by Prof. Andrew Biswell
Break for tea and coffee
4:30 Divided Selves: Graham Greene and Psychoanalysis in Interwar Britain, by Dr Tracey Loughran
5:30 Creative Writing Awards. Presented by Prof. Richard Greene
Afternoon session: £14
Evening Session at The Civic Centre
7:30 Film: The Quiet American, 2002. Directed by Phillip Noyce, and starring Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser and Do Thi Hai Yen. Introduced by Quentin Falk.
Evening film: £10
Saturday 27 September
Dean’s Hall, Berkhamsted School
An exhibition of Greene’s Berkhamsted will be on show
Morning Session
10:00 The Unseen Greene: Researching Graham Greene in the UK and USA – A Work in Progress by Dr Jonathan Wise
Break for tea and coffee
11:30 Book Launch: Travels in Greeneland: The Cinema of Graham Greene (revised and updated 4th edition) by Quentin Falk, in conversation with prolific British filmmaker Stephen Woolley, producer of The End of the Affair (1999).
12:30 Sandwich lunch in the Kings Arms Hotel with optional book club
Selected books Monsignor Quixote, A Burnt-Out Case, Stamboul Train. Those who wish to join the book club conversation may read one or all books. Lunch by courtesy of the Management of the Kings Arms Hotel.
Morning session: £16
Mid Afternoon Session
2:30 Spying on Writers: Graham Greene’s Interviews, by Dr Rebecca Roach
Break for tea and coffee
3:45 The Company of Others: On Graham Greene and Endo Shusaku, by Prof. Darren Middleton
Mid afternoon session: £16
Late Afternoon Session
4:45 The Birthday Toast to Graham Greene, by Prof. Judith Adamson
5:00 Reflections, by Prof. Judith Adamson
Toast and Judith Adamson Talk: £12
7.30 DinnerDinner: Old Hall, The School
Four courses with wine: seared salmon on a bed of leaves; roast rump of lamb with a redcurrant and mint coulis OR sweet potato, red pepper and asparagus risotto (vegan and gluten-free); garlic and rosemary roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables; chocolate and vanilla cheese cake and Baileys Cream; cheese board; coffee and mints.
Book by Thursday 18th September at the latest.
Dinner: £35
Sunday 28 September
Morning Session
VIth Form Centre, Berkhamsted School, Castle Street – upstairs from Old Hall
10:15 The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen: Graham Greene’s Literary Influence in Japan, by Dr Motonori Sato
Break for tea and coffee
11:30 ‘The worst potboiler I ever perpetrated’ (Graham Greene), The Confidential Agent: the novel and the film considered, by Mike Hill
Morning session: £16
1.00 The Farewell Lunch Old Hall
Buffet with wine. A selection of cold cuts of gammon ham, beef, poached salmon, vegetable quiche (vegan), prawns, mixed leaves, tomato, red onion and basil, coleslaw, new potatoes, crusty bread, dressings, fresh fruit salad, cream, coffee and mints.
Book by Thursday 18th September at the latest.
Farewell lunch: £24
Talking Movies 