With the new series of Rivals hitting our small screens on Friday, May 15th Bath Literature Festival is holding a special event this weekend in celebration of its creator, Jilly Cooper.
Is It Too Early For Champagne? will be a joyous gathering of the late author’s biggest fans, gathered at Bath Guildhall on Saturday evening, 16 May, to raise a glass in her honour.
Join the fun and celebrate the life and work of the much-loved author and journalist Dame Jilly Cooper, whose many novels have brought joy to millions.
Leading the fangirl tributes will be author Daisy Buchanan, recipe columnist and Jilly Cooper superfan Rukmini Iyer and Kat Brown, journalist, author and founder of the Jilly Cooper fan club. We’ll also be able to share our thoughts on the new Rivals series, which has so far received rave reviews.
Actress Victoria Smurfit, who was originally part of the panel, is unfortunately now not able to join us.
To celebrate this sparkling event in partnership with Bath Festivals, The Ivy Bath Brasserie will welcome all attendees with a complimentary glass of The Ivy Cuvée on arrival – the perfect way to toast an unforgettable evening honouring the beloved author. (A non-alcoholic alternative will also be available).
Buy tickets: https://www.bathboxoffice.org.uk/whats-on/is-it-too-early-for-champagne-b5gp
Or by phone from Bath Box Office, tel: 01225 463362.
Rivals is the second series on Disney + based on the work of Jilly Cooper. Its star-studded cast includes David Tennant, Danny Dyer, Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson and Alex Hassell. During filming last year, the town of Corsham was used as a stand-in for Rutshire’s town of Cotchester.
Dame Jilly Cooper began her career as a cub reporter on a local paper in Brentford, covering everything from fetes to football. Her breakthrough came in 1969 when the Sunday Times colour supplement published a humorous piece about being a hopelessly undomesticated young wife. The success of that article led to a column in the Sunday Times newspaper, which she wrote for over 13 years. She wrote her first novel, How To Stay Married, in 1969 and over the following decades went on to write romantic novels, children’s books and non-fiction. She is best known for her Rutshire Chronicles – including Riders, Rivals and Polo.
Daisy Buchanan is the author of READ YOURSELF HAPPY: How a book habit can make you feel better. Her fifth novel, ALL GROWN UP, a contemporary coming-of-age retelling of Little Women, will be out this summer. Daisy is the host of the chart-topping You’re Booked podcast, where she interviews authors about their reading habits.
Rukmini Iyer is the author of the bestselling Roasting Tin cookbook series. She’s a recipe columnist for The Guardian and BBC Gardeners World magazine, and as a long-time fan of Jilly Cooper, has included an homage to Taggie O’Hara’s Chicken Estragon in her upcoming cookbook, Thirty. She loves dogs (particularly border collies) and in an ideal world would move her husband, children, dog and cat to the countryside to add chickens, sheep and a small horse to the menagerie.
Kat Brown is the founder of the Jilly Cooper fan club and is part of Rivals: The Official podcast. Her books include Not a Bloody Trend: Understanding ADHD as an Adult, and No One Talks About This Stuff: 22 Stories of Almost Parenthood (dedicated to Jilly Cooper).
Bath Literature Festival
Bath Literature Festival runs from Saturday 16 May to Sunday 24 May. This year’s line-up includes bestselling authors Anthony Horowitz, Douglas Stuart, Katie Fforde, Patrick Gale and Howard Jacobson. There will also be a series of current affairs debates and events with Mary Portas, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Samira Ahmed, Sajid Javid and many more.
For the full line-up visit: https://bathboxoffice.org.uk/bath-literature-festival-72m8
About Bath Festivals
Bath Festivals is a registered charity (No. 801617) that inspires and connects different people and communities through music and book festivals. All its work is designed to maximise inclusion and accessibility, ignite ideas, thoughts and conversations and promote and celebrate the positive impact that music, literature, and performance have on people’s lives.
