Revolutions: 5×15

A one-stop guide to our world in transition. Five renowned speakers, no script, and 15 minutes each to blow your mind. Featuring historian and novelist Rebecca Stott on breaking away from a fundamentalist Christian cult, astrobiologist Professor Lewis Dartnell on aliens and space exploration, musician and writer Daniel Rachel on using music to combat racism, writer and documentary maker Polly Morland on personal metamorphosis, and David Bellos on Les Miserables – the revolutionary novel of the 19th century. This is an event you won’t want to miss.

Rebecca Stott (Norwich based author, new memoir of growing up in, and breaking away from, a fundamentalist Christian cult), and Daniel Rachel (author of Walls Come Tumbling Down: The music and politics of Rock Against Racism).

5×15 website

‘Five essential 5×15 you must see before our event’

WEEKEND TICKET: Purchase a ticket for all three days of the City of Literature weekend for £80! Call the box office on 01603 766400.

MULTI-BUY DISCOUNT: Purchase tickets for four or more events at the City of Literature weekend and receive £1.50 off each ticket. Call the box office on 01603 766400.

About the speakers

David Bellos is Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University and has won many awards for his translations including the Man Booker International Translator’s Award (2005). He is the author of Is that a Fish in your Ear: The Amazing Adventure of Translation.

The Novel of the Century by David Bellos review – the story of Les Misérables (Guardian, January 2017)

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Lewis Dartnell is a Professor in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Westminster. He has won several awards for his science writing and contributes to the Guardian, The Times and New Scientist. He has also written for television and appeared on BBC Horizon, Sky News, Wonders of the Universe, Stargazing Live, and The Sky at Night. Website

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Polly Morland is an award-winning writer and documentary-maker. Combining the journalism of her background in film with ideas from psychology, philosophy and literature, her books blend remarkable human stories with reflections on how we live today — and how we can live better. Polly’s first widely-acclaimed book The Society of Timid Souls, or How To Be Brave (2013) won a RSL/Jerwood Award, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. Metamorphosis – How and Why We Change was published in hardback in May 2016 and will appear in paperback in May 2017. Website

‘Forget self-help: we’re programmed for change’ (Guardian, May 2016)

Human metamorphosis (The Independent, May 2016)

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Daniel Rachel was born in Solihull in the summer before The Beatles announced their break-up. He wrote his first song when he was sixteen and was the lead-singer in Rachels Basement, which he formed in his early twenties. In 2001, he released his debut solo album, A Simple Twist Of Folk, on Dust Records, followed in 2006 by A Taste Of Money. Daniel is a specialist in Forum Theatre direction and lives in north London with his partner and three children. Website

His latest book Walls Come Tumbling Down charts the extraordinary and pivotal period between 1976 and 1992 during the rise and fall of three key movements of the time: Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone, and Red Wedge, revealing how they both shaped, and were shaped by, the music of a generation.

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Rebecca Stott is a novelist and historian. She is Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at UEA. She lives in Norwich. Website

In the Days of Rain (Harper Collins, 2017)