Stone on Stone: the Men who built the Cathedrals is more about the people than the buildings: how they trained, organised the site, budgeted, and how ideas travelled, and what sort of people they were. Meet the Master Masons, charismatic leaders who both designed the buildings and ran the site. They commanded everything, whether it was sourcing the vast quantities of wood and stone, recruiting the workforce or knowing enough about their various trades to be able to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing work. They were real people who got into trouble with the law, who occasionally cheated on contracts, who liked to start a job but not finish it. Despite that, their often-breathtaking creations remain to this day. Imogen is a Fellow of both the Royal Historical Society and Royal Society of Arts.

Although settled at Oxford and in Wales, academic, teacher, acclaimed novelist and poet, Patrick McGuinness loves to be on the move, crossing borders and boundaries between countries, languages, and genres. In this talk, hell be weaving together some of the fascinating impressions, experiences, and influences from a highly varied lifetime. Patrick is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Oxford. He grew up in the Belgian city of Bouillon, which he celebrates in his acclaimed memoir, Other Peoples Countries . Patrick has written two novels which deal with semi-fictional material, The Last Hundred Days, centred on the end of the Ceausescus regime in Romania, and Throw Me to the Wolves , a fictionalised account of the wrongful arrest for murder, and final release, of his former English teacher, Christopher Jefferies.

An exceptional opportunity to spend an hour in the company of two of the UKs top Faber poets, presenting a joint reading of some of their poetry: Jamie McKendrick is the winner of multiple poetry awards. His latest collection, Drypoint , was chosen by William Boyd as a book of the year, describing him as, Quite simply a great poet writing at the height of his beguiling, mesmerising powers. He is author of seven collections of poetry and is also editor of The Faber Book of 20th Century Italian Poems . Christopher Reid too, is a hugely respected, prize-winning poet. His poem Song of Lunch was made into a BBC film starring Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson. He was poetry editor at Faber and Faber, and has edited volumes of the letters of Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney. In his latest book Toys / Tricks / Traps Christopher looks back at his younger self, testing Wordsworths assertion that the Child is Father of the Man.

Knowing how to interpret art is one of the biggest issues facing casual gallery-goers. They may ask themselves questions like: Why is the Mona Lisa so small? Why are some frames gilded in gold while others are non-existent? What can the use of material say about a work, whether its an oil painting, collage or made of found objects? And does the life of the artist matter? Susie has written over 100 books on art, art history, history and artistic techniques. Whether you're a student, teacher, culture vulture or art enthusiast, Susie will help you de-mystify great works of art, making for a more meaningful, fulfilling and enjoyable visit to any gallery.