Leah Hyslop and Lia Leendertz will be in conversation with Mark Diacono, discussing their books Made in London and The Almanac and the shared themes of invisible histories and food culture.
Both books celebrate the rhythms of lives and places, of landscapes, rural and urban, that surround and enrich our lives, throwing light on hidden and vanishing cultural traditions and treasures. Both books have food at their heart, and we’ll be exploring how what we eat connects us to people and place, to fashions, traditions and attitudes both contemporary and across generations.
We’ll be exploring seasonality in the city, how an understanding and appreciation of the past can enrich our culinary and cultural pleasures of the present, and how food creates those connections.
Leah Hyslop is a food and drink writer. A former editor at The Telegraph, she is now Food Director of Sainsbury’s Magazine. Her cookbook Made in London is published by Absolute Press, £25, and is a celebration of the city’s food, past and present, from Tudor oyster peddlers to the modern street food scene.
Lia Leendertz is a garden and food writer for The Telegraph, the Guardian, and a columnist for the RHS magazine The Garden. Her recent book, The Almanac, is a bestseller, and she appears on 6music with Cerys Matthews once a month to talk about the month ahead and all of the things in the sky, sea and world around us to look out for. Lia lives in Bristol and has a garden and allotment.
Mark runs Otter Farm in Devon, and is lucky enough to spend most of his time eating, growing, writing and talking about food. His A Year at Otter Farm and A Taste of the Unexpected both won Food Book of the Year in 2015 and 2011 respectively; The New Kitchen Garden won Garden Book of the Year in 2016. Mark was involved with River Cottage, appearing in the TV series, and he has written four River Cottage books.
Leah Hyslop and Lia Leendertz will be in conversation with Mark Diacono on Sunday 8th July at the Garden Museum Literary Festival.
The Garden Museum Literary Festival
Begun in 2013, the world’s only festival dedicated to writing inspired by gardens has travelled from garden to garden across Britain, but this year – for one time only – will take place in London, to celebrate the reopened Museum and our new gardens and café. Chefs from our lauded new restaurant will also be creating a special menu for the weekend for guests to savour.
As the Festival will be in London, we are taking what makes its green spaces unique as our overarching theme this year.
Find out more about the programme for the weekend and book your tickets