Live at Queen Square
Katherine Rundell on John Donne
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomIn his myriad lives John Donne was a scholar of law, a sea adventurer, a priest, an MP – and perhaps the greatest love poet in the history of the English language. Join celebrated author and scholar Katherine Rundell as she introduces us to Super-Infinite, her sparkling and very modern biography that brings him and...
Butler to the world: Britain’s National Decline – Oliver Bullough
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomMoneyland author Oliver Bullough’s new book Butler to the World is a sizzling and incendiary story of our national decline. Join him as he reveals the devastating facts behind Britain’s dirty financial secrets, corrupt politics and moral guilt while directly challenging the UK to clean up its act. This event is a must for anyone...
The empress and the english doctor – Lucy Ward
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomAs smallpox ravaged her empire and threatened her court, Catherine the Great took the momentous decision to summon the Quaker physician, Thomas Dimsdale, from Hertford to St Petersburg to carry out a secret mission that would transform both their lives. Caroline Sanderson talks to writer Lucy Ward about this extraordinary story of Enlightenment ideals, female...
The joy of science – Jim Al-Khalili
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomToday’s world is complex and unpredictable and trying to make the best decisions is far from easy, so join physicist and bestselling author Jim Al-Khalili as he invites us to engage with the world as scientists do, exploring eight key features of the scientific method, such as the role of doubt, the pros and cons...
Writing Workshop: Publishing your poetry with Carrie Etter
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomEver wanted to publish your poems in magazines but didn't know where to start? Or perhaps you've published some and are interested in publishing a pamphlet or book of your poems? In this two-hour session, widely published poet Carrie Etter will address how to analyse magazines to find the best fit for your work, writing...
Fake history: how 10 great lies shaped the world – Otto English
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomFrom the myths of the Second World War to the self-serving legends of ‘great men’, fake history is everywhere. Journalist and author Otto English tears apart the lies propagated by politicians and think tanks, grand narratives spun by populists and the media as well as the stories on your friend’s Facebook feeds. He talks to...
The BBC at 100 – greg ingham
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomFrom the Great War to the culture wars, this global institution has helped define Britain. Greg Ingham talks to professor and historian David Hendy (The BBC: A People’s History) about his captivating and compelling book that traces the BBC from its maverick beginnings through war, the creation of television, changing public taste, austerity and massive...
Nino Strachey – Young Bloomsbury
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomLittle has been written about the second-generation figures who, in the 1920s, tantalised the original Bloomsburies with their cross-dressing, captivating looks and provocative ideas. Head of Research for the National Trust, Nino Strachey (Young Bloomsbury), descended from a family at the heart of the Bloomsbury Group, shines a light on this extraordinarily colourful cast of...
Creating Compelling Characters: with Jason Hewitt
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomWriting workshop Stories cannot exist without the people that inhabit them, and yet creating strong, believable characters can be a challenge. Acclaimed novelist Jason Hewitt (The Dynamite Room) will provide practical steps to help you create complex and fully formed characters that not only bring your story to life but also drive the narrative in fresh and...
Family activity weekend! Bath Festival Hub
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomOur Bath Festival talks will keep the grown=ups occupied this year, but did you know the Festival has also organised a weekend of fun activities designed to meet the needs of the whole family? On Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May, the Bath Festival Hub will be occupying Queen Square for the entire weekend, with...
Party in the City! Free music event
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomWe are proud to be a host venue for Party in the City, the opening night of Bath Festival 2022! On this special night the city rocks and rolls along to a multitude of free music events of all genres. You can drift in and out of venues as you please and make a whole...
Historical Association
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact / booking details below for any enquiries. Royal Attitudes to the Atlantic Slave Trade and Abolition in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries Professor Suzanne Schwarz (University of Worcester) For ticket information please email mikeshort20@btinternet.com
BIG READ: An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomJoin us at 16 Queen Square for April’s Big Read, where Marion Reed will lead a discussion on J B Priestley’s An Inspector Calls. A mysterious inspector investigates the wealthy Birling family and their dinner guests following the suicide of a young woman. The play has been staged and adapted for screen many times since...
Free Exhibition – Beyond Beastly: creatures natural and imagined
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomBeyond Beastly: creatures natural and imagined Come and meet some familiar fantastical creatures (and quite a few natural ones) extracted from the pages of the historic books and boxes of specimens in Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution Collections and now appearing in an exciting new exhibition. We grow up with monsters inhabiting our stories...
Bath Geological Society 50th Anniversary lecture
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact / booking details below for any enquiries. Mining Magmas for Metal and Energy - a novel strategy for achieving Net Zero Prof Jon Blundy, Royal Society Research Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford For ticket information please go...
What is the value of philosophy?
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact / booking details below for any enquiries. Lecture addressing the questions: What is philosophy? Is it a search for wisdom, truth or knowledge? What is the value of philosophy? In this lecture we will disinter a little of philosophy’s hermetic...
Historical Association
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact details below for any enquiries. “That Epidemical Madness” - Women and elections in eighteenth century England Professor Elaine Chalus (University of Liverpool) For ticket information please email mikeshort20@btinternet.com
BRLSI BIG READ: Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis event will be held at Queen Square (not online) Dick Bateman is a committed fan of Thomas Hardy's novels and poetry and ten years ago wrote a walk for the Royal Geographical Society's Discovering Britain series in the location of Under The Greenwood Tree. Admirers of Hardy's work, and those new to him, will be able to look at Dick's images of...
An evening of screen dance
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact details below for any enquiries. A special fund-raising event for Yama, a contemporary dance performance company for people aged over 60, followed by a Q&A with dancers and choreographers. For information and tickets please click on BOOK TICKETS.
Exhibition – Bath School of Design: MA Visual Communication
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis month in the Jenyns Room we are displaying design-work created for the Institution by students currently studying on the MA Design course in Visual Communication at Bath School of Design. This is a multi-media exhibition of work created in response to the experience of following our Bath Discovery Trails app. Previous students of this course...
Faith & Gender: Eve the temptress to subversive angel
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomFaith & Gender: Eve the Temptress to Subversive Angel - The Flowering of Feminism The changing face of Victorian woman (and man) in an age of scientific discovery and religious uncertainty. Marie-Louise Luxemburg, writer and BRLSI History & Culture convenor
Historical Association
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomLouis XVI and the French Revolution Professor William Doyle (University of Bristol) For ticket information please email mikeshort20@btinternet.com
BRLSI BIG READ BOOK CLUB: Good Morning Midnight by Jean Rhys
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis event will now be held at Queen Square (not online) Marie-Louise Luxemburg will introduce this brave, poetic and succinctly crafted modernist masterpiece by the author of Wide Sargasso Sea. Misunderstood when first published in 1939, it was decades ahead of its time in theme and tone but remains as brutally relevant today as it...
When Jacinda met Angela (translation slam from German)
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis event is live at Queen Square (not online) Two volunteers, neither a professional translator, will present their version of a translation into English of a German article from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The audience will offer a critique of both versions and, if there is time, another German document will be offered for translation...
Bath & the campaign for women’s rights
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis event is live at Queen Square only (not online). When we think about the city of Bath and the history attached to this World Heritage city, the women’s rights movement is perhaps not something that immediately springs to mind. However, the city of Bath was a locality that certainly played a significant part in...
One play is worth a hundred speeches
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis event is at Queen Square only An introduction to the work of the AFL (Actresses’ Franchise League) and its contribution to the Campaign for Women’s Rights in the early years of the 20th century; many notable actresses turned to writing and producing with extraordinary success, though against considerable opposition from the established actor-managers. These...
The hidden history of Bath Jewish Burial Ground
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis event is at Queen Square only (not online). Uncovering the lives and stories of Bath’s Jewish community. Christina Hilsenrath’s research into the history of the Jewish Burial Ground in Combe Down discovers a community (1800-1941) active in the professions and commerce of the City of Bath, but also uncovers tragic stories of early deaths,...
Alle jahre wieder – singalong German carols
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomJoin us and sing along with some German carols, followed by a quiz and light refreshments! Music will be provided. This event is live at Queen Square only - please note the early start time of 6pm.
Exhibition – Images of Bath & Tokyo
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomDigital imagery & photography from Jason Dorley-Brown and Andrew Polson Although Jason and Andrew have spent much of their lives in Bath and have many mutual friends, it was only recently that they were introduced through their mutual love of photography. Jason then curated an exhibition of street photography images that Andrew took while visiting Tokyo for the Rugby World...
William Blake – A Reading of Songs of Innocence and Experience
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom“The imagination is not a state: it is the human existence itself.” Somewhat neglected in his own lifetime, William Blake is now considered amongst the greatest writers and artists England ever produced. If Jerusalem is our national Hymn, then pop icons such as Patti Smith and the Verve have kept Blake’s cultural flame burning for...
Goethe’s Theory of Colour
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomPlease note: this is a live event to be held at Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution (16 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN). Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is a towering figure in German culture and literature, and was also a considerable scientist. He considered his theory of colour Zur Farbenlehre (1810) to be one of...
Hamish Kale: Marine & Natural History Photographer
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomPlease note: this event is live at Queen Square Hamish Kale, a graduate of the University of Falmouth, has been documenting the natural world for the last eight years. Join him on a journey of adventure as he outlines the techniques, skills and pluck required to join this specialised band of photographers. Image credit: Hamish...
Exhibition: Howard Jeffs – Where it takes me
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomAn exhibition of prints, drawings and paintings, selected from twenty years of work by artist Howard Jeffs. Now open until Saturday 27 November! Open Monday to Saturday, 10am - 4pm. Free entry, with donations welcome.
Victorian Clothes in Mrs Gaskell’s Fiction
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis event is live at 16 Queen Square (not online) The ladies of Cranford - perhaps Elizabeth Gaskell's best-loved novel - 'always dressed with chaste elegance and propriety' we are told. In this illustrated talk, fashion historian Penelope Ruddock will look at this Victorian ideal as well as some mid-nineteenth century clothes that feature in...
Bath Natural History Society Exhibition
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomJoin us at Queen Square for a special exhibition to celebrate eighty years of the Bath Natural History Society, otherwise known as Bath Nats. From the Bath Nats website You might be surprised and inspired by the variety of life that can be found almost anywhere in and around Bath, with a little knowledge of...
Francis Kilvert’s Bath
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomYou can watch this event live at Queen Square Francis Kilvert‘s Bath - the city through the eyes of a masterful Victorian diarist The Reverend Francis Kilvert (1840-79), one of the most evocative of Victorian diarists, revealed a craftman’s sensitivity when delicately depicting both nature and people. His close promimity to Bath made it the...
‘A Likeness Pleases Everybody’: Jane Austen and Family Portraiture
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomThis event is live at Queen Square (not online) As part of a Bath-wide celebration of Jane Austen this Autumn, Bath Royal takes great pleasure in presenting this talk as part of their much celebrated Rediscovering Jane Austen series. Famously reticent about providing much facial detail in her novels, portraits appealed to Jane Austen and...
Bluestocking Circle – part of Heritage Open Day 2021 – Edible England
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomYou say potato, I say potahto... but this year we're not planning on calling the whole thing off! Following the success of our Bluestocking Circle for Heritage Open Day 2019, we're opening our doors again this Saturday 11 September at 2pm for an open discussion on all things delicious! The theme of Heritage Open Days...
Heritage Open Day 2021 – Edible England
Live at Queen Square BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset, United KingdomFood Glorious Food! - come and join with us to celebrate Heritage Open Day 2021 We are delighted to be opening our doors today Saturday 11 September (10am to 4pm) as part of Bath's contribution to Heritage Open Days. This year's theme is Edible England and we have a number of tasty events for you...