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Sophie Dahl |
Beyond Words grows beyond belief
TOM Bower is no stranger to fierce debate. The former Panorama reporter and unofficial biographer of Mohammed Al-Fayad and Robert Maxwell draws flak with the ease the rest of us draw breath.
But it must have come as something of a surprise that his hardest-fought battle last year was against a bunch of schoolboys, when he visited University College School’s (UCS) Beyond Words festival. Mr Bower enjoyed the contest so much he has returned again this year, armed with a new biography, The Rise and Ruin of Conrad and Lady Black.
Martin Hitchcock, an English teacher at UCS and organiser of the week-long public festival, believes the success of the event – now in its eighth year – is largely down to the irrepressible enthusiasm of the pupils. “Our speakers know they’re going to get a reaction from our boys,” he explains.
“Our boys like to engage in discussion, as I know to my cost and pleasure – they’ve never had any problems asking questions.”
The school celebrates its centenary this year, meaning preparations are on a bigger scale than ever before. More than 100 events, workshops, conversations and speeches, many of them free, will run over five days on three different sites, using every inch of the secondary, junior and kindergarden premises.
Author and model Sophie Dahl, sport author Dan Freedman, Daily Telegraph editor Will Lewis and Mary Hassell, the first female coroner in Wales, are all on the billing.
It is a stellar line-up, expanding by the year thanks to the wealth of contacts provided by parents and friends of the school, explains Martin. “It started off very small, just me getting in a bunch of friends,” he said. “I do headhunt people but it’s just the luck of the draw whether I get them. I hope the reputation of the festival grows but not the size of it. I couldn’t handle it any bigger.”
SIMON WROE
• Beyond Words 2007 runs from November 19-23 at UCS School venues across Hampstead. For more information go to www.beyondwords.org.uk
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