Swearing, it turns out, is an incredibly useful part of our linguistic repertoire. Not only has some form of swearing existed since the earliest humans began to communicate, but it has been shown to reduce physical pain, help stroke victims recover their language, and encourage people to work together as a team.

Dr Emma Byrne is an honest-to-goodness robot scientist who, when she’s not developing intelligent systems, has written for BBC Science Focus, the FT and the Guardian. She is co-host and exec-producer of NonFicPod and frequently appears on Sky News and the BBC talking about the future of artificial intelligence and robotics.

In this talk Emma gives a spirited and hilarious defence of our most cherished dirty words, backed by historical case studies and cutting-edge research. Swearing Is Good For You outlines the fascinating science behind swearing: how it affects us both physically and emotionally, and how it is more natural and beneficial than we are led to believe.

45-minute talk, followed by opportunity for audience questions.

£10.00 advance (plus booking fees)

Death is a universal truth that unites us all. Through confronting death we begin to understand how to make the most of our lives without fear.

Do you know what we do with our bodies at the end of life, and why? Have you thought about how can we truly honour the meaning of a life? Would a ‘traditional’ funeral align with the values you hold in life? This talk aims to raise these queries, open up the conversation and explore the possibilities of funerals in the present day and beyond.

Tora Colwill established The Modern Funeral to provide flexible funeral services and support people to create highly personal, meaningful funerals. Lyn Baylis has been a LifeRites Minister for 20 years. For the last 30 years she has worked as a Prison Chaplain, Hospital & Hospice Chaplain and believes that funeral ceremonies should be more focused on the needs and requirements of the deceased and their family.

Thought provoking and gently confrontational, this talk will be providing context through human history and musing to the future. Tora and Lyn will look at where the practical and ceremonial aspects of funerals can merge to create meaning.

45-minute talk, followed by opportunity for audience questions.

Free entry – booking essential
If you can no longer attend, please return your tickets so someone else can

This event is a donation point for The Homeless Period

In 2011, comedian Rosie Wilby was dumped by email. Obsessing about breakups ever since, she embarked on a personal quest to investigate, understand and conquer the psychology of heartbreak. Part memoir, part investigation, The Breakup Monologues takes on the big questions about our life-changing separations in the modern age of ghosting, breadcrumbing and conscious uncoupling.

Rosie Wilby is an award-winning comedian, podcaster, speaker and journalist. She regularly appears on radio and TV commentating on sexuality, dating and love and was dubbed ‘the Queen of Breakups’ by BBC Radio 4 following the success of her podcast The Breakup Monologues. She has extensively explored heartbreak in her podcast, in her hugely successful comedy shows, and in her first book, Is Monogamy Dead? which was shortlisted for the Diva Literary Awards and longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. She has written for publications including The Guardian, Sunday Times, and New Statesman, and has performed at major festivals including Glastonbury and Latitude.

In Rosie’s trademark immersive, investigative form, the self-styled ‘lesbian Louis Theroux’ puts her own relationship under the microscope in a ‘sex lab’, and explores how a split parallels the effects of withdrawing from a drug, why friendship breakups can feel like the worst endings of all, how polyamory changes the conversation about commitment, how breakups can sometimes be empowering and lead to exciting new life journeys... and how ultimately they can even help us to stay together.

This talk brings together all that she has learnt from her own life and from conversations with her podcast guests, friends, fans, relationship therapists, scientists and sociologists to create a wonder of humour, heartache and psychology that will strike a chord with all.

45-minute stand-up comedy talk, followed by opportunity for audience questions.

£10.00 advance (plus booking fees)

In light of current events this talk is on pause.

It feels irresponsible for a speaker to be travelling across the country at this point in time, to deliver a talk which many people will feel uncomfortable about attending.

We hope to be able to reschedule (again) for later in the year.

We will keep you informed with a new date and refund information (if necessary) as soon as we have this information.

Have you seen someone being harassed in a public space and wished you had taken action? At this event, Kelsey will speak about the roots of her fuck-the-police approach to feminist campaigning, and why more police and prisons are not the answer to gender-based or racial violence. To bring us closer to envisioning a society that takes responsibility for violence that happens within our communities, she will share some bystander intervention tactics.

Kelsey Mohamed is a feminist campaigner and full-time mischief-maker based in London, organising in campaigns against state violence, and working to explore and build alternative support centering experiences of women of colour and other marginalised groups. A facilitator with grassroots collectives Cradle and Resist+Renew, she delivers training on bystander intervention, power and privilege, and tools for campaigning and movement building.

This talk will explore ways we can actively support people we see or know who are experiencing harm.

45-minute talk, bystander intervention workshop and opportunity for audience questions.

£8 advance

Please bring items for The Homeless Period if you are able.

Based on fresh, original testimonies given by over 100 Greenham Common Women, this talk offers an intimate portrait of the adventures, personalities and dilemmas of the Greenham Women, exploring how Greenham’s legacy has influenced current cultural, and political movements including Repeal The 8th, Extinction Rebellion, the Stanstead 15 and the MeToo movement.

Rebecca Mordan, Artistic Director of Scary Little Girls Association and co-ordinator of this unique Heritage Lottery funded project has led an interview process involving approx 100 Women of Greenham Common peace camp. In this talk she explains the work and shares anecdotes from these extraordinary campaigners, finishing the evening with a Q and A session when Rebecca will be joined by local Greenham Women who have contributed to the Greenham Women Everywhere project.

£10.00 advance (or 4 for £36.00)
£12.00 on the door
Carers go free on production of Carer's Card (available in person)

A panel of leading voices in gender politics will explore myths and misinformation, truths and taboos, personal and political, the shame and secrecy surrounding women’s bodies, and why this is still important to discuss in 2019.

Emma Rees is Professor of Literature and Gender Studies at the University of Chester, and Director of the Institute of Gender Studies. She has written extensively about gender and representation, notably in her book 'The Vagina: A Literary and Cultural History'.

Elliott Watson is the director and producer of several award winning documentaries. He focusses his attention on gender as a construct in modern times. His latest film, ‘Vulva’, explores the paradigms of beauty in the western world.

Unfortunately, for personal reasons, Lynn Enright is no longer able to take part in the Vulvas In/Formation panel. She has very kindly donated two copies of her awesome book Vagina: A Re-Education as raffle prizes, and is very sorry to let you down.

I am very happy to announce that Sarah Creed from The Vagina Museum, will be speaking in her place! It's an absolute pleasure to have curator and exhibitions manager Sarah come and speak to us in Winchester before the museum open its doors on 16th November.

1 hour talk and film screening, followed by opportunity for audience discussion.

£10 advance

Please bring items for The Homeless Period if you are able.

We all know diversity matters and should be a commercial imperative in every industry. In the critical era of the advancement of women,  its time for women to take their rightful place and demand (not ask) for the same opportunity, legitimacy, recognition and credit men get. Women won't get this by waiting their turn or suffering in silence. They must create opportunities where there are none and bring their folding chair to sit at the table where no extra chairs exist. Collective responsibility can only take us so far - individual responsibility for your representation (be it gender, race, sex) is critical to making diversity matter.

Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu is an Attorney and Solicitor, author, public speaker and a political & women’s rights activist. She teaches intersectional feminism to female refugees and asylum seekers; scrutinizes government policies; and coorganises women's marches and social campaigns. She founded Women in Leadership magazine and established She@Law to promote Women & BAME leadership in the legal profession.

This talk will explore how women can make a change  in and out of the workplace. Stop Talking - Start Doing!

45-minute talk, followed by opportunity for audience discussion

£8 advance

Please bring items for The Homeless Period if you are able.

On the 100th anniversary of some women getting the vote, Helen Pankhurst – great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, and herself a leading women's rights campaigner – charts how women's lives have changed over the last century, and offers a powerful and positive argument for a new way forward.

Dr Helen Pankhurst is a women's rights activist and senior advisor to CARE International UK, based in the UK and in Ethiopia. Her work in Ethiopia focuses on the interests and needs of women and girls. In the UK she is a public speaker and writer on feminist issues. Her book Deeds Not Words (Sceptre) came out February 2018.

This talk explores the major themes of politics, money, family & identity, violence and culture. Helen Pankhurst combines historical insight with inspiring argument, and reveals how far women have come since the suffragettes, how far we still have to go, and how we might get there. 

45-minute talk, followed by opportunity for audience questions
£8 advance

Trans rights are headline news at the moment - but does the conversation playing out in the press have anything to do with what trans people are actually saying? GRA reform to trans teens, feminist inclusion to film representation: author and activist CN Lester discusses how we can ground our conversations in fact, empathy, and the expectation of better things.

CN Lester is an academic, writer, musician, and leading LGBTI activist. Co-founder of the UK's first national queer youth organisation, they curate the trans art event Transpose for The Barbican, and work internationally as a trans and feminist educator and speaker. Their work has featured on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, SBS, The Guardian, ABC, The Independent, Newsnight, New Internationalist, and The Toast. Their book Trans Like Me (Virago) is out now.

In this talk CN breaks down myths, discusses gender diversity and making a more inclusive future a reality.

45-minute talk, followed by opportunity for audience discussion.
This event is a collection point for The Homeless Period

To mark 100 years since the first women gained the right to vote in the UK, Nuffield Southampton Theatres are hosting Bungalow Café Festival - a season of events celebrating and lifting the voices of women.

In her 'Powerful Women' talk, Finn Mackay will be exploring the themes of women, power, politics and gender identity.

Finn Mackay is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of the West of England in Bristol. She is author of 'Radical Feminism: Activism in Movement' published by Palgrave Macmillan. A long time feminist activist, Finn founded the London Feminist Network in 2004 and revived Reclaim the Night London UK. She speaks and writes regularly on feminist theory and social justice issues, appearing on BBC Woman's Hour, The Moral Maze and writing in The Guardian and HuffPost UK amongst others; recently Finn delivered a TEDx talk on what is feminist about equality. Her current areas of research are masculinities and gender identities

45-minute talk, followed by opportunity for audience questions
£8 advance
Please note early start time

FREE EVENT

Dr Sue Anderson-Faithful will be leading a 90 minute women’s history walk around ancient Winchester. She will be pointing out sites of interest with reference to Josephine Butler, Mary Sumner, Laura Ridding, Charlotte Yonge and many more fascinating characters linked to the city.

This walking tour has been organised by Dr Sue Anderson-Faithful in partnership with Wire Wool Events.

Dr Sue Anderson-Faithful is a fount of knowledge when it comes to women’s history in Winchester. She is the author of Mary Sumner, Mission, Education and Motherhood: thinking a life with Bourdieu (Lutterworth 2018). A long term resident of Winchester, she is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Winchester, where she teaches history and the pedagogy of history. Sue is a member of the university’s Centre for the History of Women’s Education. Her research focus is on Anglican women’s philanthropic and educational activism in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, in particular the Mothers’ Union and Girls’ Friendly Society. Sue is the editor of the Sybil Campbell Collection newsletter and a joint editor of History of Education Researcher.

Walk will take 1 hour 30 minutes, depending on weather, ability of walkers and number of questions asked throughout the walk!

FREE EVENT

In the footsteps of Mary Sumner founder of the Mothers Union. This talk maps Mary Sumner’s activism against geographical locations in her life. It explores her Shropshire childhood, early married life at Farnham Castle, parochial philanthropy at Old Alresford and a visit to the holy land, to place Mary’s ideas on motherhood, marriage and the education of children in relation to contemporary issues in religion, society and education. The talk also locates Mary Sumner amongst her network of influential kin and friends, amongst whom were the Bishop of Winchester and the novelist Charlotte Yonge, with a view to identifying how her activism was shaped and realised.

This talk has been organised by Wire Wool Events especially for Winchester Heritage Open Days.

Mary Sumner (1828-1921) is remembered as the founder of the Mothers’ Union, a vibrant contemporary Anglican organisation with a worldwide membership of 4 million. The Mothers’ Union celebrates its origins in the 1876 Mothers’ meeting hosted by Mary Sumner in Old Alresford Rectory. Ten years later the Mothers’ Union had been adopted as a Winchester diocesan organisation following the Church Congress at Portsmouth. After this the society grew rapidly nationally and transnationally. By the time of Mary Sumner’s death in 1921 the Mothers’ Union had a membership of nearly 400,000. The esteem in which she was held is indicated by 4,000 mourners who attended her funeral in Winchester Cathedral. This talk will map Mary Sumner’s life, activism and standing in society.

Dr Sue Anderson-Faithful is the author of Mary Sumner, Mission, Education and Motherhood: thinking a life with Bourdieu (Lutterworth 2018). A long term resident of Winchester, she is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Winchester, where she teaches history and the pedagogy of history. Sue is a member of the university’s Centre for the History of Women’s Education. Her research focus is on Anglican women’s philanthropic and educational activism in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, in particular the Mothers’ Union and Girls’ Friendly Society. Sue is the editor of the Sybil Campbell Collection newsletter and a joint editor of History of Education Researcher.

FREE EVENT

Charlotte Yonge of Otterbourne was a well-known and successful author, whose annual sales were worth over £1000 in 1854, and who appealed to poets, artists, soldiers, undergraduates and schoolgirls. She worked in Otterbourne School for over 70 years (1830-1901), as a teacher, fund-raiser, administrator and manager. In Winchester she helped to found St Swithun's School, then the Winchester High School, where a scholarship was named after her.

This talk led by Alys Blakeway has been organised by Wire Wool Events especially for Winchester Heritage Open Days.

This talk will look at her impact on education in the area, from Otterbourne village girls to Winchester young ladies.

Alys Blakeway is the secretary of the Charlotte Yonge Fellowship and a member of the Charlotte Yonge Society. Introduced to Charlotte Yonge's novels by her mother, she worked for 20 years in the Hampshire Local Studies Library, which has a good collection of Charlotte Yonge material, and there developed her knowledge of Charlotte Yonge's contributions to Victorian society, especially the education of girls and women of all classes. Her talk will discuss Charlotte Yonge’s impact on the local area.

Please note The Grand Jury Room is on the first floor and is accessible by stairs. Disabled access is by escort only.

FREE EVENT

In this talk, Emma Rees asks who the Representation of the People Act omitted, and why. She maps the road to 1918 and asks what the consequences of the Act were for the suffragette movement and for surely its most vocal campaigners: the Pankhurst family. She also reveals some at times surprising continuities between the suffragettes’ struggle and the political world today, as well as identifying some local suffragette heroes.

This talk has been organised by Wire Wool Events especially for Winchester Heritage Open Days.

On Wednesday 6th February 1918 the Representation of the People Act fundamentally changed the political landscape of the United Kingdom. For the first time, women were able to vote. But not all suffragettes welcomed the Act: in order to vote, a woman had to be over 30 years of age (men had to be just 21, or 19 if serving military personnel), and had to meet certain property qualifications. This talk looks into the omissions and consequences of the Act.

Emma Rees is professor of literature and gender studies at the University of Chester, UK, where she is Director of the Institute of Gender Studies. In 2013 her second book, The Vagina: A Literary and Cultural History was published, and a revised, paperback edition came out in 2015. She has published widely in the field of gender and representation, was the inaugural Political Writer in Residence at Gladstone’s Library in Wales. Emma is currently working on her third book, tentatively called That is a Feminist Issue, looking at modern feminism’s fractures.

Please note the room where the talk is being held is only accessible via stairs or a lift. Since the lift cannot be used in an emergency, evacuation of less able visitors in an emergency is down the stairs via an evacuation chair. Hampshire Record Office ask that we notify them advance of the presence of anyone using a wheelchair or with access issues likely to require use of an evacuation chair in an emergency. Please select 'accessible ticket' if you feel this could be you.

FREE EVENT

Lucy and Tora will be taking a look at the funeral industry throughout the ages, from the lavish ceremonies of the Victorian era to the creative memorials of the present day. They discuss the benefits of creating a personalised, meaningful event, embracing our mortality and "doing death right".

This talk has been organised by Wire Wool Events especially for Winchester Heritage Open Days.

Tora Colwill established The Modern Funeral (a funeral service operating in Brighton) to offer people more control of their funeral experience - guiding them to choose the options that are right for them and supporting them to be more involved in the process - to make the funeral experience as positive and cost-effective as it can be. Simplifying things can leave more room for emotions and lead to a more personal, meaningful funeral and healthy bereavement.

Lucy Coleman Talbot is co-founder of Death and the Maiden, a feminist website that examines the relationship between women and death. She is author of Little Book of Maudism, and a volunteer warden at the Crossbones Graveyard in Southwark, London. She is currently on an MPhil/PhD studentship examining the Crossbones at the University of Winchester. Lucy is interested in myth, ritual, community heritage and social justice.

Death & Funerals Photograph Copyright - Stems UK

Please note the room where the talk is being held is only accessible via stairs or a lift. Since the lift cannot be used in an emergency, evacuation of less able visitors in an emergency is down the stairs via an evacuation chair. Hampshire Record Office ask that we notify them advance of the presence of anyone using a wheelchair or with access issues likely to require use of an evacuation chair in an emergency. Please select 'accessible ticket' if you feel this could be you.

FREE EVENT

This talk will discuss war, photography and being a woman in a man’s world. Kate Holt was the only UK photographer to be allowed to photograph the work of a UK military counter IED team in the summer of 2010. Alongside her work with the UK and US militaries, Kate also spent three years documenting the impact of the war on the civilian population; working in civilian hospitals in both Kandahar and Helmand.

This talk has been organised by Wire Wool Events especially for Winchester Heritage Open Days.

In the first six months of 2015, 22 percent – nearly a quarter - of Afghan civilian casualties were caused by improvised explosive devices, according to a report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Since the draw down of UK and US troops in 2015 the Afghan National Army has had to take the lead in counter IED work which is proving challenging to sustain. Not only did Kate have to live and work in a war zone, she also faced the challenge of being a woman in a male-dominated environment. This is a dynamic she faces regularly in her career as an international photojournalist; but far from being a detriment to her work, she sees it as a strength.

Women are able to access a totally different type of story to their male counterparts,” says Kate. “We need to play to this strength, and embrace our ability to represent issues in a different light.”

Kate will speak about her assignment in Afghanistan, the challenges she faced and the stories that she was able to tell from a civilian population ravaged by a now-16-year-long war.

Please note the room where the talk is being held is only accessible via stairs or a lift. Since the lift cannot be used in an emergency, evacuation of less able visitors in an emergency is down the stairs via an evacuation chair. Hampshire Record Office ask that we notify them advance of the presence of anyone using a wheelchair or with access issues likely to require use of an evacuation chair in an emergency. Please select 'accessible ticket' if you feel this could be you.

FREE EVENT

Join Stacey Heale as she discusses the use of photography to document the diagnosis and treatment of stage IV cancer within a young family, particularly focusing on the ideas of authenticity, vulnerability and family legacy.

This talk has been organised by Wire Wool Events especially for Winchester Heritage Open Days.

Stacey Heale is a fashion academic who became a full time carer when her partner Greg was diagnosed with inoperable stage IV bowel cancer at the age of 39. She created the website Beneath the Weather as a space for herself and others to discuss difficult topics honestly through word and image and writes a weekly column Postcards from the Storm for the Southern Daily Echo about her experiences. Stacey is also a spokesperson for Bowel Cancer UK and part of the F**k Cancer Club, a group of women giving support and a voice to those effected by cancer at a young age. Her talk will discuss using photography to document family legacy.

Please note the room where the talk is being held is only accessible via stairs or a lift. Since the lift cannot be used in an emergency, evacuation of less able visitors in an emergency is down the stairs via an evacuation chair. Hampshire Record Office ask that we notify them advance of the presence of anyone using a wheelchair or with access issues likely to require use of an evacuation chair in an emergency. Please select 'accessible ticket' if you feel this could be you.

A mix of memoir and humorous sociological study, Is Monogamy Dead? details Rosie Wilby’s very personal quest – from performing stand-up at a sex party to celebrating and re-evaluating her deepest platonic friendships – to find out why Western society is clinging to a concept that is laden with assumption and ambiguity.

Rosie Wilby is an award-winning comedian, writer and broadcaster who has appeared on BBC Radio 4 programmes including Woman's Hour and Four Thought. Her first book Is Monogamy Dead? (Accent) came out last year and was shortlisted for the inaugural DIVA Magazine Literary Awards 2017.

In this talk Rosie discusses the results of her online survey asking 'what counts as “cheating”?', and reveals how diverse our definitions of infidelity are. She calls for more language to describe the huge variety of connections that we experience. She also looks at the insights we gain about instinctive male and female behaviours from studying same-sex partnerships.

45-minute talk, followed by opportunity for audience questions
£8 advance

“This novel is dedicated to the dead and missing girls. According to UNICEF, every ten minutes an adolescent girl dies a violent death.”

Abigail Tarttelin will be visiting October Books on Wednesday 20th June as part of Feminist Book Fortnight.

She will be discussing violence against girls and women, female heroes in fiction, and art vs work AND signing copies of her brand new book 'Dead Girls' (Mantle) which is out on 3rd May 2018.

When her best friend Billie is found murdered, eleven-year-old Thera – fearless and forthright – considers it her duty to find the killer.

Aided by a Ouija board, Billie’s ghost, and the spirits of four other dead girls, she’s determined to succeed. The trouble with Thera, though, is that she doesn’t always know when to stop – and sometimes there’s a fine line between doing the right thing and doing something very, very bad indeed.

Tense, visceral and thought-provoking, Dead Girls is the new novel from Abigail Tarttelin, the critically acclaimed author of Golden Boy.

“Disturbing, challenging and terrifying…. This somehow manages to combine mystery, thriller, horror, and a lovely elegy to lost friendship”
Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths

"Feminist, bold, shocking, packed with little epiphanies"
Shelley Harris, author of Vigilante

Dead Girls is her third novel. Her second novel Golden Boy, published in 7 languages to date, was a recipient of a 2014 American Library Association ALEX award for stories with special importance for teen readers, as well as a finalist for the Best Debut LGBT Fiction LAMBDA Award in the same year.

Tickets limited to 30
£4 advance / £5 on the door