James Runcie, Artistic Director
James Runcie is an acclaimed novelist, documentary filmmaker, TV producer, theatre director and journalist. During his second year at the Bath LitFest helm his considerable expertise has been used to great effect in creating a diverse and extensive programme for 2011.
James is hugely respected within the publishing and television industry. His latest novel, East Fortune, was published by Bloomsbury in 2009 and his film output (including ITV’s J K Rowling: A Year in the Life and BBC 4’s The Joy of Motoring) is distributed internationally.
“Literature should be fascinating, challenging, provocative. I think every single event should be capable of changing the way you think - even your life.”
As a film and documentary maker, James has worked with numerous writers and presenters, including Griff Rhys-Jones, Simon Schama, David Starkey and Andrew Motion. He is currently working on two films about French food with writer and journalist Bill Buford.
James has taken a novel approach to Festival programming, adopting a structured scheduling method whereby specific types of events take place at recurring time-slots throughout the Festival.
For Bath Literature Festival 2011 James created a diverse programme combining the best contemporary fiction with intelligent debate, dramatic performance, history, science, poetry, politics, music, art and architecture.
“I'm really excited about working in Bath and want to use the City as a template - exploring the architecture and physical spaces and the way they can relate to literature and ideas. I want to make this festival as unique as the City itself is - something that could only happen here in Bath.”
With James at the helm for his third year as Artistic Director, the 2012 Festival promises to flex its cultural muscles and will explore not just the latest but the best the literary world has to offer.