Rye Arts Festival Patrick Gale

We are delighted to welcome one of the country’s best-loved novelists to Rye for the first time. Patrick Gale’s 16 novels have gained him an incredible following of committed readers around the world and his 2017 drama for the BBC, Man in an Orange Shirt, attracted thousands more, winning the International Emmy for Best Movie/Mini series in 2018.

His work includes the acclaimed novels Rough Music, A Place Called Winter, and Notes from an Exhibition. His latest, Take Nothing With You, a Sunday Times Bestseller within weeks of publication, is a sad-funny comedy of resilience and survival that explores the collision between childish hero worship and extremely messy adult love lives, through the story of an unlikely teenage cellist.

Patrick now lives on a farm near Land’s End in the far west of Cornwall, with his husband Aidan Hicks. Patrick is obsessed with the garden they have created in what must be one of England’s windiest sites and which includes England’s westernmost walled rose garden. As well as gardening, he plays both the modern and baroque cello. He chairs the North Cornwall Book Festival, patron of Penzance LitFest and a director of both Endelienta and the Charles Causley Trust. His chief extravagance in life is opera tickets.

‘Safe in the arms of Patrick Gale’s writing again – I could weep with joy’ Joanna Cannon

‘Joyous and full of light. He is a beautiful and empathetic writer’ Cathy Rentzenbrink

‘It’s delicious, it’s dear, it’s heart-breaking and very funny’ Rachel Joyce

‘An incredibly beautiful story told with compassion. Nothing is wasted. Each sentence is beautifully crafted’ Joanna Cannon