A Morning Investigating his Life, Work & Circle.

2022 sees the centenary of the publication of E. F. Benson’s Miss Mapp, the second book in the very popular and celebrated Mapp & Lucia series and the one that introduces us to that dear social tyrant from the coastal town of Tilling (Rye). 

But what about the man behind these novels? Join us for a morning celebrating the life and works of Fred Benson who made Rye his home for the last 21 years of his life and also his formative years at Temple Grove, Marlborough and King’s College, Cambridge. The speakers are Allan Downend and Keith Cavers from the E. F. Benson Society and Cultural Historian Dominic Janes, Professor of Modern History at Keele University. Professor Janes is an acknowledged expert on gay and lesbian life outside metropolitan London, many of whom were “below the radar” but very much friends of Fred Benson. His talk will give us a fresh insight into Fred’s circle and life in the provinces. 

Programme: 

10.00 – 10.45        Allan Downend – an overview of Benson’s life and work

10.45 – 11.30        Keith Cavers on Benson’s school and university days

Coffee interval

12.00 – 12.45        Dominic Janes on Fred Benson and the wider ‘Queer’ society