Two Rivers has been our banner for book-related activities for years – festivals some years, sometimes one-off events. Here are our plans for 2023.

Roger Deakin

The reputation of this ground-breaking nature writer and environmentalist has grown since his premature death in 2006. Waveney & Blyth Arts has joined in over the years, with literary walks in and around his Walnut Tree Farm. Later this month his biography is published by Hamish Hamilton. Its author, Guardian journalist and nature writer Patrick Barkham, will talk about the book in an event we have organised jointly with the Diss Corn Hall. That’s 16 June, and two days earlier at the corn hall you can see three of the documentaries Roger made for Anglia tv. More details & to book.

We’re also hoping to organise a screening of the intriguing movie that helped inspire Roger to write his first book, Waterlog (and whose title is echoed in the biography). Burt Lancaster swims home in The Swimmer. More details soon.

Ronald Blythe died in January, aged 100. The prolific and pioneering chronicler of rural life in East Anglia will be remembered with a screening of the Peter Hall film of Blythe’s first book, Akenfield. More details soon.

The Queen’s paintings

You may remember our Two Rivers event in December, featuring two distinguished art historians. One of them, Christopher Lloyd CVO, is returning to share with us his personal memories of the late Queen. A distinguished curator and author, he was surveyor of the Queen’s pictures from 1988 to 2005. Previous holders of this post, which goes back to 1625, include Sir Kenneth Clark and Anthony Blunt. Christopher was responsible for the care and maintenance of the pictures owned by the Queen in her official capacity (not her own stuff). That’s some 7,000 pictures and 3,000 miniatures.

Christopher Lloyd’s duties also included helping the Queen choose artists to paint official portraits of the newly ennobled. So he has lots of stories to tell about his close association with the Queen, and seems pretty relaxed about being candid.

Looking after the Queen’s pictures will be at The Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft at 3pm on Sunday 22 October.