From Strikes to Storytellers: 100 years of crisis, community and creativity

Dr Melanie Bassett leads a talk at Portsmouth Guildhall on Thursday 2 July, as part of the Portsmouth100 celebrations marking a century since the city's elevation in 1926. The evening, From Strikes to Storytellers: 100 years of crisis, community and creativity, brings together three academics from the University of Portsmouth to look at the city's history and its literary life from two very different angles.

Dr Bassett takes the first pass, looking back at 1926 itself. It was a year of strikes and energy crises, with the miners' strike and the general strike shaking things up across the country, and she'll be talking about how Portsmouth, as a naval city, reacted to it all. From there, Dr Alison Habens takes over with a walk through Southsea, following the footsteps of Kipling, Conan Doyle, Dickens and H.G. Wells and the science fiction and fantasy they left behind. Dr Maggie Bowers then picks up the thread to trace Portsmouth's more recent literary history, describing it as one of the most prolific cities in the country when it comes to writing.

Between them, they cover a century of the city's life: the political turmoil of the twenties, the big names who wrote about these streets, and the writers who've kept that tradition going since. It's a good fit for anyone with an interest in Portsmouth's history, literature, or just how the place has changed over the last hundred years.

The talk runs from 17:30 to 19:00 at Portsmouth Guildhall, Guildhall Walk, PO1 2AB. Entry is free, though you'll need to reserve your spot on Eventbrite in advance.