Firing Earth: An Unexpected History of Pots and Potters

Keith Brymer Jones is coming to the Montgomery Theatre on Sunday 25 October for a talk on the history of pots and potters, part of the Off the Shelf festival. If you recognise the name, it's likely from The Great Pottery Throw Down, where he's one of the judges. This is a different kind of appearance: he'll be in conversation with Marj Hogarth, an actress, designer and podcaster who starred in the Channel 4 series Our Welsh Chapel Dream.

The talk is built around Firing Earth, Brymer Jones's own journey through the history of ceramics. He takes it from wine jars to ink pots, looking at what potters made, how they made it and the role ceramics have played throughout history. He frames his own life as inextricably linked to an industry that still asks the same things of its makers today as it did thousands of years ago: creativity, patience and respect for the material itself.

It's a broad sweep of a subject, and the conversation with Hogarth should pull it into a more personal space. Between the two of them, they'll be tracing the line from the earliest vessels to the pots we still use and make now, with the craft itself as the common thread. If you've ever wondered why a simple pot can be so compelling, this is a good place to start.

It's on Sunday 25 October at 2:00 pm at the Montgomery Theatre, with tickets at £16, or £14 for concessions.