Summary

  • Big Book Weekend welcomes 30 authors for a fascinating series of free-to-watch events.

  • The festival continues on Sunday, with five fantastic live sessions starting at midday.

  • Read the Line-up article and plan your Big Book Weekend.

Live Reporting

  1. While we're waiting for Douglas...

    While we're waiting for Douglas Stuart, why not enjoy this reading from Shuggie Bain, recorded as part of the 2020 Booker Prize celebrations?

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    ...and here's the moment when the chair of judges revealed that Stuart's novel had won:

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  2. Starting soon - A Big Book Chat with.... Douglas Stuart

    Our next session begins at 3pm.

    Our next session features this year’s Booker prize winner Douglas Stuart, who will explains what it was like to grow up gay in a hard man’s world, explore why working-class stories matter, and discuss the power of a good teacher to save a lost kid’s life.

    To get you in the mood, here is our profile of Douglas and his award-winning novel, Shuggie Bain.

    Douglas Stuart reads from his 2020 Booker shortlisted novel

    You can find out more about the other novels shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize here.

  3. Are you ready for some bibliotherapy?

    In our session at 4pm we're talking about how books can help your mental health. Could you use a bespoke fiction prescription?

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  5. Catch up on yesterday's chat

    You can now watch the whole of 'How to Be a Man', with Russell Kane, Alex Wheatle and Guvna B. Click on the play button in the carousel above - and keep an eye out for more sessions coming soon.

    Big Book Weekend title card

    Most men would rather die and be buried in a ditch than talk about when they cried, and that's not ideal - Russell Kane.

  6. "I don't like anybody in the books, and I don't care what's happening to them."

    Which author does Grace Dent often lie about having read? Last year she told Sara Cox on BBC Two's Between the Covers.

    Graham Norton (pictured) and Grace Dent admit to pretending to have read books they haven't.

  7. "I think women's attitudes to food are really tightly policed."

    Why does Ruby Tandoh want us to use psychology to help us rethink our relationship with food? She spoke to Women's Hour after making it to the final of The Great British Bake Off in 2013.

    Great British Bake Off finalist Ruby Tandoh wants us to find pleasure in all food types.

  8. Coronavirus Cookery for the culinary clueless

    Best-selling author Jack Monroe spoke to BBC News about her tips for people who lack confidence in the kitchen. Find out what she said.

    Tin of beans

    Jack Monroe believes that everyone can increase their cookery skills

  9. Inspired by our speakers?

    Our Sunday Lunchtime session is now over, but if you've been inspired to try something new, Ruby Tandoh and Jack Monroe have both shared recipes with the BBC Food website.

    Why not experiment with:

    Jack Monroe

    Jack Monroe specialises in tasty, low cost recipies

  10. Grace Dent on what motivates her as a food writer

    I don't want to control the restaurant scene. I don't want to close places. I don't want to influence food. All I want to do is take people vicariously out of their house, and reflect a scene I love.

    Grace Dent

  11. Jack Monroe's culinary inspiration

    I learned to cook from various random cookbooks that I found in charity shops, but to curl up with like a bedtime story I will always go back to Dennis Cotter.

    Jack Monroe

  12. Jack Monroe's cooking philosophy

    If you've got a can of tomatoes it's a can of tomatoes. If you've got some cooking oil, it's some cooking oil. If you can afford nicer ingredients by all means use them, but these recipes will work with the absolute basics.

    Jack Monroe

  13. Grace Dent on culinary memories

    It's brands - it is brands - and it goes hand in hand with advertising. It's that, to me, that is a way back to my past.

    Grace Dent

  14. Ruby Tandoh on why eating is about more than the moment

    Ruby starts our session with an interesting idea:

    For me, so much of cooking and eating is peripheral. We start that process the moment we go to the corner shop, or we start writing our recipe list.

    Ruby Tandoh

  15. Do you have a question for our panellists?

    If so, you can post it to social media using #BigBookWeekend

  16. Starting Now - Digging In: How Our Food Shapes Our Lives

    You can watch the session live by clicking on the play button at the top of the page

    Joining Shahidha Bari for a course of culinary conversation:Grace Dent is a broadcaster, author and columnist. She is restaurant critic for the Guardian and one of Britain's best-known voices in food. She has been a regular face on MasterChef since 2013. Grace currently presents the multi-award-winning show The Untold on BBC Radio 4 and What We Were Watching for BBC Four. She is a familiar face on shows such as Have I Got News For You, Pointless and Great British Menu. Grace has published nine books for young adults and for several years wrote ‘Grace and Flavour’ for the Evening Standard as well as a popular Independent column.Ruby Tandoh is a food writer who has been published in the Guardian, The New Yorker, Taste, Elle and Vice. She's the author of Breaking Eggs: An Audio Guide to Baking, Eat Up: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want and two cookbooks - Crumb and Flavour. She currently lives in London, and was a finalist on The Great British Bake Off.Jack Monroe is an award-winning cookery writer, TV presenter, and a campaigner against hunger and poverty in the UK. She is author of the bestselling cookbooks: Tin Can Cook, Cooking on a Bootstrap, A Girl Called Jack and A Year in 120 Recipes. Jack was the co-host of BBC's Daily Kitchen Live, which launched in April 2020. She was awarded the Fortnum and Mason Judges' Choice Award in 2013 and the OFM Best Food Personality Readers' Award in 2018

    Big Book Weekend title card

    Digging In: How Our Food Shapes Our Lives - Sunday, 1.30 pm

  17. Grace Dent's lockdown reading recommendation

    BBC Arts has been asking our Big Book Weekend guests about the books that have helped them survive lockdown. Here's what Grace Dent chose:

    Grace recommends Stalin Ate My Homework by Alexei Sayle

    Grace recommends Stalin Ate My Homework by Alexei Sayle

    You can see more recommendations here.

  18. Starting soon - Digging In: How our Food Shapes our Lives

    Our next session begins at 1.30pm

    What does the food we eat tell us about ourselves, our roots, and our society?

    Three brilliant food writers talk about their personal relationship to food - and how, whether we like it or not, what we put on our plate has become a political act. Grace Dent (Hungry), Ruby Tandoh (Eat Up, Eat What You Love) and Jack Monroe (Good Food for Bad Days, A Girl called Jack) serve up the chat at 1.30.

    Bowl of foodImage: Richard Iwaki / Unsplash

    What does our food say about who we are?

  19. Catch up on what you've missed

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    Don't forget - you can watch Val's Big Book Chat here.

  20. It's nearly time for Sunday lunch...

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