Join us for a conversation with antique savant Neil Lanham at Southwold Arts Centre as part of Southwold Literary Festival! Neill will be talking to us about his career so far and his latest book, I Bid You Farewell.

Tickets are £7.55 each (including booking fee). Available to book from Southwold Library, from Southwold Arts Centre, or টিকিটসোর্সে অনলাইনে.

Born in 1938, Neil Lanham grew up in post-war Britain, shaped by the hardships and traditions of rural life. Following the early loss of his father, Neil was raised by a determined mother in Newmarket and steeped in the stories of Suffolk farming folk, whose tales and resilience would guide him throughout his life. His formative years working on his grandfather’s Red House Farm in Kersey ignited a lifelong curiosity which led him to become one of the UK’s most successful auctioneers, uncovering hidden treasures and achieving more than 100 world record prices in the days before the internet and mobile phones.

ভিতরে I Bid You Farewell, Lanham charts an era of remarkable change in Britain’s auction houses, from the austere post-war years through the booming era of the 1980s, explaining the psychology behind the prices caused by dealers and collectors seemingly ‘discovering’ lots in this rural backwater and reveals the full story behind each extraordinary price. It also highlights how Neil was able to nimbly react to rapidly unfolding new markets, caused firstly by Harold Wilson devaluing the pound and then Margaret Thatcher, where bigger auction houses couldn’t. It is a true insight into the secrets of the auctioneers’ mind.

This event takes place at Southwold Arts Centre, St Edmund’s Hall, IP18 6JP.

Southwold Literary Festival has been organised in collaboration with Southwold Arts Centre, Friends of Southwold Library, and Suffolk Community Libraries.