Fleet Street Quarter Festival of Words
- drjohnsonshouse
- Feb 28
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 22
Festival of Words
Wednesday 14 - Saturday 17 May
We are very pleased to be taking part in the Fleet Street Quarter Festival of Words this May. The festival explores how words shape our world and the heritage that shapes the Fleet Street Quarter.
The Festival programme features events spanning current affairs and journalism, fiction, screenwriting, poetry and spoken word, and family and children’s events. It will take a fresh look at the dynamic history of Fleet Street Quarter, whilst also providing a space for exciting new talent, and discussion of the urgent issues facing us today.
We look forward to welcoming you to 17 Gough Square - the seventeenth-century house where Dr Samuel Johnson compiled his famous dictionary and where words have always held a special place. For the full list of events across the festival, please visit the Festival of Words website.
Events taking place at Dr Johnson’s House:
Dickens the Enchanter
Wednesday 14 May
1pm - 2pm
In conversation with Julia Wheeler, Peter Conrad introduces Charles Dickens as a true giant of literature.
In conversation with Julia Wheeler and Peter Conrad introduces Charles Dickens as a true giant of literature – with the rarest ability to create whole worlds. This event celebrates Dickens' life through his storytelling – the characters, places and emotions conjured up across all his novels, letters, stories, public readings and diaries.
The Real Wolf Hall: The Life and Interesting Times of Thomas Cromwell
Wednesday 14 May
6.30pm - 7.30pm
Chief Historian of Historic Royal Palaces, Tracy Borman throws light on one of the most powerful and fascinating men of the Tudor period.
Author, broadcaster and Chief Historian of Historic Royal Palaces, Tracy Borman throws light on one of the most powerful and fascinating men of the Tudor period.
Thomas Cromwell enjoyed a meteoric rise from blacksmith's son to Henry VIII's right hand man. He plotted the downfall of Anne Boleyn but his own dramatic fall from grace would follow.
A welcome drink is included in the price of your ticket
In conversation with Kate Loveman: Strange History of Samuel Pepys' Diary
Thursday 15 May
1pm - 2pm
2025 marks 200 years of Pepys' famous diary. Kate Loveman unveils its history, secrets and cultural impact with Julia Wheeler.
2025 marks 200 years since the first publication of the most famous (and infamous) diary in the English language.
Kate Loveman reveals to Julia Wheeler the diary’s extraordinary history, its hidden secrets, and its controversial place in British culture.
In Conversation with Jane Moore: My Life on Fleet Street
Thursday 15 May
6.30pm - 7.30pm
Journalist, writer, television personality and 'Loose Women' regular, Jane Moore, talks to John Nicolson about her life and career.
Jane Moore is an English journalist, writer, and television personality. She is a columnist for The Sun and writes regular articles for The Sunday Times.
She was a panellist and anchor on the ITV lunchtime chat show Loose Women between 1999 and 2002, returning as a regular panellist from 2013 onwards.
In 2024, she appeared as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. She talks to John Nicolson about her life and career.
A welcome drink is included in the price of your ticket.
Samuel Johnson’s Abiding Relevance to a Contemporary Artist
Friday 16 May
1pm - 2pm
Explore Johnson’s love of words through David Breuer-Weil’s sculptures, inspired by his Dictionary and Fleet Street’s literary history.
Johnson was in love with words and books. A Dictionary of the English Language, published in two large volumes, was a book of magisterial appearance as well as content.
David Breuer-Weil describes how words and books are important symbols in his art and how Johnson’s dictionary inspired a public sculpture, and other writers and journalists of the Fleet Street area prompted a series of sculptures of books and newspapers.
One of Johnson’s great characteristics is his combination of humour with moral seriousness, something that Breuer-Weil has explored in many public and private works of art over many years, for example Visitor V, currently installed in Park Lane, London and Reflection Soho, a permanent monumental bronze in Dean Street, Soho, an area associated with Johnson.
Living with Jane Austen
Friday 16 May
6.30pm - 7.30pm
In Austen’s 250th year, Janet Todd and Rebecca Jones explore her legacy, relevance today, and shifting cultural significance.
2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen. Acclaimed literary scholar and novelist, Janet Todd, reflects with Rebecca Jones on a life thinking, researching, and writing about Austen, why she matters now, and how her meaning has changed at different cultural moments.
A welcome drink is included in the price of your ticket.
