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If only they didn’t speak English! Wimbledon Bookfest with Jon Sopel

Wimbledon saw the annual return of the much anticapted bookfest this year and once again, like every year, it was a literary delight.

The festival opened on the 5 October with Ali Smith, in conversation with Samira Ahmed talking about her book Autumn which the Observer called “The novel of the year”. Judi Murray, was one amongst many others throughout the festival to make an apperance in the Baillie Gifford Big tent in conversation with John Inverdale as well as Chris Pattern, The REV. Richard Coles and Liz Earle to talk about their published achievements.

One of the highlights of the week was the Jon Sopel event which took place on the 9th October. Sponsored by WSM and Russell Cooke, it was thoroughly entertaining. Informative, filled with energy and the right amount of humour, the event made for a great evening and was an unsurprising sell out!

Jon had the audience captivated by sharing his experiences of travelling on Air Force One, interviewing President Obama and being eye-to-eye with President Donald Trump. The BBC’s North America editor has had rare access and insight into those shaping the worlds most powerful nation, he spoke about his adventures to Steve Bloomfield, deputy editor for prospect magazine while all those who were lucky enough to have a seat in the audience, listened attentively to what he had to say about his adventures in America.

Sponsoring the event made it more enjoyable having our good friends from Russell Cooke to co host the night with. Starting at The Ivy Cafe in Wimbledon, guests were greeted with an array of elegant and delicious canapes and drinks while having a chance to mingle with guests before heading to the much anticipated event at the Baillie Gifford big tent. A signed copy of Jons book and the chance to talk about the event over some drinks, rounded the evening off beautifully.

WSM continue to be proud sponsors of the bookfest and have been involved in two of their events this year, the launch of John MacEnroes book ‘But Seriously!’ in June and the above mentioned book, by Jon Sopel ‘If only they didnt speak English

WSM would like to thank the organisers of Bookfest for their continued hard work in arranging such a fabulous event year after year.

Bookfest continues to run until the 15th October with Matt Haig closing the event with his book ‘How to stop time’.

To find out more about bookfest and future events, please click on the link

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Amanda Menassa

Amanda graduated from Brunel University, with a joint honours degree, achieving a BSC and BA degree in Leisure Management and Television and film studies. Amanda started her career in a customer service role before joining the hotel group Le Meridien as an Events coordinator, she was in the hotel industry for seven years and during her time won an award from a major international airline for her outstanding attitude and dedication to customer service, which she achieved while working for the Rezidor hotel group in the position of Airline Crew Manager. Amanda has over 20 years experience in customer relations and event management.

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