TALK:
Rural Hours
Harriet Baker talks to Jo Hamya about her book, Rural Hours, which tells the stories of three renowned women and how their respective moves to the English country shaped their writing, and who they became. Her book follows Virginia Woolf on the Sussex Downs, Sylvia Townsend Warner on the Dorset coast and Rosamond Lehmann in a Berkshire village. A paean to the bravery and vision of three pioneering writers, it is a passionate invitation to us all: to recognize the radical potential of domestic life and rural places, and find new enchantment in the routines and rituals of each day.
Sunday 14 September 1–2pm
San Mei Gallery, 39a Loughborough Road SW9 7TB
Harriet Baker [she/her] has written about books and art for numerous publications, including the London Review of Books, Paris Review, New Statesman and FT Magazine. Her first book, Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann, was published by Allen Lane in 2024. It was awarded the Biographers’ Club Tony Lothian Prize and the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award.
© Photo: Sophie Davidson
Jo Hamya [she/her] is the author of the novels Three Rooms and The Hypocrite. She has been longlisted for the Dylan Thomas and Nero prizes, and is the recipient of the 2025 Somerset Maugham Award. Her book reviews have also appeared New York Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times, and the Telegraph, among others. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate at King’s College London.
© Photo: Sophie Davidson
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