Literary Programme 2018

Join Alexandra Heminsley for a coffee & chat about her memoir Leap In: A Woman, Some Waves and the Will to Swim. Swimming is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK: 2.7 million people swim once a week. And Alexandra Heminsley thought she could swim. She really did.

It may have been because she could run. It may have been because she wanted to swim; or perhaps because she only ever did ten minutes of breaststroke at a time. But, as she learned one day while flailing around in the sea, she really couldn’t.

Believing that a life lived fully isn’t one with the most money earned, the most stuff bought or the most races won, but one with the most experiences, experienced to the fullest, she decided to conquer her fear of wild swimming.

From the ignominy of getting into a wetsuit to the triumph of swimming to Ithaca, Alexandra learned to appreciate her body and still her mind. As it turns out, the water is never as frightening once you’re in, and really, everything is better when you remember to exhale.

Candid, insightful, and empowering, this book will move you – to tears of laughter and to the water!

‘Soaringly beautiful book about swimming’ India Knight, Sunday Times

‘A joy to read’ Daily Telegraph

‘Genuine and persuasive’ The Guardian

‘An honest moving account of marriage, personal loss and living life to the full’ Woman & Home

‘As insightful as it is inspirational, Leap In reminds us that all the best things in life are about experiences. Read this and feel elated.’ CultureFly blog

After this event join Alexandra for the festival swim at 11.30am