PREVIEW OF ‘FOLLOWING NELLIE BLY’ EVENT AT THE RICHMOND WALKING AND BOOK FESTIVAL
Maggie Longstaff, in Year 10, has written a preview of ‘Following Nellie Bly’ by Rosemary Brown, which we hope you will enjoy reading below.
If you are interested in this event then you can see it on 23rd September 7:30pm in Richmond Town Hall. Tickets are £15 and can be ordered HERE
Concessionary Tickets: people in full time education, people receiving income assessment benefits, or carers supporting other attendees may purchase tickets for most events at half-price.
ROSEMARY BROWN – ‘FOLLOWING NELLIE BLY’
Nellie Bly. It’s a name that most likely means nothing to you, a name that most of us may not have even heard of a name that has been hidden in history. Her achievements as a trailblazing journalist who circulated the world in 72 days – shattering the fictional record of household name Phileas Fog – have been brushed under the mat for over a century and ignored until Rosemary Brown decided to honour her journey and retrace it 125 years later. She has found Nellie in all the places she dared to venture, her story uncovered and to be shared with us on the 23rd September at The Georgian Theatre Royal, all welcome.
Context……..
Rosemary Brown is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a Churchill Fellowship for research initiatives in Greece and Ireland to lend a vital helping hand to refugees looking to rebuild their lives.
She will be in conversation with explorer, writer and speaker Jacki Hill-Murphy, whose journeys have taken her to some of the most extreme corners of the world dedicated to following in the footsteps of strong, female explorers whose names have been lost in history until now. Such as Isabela Bird and Mary Kingsley, just a couple ground-breaking Victorian adventurers that have encouraged her to cross lands and reach peaks that she would’ve thought unimaginable .
A bit more info on Nellie…
Racing her way through a man’s world, alone and with only the clothes on her back and a Gladstone bag, Nellie Bly covered around 21,740 miles by ocean liner and train before arriving back within 72 days on the 25th January 1890.
She pioneered investigative journalism and paved the way for women in the newsroom while running crusades for vulnerable children, campaigns against oppression and maintaining a vigorous ‘nothing is impossible’ view of the world around her – something particularly admirable for a mixed-race, female journalist in the 1800’s. Her achievements have made the world we live in today a better place, 130 years later.
Book your tickets and enjoy!
I have failed my job of writing this preview if you refuse to come now ! Head down to The Georgian on Friday 23rd September and I promise you will leave with no regrets and a head full of fresh knowledge .