Pleased to announce my biography of the actress Sarah Siddons is published 30 May 2024.
Sarah had shot to fame relatively recently when Gainsborough painted her as a society beauty rather than a working performer.
He complained about the length of her nose.
But she knew that his portrait would only increase her status as the First Celebrity Actress.
It’s been fun to discover more about Lady Mary Wortley Montagu porcelain – something I didn’t know about until after my Lady Mary biography was published.
Delighted that MANHUNT – THE NIGHTSTALKER has been nominated for a BAFTA Drama Series Award.
This has to be the most beautiful venue ever for Jo’s Lady Mary talk.
The Bodleian Divinity School. Thanks OxLitFest.
Jo very impressed by her co-speakers at the upcoming Oxford Literary Festival.
There have been huge changes in the ways that publicly quoted firms communicate with their investors over the past two years. The digitalisation of communications, which has been accelerated by the Covid pandemic, is one factor. The growing focus among many investors on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is the other. These themes are explored in a recent survey and new report which Stuart has written with London Stock Exchange; download it here.
Over the next few months Jo’s going to be talking at the following events about her book, The Pioneering Life of Mary Wortley Montagu:
The Anglo-Turkish Society – tbc
The Oxford Literary Festival Wednesday 30 March
Tangerine Book Club Monday 4 April (invitation only)
Enstone History Society Wednesday 11 May
Hundred of Yetminster History Society Wednesday 12 October
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu – vaccine pioneer
Jo will be talking about Lady Mary Wortley Montagu at the Oxford Literary Festival at 10am on Wednesday 30 March.
Jo is giving her next talk about Lady Mary Wortley Montagu at the 2021 Richmond Literature Festival on November 13, at 2:30pm at the Old Town Hall. It’s a particularly appropriate event and place, as Lady Mary’s pioneering inoculation of her daughter took place in Twickenham. Jo will be in conversation with the biographer and historian Anne Sebba. Here’s the link to buy a ticket.
As ever, it’s been exhilarating and fascinating to contribute to the ScaleUp Institute’s authoritative and respected Annual Review. It puts the spotlight firmly on the 33,000-odd companies which account for 50% of all the turnover generated by the UK’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) despite making up less than 0.6% of their population. There’s a wealth of data, including the findings of its annual survey of more than 500 scaleups; a wide range of policy recommendations; reviews of all the support programmes endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute; summaries of the scaleup landscape in every local area in the UK; along with ten insight articles and 15 new scaleup stories. If you want to learn about entrepreneurial Britain, this is a vital reference tool.
