Gyles Brandreth - Prose & Cons: The English Language in Just a Minute - Maidstone LitFest 2024

About

Best-selling author and English language virtuoso, Gyles Brandreth, takes us on a whirlwind tour of the English language in his signature style and wit. Prose & Cons combines the brilliance of the English language with the beloved institution of Radio 4’s Just A Minute, putting readers through their linguistic paces so they can become experts themselves.

Throughout the book, Gyles takes us on a journey through the history, uses, and abuses of English – from the origins of words and phrases, to correct grammar and punctuation, from similes and euphemisms to record-breaking tongue twisters – all in pithy 60-second entries, with absolutely no hesitation, repetition, or deviation. This is Gyles Brandreth at his word-perfect best.

Books available for purchase at the event

Biography:

Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, podcaster, and regular on Just A Minute, QI, Celebrity Gogglebox, and This Morning. A former MP and Government Whip, now Chancellor of the University of Chester and founder of the 'Poetry Together' project which brings schoolchildren and older people together to learn poetry by heart. His many books include the best-selling poetry anthology, Dancing by the Light of the Moon, and the international best-seller about spelling and punctuation, Have You Eaten Grandma?

With Susie Dent, the lexicographer from Countdown, he co-hosts the award-winning podcast, Something Rhymes With Purple, all about words and language. He also presents the Rosebud podcast where he explores the first memories of famous people. Gyles is married to writer and publisher Michèle Brown and has three children, seven grandchildren, and lives in London with his wife, his jumpers, two rooms full of dictionaries and Nala, the neighbour's cat.