The Remarkable Life of Ronald Blythe

Ronald Blythe (1922–2023) was one of Britain’s most distinctive and cherished chroniclers of rural life. His classic, Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village (1969), offered a vivid, interview-based portrait of agricultural England and the rapidly changing landscape of twentieth-century Suffolk. A prolific and wide-ranging writer, he produced fiction, memoir, poetry, literary criticism and nature writing, bringing to each a lyrical clarity and humane insight. His works include debut novel, A Treasonable Growth, inspired by E.M. Forster, and The View in Winter, a compassionate study of ageing and isolation. His writing captures both the physical textures of the countryside and the deeper emotional and spiritual patterns of rural life.

Blythe was also closely embedded in artistic and literary circles, counting Christine and John Nash, Benjamin Britten and James Turner among his friends, and he played a role in organising the Aldeburgh Festival during the 1950s. A lifelong Anglican, he became a lay reader in 1984, and his much-loved Church Times column 'Word from Wormingford' introduced his reflections on landscape, faith and daily experience to new audiences.

Rooted in the countryside of Suffolk and Essex, Blythe’s work continues to be celebrated for its sense of place, sensitivity and depth. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was appointed CBE.

This will be an evening of conversation and reminiscence, along with fascinating insights into Ronald Blythe’s archive.

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