This is a GALHA FREE public event. No tickets: first come, first served until we reach capacity. Recent events have attracted 60 - 80 interested people from all sorts of backgrounds.

A talk by Sheila Rowbotham based on her widely acclaimed biography of Edward Carpenter. Carpenter had an extraordinary impact on the cultural and political landscape of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but even more impressive is the fact that his views seem as relevant today as they were then. He was an advocate of free love, gay rights, recycling, nudism, women's suffrage and prison reform. He even set up and lived in an alternative community. His wide circle of friends included Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman and EM Foster.

GALHA is delighted to welcome Sheila Rowbotham, who is a professor of Gender and Labour History at the University of Manchester and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts.

What to expect

Our events normally run in the Library at Conway Hall, home to freethinking since 1929.

Events generally feature up to 45 minutes with the main speaker(s) then 20+ minutes of audience questions. Come along and get involved! This is followed by wine (donation requested, fruit juice available) and a friendly, informal reception until they chuck us out.