A highlight of Norwich’s annual literary calendar, this year’s Harriet Martineau Lecture will be delivered by writer and NHS palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke.
The lecture will take place live on Saturday 25 May from 12:00 to 13:00. You can book your ticket for the lecture (£12) via the National Centre for Writing’s website.
Rachel Clarke is the award-winning author of four Sunday Times bestselling books, including The Story of a Heart (winner of the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction), Dear Life and Breathtaking.
Inspired by the fearless legacy of Harriet Martineau, Rachel will explore the links between gender, medicine and power, drawing connections between Victorian healthcare and the contemporary NHS. Her lecture will consider what one of Britain’s most outspoken writers and campaigners might make of modern medicine, and what her voice can still teach us about advocacy, compassion and the importance of speaking out in healthcare today.
The first Harriet Martineau Lecture was delivered by Ali Smith in May 2013 and featured a call to draw Harriet Martineau’s face onto £5 notes in protest at the decision to remove Elizabeth Fry from the same note. Since then the likes of Kate Mosse, Masha Gessen, Linton Kwesi-Johnson, Sarah Perry, Ellah P. Wakatama, Kit de Waal, Charlotte Higgins and Val McDermid have given the lecture, variously exploring Martineau’s internationalism, inspiration for feminism, and role in the abolition of slavery.
The lecture will take place live on Saturday 25 May from 12:00 to 13:00. You can book your ticket for the lecture (£12) via the National Centre for Writing’s website.
Supported by The Martineau Society
