Romance Writing Festival - 18th October 2025. Join Katie Fforde, Milly Johnson, Paige Toon and other bestselling romance writers.
Details here
Networking Events
Celebrate Robert Louis Stevenson's 175th birthday
On the site of his former home, where he wrote Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Join us at Skerryvore Gardens in Westbourne on his actual birthday - Thursday 13th November at 7pm - for performances, readings and poetry from Robert Louis Stevenson experts.
Birthday Celebrations
On Thursday 13 November 2025 from 7pm, we invite you to gather under marquees in the gardens to pay homage and to celebrate of one of Dorset’s most famous literary residents.
Not only did Stevenson write (and throw into the fire!) Jekyll & Hyde in Westbourne but he also wrote Kidnapped and A Child's Garden of Verses. Henry James would visit Stevenson regularly there too.
Under marquees, you'll hear from:
-
Actor Mark Freestone reading poetry and performing as Robert Louis Stevenson from BAFTA-winning playwright John Foster's Weevil in the Biscuit.
-
Local historian Andrew Emery talking about Stevenson's time living in Bournemouth
-
Robert Louis Stevenson Club member Mark Steeds giving a brief history of the European Cultural Route "In the Footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson".
-
Ali Bacon - also a member of the Robert Louis Stevenson Club - giving a talk about Stevenson's women - a compare/contrast of his wife Fanny Osbourne and Fanny Sitwell, 'The weevil, his wife and the other woman’.
This will then be followed by informal networking.
Event Details
-
£7.50.
-
7pm until 9pm.
-
Thursday 13th November 2025 (the 175th anniversary of Stevenson's birth).
-
Skerryvore Gardens, Westbourne (63 Alum Chine Rd, Bournemouth BH4 8DS), located at the South end of Robert Louis Stevenson Avenue.
-
Bring your own drinks (we will not be selling any food or drink).
-
The event takes place in the gardens and there will be a marquee (or glorified gazebo!) so:
-
There will be very limited seating so please bring your own chairs if required.
-
There will be NO toilet facilities.
-
Please dress appropriately for the weather conditions. It may be chilly so wrap up warm!
-
-
Option to donate to buy the Robert Louis Stevenson rose for Skerryvore Gardens.
Our Speakers
Meet the Robert Louis Stevenson experts who will be speaking during the event
Pick up a copy of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde where he actually wrote it!
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was written at the exact location of our celebration event. So what better way to mark Robert Louis Stevenson’s 175th birthday by buying a brand-new edition at the very spot of its creation?
Designed by Royal book designer and author Briony Hartley, this special volume includes the full text of Stevenson’s dark masterpiece, together with a new introduction by local historian Andrew Emery uncovering the author’s fascinating years in Bournemouth.
This book also offers a self-guided walking tour that lets you step back into Stevenson’s world and see the town as he would have known it. By placing the novella within the dramatic contrasts of Stevenson’s life by the sea – his battle with illness, the play of light and shadow – it sheds fresh light on how those tensions shaped the birth of the monstrous Hyde.
As the launch title from the Beach Hut Books series, Briony Hartley’s new publishing venture, it sets the tone for a series celebrating our section of coast as a place of literary inspiration.
Copies are £7.99 and can be collected at our celebration event. Andrew and Briony will be on-hand to sign copies of the book too!
Signed copies of Ali Bacon's The Absent Heart, inspired by the letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, will also be on sale at the event, priced £9.99 (cash or card).
Can't make it?
Please consider donating to the community projects that the Bournemouth Writing Festival put on and to buy the Robert Louis Stevenson rose for the gardens.
The Friends of Skerryvore Gardens are local volunteers who help with keeping the gardens nice and tidy for everyone to enjoy. We hope to buy the Robert Louis Stevenson rose for the gardens with donations.
The Bournemouth Writing Festival is committed to providing low-cost and free events and activities for all members of community, regardless of their age, background or ability.
If you are unable to come, please consider a donation so we can keep putting on events for the commmunity.
Our other upcoming events
Photos from our Networking Events
