A Mudlarking Year: Finding Treasure in Every Season | Lara Maiklem
Times: Doors open at 12.15pm for a 12.30pm start
Venue: Southwark Cathedral Nave
Tickets: £10 via Eventbrite
Join Lara Maiklem in conversation with writer and journalist Julia Wheeler.
For over two decades, Lara Maiklem has been scouring the banks of the tidal Thames looking for objects - lost or discarded - that tell forgotten stories. In this charming sequel to the bestselling Mudlarking, Lara widens her search beyond the river and reflects on life lived post-pandemic, reminding us that it's possible to draw meaning in the most unlikely of places.
As she searches the foreshore through the changing seasons, she is at times aided by the gentle illumination of the falling winter sun or hindered by bright summer skies and lashing rain. Yet, by working in harmony with the unpredictable terrain, she finds solace in aligning with the elements and uncovering the treasures that are bestowed by the tide. From medieval pilgrim badges and Tudor love tokens, to Georgian wig curlers and Victorian pottery, each passing day unearths ordinary and extraordinary objects that tell the rich story of London's past and its inhabitants.
A Mudlarking Year is a gentle ode to nature, history and the simple art of looking. Guided by Lara's curiosity, warmth and wisdom, it is your invitation to discover hidden objects in the most overlooked part of the city, the secrets they reveal and the stories that are patiently waiting to be told.
Lara Maiklem moved from her family's farm to London in the 1990s and has been mudlarking along the River Thames for fifteen years. She now lives with her family on the Kent coast within easy reach of the river, which she visits as regularly as the tides permit. Her first book, Mudlarking, was a critically aclaimed bestseller.
Julia Wheeler is a writer, journalist and interviewer who worked for the BBC for more than fifteen years, including as the BBC’s Gulf Correspondent based in the UAE and covering the Arabian Peninsula. Julia chairs discussions at literature and science festivals across the UK and internationally, including in the Middle East, South Asia and the US. She has moderated events at The British Library, The Royal Geographical Society, 10 Downing Street and mid-Atlantic, onboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2. Julia was a judge for the 2024 Dylan Thomas Prize and is Chair of Judges for the Stanfords Travel and Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place Award, 2025. She is a trustee of the Stratford Literary Festival.
Julia has moderated large-scale conferences and chaired inter-governmental forums. She is an event chair and interviewer at festivals across the UK including the Cheltenham (Literature and Science), Hay, Manchester, Chiswick, Stratford and Budleigh Salterton festivals. She has chaired events for festivals and organisations based in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka, Singapore, the US, and for the Global Association of Literary Festivals.
She sits on the board of the Stratford Literary Festival and was a secondary school trustee for eleven years.
A regular judge for the Edward Stanfords Travel Writing Awards, she is chair of judges for the 2025 Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place Award 2025. She was a member of the jury for the 2024 Dylan Thomas Prize. She has been a Guest Director for the Stratford Literary Festival and a judge for the finals of the FameLab International science communication competition for young scientists, mathematicians and engineers.
Julia wrote the award-winning book ‘Telling Tales: An Oral History of Dubai’, capturing stories of court intrigue, pearl diving and gold smuggling, plus the early days of education and banking.
Julia read Economic and Social History at university before graduate study in Broadcast Journalism.
