A joint event with the National Centre for Writing, chaired by one of the Friends' trustees, the day before the Julian Lecture 2025

From Hollywood films like Conclave and Immaculate to Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These, our culture is captivated by nuns and the cloistered life. What draws us to the confinement and devotion of this religious figure?

Join our panellists — non-fiction writer Hetta Howes (Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife), novelist Jess Kidd (Murder at Gull’s Nest), and memoirist and former nun Catherine Coldstream (Cloistered) — as they explore the inner and creative freedom embodied by nuns and why they continue to inspire writers, filmmakers, and artists alike. Their discussion will be chaired by Sally-Anne Lomas, trustee of the Friends of Julian and director of The Search for the Lost Manuscript: Julian of Norwich a BBC documentary.

FRIDAY, 9th MAY, 7.00pm, NATIONAL CENTRE FOR WRITING, KING STREET, £10

Tickets and details can be found by clicking here.

Catherine Coldstream was born in London, and grew up loving music, words, and books. After converting to Roman Catholicism in her twenties, she spent 12  years in a Carmelite monastery where she lived the life of a silent contemplative nun. Since leaving her community she has studied at the Universities of Oxford, East Anglia, and London, and taught theology, philosophy, and ethics in schools. The effects of her years as a nun have never left her and continue to inspire and inform her writing.

Dr Hetta Howes is a Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature at City, University of London, and a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker. She regularly contributes to broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as writing for publications such as The Times Literary Supplement and BBC History Extra. Her academic book Transformative Waters in Late Medieval Literature was published by Boydell and Brewer in 2021. Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife is her first book for a popular audience.

Jess Kidd is the author of Things in Jars, Himself, The Hoarder and The Night Ship. She won the Costa Short Story Award in 2016 with ‘Dirty Little Fishes’ and has recently contributed short fiction to The Haunting Season, a collection of ghostly winter tales. Jess’s first book for children Everyday Magic is a teacher’s pick.