DOVER book & tour at the Maison Dieu

Dover-Book & Tour

A celebration of Simon Bill’s DOVER published by Dover Arts Development and the book tour developed around it took place on October 9th 2025 at the Maison Dieu for 20 guests who have played a key role in Dover and with this DAD project.
Guests had a taste of Martin Crowthers contagious enthusiasm for this remarkable building that he has, as the Heritage engagement officer, during the renovation period brought to the attention of so many of all ages and demographics within and beyond the Dover community.
The building itself belongs to Dover District Council and as Head of Museums Jon Iveson has the collections housed here in his care.
Co-hosting has been a key strategy of the DOVER book tour which we have co-hosted with 12 groups and organisations. The same co-hosting formula was followed with the Maison Dieu thanks to Dover District Council and the Heritage engagement programme.
Getting work out to new audiences and participants beyond ones own bubble is very difficult. By co-hosting and not just hiring a venue for instance we have been able to considerably expand the number of those interested in this slim volume of 12 essays on DOVER by Simon Bill.

Since January 2024 DAD has a new iteration with 5 directors.  Four were present, Charles Holland, Richard Bundy, Simon Bill, Joanna Jones and Nicolas Deshayes, the DAD Guardian, who had flown back especially from a residency in Ireland.
Richard Bundy spoke about DAD. Richard has worked as a freelance artist on several DAD projects since the first major Cross channel project, Transmit Transmettre in 2008. This was followed by Simon Bill, author of DOVER, sharing something of his DOVER.

Surabhi Ziarek from MOMO on the Move provided the food. Her family is part of the Nepalese Gurkha community that settled in Dover and stayed on at Burgoyne Heights after Connaught Barracks closed in 2006. Surabhi now runs a successful Dover business much cherished in the town. With the food there is Italian Bier and the Kentish Pierricourt apple juice that plays a starring role in 2 of the DOVER Essays.

Guests were asked to write or draw on the paper table covering anything they felt like noting. The feedback will be shared with our funders and event partners.

• Ginny Dougary (journalist) was asked what she thought of Simon Bill’s performance /presentation?
  I thought it was really emblematic of his work and spirit:  surprising and original. In a conventional book promotion, a person would sit on a stage conventionally being interviewed by the illustrious interviewer and talk illustriously about his illustrious book. But not Simon. The Billsian way, as I think we may have to call it, is to do something unexpected and off -beam and beautiful in the most unpredictable way.
  So there he was sitting at a table butchering a piece of plastic and brown paper and people could only hint at what was going to emerge from the packaging – and he had drawn us all from the dining table into another grand room with large gloomy portraits on the walls and swords and rifles in between, and by making us move it also changed the atmosphere and dynamic of our group in an enlivening way, it meant there was nothing boring and polite and yawny about it. We all moved and our energy changed. Then he brings his sword out in a bit of a flourish, which is an object of beauty and awe (and a very close relative of one of the swords on the wall) and tells again, a very sort of Billsian story of personal history meshed with local history, ancient history and always an element of the raffish and rackety – which is just so appealing.

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