On Stage
I’m an accomplished and highly respected event chair, host and interviewer, which I’ve been doing since 2018.
Events I’ve worked on stage at include:
Literary Festivals: Cheltenham, Stratford, Stroud, Wells, Cuckfield, Canterbury, Sturminster Newton, Lichfield, Guernsey, Alderney, Portsmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Dorchester, Granite Noir Crime Writing Festival in Abderdeen, Cheltenham Poetry Festival.
History Festivals: Gloucester, Cirencester, Chelsea, Warwick, Harvington (which I’ve also hosted since 2024).
Science Festivals: Cheltenham, Norwich, Orkney.
In addition I chair events for bookshops such as Rossiter Books, and have hosted at Gloucester Cathedral, the Stationers Hall and Apothecaries Hall in London and the Gloucestershire Schools Heritage Conference.
I’m equally comfortable presenting virtual events such as the Discovery Day at Home for Dr Jenner’s House Museum & Garden in Berkeley in 2020, for the Sturminster Newton Literary Festival in 2024 and for Fane Productions in 2025. I can also present hybrid events with a mix of guests in person and remote, for example the Forest Authors Festival with Reading the Forest in 2021 and at Stroud Book Festival in 2022.
I am also invited to curate events or strands for festivals. Since 2024 I’ve curated and presented a series of in conversation events at the Museum in the Park in Stroud, with a wide range of guests.
And I can give talks on my career in radio, podcasting & events, and on topics like the history of arts and science.
I can offer the following: Interviewing guests e.g. an author about their book; chairing panels on a variety of subjects or hosting/introducing speakers and acting as MC for the event.
My favourite subjects are space, history (especially ‘hidden histories’), travel, health especially mental health & welling and psychology, myth busting – but I can turn my hand to most topics. In the past they’ve included crime thrillers, health, adventures, history, engineering, ecology, art and space.
Guests I’ve interviewed on stage include Zeinab Badawi, Louis de Bernières, Prof Tracy Borman OBE, Peter Brathwaite, Dallas Campbell, Helen Carr, Charlie & Daisy May Cooper, Chloe Dalton, Prof Nandini Das, Susie Dent, Jonathan Dimbleby, Lyse Doucet, Dr Darren Freebury-Jones, Essie Fox, Adam Frost, Dr Jamie Gallagher, Prof Adam Hart, Dom Joly, Alan Johnson, Mark Kermode & Jenny Nelson, Dr Chris Laoutaris, Dame Prue Leith, Helen Lederer, Andrew Lownie, Claire Mackintosh, Lara Maiklem, Anna Mazzola, Kate Mosse, Dr Rebecca Nesbit, Shalina Patel, Prof Janina Ramirez, Prof Gina Rippon, Gareth Russell, Dr Helen Scales, Anne Sebba, Dr Shini Somara, Rick Stein, Dr Nicola Tallis, Andrew Taylor, Jo Ward, Alison Weir and Dr Kate Werran.
See here for upcoming appearances and please contact me to find out how I can make your event or festival extra special.
Testimonials
“Working with Jo is genuinely one of the best things I get to do. I’ve been involved with Beautiful Universe from the very start and the myth busting section we do has covered an incredible diversity of topics, from pandemics to bats! I’ve also done live events with her, like Norwich Science Festival, and her hosting and chairing skills are second to none.”
“Jo Durrant was one of my favourite interviews of 2023. She was informed, funny, had a fantastic rapport with the audience, and she very much put myself and my fellow guest at ease. I’ve been interviewed by her twice, now, and she is one of the best in the business.”
“I’ve been interviewed by Jo Durrant on three separate occasions and cannot recommend her highly enough as an expert interviewer in any capacity. She researches each subject thoroughly and prepares questions well in advance that takes the stress out of interviews for the subject. She has the excellent skill, honed by years of broadcast experience, of following the conversations and allowing them to evolve instead of sticking to scripted questions. This means that each time we meet our chats are similar, but always different. Jo is professional, informed, efficient and organised. Any interviewee is in extremely good hands with Jo Durrant and I hope to work with her a lot more in the future!”
Jo Durrant is an interviewing genius. I have worked with her several times, as a guest on the Beautiful Universe podcast and for in-person events. I am always astounded by the depth of Jo’s knowledge as she jumps from diverse topic to topic and yet always exemplifies such careful reading. Jo has a way of putting interviewees instantly at ease, getting the best out of them and enabling authors to showcase their work. Moreover, her knowledge is accompanied by wonderful humour. A conversation with Jo is always like chatting to your best friend. A joy for interviewees and audiences, I cannot praise Jo highly enough!
“I met Jo when she chaired my session at Norwich Science Festival, which was a positive experience right from the first time she contacted me. Her warmth came across immediately, as did her deep interest in all the topics she explores. It made for an engaging session for me and the audience, and also led to other interesting conversations when she interviewed me for her podcast. I can definitely recommend her as a host and interviewer.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of being introduced and interviewed by Jo on several occasions now, and each time I’ve found her to be knowledgeable, personable and highly engaging. I thoroughly look forward to working with her on future events!”
“Jo came to Norwich Science Festival to host panels and interview contributors. Jo was a delight to work with. She organised meeting all the panel contributors online in advance of the event and talked through their specialisms and made them feel at ease. At the festival Joanna was brilliant at interviewing scientists from a variety of specialisms and I received lots of feedback on how she brought the talks alive. I would highly recommend her.”
“Jo is a fantastic chair – she’s versatile, great to work with and always very thorough in preparing for events”.