Tickets are now available for the final two events in this year’s Phenomenal Women series of talks staged by The Gainsborough Bath Spa hotel.
Now in its second year, the series aims to celebrate, support and inspire. Each event is delivered by a high-profile woman who has innovated in her field and achieved widespread recognition. 
Writer, critic, broadcaster and stand-up comedian Viv Groskop will speak next month while TV producer and author Kalpna Woolf brings this year’s series to a close in November.
Viv, pictured, whose talk will be on October 2, has presented Front Row and Saturday Review on BBC Radio 4, is a regular on BBC1’s This Week and has hosted book tours for Graham Norton, Jo Brand and Jennifer Saunders.
Her books include The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature, and How to Own the Room: Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking. She is currently writing a self-help memoir titled Au Revoir, Tristesse: Lessons in Happiness from French Literature due out next year.
Viv will be sharing her insights on the art of public speaking, inspired by How to Own the Room, and touching on dealing with anxiety over performance, what to do when you open your mouth and nothing comes out and ultimately, how to own the room.
On November 14 it will be the turn of head of production at HungryGap TV Productions and author of Spice Yourself Slim Kalpna Woolf.
Kalpna, pictured, is a major influencer for change – both at senior board level and at grassroots level. Following an award-winning career in the BBC, as head of production overseeing £100m global business including the BBC’s jewel in the crown, the Natural History Unit, Kalpna now works extensively with the creative sector in both an advisory and consultancy capacity and is currently head of production at HungryGap TV Productions.
She has written a best-selling food book Spice Yourself Slim and, in 2015, founded 91 Ways to Build A Global City – an initiative which reaches out to all the 91 language communities in Bristol to bring greater understanding, break down barriers and build a more cohesive city. 
Alongside this she held positions on business and charity boards including chair of trustees for Frank Water, trustee for Knowle West Media Centre and business advisor and chair of the West of England LEP skills group. She is a member of the Bristol and Bath Regional Capital Board, attracting significant fund into the region for social enterprise projects, and set up BeOnBoard to help redress the gender and BME balance on business boards.
Tickets for each event are £15. Attendees will be welcomed with prosecco and canapés, giving them the chance to network with one another before hearing from one of the ‘Phenomenal Women’. The talks will be followed by a guided discussion from a member of the University West of England’s Bristol Business School.
The series takes its name from the poem Phenomenal Woman by US poet Maya Angelou.
So far this year journalist, author and broadcaster Bel Mooney, Master of Emmanuel College Cambridge and former director-general of the National Trust Dame Fiona Reynolds, and social and business entrepreneur Jaya Chakrabarti MBE have spoken at the events, which are supported by the University of the West of England’s Business School and Business West, the organisation that runs Bath Chamber of Commerce.
The multi award-winning five-star, 99-room Gainsborough Hotel opened three years ago. It was the first UK hotel to be opened by YTL Hotels, part of the giant Malaysian YTL conglomerate that also owns Bath-based Wessex Water.
To book for Viv Groskop click here
To book for Kalpna Woolf click here
