Hands up those of us who have heard of tennis player Lottie Dod, the world’s first female sports superstar and the youngest woman to have won Wimbledon in 1887?

If you didn’t know about her, now is the time to discover more about Lottie, who also excelled at numerous other sports.

As well as  winning Wimbledon five times, she was a  golfer, archer, hockey player, mountaineer,  ice skater, tobogganist and bicyclist … and picked up a silver medal in the 1908 Olympics.

Her fascinating life (including working for the British Red Cross during the first world war) is captured in a brilliant biography called “Little Wonder: The Extraordinary Story of Lottie Dod” by author Sasha Abramsky.

Sasha will be talking all about Lottie at the Berwick Literary Festival on 15 October, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm via Zoom.  Admission to the online session is free although you do need to register online.

Berwick Tennis Club member Jackie Kaines Lang, who is helping to promote the festival in the town, said: “In an age where female sport stars are rightly getting increased recognition, it's wonderful to learn about the very first all-round British female sporting superstar. Born in 1871, Lottie Dod competed in many sports. Notably she won Wimbledon five times - the first time when she was 15. What an inspiration!”

Although Lottie excelled at sport when women didn’t even have the vote in the UK, her take on tennis has a definite modern spin that applies to men and women.

Lottie is quoted as saying “as a rule, ladies are too lazy at tennis. They should learn to run and run their hardest, too, not merely stride. They would find, if they tried, that many a ball, seemingly out of reach, could be returned with ease; but instead of running hard they go a few steps and exclaim, ‘Oh, I can’t’ and stop.”

To find out more about the event and to register visit https://berwickliteraryfestival.com/event/sasha-abramsky/