Name: An Evening with Maggie Aderin
Start: 2026-06-27T19:00:00+01:00
Location: Blake Theatre Monmouth

A very special opportunity to hear inspirational scientist and speaker Maggie Aderin talk about her life, work and passion for the night sky.
Maggie's latest book, Starchild, will be on sale at the event.
Dame Dr Maggie Aderin is an award winning space scientist, broadcaster and author, whose passion is presenting science to general audiences.
She studied at Imperial College, London, obtaining a Physics degree and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. She has worked in both industrial and academic environments, on missions including the James Webb Space Telescope and various satellites designed to monitor climate change.
Maggie is the CEO of Science Innovation Ltd., which she founded in 2004. Here, she conducts public engagement activities, sharing her love of space and encouraging underrepresented communities to enter STEM.
She is a Bafta-nominated television presenter, and won a Women in Film & Television New Talent Award. She co-hosts the world’s longest-running science programme BBC The Sky at Night.
Maggie is the Chancellor of the University of Leicester, has honorary doctorates from over 10 UK universities, won an Institute of Physics gold medal, the Yale ‘Out of the Box’ thinker award, and was Woman of the Year for innovation in 2018. She is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Institute of Physics, and an ambassador for Made by Dyslexia and the International Rescue Committee. Maggie was recognised with a damehood in the 2024 New Year’s Honours list, and was honoured with a Barbie doll in her likeness in recognition of her achievements in making space and science accessible to young girls, literally encouraging them to ‘reach for the stars’.
Starchild:
From a childhood in Camden to the frontiers of space, an inspirational memoir from space scientist, presenter of The Sky at Night, and bestselling author Maggie Aderin.
'I'd toast the moon and look at the sky... I think it draws us to it; we wonder what lies beyond.'
Maggie Aderin's destiny was always written in the stars. From the age of three, inspired by The Clangers, her dream was to go into space. Throughout a chaotic childhood, ricocheting between divorced parents and acrimonious custody battles, she attended thirteen schools in fourteen years – but while her environment regularly changed, her fascination with the Universe did not. It became enmeshed in her desire to succeed as a scientist even when her school careers advice was to become a nurse.
Starchild is Maggie’s emotionally honest and revealing memoir, telling a story of education and prejudice, adversity and ambition, motherhood and the moon – all recounted in her characteristically warm and relatable style. From being the only Black woman on her physics course at Imperial College London, to her groundbreaking work on the James Webb and Gemini telescopes, to starting her own public speaking company and sharing the wonders of science with thousands of children every year, Maggie’s story will inspire you to never give up on your dreams.