Talks and Performances
, “I’ve known Steve over 25 years. As a psychologist he is a bit different, tramping deserts, crossing the Atlas, exploring Andalucia, writing, discovering, questioning and performing in a delightful quest for quirky serendipity.”
Stephen Venables - mountaineer, author - the first Briton to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen
Steve is an in-demand speaker and storyteller appearing at a wide variety of societies, venues, and organisations to entertain, stimulate and occasionally provoke!
Steve Bonham is … engaging funny and a very original thinker! - FringeReview.co.uk
Stumbling Over Eden
Stumbling over Eden "A boy's own - and girls! - adventure of a trek, from the High Atlas mountains, across the Anti Atlas, then following the exotic river Draa into the Sahara. You will fall into a world and people as fascinating and friendly as any fairy tale."
- Mike McHugo OBE
Stumbling Over Eden starts with an idea born on the top of Mt Toubkal the highest peak in North Africa - to walk from the roof of the High Atlas Mountains to the sands of the Sahara Desert. What results is a fantastical tale involving a Krupp cannon, arrest, being tailed by the secret service, the lairs of old warlords, a spirit dog, a lost tribe of dwarfs and an amorous camel. But more than that, it is a story of resilience, companionship, independence, the strange weave of history and the true meaning of adventure.
Steve at Wigtown Book Festival 2022 with Robert Twigger proving a guitar is never far from hand!
Steve at Ripon Theatre Festival 2023
"You could have heard a pin drop as Steve spoke, we were all remembering our lived and unlived adventures. It was inspiring.” Cilian Fennel, Creator & Producer of RTÉ’s award-winning Centenary show
Audience Feedback
“Another incredible evening at Leigh library for Stumbling Over Eden . . . Steve really brought his trek to life through extracts, funny tales and some amazing songs”
“We had a lovely time at this event tonight. Steve was a very engaging speaker and his stories about a trek across Morocco were so interesting – we all fell in love, a little bit, with Black, the feral golden retriever who got them safely home”
Stumbling Over Eden - beyond the Adrenaline high
Following the narrative of a DIY trek from the top of the High Atlas Mountains to the Sahara desert (550 km), Steve Bonham reflects on the nature of adventure and its rewards weaving in themes of risk-taking, serendipity and companionship. This is a celebration in story, bold ideas and song of the adventurer that lies within us all and invites us to see "beyond the adrenaline high" the true experience of stepping into the unknown and how to make a friend of uncertainty.
Steve Bonham is an award-winning psychologist, author, musician, performer and everyman-adventurer.
Have we have become afraid to be afraid!
It was a privilege to have you join the Cumbria Soaring Club Lakes Charity Classic paragliding club competition to provoke a conversation about adventure, risk-taking and companionship in the sky. Thanks for adding a thoughtful, humorous and melodic tone to our tribal gathering of international pilots!
With total appreciation. Baz Roberts, (Chair)
How to Survive and Thrive in an Impossible World
A world turned upside down! How do we flourish in times of enormous uncertainty and in a world in which a rising tide of anxiety and disaster seems to be in danger of overwhelming us? How do we grab the wheel of our lives and steer into calmer waters? The world we are moving into seems to be one in which the old rules do not apply. So what are we going to do for ourselves if we are to flourish as individuals ? Steve Bonham, award-winning psychologist, writer, adventurer, musician, and ‘vagabond philosopher’ weaves a spell of new research, story, and wry observation’
Incredible. It was inspiring and positive. I have downloaded your book already! I believe that it is such an important part of my role as "Wellbeing Lead" to highlight and point people in the general direction of wisdom, help or advice. I feel you have offered all three.
Andy Allen Consultant Anaesthetist University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Written during COVID lockdown - How to Survive and Thrive has been delighting audiences all over the UK!
Explaining How to Survive and Thrive in an Impossible World - Nottinghamshire Environmental Association .
“Hi Steve, thanks for an excellent talk to NEA members last night, it generated lots of thought, debate and reflection - as intended! ,,, and I wish you all the best as you continue to ‘re-wild’ and share your learning with the world”
Julie Walker
"He doesn’t just talk the talk; he walks the walk." Roisin Ingles, Irish Times