Justine Picardy in conversation with Kate Drayton
Ipswich Arts Festival Literary Events
Anyone who loves books would have found something to interest
them in the Ipswich Arts Festival literary events this year.
A day devoted to young people’s literary activities, three
writing workshops, a short story competition, a Poetry Tent in
Christchurch Park, a Writer’s Café, a Literary Lunch with Libby
Purves and eight conversations with writers made for a fascinating
and stimulating programme.
I was lucky enough to see Marc O’Day with Toby Litt, Brian
Morron with Helen Dunmore, Kate Drayton with Justine Picardie and
Jules Pretty with Robert Macfarlane. In these informal talks we
hear about the writers’ latest books and what inspires them.
We were able to ask questions, buy books and have them signed.
Toby Litt, one of 2003’s Best Young British Novelists, read an
excerpt from his latest, very accessible novel, I Play the Drums in
a Band Called OK. He had us all laughing at his hapless hero,
a drummer named Clap, whose mother is determined to marry him off
to the daughter of one of her friends. Litt shared his passion for
music and football with his like-minded interviewer and the
audience.
Helen Dunmore is a versatile poet and novelist whose work ranges
in style, subject and period. Her latest book, Counting the Stars,
tells of the love affair between the Roman poet Catullus and his
mistress Clodia. Helen pointed out the similarities between
Catullus’ world and ours, and the huge difference between pre-and
post-Christian civilisations. A writer fascinated by the impact of
war on civilians, by survival and redemption, Helen’s novels are
usually commissions whilst her poems come to her like a voice in
the night - a comfort to anyone who has ever struggled to write
poetry.
Justine Picardie writes both fiction and non-fiction and is a
columnist on the Sunday Telegraph Magazine. Her book
Daphne is ‘faction’ about Daphne Du Maurier’s obsession with
Branwell Bronte but also a story about a modern-day student’s
attempt to write a PhD on the writer of Rebecca. This interview was
filled with famous names and haunting coincidences, from the summer
of research she spent with her children in a spooky cottage in the
grounds of Du Maurier’s house, to the old book containing
photographs of the mysterious woman who was Du Maurier’s husband’s
mistress. The original Peter Pan was Du Maurier’s cousin, adopted
by J M Barrie and infected with the same melancholia which troubled
Du Maurier. Anyone interested in the Brontes, Peter Pan or the
much-loved Rebecca, would have been entranced by this interview and
will love the book.
Robert Macfarlane teaches English at Emmanuel College,
Cambridge, and has a passion for The Wild Places, which is the
title of his latest work. The book ‘celebrates, wanders and
wonders, but also warns’. His theme is the discovery of wild places
in our crowded island, feeling that an encounter with the ‘wild’
reminds us of our limits as human beings while filling us with awe
and delight. Following his reading of beautifully-written passages
from The Wild Places, there was an interesting discussion about
environmental issues and the planet our children will inherit.
To meet an author you admire and have an opportunity to talk to
them is very satisfying. Familiar with these writers or not, it was
fascinating to see how alive they were as they spoke of their
passions. I came away with a determination to read these writers’
books and share their enthusiasms. I was sorry to miss Gill Lowe
talking to Julie Myerson about her latest book, Out of Breath and
Paul Gravett’s interview with graphic novelists Bryan Talbot and
Hannah Berry, a form of literature I’ve yet to explore.
Whilst Ip-art’s literary events are a great way to encounter new
writing, they also introduce you to some beautiful venues. Both the
St Lawrence and St Nicholas Centres are beautiful, re-commissioned
town-centre churches, and The Ipswich Institute is an amazing
building most of us have never entered. Next time you’re walking
down Tavern Street look for an inconspicuous doorway which leads to
this members-only library. The Corn Exchange, Town Hall Galleries
and The Admiral’s House in Tower Street were other imaginative
venues for the Literary Festival’s happenings.
Malorie Blackman with young fans
If you missed Ip-art this year, make a note in your diary for
next. It’s a fortnight packed with opportunities to celebrate
the arts and artists in our area. These events are for anyone who
keeps a book on their bedside table, or dreams that one day they
too, might be able to call themselves a writer.
Christine Shaw
July 2008
For further information please contact: Sara Newman,
artsroute@keme.co.uk