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In this wild, windy weekend, it's been a joy to be holed up with other booklovers in the Southwold Arts Centre for the relaunched literary festival organised by the town's library and bookshop.

I always find it so interesting hearing how authors come about their ideas and dedicate years of their lives to telling their stories.

The novelist John Boyne was extraordinary as he gave an insight into structuring his books. Despite experimenting with chronology and format for his work, he doesn't intricately plot. Instead he comes only with a concept or an idea and waits to see what happens when he sits down to write. A clever and creative man who is also very engaging to hear speak, and wonderfully animated in reading passages from his book (scroll down for my review).

Then there was Louis de Bernières who was talking about his weird and wonderful new book 'Light over Liskeard' which I mentioned last week. He spent years teaching creative writing, he said, where he would talk about the hero's journey and finally he decided to try it for himself. Another very entertaining and informative speaker, who was also incredibly open and honest about life as well as his work.

It's such a privilege to meet these authors who are so generous in all they have to share. And we have two novelists visiting us at the Riverside Woodbridge later this month who I know will also inspire, energise and delight us! 

Victoria Hislop will take us to the Greek islands as well as 1970s Woodbridge in 'The Figurine', and Nicola Upson, who sensitively melds fact and fiction as she takes us to the literary and artistic world of the 1930s, introduces us to Hollywood and a snapshot of the lives of Alfred Hitchcock, Daphne du Maurier and Josephine Tey.

I hope you'll join me in coming along to hear what they have to say about their Creative Act.

Thank you for reading.

This weekend I made a trip to London to see one of the last performances of 'Pygmalion' at the Old Vic. And, despite, having an eventful journey there and back, it was wonderful to be in a London theatre, as part of an appreciative audience, enjoying the live performance of Patsy Ferran in the leading role.

With 'My Fair Lady' dominant in my memory, I couldn't help but look for points of difference, key of course in the ending, which certainly provided food for thought.

Although Hollywood turned the story into a romance, Shaw's original intent was to advocate for women's suffrage and the end of the British class system. In both productions, though, there is the debate about the power of language. How what you say and how you say it can alter your social status. 

A couple of books I've read recently have allowed the central characters to tell their story in their natural tongue. I don't usually enjoy reading dialect, but in both these stories it really did enhance my understanding and appreciation for the central characters. There was Adunni who lives in Nigeria and speaks a pidgin English in 'The Girl with the Louding Voice'. And in the children's book 'The Final Year' by Matt Goodfellow, Nate speaks Mancunian for his story told in verse. 

Perhaps I need to be better educated in dialect so that I can appreciate other stories told. I read an article recently that in Keighley they are running a six week course teaching people the Yorkshire dialect. It has been devised by the Yorkshire Dialect Society 'with the aim of increasing awareness of its rich linguistic history in an effort to preserve it'.

Of course it's always better to hear dialect than to read it. And in fact Louis de Bernières said in his event in Woodbridge last week that he has never tried to put the Norfolk dialect in his books for fear that it would come across as 'patronising'. There are still so many ways we respond to how someone speaks.

Thank you for reading.

The bestseller charts have been dominated by Richard Osman's latest book 'The Last Devil to Die'. It has broken numerous records and this week was declared the fastest-selling British hardback novel in history.

Whether you enjoy his books or not, it's comforting, I think, that these stories, without gore or violence are proving so popular. Now more than ever, perhaps, it's good to escape to characters and situations where humour, kindness and community dominate.

Murder mysteries or crime novels do particularly well when the world is unsettled and troubling. We like them for the resolution and justice they offer, it seems.

However I read an article this week which said that 'cosy crime' promises something more. There's no omniscient being, no Sherlock Holmes or superhuman detective solving the crime. Instead it's an ordinary individual, or in Osman's books, a tightknit group of pensioners. And the message we can take from this is that we can all be part of the solution, we can each do our bit in putting things right. Something to think about?!

On other matters...

Thank you to everyone for your understanding last week. It was very disappointing not to have Victoria join us for what would have been a near-capacity audience. However I understand that she is now feeling much better and am delighted to announce another date for her visit. Details about the new arrangements are below.

This new date means that we have a cluster of author events in November! Let's think of it as a little autumn booklovers festival! It's certainly a treat to have these authors join us at the beautiful Riverside Cinema.

So do come along to meet crime writer Nicola Upson as she takes us to 1930s Hollywood. 'Shot with Crimson' is a gripping, nostalgic story of glamour, gentleness, respect and propriety (with a crime to solve). It's a lovely escapist read, beautifully written. And Nicola was writing in the Times recently about her inspiration in Daphne du Maurier's book 'Rebecca'.

And meet tv presenter Adam Henson as he shares his memories of family and farming. There'll be fun and laughter, as well as plenty to think about regarding food production and caring for rare breeds, like the Suffolk Punch, plus much more.

By receiving the book with your ticket, these events are great value for money, I hope you agree. Not only will you have a lovely evening but you will also take away hours of reading entertainment for you or, as Christmas approaches, to hand on as a very special gift. 

Reserve your place before Thursday to take advantage of the Early Bird Discount on your ticket price!

Before all this, though, we have our Monthly Book Group meeting fast approaching. I'd be grateful if you would let me know if you are hoping to come along on Monday 30 October so that I can get the room ready and also order in enough books for our November meeting. Please reply to this email to let me know.

One more thing to mention - the Southwold Literary Festival relaunches on 4-5 November with a varied and interesting programme of authors speaking. I'll be there interviewing John Boyne and Louis de Bernières and hope to see you too!

Thank you for reading.

There was a certain synchronicity in my reading this past week.

First of all there was an article in the newspaper about the Swedish crime writer Camilla Lackberg. I've not read any of her novels though she is an internationally respected bestselling author. This article suggested that her most recent work may not be her own, however. She is believed to have engaged a ghostwriter, although she is denying this is the case.

A couple of days later I went to the cinema to see 'The Lesson', a film about a writer. I knew nothing about it beforehand and only hoped it would be an easy distraction and light entertainment. Its subject was a novelist who believed that 'good writers borrow, great writers steal'. And the film explored just how far the central character was prepared to go in following that mindset.

Finally, I was reading a John Boyne novel. It was a title I'd picked at random, as further research for my interview with him at Southwold Literary Festival next month. I'd chosen 'A Ladder to the Sky', published four years ago. Again it was about a writer, and again it was about someone who seemed to have no qualms about taking life experiences told him in confidence and turning them into works of fiction to further his own career.

As the debate about intellectual ownership continues apace with AI, I found it interesting to explore in these different ways how ideas are discovered and developed, and how we as the recipients respond. We are always keen to know the inspiration which led to a creative piece of work and we don't mind if there is collaboration of some sort, but I think we all would like it to be attributed and acknowledged?

Thank you for reading.

I'm always intrigued (and sometimes troubled) by real life stories being presented as dramas, particularly as they seem to air increasingly quickly, very soon after the events took place.

There has been a spell of real life dramas on our tv screens recently: The Sixth Commandment about a fraudster and murderer, The Long Shadow about the Yorkshire Ripper, Partygate about No10 during the lockdown and tomorrow night The Reckoning about Jimmy Savile.

It's odd to consider these programmes as 'entertainment'. But as we learn that more and more of us are switching off the nightly news programmes and fewer people are buying newspapers, perhaps this is how we are to be confronted by some of the issues of the recent past.

Drama can open our eyes to the realities of events which may have seemed distant or abstract. It can encourage us to engage, to empathise, and hopefully urge us and fuel us with a desire to act, to help bring about change for good.

The arts matter and dark stories which are well told, creatively told, and where the goal is to achieve excellence in every aspect - they can be uplifting and energising, and bring about hope.

Thank you for reading.