News

The Jubilee celebrations are all set for the coming days. Trooping the Colour, Buckingham Palace concert, street fairs, tea parties...reinstating imperial measures?

Strange times. But if you'd like to receive some interesting, stimulating commentary on modern society, politics and economics, as well as discussions about memoir, fiction, history, works in translation and much more, the Hay Festival is once again available online. 

It's always refreshing to hear intelligent, informed individuals speak passionately and eloquently about their subject of expertise and after only viewing four speakers I feel more energised and inspired, though my reading list has once again been extended.

I have always wanted to visit Hay but it's been wonderful to be able to view the talks online in the past couple of years. Here in Suffolk, we do have the opportunity to hear authors in person in the coming days and weeks, and there's something to be said for being in a room with like-minded individuals and having serendipitous conversations with other audience members.

This coming week, there are events held in Southwold to mark the Jubilee and I will be talking to Stewart Ross about the research for his latest book, an entertaining and informative compendium of information about Queen Elizabeth II.

In the coming weeks we'll have the crime writing festival Slaughter in Southwold and the Felixstowe Book Festival. More about them nearer the time.

But for book conversation in Woodbridge, perhaps you'd like to join me at book group tomorrow evening. We'll be meeting at 8pm to discuss 'Still Life' by Sarah Water. I'd be grateful if you would reply to this email to let me know if you are coming, so that I can make adequate preparations! Hope to see you there! 

Thank you for reading.

With the glorious weather this weekend I've realised how my interests and habits have noticeably altered in the past two years. 

Now instead of setting out a chair to relax in the afternoon sun, I'm on my hands and knees weeding the veg plot and the highlight of my Friday evening television is 'Gardeners' World'!

Gardening has been such a tonic and I particularly enjoy finding out what other people have achieved - the plants they've chosen and the designs they've created.

It's lovely to visit gardens in person too and Helmingham Hall just up the road from us in Woodbridge has always been rather magical - I love the idea of the drawbridge being lifted and lowered each day! 

So I was thrilled to talk to Xa Tollemache recently about how she first created the gardens there, and how she is now handing them on to the next generation. You can read my interview with Xa in the June issue of 'Suffolk' magazine. And scroll down to find out more about the beautiful new book Xa has written, her 'love story' about Helmingham.

Thank you for reading.

A 'celebrity' court case has rather dominated the news this week, being accorded attention that seems rather disproportionate, to say the least. The BBC website refers to the case between two footballers' wives being about a "tweet that brought the nation to a standstill"...?

Away from the front pages, though, there was a report of the quite different actions and motivations of one international star. 

Singer and songwriter, Dolly Parton, who funded research into a coronavirus vaccine in the early days of the pandemic, has once again used her wealth and influence for good, seeking to aid healing in a population which is experiencing huge trauma through recent events. She is partnering with the publisher Penguin Random House and the charity Give a Book to provide 200 refugee children in London with a book each every month until they turn five years old.

One of the books chosen was 'Billy and the Dragon' by Nadia Shireen, who said of the initiative: "Children's books are magical portals that can comfort, console and delight. For families who have been through unimaginable upheaval, receiving a book to share may be a small thing, but it will hopefully also be a loving, warm and familiar thing."

This is part of the Imagination Library, a flagship programme of the Dollywood Foundation which was launched in 1995 in honour of Dolly Parton's illiterate father. It has subsequently distributed more than 100 million free books, with 618,000 books given to children across UK and Ireland last year.

Executive director of the foundation in the UK, Marion Gillooly told the Guardian: "Delivering books to these children every month will give them the opportunity to experience the joy of reading with their families. We hope that this will support family relationships and inspire a love of reading that will last a lifetime."

It is encouraging to see such a programme in place. We can all do our part, though, in choosing a book for a child or a friend to help them through difficult times. I'm pleased to say that there are more and more uplifting and joyful stories being published for readers of all ages! Take a look at my website for my suggestions for great fiction and non-fiction titles, or ask for recommendations from the team in your independent bookshop and support your local community too!

Thank you for reading.

Last week the Publishers' Association revealed figures about UK book sales that showed a continuing encouraging trend, with a 5 per cent rise on the previous year. And non-fiction led the way in the consumer sector, generating £1.1bn, with fiction achieving £733m.

I think we've all noted how much we've been enjoying non-fiction titles in recent years. The quality of the writing, the production levels of the books and the range of subject matters have often left us better informed, hopeful and inspired to find out more about a particular topic. I hope that my non-fiction recommendations each week have helped you discover some pleasant surprises.

This weekend I attended the Aldeburgh Literary Festival and I came away feeling energised and delighted by the quality of the presentations by the authors, and fascinated by the information they shared - about subjects I knew nothing about beforehand. It means I've got additions to my reading piles, of course, but it's so exciting to have new worlds opened up. If you weren't able to attend, tickets to all the weekend's sessions are now available online here.

But do think about making the most of the events which are coming up in the next few weeks. It's lovely to have a full programme of festivals again.

There is a special Jubilee Celebration Week of talks and performances coming up in Southwold and I will be at the Arts Centre speaking to Stewart Ross about his new book 'Queen Elizabeth II for Dummies' on the evening of Wednesday 1 June. Later in the month, the Felixstowe Book Festival this year spans two sites with its range of author talks. There'll be more details about these festivals in the coming weeks, but look up the programmes and book ahead to avoid missing out!

Thank you for reading.

The first of the month and another Bank Holiday: here we are in May, and this year is flying by!

It's a long month, though, so we have five weeks to read our book group title and I've chosen something we can really get stuck into. Written by Sarah Winman, it's called 'Still Life' and I can't put it down, so it's nice to have a Bank Holiday to indulge myself. I hope you'll join me and put Monday 30 May in your diary to come along to our discussion.

We had a great time debating April's book 'Barcelona Dreaming' this week. If you weren't able to be there, or would like to raise some of the issues with the author, Rupert Thomson is visiting Ipswich later this year to speak at Suffolk Book League. You can find out more about the organisation, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, here.

Of course we're marking the Queen's Platinum Jubilee next month and a rather special anthology has been produced.

Published by Suffolk company Boydell & Brewer, 'A New Suffolk Garland' has been compiled by Mary and John James at Aldeburgh Bookshop with former publisher Dan Franklin and radio producer Elizabeth Burke. Please scroll down for more details about the book, and read my article about it in this month's issue of 'Suffolk' magazine.

They've been busy in Aldeburgh. It's the Literary Festival next weekend and there are still tickets available in another broad ranging and fascinating programme. Hope to see you there!

Thank you for reading.