News

Tomorrow we take the first step towards the end of restrictions, we hope, as the children go back to school.

I'm sure there is some trepidation or at least mixed feelings among the young people, so I was encouraged to hear how, once again, the teachers were throughtfully and creatively seeking to reassure their pupils.

In Bexleyheath, London, the PTA purchased 380 teddy bears, one for each child, and sat them in the hall as if they were attending assembly. The headteacher recorded a message instructing the bears to prepare for the children's return and sent it to all the parents. You can take a look here.

And in Telford, the pupils were each sent the piece of a jigsaw puzzle to decorate. When they return to school, they will be invited to link the pieces in the understanding that 'we're all in this together'.

These are lovely ideas. And I think we may all find aspects of community difficult when we are finally able to meet again fully both in socialising and working together.

Thank you to everyone who got in touch about this month's read on BBC Radio Suffolk. It was great to receive so many comments about Jojo Moyes' novel 'The Giver of Stars'. This story about the Kentucky horseback librarians certainly seems to have captured our imagination. I hope you'll consider taking a look at next month's book 'The Authenticity Project'. It's an interesting idea, and a real page-turner, so scroll down for more details about getting involved.

We've found more to talk about this week with the release of a timetable for the  easing of lockdown, and the spring sunshine lifting our spirits.

Despite the positive spin, though, we still have a few weeks before we can be out and about as we might like - or visit the bookshop.

It's lovely to have a phone call with a friend, or chance upon a neighbour across the garden fence, but the conversation is usually rather limited (though let's not knock it - if our week has been uneventful, that's something for which we should be grateful!).

As life is lacking significant moments at present, I've found it's been a great time to share memories with friends and family. In 'normal' times, things were often so frantically busy that, no sooner had we enjoyed one holiday, party or cultural visit than we were on to the next one. Perhaps now we have an opportunity to relive those experiences and be reminded of things that have slipped our minds with the passage of time.

Certainly my memory has been rather unreliable in recent months. Whether it's due to age or the times we're living in, I find that I have better recollection of a conversation or event from years ago than I do from something that happened yesterday!

I was interested, then, to read about Dame Judi Dench recently. I've always loved the fact that she used to stitch embroidery while she was waiting to go on stage but now I've read that she memorises a poem or learns a new word each day to keep her mind active. What a lovely challenge - shall we give it a go?!

Thank you for reading.

The first lockdown was all about birdsong and banana bread, according to one newspaper article this week in the usual desire to label and alliterate.

There have been numerous permutations on our collective experience since then but, now that we are coming full circle, it's been wonderful to feel the sun on our faces and see delicate snowdrops bobbing in the breeze. We may not be baking as much in this lockdown, but I'm sure we're all delighting once more in hearing the birds singing. Spring is on its way, and we can dare to hope for the future once more.

The restorative power of nature has been documented extensively, and is widely acknowledged in our recent difficult and unusual times.

Appropriately, on Tuesday we're marking 200 years since the death of the great Romantic poet John Keats, the author of 'Ode to a Nightingale' which inspired the poet Ruth Padel recently:

"Sleepless in lockdown, I heard a robin belting out its song in the middle of the night and thought of Keats," she said. "A beautiful song and a little spark of hope. A perfect example of where poetry can take us, why we need it."

She is one of three poets who have been commissioned by The Poetry Society to acknowledge Keats' work in some new writing. There is a free event on Tuesday, details are here. But another more surprising figure involved in the celebrations is Bob Geldof who will lead an immersive video tour of the Keats-Shelley House in Rome. Find out more here or listen to the recent Radio 4 programme here.

Meanwhile, the nature writer Richard Mabey celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday, and I've chosen his fascinating memoir 'Nature Cure' as my recommended title this week. In it he talks of his move to East Anglia, his depression, and his inspiration from the life and work of that wonderful pastoral poet John Clare as well as beautiful observations of wildlife and fauna. You can read an appreciation of his work, by Tim Dee here or read my interview with Richard here.

One of the latest generation of nature writers, Melissa Harrison has spoken about how a passion and appreciation for the natural world is the best motivation for individuals playing their part in influencing climate change and environmental issues. And the lead character in the children's title I've recommended this week, illustrates this beautifully. 'The Last Bear' is the most moving and magical account of a threatened polar bear and encourages us all to think about our individual responsibility in being part of the problem and also being part of the solution, taking action before it's too late.

No polar conditions here any more, of course, and another indication of spring soon being upon us is the launch of this year's programme of author talks from the UEA this week. They are taking place online most Wednesday evenings until May, and there's  a £5 fee to hear some extraordinary speakers. This week the award-winning author Tsitsi Dangarembga will be talking about the success of her 2020 Booker Prize shortlisted novel 'This Mournable Body'. Read more about the programme here.

Finally, don't forget that tomorrow evening we'll be joining together on Zoom to talk about 'The Girl with the Louding Voice'. Everyone is welcome to log on to these virtual discussions. Just reply to this email and I'll send you the details. And if you call by Browsers Bookshop in Woodbridge on Tuesday morning, you'll be able to pick up the title we'll be talking about in our March meeting.

This weekend we've reached another landmark for our strange times.

We're halfway through February already and it's the start of a homeschooling half term holiday. It's Valentine's Day of course (though the media has struggled to put a positive spin on that) and, yes... ITV's 'The Masked Singer' competition has reached its conclusion.

I confess I've not been watching it but understand it's been one of those programmes which has helped people get through the week. And I was amazed to see how a teacher in the north-west has responded, bringing fun and ingenuity with a booky theme.

Teachers in the school have been filmed reading the blurb of a book while using filters for their voice and head. Take a look here. At the same school, a teacher has also devised a reading website for her pupils modelled on the Netflix page, here. Meanwhile in Wales, a school attached free books on their fence for pupils to pick up and enjoy during the half term break. The books were parcelled up in goody bags with a bookmark, hot chocolate and teabag for the parents, see here. Clever, inventive ideas like this really do bring smiles, excitement and interest when things are feeling a bit flat at the moment. 

Some mishaps in video calls have also caused amusement again. This time in the US a lawyer who accidentally activated a filter appeared as a cat here, and a congressman appeared upside down here.

Hopefully we'll all be able to negotiate the technology for our Zoom Book Group monthly meeting and even without cats or goats, we'll still find it an enjoyable way to spend an evening. This time we're discussing 'The Girl with the Louding Voice' on Monday 22 February. If you'd like to join in, please reply to this email and I'll send you the details about logging in - it's very straightforward, honest!

While we're grateful for the various means by which we can keep in touch through technology these days, I think we've all experienced the feeling of being rather 'Zoomed out'. So it was interesting to see a number of stories about video calls in the media this week.

There was the chaotic and tumultuous Cheshire parish council meeting, of course. Not comfortable viewing for lots of reasons, but I did enjoy the creativity displayed in one of the obligatory social media spin offs: 'Handforth Parish Council - the Musical'!

And there was the story about the farmer who hires out her goats for video calls. Dot McCarthy in Lancashire said she was looking for something which might lift people's spirits during this time. So she created resumés of her goats and suggested that people might like to invite them on to conference calls as a surprise guest to amuse the other attendees. She had no idea it would prove so popular. You can find out more here, and perhaps make your own booking, here?!

But I was also fascinated to see numerous items on how books and bookshelves have been appearing on video calls in this time.

There's a Twitter feed called Bookcase Credibiity which describes its intent as 'What you say is not as important as the bookcase behind you'. Whether in television interviews, meetings with colleagues or public presentations, people have had to style their rooms ahead of delivering their message.

In the early days of lockdown, you might see washing hanging on radiators and ironing boards propped in corners of rooms, and it was widely reported about people having empty shelves, or 'inappropriate' titles displayed behind them, but now some people are so much more savvy that they are contacting book suppliers to 'curate' their bookshelves for them so that they might appear more erudite to their viewing audience.

The sad thing about this is that it seems people aren't choosing books they'd like to read necessarily. Instead book businesses have been asked to supply literary tomes, travel guides and even books according to the colours of their spines! The BBC in reporting this item here also made it known that they were making empty sets from tv shows like Doctor Who, Strictly and Eastenders available as backdrops for video calls!

I hope you're not short of reading material, but if you're looking for ideas for your next book - or would like to try the book group on Zoom?! - please scroll down or take a look at my website...