Diary of a Festival Organiser - Day 5

Sunday 24th May

My sister and niece arrived last night so I had guests as well as trying to finish last minute instructions for The Walking Writer. My niece is fifteen and does not do the 'W' word. So my sister and I left her in lazing in bed and in good time to meet the walkers at West Finchley station.

A lot of people asked about the weather, when I had checked it said that rain was expected at 3.00pm, one of the walkers said it was 1.00pm. We set off in hope at 11.30am.

Our first stop was a field where there used to be an old house, Brent Lodge. Built in 1810 it later became the home of Francis A. Hamilton. Despite opposition from Spike Milligan and the Finchley Society, the house was demolished in 1971.
We journeyed on to Dollis Brook and saw the new path recently installed by TFL; the idea is that cyclists and walkers can both use it. Unfortunately it has caused a bit of upset amongst walkers. 

Then we did our first writing exercise which just involved closing eyes and listening to all the sounds. One chap couldn't close his eyes as he said he'd fall over. We then continued the journey in silence until we ended up at the lake for a lovely reading, The Lake by Roger McGough, actually it wasn't so lovely...
Down on the lake, piggy eyes glisten. 
They have acquired a taste for flesh.
They are licking their lips. Listen .. .

We had lots of readings and creative writing exercises as well as detours into hollows and wooded paths. We stopped for refreshments at Finchley Golf Club and had delicious sandwiches and drinks. Apparently the original owner had a thing for beavers. There are stone beavers outside and wooden ones inside, possibly having escaped from Narnia only to be captured by the beaver-loving golfer!

After lunch and a few Haiku's we continued on our merry way towards Whetstone but only after a few more detours. I began to be a bit worried that I wouldn't make the next event in time so phoned Lindsay to say I might be late.

We visited Brookdene wooded area that is under threat from developers (though not if we can help it). Mr Greenacres who has charted every green space in Finchley takes his role as Green Spaces Champion very seriously. He read an excerpt from Wind in the Willows (see below) and read poems where Spike Milligans house used to stand. The highlight was the finish! Tea and delicious home-made cake at Redwood Cafe in Swan Lane Open space just as the rain arrived.

`I beg your pardon,' said the Mole, pulling himself together with an effort. `You must think me very rude; but all this is so new to me. So--this--is--a--River!'

`THE River,' corrected the Rat.

`And you really live by the river? What a jolly life!'

`By it and with it and on it and in it,' said the Rat. `It's brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, and food and drink, and (naturally) washing. It's my world, and I don't want any other...'

For the final event of the day and indeed the 2015 Finchley Literary Festival, I'll hand you over to Lindsay, who has written an excellent account of an excellent event and awesome finale which you see here.

Diary of a Festival Organiser - Day 4

Saturday 23rd May

I was hoping to have a little lay in this morning but unfortunately my body clock seems to have got stuck at 6am. I'm not sure why this is because usually I cannot wake up in time for work and I'm often late though of course it's never my fault as usually I am abducted by aliens en-route. And usually when I wake, I lay sleepily in my bed drowsing. Not so at the moment, I'm like a zombie that smells human flesh - eyes wide and senses all alert.

I thought of fellow coordinator Lindsay, preparing for her Voice Skills Workshop and Katie Alford, fellow Greenacre Writer who would be running her first workshop ever. And in the meantime I tweaked my introduction speech for the YA event at Waterstones. My only dilemna was whether to take the bike or walk and in the end I walked.

Savita, Alex and Ellie

Arriving at Waterstones, Alex Wheatle and Ellie Daines were already there. I think I was more nervous than they were. It's really quite odd, the adrenaline inside my body was acting like a bottle of shaken fizz. I grabbed handfuls of flyers and stood outside the shop shouting at passers-by, 'Interested in literature, books, reading...' 'Come in out of the rain (and seeing one of the booksellers out of the corner of my eye) added, '...and buy some books,' just as Savita arrived and I laughed at myself. 

Once the introductions were over, I settled down to listen to these three Young Adult writers. I heard how Alex's novel Liccle Bit was based on a young person he had met through his community work. A young boy who had been sucked into a gang. He didn't want to be there and unfortunately he ended up in prison. Alex was so moved by his story that he began writing. 

Savita's novel The Long Weekend had it's beginnings when her child was in primary school and there had been a flyer doing the rounds about a man who had tried to abduct a child. She began to think about the incident and realised just how easily it could happen.

Ellie's novel, Sine Izzy Shine is about a mother who has amnesia and thinks she is the same age as her daughter. Even from the short extract I heard, I immediately grasped how the roles of mother and daughter had been reversed. Ellie explained how a relative suffered with Alzheimers and this was what had fired her imagination.

Leading up to the event there had been a lot of activity on Twitter about diversity in children's literature. Alex, Savita and Ellie continued this conversation with the audience during question time. I was very moved by Alex remembering as a child how he and his family were invisible in literature. Alex was an avid reader as were Savita and Ellie. Literature that is available in bookshops is determined by what the publishers believe readers want, it's about time that they actually spoke to readers and really heard what they have to say. The audience in Waterstones was pretty diverse with many nationalalities and backgrounds represented and these readers want to see themselves represented in literature.

I had been looking forward to the next event, Murder in the Library, all week. It was my chance to sit and write and not worry about anything for a couple of hours. I had been thinking about my inner investigator and I was torn between an intelligent buxom blonde and nervy, perceptive Kenyan librarian. So I decided they would work together. And what fun I had. My murder victim was the Councillor for Libraries and of course we all know that libraries are under threat so a lot of people hated him! (The perfect victim must be hated) I explored North Finchley library, where the event was held, for a convenient place to hide the body. Josie and Penny did an excellent job of discussing just enough about the various roles in a crime novel to get our imaginations well oiled. I'm going on a writing retreat in a couple of weeks and I'll be taking my investigators with me.

Our final event for Saturday was an absolute hoot! Anna Meryt organised the poets and musicians for the Poetry and Music Palooza that was held at Cafe Buzz in North Finchley. I think I've probably written enough for one day, so I'll hand you over to Lindsay who has also written about this event in more detail.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.

The Barbers had said they would arrive by three. It was like waiting to begin a journey, Frances thought. She and her mother had spent the morning watching the clock, unable to relax. At half past two she had gone wistfully over the rooms for what she'd supposed was the final time; after that there had been a nerving-up, giving way to a steady deflation, and now, at almost five, here she was again, listening to the echo of her own footsteps, feeling no sort of fondness for the sparsely furnished spaces, impatient simply for the couple to arrive, move in, get it over with.

Waters evokes perfectly the atmosphere of losing a private space in a home. With the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the 'clerk class', the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways.

Then she realised that Lilian was not moving away; she was simply looking out into the passage to be sure that no one else was near. Now, in fact, she was turning back, she was drawing breath, she was stepping forward-pushing off from the doorpost as if gently but bravely launching herself into a stretch of chill water.

And with no more effort than that, no more fuss, no more surprise, she came across the room to Frances and touched her lips to hers.

As passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.

Greenacre Writers was selected as one of the 12 book clubs who were shadowing the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2015. We were given The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters was well as a lovely bottle of Baileys and some bookmarks.

This was the first Sarah Waters novel that I've read. I enjoyed being taken back in time and had no problem with the intensity of the relationship. I found the descriptions of paying guests arriving and living in the house and all that brings with it, like the loss of privacy very lifelike. It is almost as if Waters takes the traditional Lady and Servant roles and turns them up-side down. Lillian is the more bohemian, Frances scrubs floors without shame.

I didn't enjoy the suspense of the murder trial, though I enjoyed the plot (if that makes sense). I did feel the author rather let the reader down by the ending, I really wanted to know what would have happened had the outcome been different. This could possibly have been a book for which there were two endings.

Diary of a Festival Organiser - Day 3

Friday 22nd May 2015

Duncan Barrett

Our first event of the day took place at Waterstones, North Finchley with Duncan Barrett (unfortunately Nuala Calvi was unwell). Duncan spoke about their latest book The Girls Who Went to War. Their previous books include The Sugar Girls and GI Brides. I learnt a lot about women in the services during WW2, and interestingly though not unsurprisingly, they had to put up with a lot of unkindness from the general public who thought they were all 'tarts'. The Government were so worrried that they made a propaganda film The Gentle Sex. The Girls is already a bestseller and is at No.3 of the Sunday Times top ten.

While we were rehearsing for the next event, Paul Baker was meeting walkers at Finchley Central station and taking them for a literary walk. Paul, a qualified City of London guide, led a special Finchley Lit Fest walk. Two miles from Finchley Central to East Finchley, taking people past a number of Finchley's literary connections including Charles Dickens, Sir Edmund Gosse, John Betjeman, Spike Milligan and Will Self, amongst others and painters, William Hogarth, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Ford Madox Brown. Even more Finchley in Fiction here.

The next event was Mike Gee's Literary Slideshow. This was a slightly different show from his usual secret green spaces event, it included readings by Lindsay, Mark Kitchenham, Chris Hurwitz-Bremner and myself of over twenty pieces of poetry and prose to lovely photos. I particularly enjoyed the last two lines of The Song of the Dandelion Fairy: (There are fairies with this link!) '...You can never drive me out, Me, the dauntless Dandelion!' However, this event nearly didn't happen. Just as we left Mike's house with a lorry-load of equipment, two fire engines went whizzing past. I didn't know where they were headed but I did instinctively feel we should go the long way round to the library. It was just as well we did because when one of the guests arrived he said there was a fire in North Finchley High Road and people were stuck in traffic for up to two hours. North Finchley library is at the top end of Finchley. There were some people who didn't make it but we still had fun and decided (to our peril) that it was a rehearsal for another literary slideshow in the future. Date to be confirmed!

I couldn't attend the Writing for Wellbeing event with Andi Michael but I heard from a participant that she had a wonderful time. More events tomorrow!

Diary of a Festival Organiser - Day 2

Thursday 22nd May 2015 - Part Two

Jen Campbell came to visit us in Friern Barnet Community Library as part of the festival. I've been following Jen on Twitter for some time and it was Jen that introduced me to Mike Carey's novel, The Girl with all the Gifts. Jen is a bit like The Girl with all the Books because she reads at least two a week and has a wealth of knowledge not just about books but about bookshops too. Not just books and bookshops but also the author of bestselling 'Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops' series plus a very interesting Booktube channel. 

Jen gave us some examples of the weird things customers say: 'Do you have this children's book I've heard about? It's supposed to be very good. It's called Lionel Richie and the Wardrobe.'

But behind the fun aspect of Jen's books is the really serious and important message of how books and bookshops educate and inform. The same way as having access to libraries works: for information, other worlds, and a much needed peaceful environment. When a country wants to oppress its people, it often begins by burning books or closing libraries. Jen told us about a bookshop in Kenya that keeps being burnt down, Khaleb Omondi, the man who owns it keeps reopening new bookshops, his resilience is scary, brave and admirable. Book burning becomes emblematic of a harsh and oppressive regime which is seeking to censor or silence an aspect of a nation's culture.

We've had a lot of fun meeting such a diverse group of authors and book people, and there's more events happening. We've joked about zombies and book bugs but behind the festival is a serious message that is all tied up with access to books, access to information and why our theme this year is supporting our libraries. Holding events in libraries is sending a message to our council: we love libraries, we use libraries, we want access to local libraries in our community. We will support Unison and librarians when they strike 1st and 2nd June. We will not be shushed.

Also see The Library Debate