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Monday, 8 February 2010
Review: The Loss Adjustor by Aifric Campbell
Where do I start with this book? The second novel from Serpents Tail author Aifric Campbell, inspired by the Sussex house she now lives in...
At once startling, moving and raw, this is very good prose draped over a very powerful story. If I am honest, it contains plenty of elements that, when put together, ought really to have a sense of the done-before. A city worker with a small-town past, a childhood friendship full of secrets and tragedy that continues to plague her into adulthood, an intoxicating first love that tails off without resolution and leaves our protagonist, Caro, unable to move on, that pain magnified by the object of her affection becoming a world famous rock star. Caro is left to replay the memories of his first guitar solos in their childhood bedrooms, and interrogate his lyrics for any mention of her.
Add this to the challenging and slightly antagonistic friendship Caro is forming with Tom, an elderly man she often sits opposite in a churchyard as they ritually pay their respective dues. It is this that drags her back into the history of the town in which she grew up, forcing them both to confront the demons that accompany them along their lonely paths.
It should be familiar. But somehow, due in no small part to the beautiful prose and commanding language, it is wholly new. The story is compelling, managing to be at the same time nostalgic and contemporary. Caro is likeable, but only just, making her a very three dimensional character - constantly dipping in and out of functionality in a way that we probably won't want to admit we can relate to. The landscape is well drawn, and the twist in the tale was, for me at least, completely unexpected.
A beautiful, riveting book that I hesitate not to recommend.
At once startling, moving and raw, this is very good prose draped over a very powerful story. If I am honest, it contains plenty of elements that, when put together, ought really to have a sense of the done-before. A city worker with a small-town past, a childhood friendship full of secrets and tragedy that continues to plague her into adulthood, an intoxicating first love that tails off without resolution and leaves our protagonist, Caro, unable to move on, that pain magnified by the object of her affection becoming a world famous rock star. Caro is left to replay the memories of his first guitar solos in their childhood bedrooms, and interrogate his lyrics for any mention of her.
Add this to the challenging and slightly antagonistic friendship Caro is forming with Tom, an elderly man she often sits opposite in a churchyard as they ritually pay their respective dues. It is this that drags her back into the history of the town in which she grew up, forcing them both to confront the demons that accompany them along their lonely paths.
It should be familiar. But somehow, due in no small part to the beautiful prose and commanding language, it is wholly new. The story is compelling, managing to be at the same time nostalgic and contemporary. Caro is likeable, but only just, making her a very three dimensional character - constantly dipping in and out of functionality in a way that we probably won't want to admit we can relate to. The landscape is well drawn, and the twist in the tale was, for me at least, completely unexpected.
A beautiful, riveting book that I hesitate not to recommend.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Screenwriting Workshops
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Review : Tell It To The Bees by Fiona Shaw
I had expectations of this book. Knowing it was a Tindal Street Press title, and having noticed it featured in events during Birmingham's SHOUT Festival in November, and hearing good things about that, I was curious to see what all the fuss was about.
I wasn't disappointed, although I have to say the book did take a while to get going, for me. Once past the initial exploration of the book's main characters - young Charlie, his mother, and the town's new female doctor, it settled nicely into the painful disintegration of Charlie's family life, before moving into his and his heartbroken mother's respective lonelinesses. What the book does very well is harness the bleakness Lydia (Charlie's mother) faces, the lack of choices, the genuine struggle. It contrasts well with the relief Charlie, and later Lydia, find in the Doctor's house. The bees, Charlie's fascination, are a nice vehicle for the solitude and silence of these characters, bringing out the culture of keeping quiet that permeated Fifties society. This serves to subtly bring to our attention the theme of homophobia rather than assaulting us with it earlier on. In fact, in the end, the story revolves as much around class as it does around the relationship between the two women.
Charlie is well drawn - a harried young boy with plenty of sense, if not a clear understanding, of the world they are living in.
In short, this is a complex emotional plot wound into a very accessible, appealing story. Definitely one to read and recommend.
I wasn't disappointed, although I have to say the book did take a while to get going, for me. Once past the initial exploration of the book's main characters - young Charlie, his mother, and the town's new female doctor, it settled nicely into the painful disintegration of Charlie's family life, before moving into his and his heartbroken mother's respective lonelinesses. What the book does very well is harness the bleakness Lydia (Charlie's mother) faces, the lack of choices, the genuine struggle. It contrasts well with the relief Charlie, and later Lydia, find in the Doctor's house. The bees, Charlie's fascination, are a nice vehicle for the solitude and silence of these characters, bringing out the culture of keeping quiet that permeated Fifties society. This serves to subtly bring to our attention the theme of homophobia rather than assaulting us with it earlier on. In fact, in the end, the story revolves as much around class as it does around the relationship between the two women.
Charlie is well drawn - a harried young boy with plenty of sense, if not a clear understanding, of the world they are living in.
In short, this is a complex emotional plot wound into a very accessible, appealing story. Definitely one to read and recommend.
Friday, 22 January 2010
Clare Morrall Book Launch
Join us in launching Clare Morrall's fourth novel
Monday 22 February 2010
6.45 - 8.45pm
The Electric Cinema, Station St, Birmingham, B5 4DY.
For a free place, email me (sara[at]birminghambookfestival[dot]org or call 0121 246 2792.
For more information about Clare, go here.
Sponsored by Sceptre and supported by the Electric Cinema.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
New books and ideas for 2010.
Things are happening in the Book Festival offices. The general pace of things is go, go, go. Which, for January, is interesting.
Perhaps word has filtered through, perhaps not - we are changing slightly as an organisation in order to do more. As well as the Birmingham Book Festival we are now also the new literature development agency for the West Midlands, Writing West Midlands (WWM). Jonathan Davidson, previously Director of the Birmingham Book Festival (now Associate Director and Chief Executive of WWM) is focusing on WWM and Write On, the Festival's education strand. This means that I am now focused solely on the Festival, and, as of January 2010, am full time - a whole five days a week to work on the Festival - a luxury.
I have been spending a lot of that time on the train, in meetings and on the internet finding out what is happening in the world of books and publishing in 2010. Here are a few of the (many) things that excite me:
New books for 2010 that I am already thinking about:
Add to this the heady combination of poet Jo Bell and novelist Jenn Ashworth, who are introducing a new show they like to call Too Much Information - a mix of short stories and poetry, wicked, wise and witty words about the bitter side of love, nightmare dates, friends and dead people, among other things.... knowing these two it promises to be dark, different and definitely funny. It will be part of our Spring Thing on Saturday May 29th, details of which will be appearing here in late February/early March.
Tomorrow I am off to London to meet with colleagues at the RSA, with whom the Festival has been happily working for several years now, to chat over ideas for 2010. It's then on to Serpent's Tail Publishers, who publish the excellent Bethan Roberts, Amanda Smyth and Aifric Campbell among others, to find out what they have to offer this year, and then along to Random House for an intensive two hour run through of their publishing calendar.
Come back here soon for reviews aplenty, including Raphael Selbourne's Costa First Novel Award winning novel Beauty, and Fiona Shaw's Tell It To The Bees.
Stay Well
Sara
Perhaps word has filtered through, perhaps not - we are changing slightly as an organisation in order to do more. As well as the Birmingham Book Festival we are now also the new literature development agency for the West Midlands, Writing West Midlands (WWM). Jonathan Davidson, previously Director of the Birmingham Book Festival (now Associate Director and Chief Executive of WWM) is focusing on WWM and Write On, the Festival's education strand. This means that I am now focused solely on the Festival, and, as of January 2010, am full time - a whole five days a week to work on the Festival - a luxury.
I have been spending a lot of that time on the train, in meetings and on the internet finding out what is happening in the world of books and publishing in 2010. Here are a few of the (many) things that excite me:
New books for 2010 that I am already thinking about:
- Lionel Shriver's new novel, So Much For That, is out in March.
- The Room Swept White is the latest from Sophie Hannah, also out in March.
- A second novel from Catherine O'Flynn to follow the brilliant What Was Lost comes our way in July.
- New Tindal Street titles including Maria Allen's Before The Earthquake, in February, Lesley Glaister's Chosen in May and Richard Francis' The Old Spring in July.
- Clare Morrall's fourth novel, The Man Who Disappeared, which we are launching on February 22nd, at the Electric Cinema, Birmingham, at 6.45pm. If you'd like to come, just email or call us (sara [at] birmingham book festival [dot] org, 0121 246 2792).
Add to this the heady combination of poet Jo Bell and novelist Jenn Ashworth, who are introducing a new show they like to call Too Much Information - a mix of short stories and poetry, wicked, wise and witty words about the bitter side of love, nightmare dates, friends and dead people, among other things.... knowing these two it promises to be dark, different and definitely funny. It will be part of our Spring Thing on Saturday May 29th, details of which will be appearing here in late February/early March.
Tomorrow I am off to London to meet with colleagues at the RSA, with whom the Festival has been happily working for several years now, to chat over ideas for 2010. It's then on to Serpent's Tail Publishers, who publish the excellent Bethan Roberts, Amanda Smyth and Aifric Campbell among others, to find out what they have to offer this year, and then along to Random House for an intensive two hour run through of their publishing calendar.
Come back here soon for reviews aplenty, including Raphael Selbourne's Costa First Novel Award winning novel Beauty, and Fiona Shaw's Tell It To The Bees.
Stay Well
Sara
Friday, 15 January 2010
A workshop opportunity for poets...
EVERY NEW IDEA - POETRY WORKSHOP - with Roz Goddard.
Venue: Birmingham Central Library (Shakespeare Memorial Room)
Date: Saturday 6 February
Time: 10am-12.30pm
Price: £25 (£20 concs) Call 0121 303 2323 to book.
We all occupy writing territories, some grown dusty with intensive farming.
This workshop will look at ways we can re-seed the ground we love to produce fresh, exciting poems. You will look at startling beginnings, expressing feelings in dazzling images and moving beyond your habitual holding bay.
Some places still available - don't miss out.
Venue: Birmingham Central Library (Shakespeare Memorial Room)
Date: Saturday 6 February
Time: 10am-12.30pm
Price: £25 (£20 concs) Call 0121 303 2323 to book.
We all occupy writing territories, some grown dusty with intensive farming.
This workshop will look at ways we can re-seed the ground we love to produce fresh, exciting poems. You will look at startling beginnings, expressing feelings in dazzling images and moving beyond your habitual holding bay.
Some places still available - don't miss out.
Monday, 23 November 2009
The Writers' Toolkit 2009
Saturday was our annual writer networking conference, the Writers' Toolkit 2009. 130 writers and others working in the writing industry came from all over the UK to meet and mingle, enjoying panel sessions on everything from Business Sense for Writers and Agents and Contacts to Performing your Poetry and Pitching Ideas. There was a lot of useful networking, chatting, tea drinking and, despite a rainy grey day in the city, bundles of enthusiasm for the matter at hand.
The day began with an excellent keynote speech from Archers writer Mary Cutler, and ended with a closing address from Director of Literature Strategy at Arts Council England, Antonia Byatt. Antonia's words about the need for activity and networking and open lines of communication between the funders and the writers about what the writing community needs struck a great chord with all those who had come to the conference with just such a thought in mind.
Antonia was followed by Jonathan Davidson, whose announcement of our new umbrella body, Writing West Midlands, was, therefore, timely. WWM is now the new Literature Development Agency for the West Midlands, formed out of a desire to emulate the good work being done by other regional agencies - Writing East Midlands, New Writing North, for example.
The West Midlands has long needed the same treatment, and now, although a fledgling iniative at present, WWM is the banner term for the organisation encompassing the Birmingham Book Festival, its education programme Write On!, and all the other work we do.
Find out more at the new Writing West Midlands website.
The day began with an excellent keynote speech from Archers writer Mary Cutler, and ended with a closing address from Director of Literature Strategy at Arts Council England, Antonia Byatt. Antonia's words about the need for activity and networking and open lines of communication between the funders and the writers about what the writing community needs struck a great chord with all those who had come to the conference with just such a thought in mind.
Antonia was followed by Jonathan Davidson, whose announcement of our new umbrella body, Writing West Midlands, was, therefore, timely. WWM is now the new Literature Development Agency for the West Midlands, formed out of a desire to emulate the good work being done by other regional agencies - Writing East Midlands, New Writing North, for example.
The West Midlands has long needed the same treatment, and now, although a fledgling iniative at present, WWM is the banner term for the organisation encompassing the Birmingham Book Festival, its education programme Write On!, and all the other work we do.
Find out more at the new Writing West Midlands website.
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