News

It's been a glorious weekend here in Suffolk. There's been hardly a breath of air, the sun has been bright and warm and the trees and fields have been vibrant in autumnal colours.

Though I've enjoyed on the river and by the sea, I've also had to retreat into darkened rooms in order to hear writers speak about their inspiration and their craft at the two literary festivals taking place on the coast this weekend. 

It's a shame there was a clash of dates between the Southwold Literary Festival and the Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival. It forced me to make a choice between poetry and prose, but what a privilege to have such incredible programmes on offer so close to home.

I've had fun learning more about Keats and the sea, attended a lecture about poetry past, present and future, listened to the autobiographical prompts for psychological thrillers and heard how lived experience informed books about hedge-laying and death (see Sarah Perry's book below).

Quite a mix of subjects, form and speakers. And it's left me both energised and exhausted!

I will have much to share in the coming weeks, I'm sure, inspired by these talks, and I've been enlivened by the creativity of the speakers and the organisers in arranging such engaging, informative and entertaining events in this corner of Suffolk. I hope I don't ever take that for granted.

Thank you for reading.

As I'm writing, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the leaves on the trees are glorious autumnal shades. I've yet to light a fire and am currently still in a state of denial that summer is over and we are approaching winter. It's just the early nights to remind me that the year is drawing to a close.

I don't ever really feel I'm present in the moment. My work for magazines and in planning events means that I'm usually looking at least three months ahead. Currently, in fact, I'm pitching ideas for the spring issues and hoping soon to confirm an author visit for February.

The danger of always looking ahead means that sometimes you don't fully acknowledge where you are in your diary day-to-day. For me that can mean overlooking films, plays or talks I meant to book, or finding that I've overstretched myself and am packing rather too many activities in one week, or even one day.

So this weekend you'll find me pootling up and down the A12, hoping that the 30mph limit and various imaginative road configurations won't hinder my progress as I try to attend events at both the Southwold Literary Festival and the Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival.  

The weeks will fly by now, of course, and as it's only a month till Penny Lancaster joins us at The Riverside, don't leave it too late to book if you're thinking of coming along!

Thank you for reading.

This month has run away from me so I was glad to have an extra hour today to try and claw myself back on track!!

And before I go any further, let me remind you that it's the Woodbridge Book Group meeting tomorrow evening. If you're planning on joining us, I hope you've had chance to read 'Folk' and are looking forward to our discussion of all things dark and mysterious. 

It will be interesting to get everyone's views on the book, as always. It's great to have this opportunity to try different authors and genres in the company of others, I think. Then, even if something doesn't immediately appeal, hearing why it resonated with someone else can be enlightening and intriguing, and might challenge our own preconceptions and expectations perhaps.

But, of course, we're all looking for a book which brings us wonder and joy and which, particularly in these times, takes us out of ourselves, helping us to step away from our immediate concerns about life at home and further afield. National Book Tokens are asking us to share which book has achieved that this year. 

The Books Are My Bag Awards has seven categories, but of particular note is the Readers' Choice. You can place your vote by clicking here and in doing so stand a chance of winning a £100 book token. But the poll closes today so be quick!

The winners of these awards will be revealed on 4 November and shortly afterwards, on 10 November, we'll hear from the judges of the Booker Prize revealing who has triumphed there this year. Will we agree with them? The Woodbridge Book Group did well in predicting the shortlist - have I mentioned that?!

It was a surprise to hear this week that Booker has created a new prize for children's literature. One of the judges is Children's Laureate and tireless champion for children's books, Frank Cottrell-Boyce. It will be interesting to see how this prize complements or challenges the other prizes for children's writing and what the criteria will be in selecting the shortlist. But it felt very good, and exciting news which was great to hear.

Thank you for reading.

I've just got home from a weekend away with a friend in Ely and Cambridge where, inevitably, books and bookshops dominated. 

We'd each taken three books with us on our short break - a bit ambitious (or unsociable, perhaps) but we're fast readers and still had plenty of time to chat, shop and enjoy the sights of both cities.

Neither of us needed to acquire more books but we couldn't resist browsing the shelves of any and every retail establishment we visited.

There were, though, no treasures to be found in the many charity shops and we resisted the history and guide books in the heritage attractions we went to. The vast Waterstones and Heffers in Cambridge were great to experience but the choice rather overwhelming. Even the wonderful Toppings Books in Ely seemed a little too much with its selection over three floors - though I found the Daphne du Maurier short story I was looking for and my friend bought herself a fantasy fiction author she follows.

The real find this weekend was Bodies in the Bookshop, in St Botolph Lane near the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge city centre.

It's a tiny bookshop which devoted to crime writing. On our visit there was a colourful and whimsical window display showing a remarkably large selection of murder mysteries with a feline theme! But inside there were books on every available surface boasting lots of other categories - the shop's top ten bestsellers, novels with a Cambridge connection, children's titles, and the A-Z of new crime fiction writers. 

Up some tight, twisting, wooden stairs (which you navigated slowly in order to see the merchandise displayed in any available corner or surface), there were four further, even smaller, rooms for crime in translation, Golden Age writers, non-fiction titles and secondhand books.

We soon made new friends here as there was little room between the bookshelves and, with half a dozen of us in the building, it was cosy. As you lost yourself in browsing the titles, you soon found yourself bumping into a neighbour.

It was fun to hear the excited cries from other customers as they found titles they never realised they were looking for and to listen to the two, mature, male booksellers animatedly recommending their favourite author this week (MW Craven).

We both came away with purchases (mine was a 1933 title I've been meaning to read for a while - 'The Boat Race Murder' by RE Swartwout - I'll let you know how I get on!).

It was such a pleasure to be in a bookshop dedicated to a theme and where the staff and customers were so eager to chat and share their excitement and passion in their reading. I've signed up to the shop newsletter and have become a follower on their social pages, so I'm hoping to be further enthused by Bodies in the Bookshop, remotely, until I can visit again.

Thank you for reading.

This past week I've been in Northumberland, participating in the Berwick Literary Festival and visiting friends.

I'd been invited to interview the writer Midge Gillies about her forthcoming biography of six pioneering female aviators, 'Atlantic Furies'. It was part of the week-long programme of festival talks, but took place in a 'satellite' venue, at a stunning visitor attraction called Ad Gefrin, in the small town of Wooler.

Ad Gefrin celebrates the Anglo-Saxon heritage of the area (as well as being the most northerly whisky distillery in England!) and our event took place in the museum's 'royal' room, where the author and I spoke to our audience while seated on golden thrones. It's a first for me!

I'll be telling you more about Midge's book next week, but it was a lovely event and great to hear all about her research, and her passion and admiration for these incredible women.

My visit to the area was long overdue. Despite having very good friends living nearby, the journey from Suffolk had proved prohibitive for some time. In buying my train ticket on this occasion, though, I decided to embrace the five hour trek and use it as an opportunity to sit and read, to write and think with little other commitments or distractions. 

Though the train home was busier and noisier, the extended period of these two journeys in which to sit and ponder, read a couple of great new books, and do nothing except wait to be delivered to my destination, all felt a real treat. And it's always fun to 'people watch'.

But I don't think I saw anyone carrying, holding or reading a book! I have to console myself in the thought that perhaps everyone was doing as I was - reading from my phone to save extra weight in my luggage. It still feels wrong though...!?

Thank you for reading.