I get very excited about meeting my favourite authors.
The trouble is, when I do meet them, I become so tongue-tied I’m barely capable of requesting a signature and giving my name. Anything more – except possibly a simpering, eyes-downcast, barely audible mutter of “I love your books” – is absolutely beyond me. (My husband finds this hilarious. Honestly. He has been known to wait patiently with me in very long author-bound queues, purely so he can point and laugh, camera in hand, at the crucial moment.)
Me, typically speechless upon meeting Dave Gorman.
Despite this, I love attending bookish events and eyeing authors from afar…or rather, from near enough to snap a cheeky photo and listen to braver souls ask interesting questions about their ouevre.
Festivals are a great excuse reason to buy even more books.
So I was delighted when I received an email alerting me to the existence of Marlborough Literature Festival and discovered a number of interesting events within the programme.
Most importantly, the superb Jasper Fforde, author of the fantastically fantasical Thursday Next series, is giving a talk on Saturday and I now have a ticket. *does a happy dance* I’m not usually a fantasy fan, but the Thursday Next series successfully combines the utterly ridiculous (home genetic sequencing kits which allow you to create your own dodo) with the sublimely literary (Baconites are the new Jehovah’s witnesses). Our heroine, Thursday, is a LiteraTec who investigates crimes within fiction and can jump into novels, though she isn’t meant to meddle with their plots unless she absolutely has to… I’ve previously reviewed Fforde’s first novel, ‘The Eyre Affair’, here, and have loved the subsequent books in the series just as much.
What if…villains removed Jane Eyre from her own novel?
He actually writes books in four different series now and I am waiting impatiently for the next installment in his dystopian ‘Shades of Grey’ series. (Yes, you read that right. Yes, his book existed before the stupidly famous erotic one. No, it isn’t even slightly similar.) Eddie Russett is a Red who hopes for advancement but is distracted by a Grey who rebels against the system. Intrigued? See this extract.
What if…your social status was defined by your colour perception?
All his books are bundled with ‘extras’ available from his personal website, which is an excellent way to lose an hour or three of your day. Want to learn more about barcodes? Or fictional beasts featured in the book? Maybe you want a screensaver featuring a National Colour Operator surveying his work, or want to upgrade your paperback book. Off you go then.
Of course, he’s not the only exciting author at The Festival, but he’s the only one I’ve committed to seeing so far as it’s a very busy weekend already. That said, I’d love to fit in the Town Read book chat with Rachel Joyce about ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’, or take the chance to listen to Helen Dunmore, author of the beautifully sad WW2 novel ‘The Siege’ (and its sequels). Then there’s Gillian Clarke reading poetry and Alexander McCall-Smith, whose books I’ve never read but might have to now he’s taken on the task of rewriting Austen’s ‘Emma’ for The Austen Project….
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- Touching tale of an old man’s journey.
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- Moving and beautifully written WW2 story.
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- Austen’s most unlikeable heroine updated.
In short, if my weekend plans shift I may yet be buying a lot of tickets.
Which authors have you seen live? Were they as interesting as their books? Who would you recommend going to see? Thoughts welcomed. Meanwhile, I’m going to have another peek at the programme for this festival, just in case there’s anything I’ve missed…