Literary festivals can be big and internationally renowned, small and very locally focussed or just plain disastrous. With my Deadly Dames (writers of cosy mysteries of various sorts) hat on, I’ve done three Litfests and they’ve all been very different. Havant wasn’t blessed with the best of venues (school halls can be a challenge acoustically) but I think we’ll be more comfortably placed for our return gig there this year. Purbeck was blessed with a fantastic panel venue - Durlston Castle – wonderful weather for February, and for a ‘new’ festival they put on a professional show.
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| Charlie Cochrane |
So
how did Penzance measure up? In a word, brilliantly. It may not be the easiest
place in the world to get to and from, especially when you’re on the road with
all the world and his wife, but it’s worth it. There was a real buzz about the
place, with many different venues involved, decorative banners across roads and
a simultaneous “LittleFest” for younger readers and their families. We had the
Gruffalo immediately preceding us at the Exchange!
One
of the things that particularly impressed me was the information we were sent
in advance of the event, with a map of the various venues, simple directions of
how to get everywhere, emergency contact numbers and the like. (I shall be stealing
some of those ideas for UK meet.) All
these things make life easier for authors, particularly if they’re new to an
event or a location. There were plenty of very welcome little touches in
Penzance, like a couple of venues where speakers could put up their feet and
have a complementary tea or coffee, and a session about speaking to audiences
for any presenters who wanted to develop their skills before they took to the
stage. Another nice thing was free admission to any of the sessions running on
the same day as ours, including tickets for The Bookshop Band, an impressive
folk trio who write the songs taking books or plays for their inspiration.
The
range of panels was striking. A consideration of historical versus contemporary
crime fiction, exotic sources of inspiration, spy writing, the influence of the
Spanish civil war, books based on real lives – the list goes on and on. Add to
this music, open mic sessions for poets, and a devilishly tricky quiz and you
have the makings of a varied and nutritious diet.
Our
session, a question and answer panel about writing in general and writing
mysteries in particular, seemed to whizz by in a flurry of laughter and
surprise as we ditched the dirt on edits and the like, or revealed our
ingenious ways of killing people. As we’ve found before, there are usually
aspiring authors in the audience and it’s really rewarding to share our wisdom
(such as it is) with them.
Would
I go back? Yes, if asked. Would I recommend it to others? Absolutely. If you’re interested, make contact with them
via one of their social media. The worst that can happen is that they say “Not
this time”.
Contacts:
Biog:
As Charlie Cochrane couldn't be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like
managing a rugby team—she writes.
She’s
a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, International
Thriller Writers Inc and is on the organising team for UK Meet. She regularly
appears with The Deadly Dames.
Thank you so much, Charlie for finding time to write about this exciting event.
This blog is brought to you by Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman. If you have attended a literary event or have something you'd like to share with members of the RNA please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com.
This blog is brought to you by Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman. If you have attended a literary event or have something you'd like to share with members of the RNA please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com.
