2009 Extended Programme – Autumn Events
The Oundle Festival of Literature is delighted to announce that Ben Fogle and James Cracknell, Fay Weldon and Andrew Motion will all be speaking in Oundle this autumn. The Festival will also be running a Writers’ Conference at Oundle Library and will be bringing celebrated children’s author Jan Fearnley to the SmART children’s arts festival at The Castle theatre in Wellingborough. These events form part of the Festival’s 2009 extended programme following on from the successful festival fortnight in March and the summer programme which included Kate Adie and Will Self. The festival will also be running its annual short story writing competition.
FAY WELDON: In Chalcot Crescent by Fay Weldon we meet Frances, Fay’s never-born younger sister, an unreliable narrator who bends history and blends universes to create a sparkling and prophetic portrait of a once and future Britain. It’s 2013 and eighty-year-old Frances (part-time copywriter, has-been writer, one-time national treasure) is listening to the debt collectors pounding on her front door. From this house she’s witnessed five decades of world history – the fall of communism, the death of capitalism – and now, with the bailiffs, world history has finally reached her doorstep. While she waits for the bailiffs to give up and leave, Frances writes about the boyfriends she borrowed and the husband she stole from Fay, about her daughters and their children. She writes about the Shock, the Crunch, the Squeeze, the Recovery, the Fall, the Crisis and the Bite, about NUG the National Unity Government, about ration books, powercuts, National Meat Loaf (suitable for vegetarians) and the new Neighbourhood Watch. She writes about family secrets…
Fay Weldon will be speaking on Thursday 24 September at 7.30pm in St. Peter’s Church, Oundle and tickets will be priced at £7 (£6 concessions).
ANDREW MOTION: Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate until the end of April 2009, will be introducing his latest book of poems The Cinder Path and a new collection of essays Ways of Life: On Places, Painters and Poets. He will also be speaking about his acclaimed autobiography In The Blood – A Memoir of My Childhood and answering questions about his writing and his role as Laureate.
Andrew Motion will be speaking on Thursday 8 October at 7.45pm in the Great Hall, Oundle and tickets will be priced at £10. This event is co-hosted by Oundle School and a limited number of tickets will be available to the public from OFOL.
BEN FOGLE & JAMES CRACKNELL: In Race to the Pole, Ben Fogle and James Cracknell have written an excruciatingly honest and gripping account of an experience that has changed both their lives forever – their participation in the race to the South Pole. For the first time since Scott’s ill-fated race against Amundsen in 1913, a handful of teams from around the world were granted permission to race each other, on foot, across Antarctica. Starting on New Year’s Day 2009, they dragged their equipment, tent and food on an astonishing and treacherous journey as they tackled a challenge that is hard-wired into the British psyche.
Ben Fogle and James Cracknell will be speaking on Wednesday 14 October at 7.30pm in St. Peter’s Church, Oundle and tickets will be priced at £10.
SmART FESTIVAL: Award winning author / illustrator Jan Fearnley will be bringing her latest story The Baby Dragon-Tamer to life at the SmART festival of arts for families and children in Wellingborough. In this story a grumpy dragon finally meets his match in a baby who needs entertaining and looking after! Children will also be able to make and decorate their own dragon wings to take home. Ideal for 4-7 year olds. This event is part of the Oundle Festival of Literature’s outreach activities.
The SmART Festival is a free event taking place from 11am to 4pm on Saturday 5 September at the Castle Theatre, Wellingborough. The Jan Fearnley event will take place at 3pm and places can be booked by contacting the Castle Box Office on 01933 270007 (see www.thecastle.org.uk/participate for further details).
WRITING COMPETITION: For anyone inspired to write there is the opportunity to enter the Oundle Festival of Literature’s Writing Competition. Previously unpublished short stories of 2000-2500 words may be submitted before 1 December 2009 for a chance to win £100 and all shortlisted entrants will be invited to a 2010 festival fortnight event to receive their prizes from an invited speaker. Rules and entry forms may be downloaded from the homepage of the OFOL website or picked up from any Northamptonshire County Council library.
Tickets for all the above events are available from Oundle Tourist Information Centre (tel: 01832 274333).
For further information please contact: Emma Stephens-Dunn: estephens-dunn@northamptonshire.gov.uk / 07595 090553. www.oundlelitfest.org.uk.
Emma Stephens-Dunn: LDO for Oundle Festival of Literature
Emma Stephens-Dunn has joined the Arts Development Team at Northamptonshire County Council as Literature Development Officer (LDO)on a job share basis with Kate Wilkinson. She will be working in Oundle (based at the library) for two days per week exclusively with the Oundle Festival of Literature.
This exciting venture has been backed by the Arts Council and will enable the Festival, which takes place every year in March and is now in its seventh year, to expand its programme to include events throughout the year and across the county. The Festival has a history of attracting an excellent range of prominent authors and also has thriving community and schools events programmes. Emma has an events based background and is thrilled to be taking on the challenge of extending the county’s access to literature and in particular live literature events.
Emma can be contacted in the following ways:
Email: estephens-dunn@northamptonshire.gov.uk
Phone: 07974 440632
Postal address: Oundle Library, Glapthorn Road, Oundle PE8 4JA
Visit the Oundle Festival of Literature’s website at www.oundlelitfest.org.uk
The 2009 Festival
Highlights of the Oundle Festival of Literature’s seventh programme, which ran from 7th-21st March, 2009 included BBC journalist, John Simpson offering his view on some of the crises facing the world and Political Editor for Sky News Adam Boulton together with journalist and broadcaster Simon Hoggart examining The Blair years!
In the run up to the Festival on 3rd March there was an evening with prolific author Alexander McCall Smith, who celebrated the publication of the tenth book in The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built.
We welcomed historian Kate Summerscale, author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, and the powerful and inventive author of Notes on an Exhibition, Patrick Gale. Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen introduced his new book, The Girl on the Landing, and Ian Kelly introduced a fresh and revisionist new biography of Casanova. For all who care about human rights and the rule of law in our world, Philippe Sands investigated deception at the highest levels in Torture Team and classicist Mary Beard reinterpreted what we think we know about one of the most popular classical sites in the world in Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. Closer to home, Country Life’s editor in chief, Clive Aslet examined The English Home: The Story of a Nation at Home.
Our annual poetry evening featured the poetry world’s version of a jazz combo, the poetry ensemble The Joy of Six, with an exciting and fascinating quick-fire montage of contrasting poems and voices. Mavis Cheek, author of ‘the brilliantly funny’ Amenable Women, provided a good excuse for a girls’ night out and Kate Colquhoun inspired us with what to do with our leftovers!
Families were spoilt for choice with fun events for all ages including Denis the Menace illustrator Barry Appleby and drama workshop sessions with Pam Wardell. Roald Dahl was brought to life in a fantastic performance by Anthony Pedley and a fun event with magician Paul Kieve provided magical family entertainment. Pat Thomson and Thom Chesser discussed what to read and why reading is so important with children.
Schools brought hundreds of children to a full programme that included author Steve Cole, who combined dinosaurs in space with time travelling cows, children’s illustrator Simon Bartram who was The Man on the Moon! and Lucy Hawking talked about the secrets of the universe from George’s Secret Key to the Universe. We were also joined by Roman Mysteries author Caroline Lawrence, advice columnist and children’s author Bel Mooney and young readers received a visit from illustrator and author in residence, Lynne Chapman.
The ever diverse Community Events programme opened the Festival with a Literary Treasure Hunt (parrots optional!) followed by a “Shakespeare Shaken Up” evening at The Stahl Theatre including verse and prose. There was a dinner and story night at Oundle Mill, where guests were entertained by professional storyteller Shonaleigh and another highly entertaining Literary Quiz evening. There was an evening exploring the issues of homelessness, including poetry and information about The Big Issue and Oundle combined language with dance in an evening of “strictly” salsa and literature with Grevel Lindop, author of Travels on the Dance Floor.
The Festival prides itself on providing opportunities for members of the public to share their work, which this year took the form of a Poetry Allsorts night and you could learn the art of blogging in our Blog it! Journey with a Mouse event. Children were encouraged to continue to submit entries to the Festival’s children’s writing competition and there was be the usual free story-telling events for young children in Oundle Library, and a literary event for local elderly people.
