Ways With Words

Who will tell me what I should be seeing now?

What should I see, hear, be thinking about? For all my life I feel as if my enjoyment of the arts has been illuminated and shaped by watching the South Bank Show.

Many years ago after watching a South Bank programme about the promenade performance of the Mystery plays at the National Theatre I decided I must go and see it. I saw all three parts of the cycle and went back regularly with my young children and friends. Chloe and Hamish loved holding candles to illuminate the baby Jesus. We played the music endlessly on car journeys. Each year it was revived we returned, lastly when my children were no longer children, but they still loved it. It held the same magic for all of us adults, including my son’s Japanese wife. Would I have gone initially to see The Mysteries if I hadn’t seen the television programme? Maybe, but I went better informed.  

More recently I was glad to find out about the Pitman Painters. We went to see the play, saw the exhibition, bought the book. The South Bank Show often gave you a shove to pursue something further. It did this regularly for me.

Of course there were lots of subjects one wasn’t going to follow up, but it was still good viewing; you were glad to have seen the programme even if you decided that a particular opera singer or artist wasn’t for you. I admired the eclectic range of topics; the democratic view of art; the informed, relaxed interviewing style of Melvyn Bragg.

It’s difficult to believe that it has been axed. Obviously ITV doesn’t worry about the wrath of the artistic community or the serious newspapers. Millions of South Bank viewers will miss out, but those attending the Words by the Water Literature festival can see and hear Melvyn Bragg in person. The festival is lucky to have Lord Bragg as its president. Each year he comes to offer encouragement and support, to welcome everyone at the launch party and to give a talk at Theatre by the Lake by Derwentwater. He is even willing to step in at the last minute when there is a hiccup as has happened this year. Diana Athill can’t come but instead Melvyn Bragg will talk about his 30+ years at The South Bank Show. For all of us who have measured out our lives not with T.S. Eliot’s coffee spoons but with South Bank shows it will be unmissable.

Sunday 7 March at Words by the Water, Theatre by the Lake, Derwentwater, Keswick

Melvyn Bragg will be signing copies of his book 'The South Bank Show: Final Cut' followed by a talk in the theatre’s Main House at 9.30am. Phone: 017687 74411 to buy tickets or book on-line at theatrebythelake.co.uk

Again We Ask – Can Creative Writing be Taught?

If you ask writers this question many give a resounding 'No'. Why is this? Do they like to think they were born with a remarkable gift?  Or perhaps they feel that what they have achieved doesn’t depend on their education or experiences. Yet times have changed; many universities are now offering courses in Creative Writing and published writers supplement their income by teaching on them. I assume they believe in what they are doing.

I believe in what they are doing which is why Ways With Words asks published writers to teach on Creative Writing Courses in France and Italy. As an educationalist I have great faith in people’s abilities to learn, to change, to develop. But teaching is not straightforward. Some people just need confidence and reassurance – part of the educationalist’s role is developing self-belief. I can hear cynics saying that some people have too much confidence in their work and it is often misplaced. True, but that too is part of the teacher’s job: to offer constructive criticism, to assess what each person needs. For some it will be the nuts and bolts of writing: help with plotting, character development, dialogue. For others time and a thoughtful consideration of the content of their work will be the spur they need. And why France and Italy? Sometimes a break from life’s busyness is essential to develop writing, permission to spend time being creative. This is easier in a beautiful environment away from home and so the location of the course is important. But what really transforms people’s lives and abilities is a mystery and one that constantly intrigues me.

  The writing group in France

The writing group in Italy 

No apologies then for revisiting this topic at the Words by the Water literature festival in Cumbria. We have an interesting panel to discuss the question: Can Creative Writing Be Taught? James Long has taught on the Ways With Words writing courses in Italy and also been involved in the Arvon foundation. Chris Wadsworth came on the Ways With Words writing course in Italy and was taught by James Long. She now has a 2 book deal for her short stories that were based on the artists and customers she has met running the Castlegate Gallery. James - and others in Italy - played a part in getting the books in print. But what part?

Sarah Hall has been on both sides of the Creative Writing experience both as a student and as a tutor. She is one of the country’s most successful young novelists and has been both short and long listed for the Booker prize. What does she feel she has learnt – and what has she taught others - about this mysterious process?   

Where will the discussion go? I’m interested to know.

       

Can Creative Writing be Taught? with Sarah Hall, Chris Wadsworth and James Long - Friday 12 March at 12 noon.

WORDS BY THE WATER LITERATURE FESTIVAL at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick.

Art and Memoir Writing Courses in the North Dordogne, France: Wednesday June 9 - 16, 2010

Theo Can Read!

I know he is only 6 months old and I am a doting (book) granny so my judgment isn’t impartial, but it’s true: he is en route to being an enthusiastic reader.

It started on his changing mat when he was much younger. Freed from the restrictions of his nappy he kicked, laughed and wanted to look at books. Initially the books that squeaked and rustled were particularly popular. If a book was held in the air above his head he stared at the pictures. The nappy changer had to be sensitive to his concentration span. How long does a naked baby want to focus on one picture? A long time apparently and the dry nappy had to wait while Theo absorbed the contents of the page.  

Now he is happy in an upright position it is possible to share books with him in a more conventional setting. He sits up, snuggles into a warm body and listens and looks as the story unfolds. Like most children he wants the same story repeated many times. Now he knows what is coming when he hears Peepo. Unlike the baby in the book he doesn’t have a tin bath but that’s the joy of books; they introduce other ways of living, other times. Theo doesn’t reject the book because the baby bathes in a different way to him. He understands the conventions of fiction.

A bedtime book is part of his routine. May it continue all his life. One of life’s major pleasures is to get under the duvet at the end of the day, switch on the bedside lamp and open a book. Theo has learned this at 6 months.   Ways With Words relies on a world of book lovers so I have a vested interest in watching the creation of a new reader. It all relies on time. Babies, children, readers all need patience. You can’t rush a child with a book. They will want to stare at each page, hear the same story again and again.  So never mind the slow food movement I am starting the SLOW, SLOW reading movement.  

If everyone makes time for books Ways With Words will continue to flourish.  

Words by the Water, our Cumbrian Literature Festival, runs from 5-14 March at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick. Come and join other book lovers there.

   

French Gluts and Glugs to Fuel the Memoirists

On Wednesday the Ways With Words Memoir Writing course starts at our house in Leygonie in the Dordogne so we are here now preparing. This involves getting the deckchairs out in the meadow and reading our tutors books: Helena Drysdale will be running the writing workshops while Ziyad Marar will run discussion groups on the whole business of who you are, why you are, how you got to this point in life and the problems of recording your memoir. I love the idea of memoir writing. We all have a life that has been precious to us and many people can benefit from the experiences. Children are often amazed that their parents and grandparents have a rich past and didn’t just arrive on the earth to look after them. Social historians rely on memoirs of the days before people were blogging and tweet was the noise birds made. WRITE IT DOWN - or it will all disappear. You may find that you are the person who learns the most.

 

Thinking, talking and writing needs fuelling and my role is to provide drinks and food at regular intervals so when we aren’t reading in deckchairs we are shopping and cooking. One of the pleasures of being in the Dordogne is that the gluts here are different to Devon’s. So instead of apples there are figs, garlic, walnuts and red peppers. The tomatoes come in many colours and shapes.

Basil grows like a weed. We left Ribérac market with our canvas bags overflowing with produce and returned to our farmhouse to find our kind French neighbours had left a big bag of tomatoes on the doorstep. Time for lots of chopping for ratatouille.

 

But first we’ll pour ourselves a glass of our local red Bergerac wine………….

To find our more about the writing, art, reading and philosophy courses run by Ways With Words in France and Italy visit our website: www.wayswithwords.co.uk

“What a Good Boy Am I”

 In parts of Italy a birth is celebrated by decorating a tree in the garden so it felt appropriate and joyful to decorate our redundant plum tree in the orchard to celebrate Theo’s birth. The Ways With Words’ office staff spent their lunch hour hanging flowers, a letter T, hagstones from Suffolk beach and toys on the tree. It was a welcome break from manning the busy Southwold festival box-office. Most prominent is a painted wooden hen hanging from a high branch that Theo’s mother Chloë made when she was about twelve. Now we have a colourful Theo tree in the orchard in August which seems even better than a Christmas tree in the living room in December. “Unto us a boy is born” indeed.

The tradition is that the tree remains decorated for a year. During that time we shall plant a new plum tree specially for Theo. I hope the plums will appear just when he is old enough for plum crumble or curds and whey so that he can put in his thumb and pull out a plum. What a good boy he is to bring such love and fun into all our lives.

THEO – the baby philosopher

The day before my first grandchild was born I read a review in The Guardian of a book called 'The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us about Truth, Love and the Meaning of Life', by an American professor of psychology, Alison Gopnik. A short time afterwards when I held the 15 hour old Theodore Isaac I thought how true it was; I was looking into the eyes of a philosopher. He stared at me with such comprehension. He seemed to be saying, “I know all about you and despite all your faults and failings I love you.” 

Alison Gopnik says that babies are “smarter, more imaginative, more caring and even more conscious that adults.” Instinctively we already knew this and it is his imagination and consciousness that makes us want to protect Theo. We want him to feel the world is a good place and that people are worthy of his trust. In return we think he will improve us. We shall become more optimistic, creative, thoughtful adults.

According to the author caring for children means you experience a little saintliness. So just call Theo’s parents, St. Chloe and St. Videl, and all his adoring family and friends are hoping for beatification too.

My New Role As Fairy Grandmother

These are strange days for us all. The new grandson is due in 2 days time – Monday 3 August and we are all very impatient. Surely he will want to see this beautiful, busy world as soon as possible? At present he is playing it cool and staying where he is. He’s less eager to meet us than we are to meet him. My lovely daughter Chloe has been again to the midwife. Apparently he has stuck his feet in her ribcage – uncomfortable but that’s where he likes it for the moment.

Maybe we should just wait patiently; there’s no rush. I know for certain that after his birth life will change irrevocably for us all; most of all for Chloe and Videl but for all their family and friends too. BBB (as we call him: Baby Boy BarKar) will become a large presence in all our lives and so far we know very little about him.

As grandmother to a first grandchild I’m poised for a new role, but what shall it be? If I were a fairy godmother what would I wish for him? Obviously I’d want him to have good, robust, physical, emotional and mental health but after that? I hope he will grow up kind and empathetic, able to understand other people’s lives, their troubles and dreams. He is starting an exciting, fascinating, life journey; I hope he loves every bit of the way: so many ideas to consider, so much music to listen to, places to see, people to know. Life is complex and I hope eventually he will cope well with the complexity and not seek simple solutions. All this with loads of laughter and fun. Oh for a magic wand.

I don’t have a wand but I’ve decided my role will be as The Book Grannie. So much can be learnt through books and I hope he enjoys books from the start. His ability to see other people’s points of view, to mull over ideas, to tolerate uncertainty, to dream, to consider the vast opportunities life offers and make considered choices and just to have fun with words and pictures can come if books are a big part of his life from the start. I’ll be there reading ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ soon and giving him Virginia Woolf later.

However now we are on holiday in Southwold and when he is born I shall go to one of the beach huts by the sea and get his Southwold kit for future visits: bucket and spade – of course, a windmill, a crab line. I can see I shall have many roles but I’m taking my Book Grannie role very seriously.

Come on BBB! I’ve got your first book and even Southwold is waiting for you.  

Fulfilling Fantasies at Festivals

Festivals are partly about wish-fulfillment. I know that a lot of people who will be coming to Dartington Hall next week are keen to see writers or broadcasters or polticians who they have always liked – or even disliked. As the festival programmer I know I have a Jim’ll Fix It role. “I’ve always wanted to see Ben Okri or Julia Neuberger or Michael Holroyd,” people say. Someone said, “I’ve read Lynn Barber’s interviews in The Guardian for years; I can’t believe she’ll be there”. Yes she will – and about 150 other writers.

Some events fulfill fantasies people have for travel, adventure, life-changing experiences. Many people have told me that they have always wanted to go through France on a canal boat. Damien and Siobhan Horner can tell you all about that. Other visitors are closet dancers or have come out as salsa or tango dancers. They will identify with Grevel Lindop who travelled round the world following his passion for salsa. 

It is difficult for most of us to imagine living like Fiona Houston for a year in the 18th century. She left all the 21st century comforts of her beautiful Scottish manse behind and moved across the garden to her bothy. She wore the clothes, ate the food, eschewed central heating and plumbing and learnt about the hardships of 18th century life. We went to visit her in the middle of her year and signed her visitors’ book with a quill. (But we did have hot showers in the house and used the usual facilities there).

Fi’s book of her year is so attractive. It has loads of photos and practical information such as making string from nettles. Maybe not for everyone but it is fascinating to hear about it. (And of course you can at the festival.)

Monty Halls went in for a similar escape from the stresses of normal life when he moved into a croft on the West Coast of Scotland with his gigantic dog Reuben. His life as a crofter was filmed for a major BBC2 series. He’ll show extracts from the series and tell us more about the whole-wind swept, midge-filled adventure.

Many Ways With Words customers would like to have their own books published. Some come to our writing courses in Europe for help and advice from published writers so we are delighted when someone succeeds. Chris Wadsworth was encouraged to send her stories to a publisher by James Long when he tutored a writing course in Italy. Now she has a 2 book deal for her stories about her experiences of artists and customers at her gallery in Cockermouth. She’s like the Gervaise Phinn of the art world. She’s coming to Dartington to talk about her book, "Hercules and The Farmer’s Wife", at the festival. “Good for Chris!” we shall be shouting! (We hope she gives our writing courses a plug.)

So festivals, like books, give you the chance to live out fantasies, lead several lives vicariously. Travel, lifestyle, adventure, relationships: you can explore many different worlds from the comfort of your seat in the Great Hall or the Barn Theatre.

The Ways With Words festival at Dartington Hall begins this Friday, 10 July and lasts for 10 days. All the above writers will be speaking together with about 150 others including Graham Swift, Michael Buerk, Salley Vickers, Prue Leith. To browse through the whole programme look on-line at waywithwords.co.uk

Une Mauvaise Surprise – But Many Bonnes Surprises Too

When you buy a house in France you find that there are often many depondances which are une surprise – usually pleasant ones. We didn’t really need a piggery, derelict cottage, a hen house and a huge barn but they felt like added value. Sadly our huge beautiful barn needed much work and money to keep it standing – not such good value. A conservationist re-tiled the roof (a jobbing builder would have been OK but our French didn’t run to jobbing builder so we spent a lot of money but now have an impressive roof done in old tiles).The same conservationist told us the back wall needed rebuilding before he could finish the roof. Barns are like cars, conservationists like mechanics; how could we argue when we know nothing? So work started on the massive back wall. Our old Devon friends, Mike and Lesley who now live in France, emailed us photos of the new wall and reported it was magnificent. Then followed more news: the new wall had fallen down. Our conservationist emailed too,‘This is bad for you and bad for me’. Particularly bad for us as he wanted lots more money.

 

Ohh La La!

When we arrived in France for our writing and art courses half the wall had gone up again. Our neighbours were full of stories of the collapse. "It was like 9/11" they told us. I was glad to learn they meant the noise and the dust from the rubble; the workmen had escaped without injury. JC, Jean-Claude the conservationist, came to discuss the mauvaise surprise. Fortunately Will Randall, our writing tutor, speaks fluent and fast French so offered to translate. He was brilliant at communicating and arguing but for the sake of entente cordiale and getting the job finished properly we agreed it had been une mauvaise surprise and we agreed to pay up.

However it is an ill wind ...and we all thought Une Mauvaise Surprise would be a good subject for a writing exercise.

The Bonnes Surprises came on the final day of the course. Under Rosemary Catling’s gentle tutoring the artists produced an impressive Private View. Our water jug, the almost-black geranium, the beams in the préau and the full moon (together with Howard Hodgkins and Francis Bacon) had inspired an amazing range of work and we felt we’d brought Tate Modern as well as 9/11 to sleepy little Leygonie. 
Will did a wine tasting amongst the paintings and got us all in pairs to articulate our criticism of local wines. I’ll remember his advice in future: “you can’t go wrong with a Côte du Rhone.”

The writers each read a favourite piece of work from the week except Boris who had written a short and witty play inspired by Wagner’s death which Steve and Will acted. This involved an improvised gondola and Steve singing arias. Very entertaining – as were all the contributions. Rona’s painting of the water jug had inspired an impressive poem from Pam which closed the event.

We packed in the film Couscous, a competitive game of boules and a leisurely last dinner together with a big log fire and candles for ambience.

It’s sad to say Au Revoir but it was just that as we know many will return to Leygonie for more Bonnes Surprises.

 

 

 

 

 

You Have Heard of The Booker – But Now Turn Your Attention to The Benson.

I check my emails quickly and infrequently in France, partly because England feels so far away – like my troubles – and I don’t want to be distracted from the sun, the wine, the cheese, the meadow and all the pleasures of this bit of the Dordogne. Also I don’t want to spend too long sitting in front of the computer because I like having a drink in the courtyard with the participants on the course. People mean conversation and as soon as we sit down to eat we start discussing all those topics people say you should avoid: religion, politics, education, art, literature. It can get heated but usually/always remains amicable. Will Randall – our writing tutor who lives in the Loire valley - said that the conversations are more typical of France than England. Our stereotypical view of France is one of a nation of artists, philosophers and intellectuals so we feel rather smug.

However back to The Benson. When I had a cursory look at my emails between discussions on the European elections and a swim in the pool I saw one which said that The Royal Society of Literature had unanimously decided to offer me a Benson Medal in respect of my outstanding contribution to literature and books. I have several friends who like playing tricks so my first reaction was to try to decide which joker had sent it. What do you do in this situation? Google of course. If someone was joking it was rather elaborate. The medal was said to have been instituted in 1916 by A.C. Benson, a writer, academic and Fellow of the Society. Better still the list of previous recipients made me glow with uncool pride: Lytton Strachey, J.R.R. Tolkein, Maureen Duffy, Anthony Burgess and many other distinguished writers including a real favourite of mine – Ronald Blyth.

At this point I accepted with puffed out chest. As the participants on the course feel so kindly towards Ways With Words and us it felt only right to tell them as you would parents who would want to know and would excuse your boasting. So I did. Well Steve banged for silence at lunch time and made an announcement. They said the right things and raised glasses of our local Bergerac wine. Will said it sounded better if we referred to it as The Benson rather than The Benson Medal. So if you see someone shopping in Safeway or Leclerc wearing a medal of 3” diameter in solid silver do come up to me and say can I admire your Benson.

The Benson Medalist tends her herbs.