©Calyx Swindon Festival of Literature A.N.Wilson
The Book of The People
A N Wilson, the author of the above named .. well … book is of the belief that The Bible remains a relevant work even in our modern and largely secular society. He posits that, no matter what one might or might not believe, The Bible stands up as a work of philosophy, of literature and as a cornerstone of our culture and general knowledge.
Kaye Franklin would approve
3rd May 2016, Swindon Festival of Literature
The Kaye Franklin Memorial Lecture
In taking the phrase ‘preaching to the converted’ as the title of this post I’m leaping to the end of today’s lecture delivered by Matt Holland, at Swindon Arts Centre.
Having made his last point, Matt sat down in readiness for the Q&A session, looked out at the audience and observed a feeling of ‘foolishness’ at having spent 30/40 minutes talking about the role of literature in life to a crowd of people who almost certainly believe that there is a role and a purpose to literature – because why else would they have been in that lecture? QED?
So did Matt need to feel foolish? Is there a role for literature in life? And if so – what is it? Continue reading
Bruce Fogle
6 May 2015. Discovering a place in the natural world at the Swindon Festival of Literature or: Don’t Judge a book by its cover.
“I dressed and went for a walk – determined not to return until I took in what Nature had to offer.” – Raymond Carver, This Morning.
Suffering for my art – yet stoic in the execution of my Festival Chronicle duties I arrived at Swindon Arts Centre in a sodden and sorry state after the third drenching of the day and it was still only midday.
I’d been dispatched there by Festival Chronicle HQ to cover the Swindon Literature Festival appearance of Bruce Fogle – and if the name sounds familiar you’re not wrong – but more of that later.
Bruce Fogle is a former zoo worker, practicing vet and best-selling writer. Not on the face of it the kind of ‘thing’ that would be high on my list of things with which to engage – I’m not exactly at one with the natural world at the best of times. And especially not after mice in the conservatory, rats infesting the loft and more than the occasional frog startling me in the garden. Or maybe that’s more a case of me startling the frogs. Anyway. This all goes to prove the old adage about not judging a book by its cover – literally in this case because, despite my trepidation, Mr Fogle’s talk turned out to be an enchanting prequel – his words – to his book Barefoot at the Lake: A boyhood summer in Cottage Country. Continue reading
Festival Chronicle 