Serious and deliberate, Sir Vince surveys the aftermath of The Storm

3 May
DSC_5436 Vince Cable Swindon festival of Literature

©Calyx Vince Cable at the Swindon Festival of Literature

There are two kinds of politicians: the quiet, steady-hand-on-the-rudder type, and the charismatic ones, who can seem appealing, but whose run-away mouths can often get them into trouble.

Serious and deliberate in his delivery, Vince Cable – who certainly falls into the former camp – nonetheless allows himself a joke at the expense of the latter.

“I see I am one of two speakers with a political background,” he tells the Swindon Festival of Literature tonight (Tuesday). “At least I don’t need to be looking around the audience to see where the Mossad people are.”

Ken Livingstone will be appearing next Tuesday.

Continue reading →

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Preaching to the converted

3 May

 

Kaye Franklin

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 →

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Foxes are the champions

2 May

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On a night when the ‘Foxes’ of Leicester City won the Premier League at the expense of the cockerel crested Spurs, debating the fox and his many guises seemed appropriate, especially as the event took place at Lower Shaw Farm.

Chickens were conspicuous by their absence, perhaps taking the hint from the signage chalked across their usual pecking ground.

So, Fantastic Mr. Fox or ginger vermin?

Lucy Jones explores every side of this complex creature in her book Foxes Unearthed – A story of love and loathing in modern Britain.

Speaking in a former cowshed on an award-winning urban farm, Jones was in the perfect place to expand on the countryside vs. city paradox which sees foxes fed at back-doors by ‘townies’ but shot or hunted in the countryside.

Jones made it clear that Mr. Fox is both hero and the villain, and has been so since he slunk into mankind’s chicken cave centuries ago.

A keen audience of first-night festival-goers heard the wildly differing points of view of the hunting fraternity, angry saboteurs, curly haired pomp-rock guitarists and chicken-less farmers. Continue reading →

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Where the railway meets…at Richard Jefferies Museum

2 May

 

 

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This one is straight from the mouths of babes, well a nine-year-old, any how. This is the first family-friendly Magic Monday of 2016 (kicking off as part of the Swindon Festival of Literature), where kids and their families are welcome to run around the Richard Jefferies Museum at Coate Water, Swindon. 

We first parked in Coate Water. As we crossed the mud-filled car park there was some logs on the grass on the side of the road. I decided to jump from log to log. Then they ran out. So I followed my mum and Sydney (my little sister) into a freshly cut field. I quickly ran across the field with Sydney close at my side. She said she was a monster and was trying to catch me. So sprinted off with Sydney behind me shouting, ‘Milo, Milo!’ I left everyone behind (my mum and Sydney) and rushed inside the gate. Continue reading →

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Dawn Chorus has international flavour

2 May
Dawn Chorus

Swindon Festival of Literature goes off with bang. Photo (C) Calyx Pictures

The rowdy drunks were disagreeing outside the club, one massaging her sore feet after in a night in heels, whilst birds were joyfully greeting International Dawn Chorus Day. Co-op workers were setting up store and I explained to a disbelieving Chronicler Milo that in years gone by, almost everything would have been shut on a bank holiday.

And so we walked to the launch event of the Swindon Festival of Literature in Lawn Woods, greeted by the rich smell of paraffin from the flaming batons as they bounced between jugglers, against a Swindon vista at a grey sunrise. The merry band of Jake’s jugglers had grown this year to include the Cat’s Pyjamas, and have recently returned from teaching circus skills to street kids in Nicaragua. Continue reading →

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Get your Swindon Festival of Literature tickets before the Brummies beat you to it

18 Mar

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Literature lovers of Swindon beware – the book-readers of Birmingham are after your Festival tickets.

Swindon’s 23rd annual Festival of Literature was launched in the courtyard of Swindon Library yesterday (Thursday) – the day that tickets went on sale.

And by 8.30am, revealed Festival organiser Matt Holland, the box office had already received ticket enquiries – some from as far afield as the Midlands and Home Counties. “Don’t be beaten by people from Birmingham and Basingstoke in getting tickets,” was his dire warning. Continue reading →

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C is for chocolate – day four of the Poetry Swindon Festival

5 Oct

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Day four of Poetry Swindon Festival
Events take place at Lower Shaw Farm

10:45. Arrival. Hellos, how are yous, coffee, rush (late) to poetry mosaic workshop with Lynette Thomas of Artkore. Manage to cobble together something that started out as ‘life is fun’ and ended up some dark comment about fashion models. Chronicler Pete later says it looks like a bunch of random words and magazine pictures. Other (more enlightened people) say ‘oo I like that one’. Admittedly their favourite thing might be a bunch of random words and magazine pictures.

The sun is shining, gracing us with its warm presence, autumn is only a state of mind. Behind us is the old cow shed converted to event room, and accommodation rooms. In front of us is the covered play area with mattresses and hammocks. All around are flowers, somewhere to sit and chat; ducks and chickens peck round. A fox gives them the willies. Continue reading →

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Is this how God felt? Battered Moons and Pascale Petit at Poetry Swindon Festival

4 Oct

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“I’ve judged a lot of competitions,” said Battered Moons poetry competition judge, Pascale Petit, “and this was of the highest standard.” Big praise at the Battered Moons finale, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery part of the Poetry Swindon Festival, coming from this year’s chair of the judging panel for the TS Elliot prize.

700 entries this year. The seven winners must be well pleased with themselves. Cristina Newton, co-judge and organiser, said, “You don’t know how happy you [poets] made my summer…and so challenging.”

Here are the poems and comments, summarised Robert Vas Dias, parataxis-style*: Continue reading →

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All Afloat! with Poetry Swindon Festival

3 Oct

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“I discovered my Englishness through living on a boat,” said poet and canal dweller Jo Bell, who has recently finished a three year stint as canal poet laureate.

We sat on Dragonfly, a boat on the Wilts and Berks canal just a mile long and slightly curtailed due to bridge renovations, for All Afloat! part of the Poetry Swindon Festival.

Swimming happily (I guess) alongside was the teenage offspring of Mr & Mrs Swindon, adult-sized but still-grey cygnet. Recently Mr Swindon was sick. Canal enthusiasts clubbed together to send him to the swan sanctuary for six weeks to recover. Meanwhile Mrs Swindon found a new love and Teenager was born. Chris, our boat host, explained this is contrary to popular opinion that swans mate for life. Mrs Swindon now divides her time between Mr Swindon and her lover (Mr Wroughton? Just a suggestion) I think this is unfair to suggest Mrs Swindon is feckless. It’s not like you can sit a swan down and explain her hubby is off to hospital for a month and a half. She probably thought he was dead. Though the mourning period was arguably a little short. Continue reading →

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Robert Vas Dias asks Do Angels Eat? Yes if you have a pass for Poetry Swindon Festival

3 Oct

Robert Vas Dias

Robert Vas Dias in the Cow Shed at Lower Shaw Farm

Robert Vas Dias was a delight at Poetry Swindon Festival at today’s poetry lunch (Saturday).

A lesson in perky reading, I had to remind myself that although he sounds American, he’s lived in England for a long time. So it’s not weird that he writes about teapots and their murky colour: ‘A brown that insults taste but forestalls criticism.’ Continue reading →

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