Tony,
The picture you paint is too bleak. Some of the poetry things there
used to get good to reasonable audiences. I read there once with Wendy
Ruthroff and someone I can't remember the name of who disappeared to
New Zealand, and the cupboard was absolutely crowded.
I might go to see Jeremy Hardy.
Tim
On 13 May 2010, at 17:02, Tony Frazer wrote:
> I got my depressing programme this morning too, Tim.
>
> Alas, one has to recognise that this kind of festival is about
> celebrity, and not about literature. It also seems to be aimed (no
> doubt accurately) at a certain kind of 50-plus Radio 4 listener.
> Wait a minute, that's me too, but I don't seem to fit their
> demographic. I would imagine however that a number of the
> "performers" (for such they are) put on a good and lively show for
> this kind of audience. They did include poetry for 2 or 3 years but
> almost no-one turned up, except when it was a locally-managed event
> and the locals came along to hear themselves. (And, ahem, they got a
> bit of extra money from the Arts Council to support said poetry
> events.)
>
> I suspect poetry just does not fit this kind of festival, unless
> it's the Poet Laureate, or the almost-most-recent-Oxford-Professor-
> of-Poetry.
>
> But, I must say, they've surpassed themselves this year with the
> fact that there is not one thing that I'd like to attend, even if I
> had nothing better to do.
>
> Tony
>
>
> On 13 May 2010, at 15:48, Tim Allen wrote:
>
>> It's not just the lack of poetry Jamie, got used to that a long
>> time ago. I suppose it is something to do with trying to fathom why
>> this particular array of media people, novelists, travel writers,
>> politicians and cultural commentators are such a turn-off for me
>> while being such a turn-on for the thousands who flock to things
>> like that. It makes me feel as though something is wrong with me. I
>> used to go there and attend some of the events because in the old
>> days if you were on the bill you used to get a rover ticket as
>> payment - have read there a number of times in various groupings
>> until they seriously curtailed the local input. Once witnessed that
>> obnoxious Edwina Currie in the book shop tearing a strip off her
>> assistant because there were not enough of her books on the table -
>> really nasty - not relevant I know, just reminiscing.
>>
>> Tim A.
>>
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