BUDLEIGH SALTERTON LITERARY FESTIVAL
Sept 21 24 Blog by Lynne Pearl
The sun was brilliant and the gardens beside the Temple Mount Methodist church in Budleigh were resplendent, the sun was so strong. We might have been in Greece, the sea was nearby. But we were in a small seaside town in the far South West. It is beautiful and far away from anything. And it has a very good literary festival. On the programme were many quite renown writers such as:
Rick Stein, Frank Gardner, Patrick Grant, Carol Klein, Rev Richard Coles, Iain Dale Jonathan Dimbleby Susan Fletcher Liz Earle Lesley Pearse Cathy Rentzenbrink Craig Brown Wendy Joseph KC Sir Anthony Seldon.
Chair of the festival Cathy Rentzenbrink welcomes us to the festival in the festival programme like this:
‘What a complete delight it is to be writing these words, thinking about how wonderful it will be to be back in beautiful Budleigh Salterton, and what an honour it is to be introducing you to this year’s offerings. The programme is full of familiar favourites, new discoveries and mind-expanding treats. There’s plenty of war, politics, fashion and food, workshops for the curious, and lots of entertainment in the Marquee. I’ll be exploring brotherly love with the amazing Manni and Reuben Coe, and am honoured to be chairing the Hilary Mantel Emerging Writers’ panel. My President’s Event this year is with the erudite and amusing Sam Leith who has written a fabulous book about the history of children’s literature, and I’ll be talking about my own novel Ordinary Time which is about a reluctant vicar’s wife – there is a hint of Budleigh and her churches in my fictional St Breda. Literary festivals and those who organise and attend them are very much on the side of the angels, I think, and I am heartily looking forward to seeing you all in September.’
And these were the authors we came to see and listen to them talk about their writing experiences:
TOM LAMONT, PENELOPE SLOCOMBE, CARLA JENKINS
Emerging Writer’s Event where: Temple Church time: 2pm | ticket: £5 Talking to Cathy Rentzenbrink
This year’s trio of debut writers are certainly ones to watch for the future. Their books, which share the theme of relationships, include the story of a mother’s desperate search for her son, the magical relationship that grows between a young boy and his unexpected foster father, and the disturbing tale of a therapist and his patient. Tom Lamont’s Going Home is already one of the Observer’s Debut Novels of 2024.
We were attending a session with two of the three emerging writers being interviewed about the books they had just written and these were their first books. They were debut writers, their stories were fascinating. One was a journalist by profession, the other an English teacher. They had just written successful novels one set partly in India and the other book was about the parenting of a very young child and the trials of difficult friendships.
Each writer read from their novel which is always a treat to be read to by the person who has written the words so one sees the personality behind the story.
When I tell a story, I am enchanted with my words, the world and the situation I am creating out of nothing. It’s rather like being a magician creating worlds that tell us stories and hopefully teach us.
For example, when the hero of my third book, Thiel, is on his travels in a created landscape and country, he has to find accommodation for the night for himself, a young child and his horse so he steps into the pub on the harbour at the sea port of Ive:
The warmth inside made Thiel’s head reel and the brightness of the light blinded him. He stood quite still on the door mat as the door banged behind him. No one in the bar seemed to notice the addition of one more body in the room. They were sitting in groups, some in high-backed benches, some clustered around the huge fireplace, some talking, some listening, and a few playing some kind of game with wooden counters. When his head stopped reeling, Thiel stepped forward from the shelter of the door to the bar. He had seen the innkeeper, or so he took him to be by his wide, warm face, standing behind the bar serving customers drinks and food. Thiel crossed the floor, and a few turned to look and stopped their talk to study the stranger. Some spoke to their neighbour, they were trying to place him. Where did he come from? His appearance and clothes were not easy to identify. It was a favourite game for the folk of Ive to guess where a stranger’s home port was from outward signs that gave him away.
And in ways like this the author has to make a world out of nothing as it were, which is what the two authors did who were being interviewed that day.
They both happily answered questions including about their book deals, one author had a book deal with US and the other author had a book deal with Germany. They talked about the luck of it. One said he nearly didn’t send it. This was a story about parenting a young child and a problem friend who lets you down. He had sent it out before, but it was not accepted, so he began to give up, but he edited with help. He added who you meet is luck, that you can anticipate nothing and have to be grateful for what happens. But as a result of their book deals both authors are able to continue to write.
It was a lovely day by the seaside and we were in the company of some excellent writers, to listen to how others make a story out of nothing, or just what they know, that is always fascinating.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7796332.Lynne_Pearl
Painting of Tor by Cath Whitehead
