An Awesome Austen Event!

Are you an Austen fan? 

Are you THE Austen fan?

Would you like to meet and mingle with other like minded souls?

Then the Bristol Women's Literature Festival is about to make your day...

We’re looking for a young person aged 16-25 who has a passion for Jane Austen to take part in our next event. 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice remains one of the UK’s best-loved novels 200 years after its publication. And to celebrate the fact, the Bristol Women’s Literature Festival want to invite young people aged 16-25 who love Jane Austen to take part in our film and panel event later on in the year.

We’ll be bringing together novelists, critics and lovers of Austen to explore the importance of her work and to understand why this wonderful novel and the five fabulous Bennett sisters still maintain a hold on our imaginations.

But most excitingly of all, we want you to be on our panel. 

We’re looking for the biggest Austen fan aged 16-25 to join our panel and celebrate Pride and Prejudice with us. All you need to do is tell us why you love Austen, and why you deserve a place in the panel, in 50 words.

If you can prove you’re Austen’s biggest fan, then there’ll be a seat at our table with your name on it.

Simply email sianandcrookedrib[at]gmail[dot]com to tell us in 50 words why you want to be part of the panel before 30 October 2013.

You need to be aged 16-25 to take part and to be free on Tuesday 26th November 2013. Travel and accommodation is not included in the prize.

Remember, follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me I own, and I laugh at them when I can. So make your entries as imaginative, creative and Austen-worthy as possible!

Women's Literature Festival-Womens Writing Today-Stella Duffy

In the build up to the Women's Literature Festival in Bristol on the 16-17 March, BookElf will be reviewing the work of the writers on the Womens Writing Today panel. The event will look at the issues facing women writers today, and their inspirations for their work.




  I had never read any Stella Duffy, despite her being a prolific writer of Stuff I Like, before being heavily recommended Theodora by @sianushka a couple of years ago. I promptly went out and borrowed it from Leeds Library, as I did with this book, and fell in love with her.   The Purple Shroud tells the second half of the story of Theodora, who started life as a prostituted child and circus performer, became a religious convert and finally Empress of the Byzantine empire, part of the August couple made of herself and Emperor Justinian. They lived in Constantinople around 500AD and she is seen as one of the most important women in the history of the Roman empire.   The first book, Theodora, was wonderfully written and captured brilliant a sense of place and time. What Duffy does so well is to show a city and way of life very different from our own, but make her characters real people who just happen to live 1500 years ago, as opposed to some historical fiction which creates flat stereotypes of kings and queens and courtiers. Although parts of Theodora dragged, her epic religious conversion in the desert especially (though it is quite hard to write about someone sitting in a cave doing nothing but pray for weeks on end and make it sound slightly interesting...) the character of Theodora herself, passionate and prone to acting before thinking, was a delight.   In The Purple Shroud, Theodora has grown up. She has power and status, and is not about to lose. them. I liked her less in this book, she is cruel and vindictive and jealous and spiteful, but she is also wild and fun and very very bold and you can't help but admire her. Her relationship with Justinian was something I especially enjoyed seeing evolve. The city is more the focus of The Purple Shroud, she isn't wandering around the desert any more and the book is all the better for that. Seeing events such as the Nika riots between the various factions against the Emperor destroy the city Duffy managed to capture Theodora's sens of loss, not just at the buildings and the dead, but of her trust for the people, perfectly.   This book reminded me a lot of I Claudius by Robert Graves, and would make a cracking TV series, just like I Claudius did in the 70s. If you like your historical fiction to be less soppy heaving bosoms and a bit more bite, this is for you.   So that's it! All the writers on the panel I've now read and reviewed. I am ridiculously excited about next week, three whole days of books and feminism and lovely lovely women. If you fancy a jaunt, why not join me? Bristol is a fantastic city and well worth a visit. The festival is on for two days and includes a variety of events. See you there?!

Women's Literature Festival-Womens Writing Today-Beatrice Hitchman

In the build up to the Women's Literature Festival in Bristol on the 16-17 March, BookElf will be reviewing the work of the writers on the Womens Writing Today panel. The event will look at the issues facing women writers today, and their inspirations for their work.

  Beatrice Hitchman lived in Paris for a year after her MA, and then worked as a documentary film editor, writing and directing her own short films as well. Its no surprise that film is the subject of her debut novel, Petite Mort, which is published on the 7 March and which you should definitely pre-order.   Sarah Waters meets Kate Morton, and if you're a fan of both these writers you'll know how glorious that would be. Petite Mort is part sexual coming of age story, part mystery, part homage to the silent film but most of all a macabre tale of lies and deceit with more twists than her publisher's logo.   When I received this book in the post (thank you), I thought to myself 'Lovely vintage cover about earlier twentieth century Parisian film industry with title that's a metaphor for orgasm? If you must'. Maybe part of the reason I enjoyed this book so much was that is encapsulated all my favourite kinds of fiction, but what's wrong with enjoying what you like?   In 1913 Adele Roux, a 17 year old country girl who has fallen in love with cinema and is encouraged in her dream to become an actress by her local parish priest, runs away from an abusive father to Paris, to a life considerably less rosy than she thought she would find. Eventually finding work in the Pathe Films factory sewing costumes she finds herself under the eye of production genius Andre Durand. However Andre has his own secrets, and his wife, the great actress Terpsichore, is hiding even more. As Adele becomes more and more involved with the Durand family she finds herself in a web made up of the glittering Parisian society and the volatile world of early cinema, can she ever escape, and does she even want to?   Fifty years later and the 'forgotten' reel of the film Petite Mort is found in a Parisian basement miraculously unharmed. The film was supposedly destroyed along with everything else to do with the film in a great fire in 1913. Juliette, a journalist reporting on the discovered film, becomes involved in piecing together the mystery of the Pathe fire, Petite Mort itself and the history of Adele Roux.   Interspersed with this story are those of Andre and Terpsichore, the history of cinema is told along the way. Although the books main plot is rather weird and meandering in places, these little snapshots of other lives make this a macabre, but fascinating book.  

This book is slow in places, and rather farcical in others, but that is for me part of its charm. The complete lack of subtlety in the title, and the wonderful blurb, "this plot has a twist we beg you not to disclose"... make this a publicists dream. But the writing itself is worthy of praise in how addictive a read this is-I finished it in two days on the bus and at lunch hour and it isn't a short book. If you're a fan of the early twentieth century, cinema, Parisian elegance or slightly sapphic flavours then I'd give this debut a go. I also can't wait to see what else Beatrice Hitchman has to offer and very much look forward to meeting her at this event.

Women's Literature Festival-Women's Writing Today-Selma Dabbagh

In the build up to the Women's Literature Festival in Bristol on the 16-17 March, BookElf will be reviewing the work of the writers on the Womens Writing Today panel. The event will look at the issues facing women writers today, and their inspirations for their work.

This book, the debut novel by British Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh, who has previously published short stories in several Anthologies and along with Festival Chair Bidisha has appeared at PalFest, the Palestine Literature Festival, described in her book Beyond the Wall .

Out Of It describes the longings of Palestinian academic Rashid, who sits on the roof of his home, the only brick building left in the middle of a field of tents, getting high and dreaming of his British girlfriend and ultimate do-gooder Lisa. As he watches bombs fall on Gaza, Rashid is secure knowing soon he will be gone, to study in London and be away from the horror of the bombings and the pressure from his family and friends who run a humanitarian centre.

Rashid's sister Iman, meanwhile, feels torn between wanting to do "something", not quite knowing what that would be or involve, and also flee the chaos of Gaza, and the various intrigues of the different factions and groups, both secular and religious, that compete for the hearts and minds of the people.

This book is extremely complex, and assumes an awful lot of pre-existing knowledge of the history of Palestine, the social mores of the country and how all the different leaderships and UN declarations relate to each other. Despite learning a little more about the situation in Palestine since since Beyond the Wall I started reading this and almost instantly completely lost where I was or what was going on, Wikipedia'd it, and still didn't really know what was going on, to be honest if I was coming at this book knowing nothing of Palestine I would have got very lost very quickly, and there isn't the gripping plot behind the themes and characters to have kept me interested.

More than anything whilst reading this book, which follows Rashid and Iman from Gaza to London and the Gulf and back again, I thought 'wouldn't this make a great play?'. I would love to have seen this on stage, rather than in prose, as what Dabbagh is describing and saying would make much more of an impact I think that in its current form. Rashid and Iman's struggle to discover the truth behind their parents, who were actively involved in the Outside Leadership, who I think were the PLO but am not absolutely sure, and to figure out their place in the world was interesting but, and this is going to sound really harsh, they are my age, have lived all over the world including a war zone and still to me eyes seemed incredibly immature. I didn't like them, and found it hard to sympathise with them.

This book is very well written, she has an excellent voice and it is an important one to hear. How exhausting it must be to live in the conditions described, and the difference between a Gaza and London or the Gulf is striking, and wonderfully done-if you ever wanted to feel real guilt about being able to get a bikini wax or walk alone when only a few hundred miles away there are people cowering in fear this book'll do it. There were also some excellent moments of comedy-Lisa the aid worker who organises petitions and protests, but has no actual human emotions past self-interest, on stage with an elderly pipe smoking politician, would 150 years ago have probably been saving fallen women in Whitechapel, inviting prostitutes to tea in order to look even more caring about her projects. I've met quite a lot of Lisa's in my time and Dabbagh gets her spot on.

I couldn't get on with this book, but if you're not as ignorant as me or enjoy writing that makes your head tense then you'd enjoy this. I am however really looking forward to seeing her speak, as judging from her material here she has a lot to say.

Women's Literature Festival-Womens Writing Today-Helen Dunmore

In the build up to the Women's Literature Festival in Bristol on the 16-17 March, BookElf will be reviewing the word of the writers on the Womens Writing Today panel. The event will look at the issues facing women writers today, and their inspirations for their work.


Helen Dunmore


Photo by Caroline Forbes

I first discovered Helen Dunmore as a young teen with her collection of short stories 'Love of Fat Men'. I can't really remember any of the stories themselves, but I do remember being transfixed by the writing, which was sensual and elegant and probably far too old for me. When I was a little older I read Burning Bright, and properly fell in love with her. The story of a sixteen year old run away, abused by her much older boyfriend, who ultimately forms a strange friendship with Enid, a sitting tenant in the house she is kept in. I remember reading her descriptions of Enid, an elderly lady, in the bath and Nadine's body and becoming aware that actually older people have bodies, and feelings, and we are all human and touch is the same or different for everyone and how marvellous and extraordinary that is and isn't it amazing the feeling of breath.

Helen Dunmore is a naturally gifted writer who can turn her hand seamlessly to any genre, any form. She wins poetry prizes anonymously, writes YA, young children's books, new introductions to classic texts, historical fiction, fiction about grief, fiction about dubious sexuality, horror, romance, everything.

She is also incredibly pleasant, knowledgeable, and from Yorkshire, and I therefore love and admire and kind of want to be her. I've seen her speak before at the Ilkley Lit Fest, and was lucky enough to interview her on the publication of her latest book The Greatcoat, which is a spooky short read perfect for a cold night in front of the fire, and she was entertaining and witty on both of these occasions.

Helen Dunmore was also the first recipient of the Orange Prize (now the Woman's Prize for Fiction) for A Spell of Winter, which is truly creepy, and always praises the prize and what it has done for women's fiction, especially in bringing new writers much needed publicity.

I love Helen Dunmore, and am really looking forward to hearing her speak. If you are new to her, there are several books I'd recommend, as well as her poetry collections (as you know, poetry ain't my thing, but LeedsBookClub would probably do well to investigate as I know they love it).

If you like historical fiction, The Siege, followed by The Betrayal.
If you like Jodi Picault style stuff, Mourning Ruby
If you like Joanna Trolloppe/Deborah Moggach style stuff, Your Blue Eyed Boy

Women's Literature Festival-Women's Writing Today-Bidisha

In the build up to the Women's Literature Festival in Bristol on the 16-17 March, BookElf will be reviewing the word of the writers on the Womens Writing Today panal. The event will look at the issues facing women writers today, and their inspirations for their work.

Bidisha

Bidisha is a writer and critic whose writing covers a range of issues, from gender and sexuality to international affairs. Often outspoken and unfliching in her opinions, espescially regarding the treatment of women and children, Bidisha's first book, Seahorses, was written as a teenager and she has since presented Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 and is a regular guest on Newsnight.  She is chairing the Women's Literature Festival.

I don't agree with everything Bidisha has ever written, but I enjoy her writing, it is sparse and to the point and doesn't pull any punches, and she massively bigged up ForBooksSake last year, so is obviously in my good books.


This Christmas I recieved her latest work, Beyond the Wall: Writing a Path Through Palestine. This short collection of happenings follows Bidisha and a group of other writers as they try to navigate the West Bank to various locations during the 2011 Palfest cultural festival. Bidisha, as a reporter, is completely unflinching in her descriptions of how utterly claustrophobic living in an occupied territory can be, in concrete blocks surrounded by soldiers with tanks at the end of your street and nets thrown over the yards surrounding your home where settlers can throw their rubbish, including their excrement. Some of the most heart rendering stories are those of the children living in the ghettos who are routinely harassed and antagonized by soldiers until they fight back and throw stones, giving Israeli forces justification for further fighting.

What stands out most from this book is how frustrating a life living in such an area must be, being constantly searched, interrogated, having to stand for hours at checkpoints to get anywhere, how bored you must get. And no culture, or very little, other than the minimum that is allowed to you-books have to be smuggled into the country, Palestinian writers receive so very little support and cannot promote their work to a more Western audience.

I know so very little about the situation in the West Bank. I have very good friends who campaign for both sides, which causes me horror when I hear about the bombings and the desolation in the news. Reading books like this, which give small bitter tastes of the lives of the people who live in the area and those who campaign for better lives for the children of Palestine (parts of the book are a little 'won't somebody think of the children', but to be honest in situations like those described they kind of have to be) makes me ashamed of my ignorance and the need to actually occasionally read the papers and the blogs rather than live forever in my nice warm cave of ignorance.

A version of this piece was orginally published on jesshaigh.wordpress.com