Our literary journal, exclusive to members of Suffolk Book League |
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LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Our programme is now well advanced, and we often find that our meetings are drawing a capacity crowd. This is very encouraging, and already our 41st year is providing us with some happy encounters with writers. We were sorry that Natasha Brown was not with us on March 8th – it is rare that we have to cancel a meeting. But with our wonderful evening in April with Sophie Green, and with the promise of Blake Morrison coming instead of Hannah Lowe on May 11th we are splendidly back on track. Some tickets still available for next week, and we'd love to see you there. This edition of BookTalk includes contributions from members, which are always welcome. One of the main functions of BookTalk is to share the pleasures we are discovering from our reading. If you would like to send a review, respond to a book that you have enjoyed, or one that you believe is important, please send to: enquiries@suffolk bookleague.org Since Ronnie Blythe's death I've been revisiting some of his wonderful writing over the years. Many of his finest pieces were in the weekly edition of the Church Times and could have gone the way of ephemera. But his own care for his work has ensured that they have been garnered for the future. I've just re-read his book of essays, The Age of Illusion , a series of essays on the inter-war years. Just as good as you might expect. On May 5th we are presenting prizes at Suffolk Schools Mastermind, held this year at Stratford St. Andrew. As a charity we are always pleased to show ourselves as encouragers of reading, and as the years pass we note that some of the prophecies of inevitable decline in literacy are exaggerated. There seems no substitute for the pleasure of opening a volume, the turning of the pages and the sharing of the human experience through a well-written story. Enjoy this spring time – I hope the sun will not be too hot for you to find a shady corner and a good book.
Keith Jones
Chair of Suffolk Book League enquiries@suffolkbookleague.org |
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N.B. BookTalk online is packed with links to 22 articles and will probably be shortened by your email provider. To ensure you can get the most from BookTalk, use: View in a browser - at the very top of this email. |
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Recent Author Events and Authors' Book Recommendations |
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Frances Gibb Our speaker, Frances Gibb, was a journalist with The Times. Born in Suffolk, she has long had a fascination with the poet George Crabbe (1754-1832). Frances has retired, taking the opportunity to study Crabbe’s life and work, to produce the book A Time and a Place: George Crabbe, Aldeburgh and Suffolk...
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Sophie Green It was another packed evening when the cherished Sophie Green visited the Suffolk Book League for our April event. Our whistle-stop AGM kicked off the evening’s proceedings. This was followed by a fascinating Q and A; such a treat as we settled down to listen comfortably. Sophie definitely knew how to charm the inner child of us all... | | |
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Upcoming Events Tickets to all our 2023 events are now on sale. You can book your tickets on our website via the following links: |
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| | Blake Morrison Ipswich Institute 7.30 pm Thursday 11th May | | |
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| | Matt Howard Ipswich Institute 7.30 pm Wednesday 5th July | | |
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| | Sophie Haydock Ipswich Institute
7.30 pm Wednesday 13th September | | |
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| | The Flames by Sophie Haydock Read by Tricia Gilbey | | |
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| | The Kids by Hannah Lowe Read by James Phillips | | |
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| | Gall by Matt Howard Read by Andrew Burton | | |
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| | The Unravelling by Polly Crosby Read by Jeff Taylor | | |
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| | Wounds by Feargal Keane Read by Dymphna Crowe | | |
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| | Normal People by Sally Rooney Read by Gabrielle Stones | | |
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#6 of occasional articles considering material from our archives. Janet Bayliss looks back at Poetry Events at SBL |
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Following on from the talk by Frances Gibb on George Crabbe I had a look through the archives to see what connections Suffolk Book League has made with poetry over the years. It would seem that early on there were a number of speakers on the subject... by Janet Bayliss | | |
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Ronald Blythe: In memoriam |
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We are marking the passing of the great writer, and friend of Suffolk Book League, Ronnie Blythe, by covering the beautiful heartfelt words of Frances Ward at his funeral in his beloved Wormingford, and his memorial service in Bury St. Edmunds Cathedral. |
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D. R. Thorpe: a Chronicler of Our Times |
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In February 2023 an old friend, D. R. Thorpe, died. I had known Richard Thorpe when we were fellow students at Selwyn College, Cambridge, in the early 1960s, both reading English and both enjoying the same kind of music at the time... he was to teach English and politics at Charterhouse for many years. And while he was teaching he began to write political biographies. That was not a surprise, because one of the attractions of his company was his endless interest in what people were like.
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Wired for Creativity: 'In my Shoes' |
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As an adult, I finally realised why I always felt ‘different’ and found an explanation for my eidetic memory, fascination with words and playing roles. I teach neurodivergent students and discovered that I too was autistic. I realised that women on the spectrum are often last to be diagnosed, brilliant at ‘masking’, when inside they are experiencing many challenges or having brilliant ideas. I believe neurodivergence means ‘wired differently’ and that, even if the world can be a tough place to negotiate at times, we enhance it with our rainbow of gifts and skills when we are given confidence and encouragement. |
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Two New Poems by our Members |
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| | Headlights illuminate the road scape, Golden haze oozing over soaked tarmac. Cat’s Eyes chirrup, peeping out of the blur as Tail lights recede, eyes of red, disappearing... | | |
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| | the river spoke to me once; one morning when the blackbird paused – in song, i heard it with grit in its teeth words stuck in my mouth like salt on seashells... | | |
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Tales from the Bookseller |
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We love Andrew Marsh's social media posts from Dial Lane. What will our bookseller say when we give him space to open up and tell us all? Find out in these two posts which introduce a new series and look out for more in future BookTalks! |
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Mystery and Imagination: Two novels set on the Suffolk Coast. |
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May sees the publication of two new books set on the Suffolk coast, novels which have certain similarities, but which are very different in style. One has been described as a thriller, the other as a haunting mystery. Both are engrossing novels which add to the growing list of recent fiction which use the vulnerable Suffolk coast as a character in its own right... |
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Ronald Blythe died on January 14th this year having turned 100 the previous November. Local news reports emphasised the publication of Akenfield, his ‘classic’ account of rural life in Suffolk from the turn of the century to the 1960s. | | |
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Interview with Abbie Clements of Halesworth Bookshop |
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The third in our series on local bookshops. Read about how Abbie Clements became a bookseller, the best parts of the job, and her biggest challenges right now, and much more... | | |
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Local Festivals and Events If you have a literary talk, festival or project that you would like to include please contact us at enquiries@suffolkbookleague.org |
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The next few months will see a plethora of festivals happening in Suffolk which are either solely devoted to literature or which have literary events attached to them. Highlights include the Skulduggery in Stowmarket Crimewriting Festival 28-29 April; Festival of Suffolk Poetry online & in Stowmarket 13-14 May; EA Festival Hedingham Castle June 10-11 June; Slaughter in Southwold Crimewriting Festival June 16-18; Felixstowe Book Festival 24-25 June & Primadonna at the Food Museum Stowmarket 28-30 July. Details of these events and others will be added to our Literature and Events calendar on our website https://www.suffolkbookleague.org/literature-festivals If you are organising a literary event and wish us to add it to our calendar and promote it on our social media please send details to info@suffolkbookleague.org Thank you. |
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This month, Suffolk Libraries launched its 2023 book collection for DiscoveReads; an initiative to help people to find new and exciting titles and create a county-wide reading community. With book-related activities and events across our network of libraries and online all you need to participate is your library card and an open mind. |
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