It’s been a fast-paced, jam-packed weekend — trying to get to sessions at the Melbourne Writers Festival on time and post blog reports — juggling train cancellations, sleep deprivation and children’s sporting logistics in with the mix. Here’s a quick summary of how it panned out:
10.30: Saturday morning – meet with fellow ‘Emerging Bloggers’ for brunch at Beer Deluxe in Federation Square. Running late, I realise I’ve left my festival guide at home. Oops…
Federation Square11.30: Head to see former Premier Steve Bracks discuss his new book at BMW Edge. Unaware of a location change, I walk in to find I’m at another session of The New Yorker team. A fortunate turn of events as they are much more animated than the night before.
1.00: Attempt to see event ‘Why I Read’ and am directed to ACMI Studio 1. Sitting there, I realise as the presenters sit down that I am again in the wrong venue. The doors close and a staffer sweeps a large black velvet curtain across the door, blocking an easy exit. The presenters begin to speak as I try to inconspicuously escape behind the black curtain, causing it to billow wildly. To my horror, the glass door is locked. The attendant on the other side mouths that she can’t open the door and I will have to use the exit on the OTHER side of the room. Moritifed, I have to come out from behind the curtain and walk back into the room and up the stairs, around the back of the audience, down the stairs and out the door, while historian Geoffrey Blainey and Gideon Haigh pretend to ignore my clumsy and disruptive performance. Arghhh…
1.15 – Finally arrive at ‘Why I Read’ which is back at BMW Edge, where Sloane Crosley, Drusilla Modjeska and Sir Andrew Motion are discussing the power of literacy to transform lives. I enter the room silently, managing to find a seat without drawing attention. Phew. Sir Andrew is discussing his childhood experience of reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and how the image of a land frozen in ice and snow was crucial in his development as a future poet, being one of the first moments where he became aware of the power of metaphorical images. Sloane then talks about how her mother read to her from Gone With The Wind every night – a special ritual they shared and looked forward to. And Drusilla remembered vividly her teenage experience of reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles. It was the first time she became aware that redemption for the main character in a book is not always possible. It was shattering and in a sense, made her aware of how books can have a transformative experience.
2.30 – Attend a session called ‘Friendly Fire’ and WOO HOO – I arrive at the RIGHT venue and on time. Am very proud of myself. The presenters include Marieke Hardy, Benjamin Law and again, Sloane Crosley with the highly competent Estelle Tang chairing the event. It’s a funny, feisty session with all panelists performing readings from their books which brings to life their individual writing styles and personalities.
Sloane Crosley, Marieke hardy, Benjamin Law and Estelle TangAll have written books exposing raw material about their lives and relationships with friends, family and lovers. Questions fly about how far one is prepared to go as a writer and what you are prepared to risk by revealing so much. For Sloane, she says if it’s a good enough story you’ll figure out a way to tell it. Marieke says her instincts and feelings are consistently evolving about her writing but she doesn’t know how to write any other way. Although, she concedes, she did invite a few people she wrote about in her last book You’ll Be Sorry When I’m Dead, to have a right of reply. In the future however, Marieke wants to make comedy less of a focus in her writing and to concentrate more on a truthful emotional response to situations. Ben says his family took a fairly relaxed approach to his book, Family Law. His father didn’t even read the first manuscript, saying he was too busy and said he understood memory was selective and he accepted Ben’s story was his own interpretation of their family history.
5.00 – Catch train home to deal with domestic responsibilities.
8.00 – Head back to the city to Federation Square and BMW Edge for the MWF Opening night party. This was a wonderful opportunity to meet with everyone involved in the festival, from writers and organisers to friends and fellow bloggers. Fletch came along too and was delighted to meet New York author Sloane Crosley who I had raved to him about after interviewing her on Friday.
Me with fellow ‘Emerging Blogger’ Pepi Ronalds
Sloane Crosley and Alan Fletcher
Presenter Estelle Tang (second from right) and friends
Me with Renee Senogles and Sloane Crosley
Much fun was had by all. The next day I attended an exceptional session ‘Remembering Patrick White’ which I think deserves a blog on its own – given it’s the centenary of the great man’s birth. Stay tuned.
It’s only day two, but New York author Sloane Crosley wins a gold medal for best interview stamina of the Melbourne Writers Festival in my book. After landing in Melbourne direct from a two-day stop-over in Los Angeles, she walked straight into the hotel foyer with bags in tow and happily joined me for an interview over much-needed coffee.
Sloane CrosleyNo unpacking and not even a quick visit to her room to ‘freshen up’. And she was smiling without a hint of jet lag . In fact, she was positively beaming. Probably because she has been wanting to visit Australia for many years and is delighted to have finally arrived. Her family almost moved here when she was a child, so she developed a slight obsession with all things Down Under.
Crosley says she was thrilled when the MWF asked her to take part. ‘The first thing I did when I got the invitation was to forward it to my family and watch them writhe in jealousy,’ she says. ‘I’m always surprised when the humour in my books translates in another country, even an English-speaking country, but it’s great.’
I Was Told There’d Be CakeBoth Crosley’s books I Was Told There’d Be Cake (2008) and How Did You Get This Number (2010) became The New York Times bestsellers. The first, written when Crosley was 26-years-old and published at 28, quickly became a huge success. It wasn’t something she’d anticipated, having worked as a publicist in a publishing house where she knew how difficult the road to literary glory could be.
”The first book, I didn’t know what I was doing. I worked with these amazing authors. I knew how hard it is. And being close to them did not have the effect of making me feel “Oh, I can do this too”. It had the adverse effect. I will never, ever be Tony Morrison.’
‘I’d also been told not to expect anything, because it was a book of essays and it wasn’t expected this genre would be as popular as it was. So it was surprising.’
And she sprinkles her conversation with the same style of self-deprecating humour that is a trademark of her books. ‘Sometimes I see people reading my books on the subway, And sometimes they look so tragically bored, I just want to trip them over when they leave,’ she says, laughing.
It’s unlikely Crosley will ever use the word ‘cake’ in a book title again. ‘I put on about ten pounds, because everywhere I’d go, there was cake. It was the same thing at all the book launches. It was great. And it was awful. The second book is a lot darker and the essays are longer. It’s a much bigger book. I think I was in a bad mood when trying to write a humour book.’
There have been plenty of accolades too. I Was Told There’d Be Cake also won The Best Audio Books Of The Year by Library Journal and was one of Amazon.com’s Best Books of 2008. Plus, in 2009, I Was Told There’d Be Cake was a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
During the festival, Crosley is sitting on panels over four sessions this weekend. The one that sparks my interest is tomorrow at 2.30 – Friendly Fire. It’s all about how far authors are prepared to go when writing about friends and family and whether they’re prepared to put relationships at risk. I Was Told There’d Be Cake is brutally and refreshingly honest, so did Crosley have any concerns about a backlash when she was writing?
‘I genuinely didn’t think that many people would read it. There are parts of it that are a little cruel that I would go back and change. But not because they’re mean. More because they’re not as well written as I would like them to be. ‘
So were there people in her life, maybe her parents, who were offended? She takes a moment to consider before answering. ‘I try to protect people. You change things, such as defining characteristics. But my parents were fine with it. The truth is, it’s a nice portrait of them, so it’s fine. In fact, considering what gets said around the Thanksgiving table, they got off easy.’
Some critics have described Crosley as a modern-day Dorothy Parker. She’s flattered by the comparison. ‘There’s a great Dorothy Parker quote,’ she says, ‘that “Humour should always be used as a shield and never as a sword.” Very lovely but very hard to sustain over the course of a book.’
There was one friendship that went by the wayside as a result of the Cake book, however Crosley says it had practically ended anyway. ‘That was partly what that essay was about. So it is a little bit mean but to my mind, it’s worth the sacrifice because it makes a larger point about what happens when friends grow up – what they hang on to and what they don’t. It’s about how complicated women’s relationships can be. Everyone knows that a break-up with a woman can often be more difficult than with a man, and so that’s what it’s about.’
The second friendship to suffer a minor fracture was due to Crosley painting a friend’s boyfriend in a negative light, not knowing how serious the relationship was and that they would later become engaged. Unsurprisingly, she was left off the guest list for the wedding.
Now she’s flexing her literary strengths in new directions — writing a novel and a screenplay. ‘It’s slightly harder, but it’s like using a different muscle. With non-fiction you’re dealing with things that have actually happened to you. With fiction, it feels strange when it’s going well because you have made up these characters and they feel so real. Thats a sign of insanity, right?’
Being early days, Crosley would rather stay tight-lipped on what both projects are about. But she does have some good advice on writing processes. It’s all about getting rid of distractions. ‘I do have to have some sort of pattern and structure. I am not allowed to check any emails before I write at least 250 words. No errands in the middle of the day otherwise I don’t feel like it’s a work day. The groceries, the laundry, the gym — all of that stuff gets done some other time. And interviews. Mostly I just try to concentrate on sitting down and writing as much as I can. I get up and make coffee, have breakfast and then right about 7.30 or eight and write till about lunch. And then I say I can have the afternoon off but I often do a bit more writing.’
Sloane and meAs for other interests, Crosley says she’s a very bad guitar player and singer. But she does have a crafty side — making dioramas for each chapter from her last book and birthday cards for friends.
As for her ultimate goal in life, it’s about being true to herself. ‘There’s a quote by someone else that I’ll use here. “The genius is the one in the room who is most like himself.” My goal in life is to be most like myself.’
I think I got a pretty good version of that this morning – charming, witty and warm. Welcome to Melbourne Sloane Crosley!
(Sloane Crosley is taking part in the Melbourne Writers Festival tomorrow at 10am, 1pm and 2.30pm. Also on Sunday at 6.00pm. Check the MWF website at http://www.mwf.com.au for more details.)
It must be hard being nominated as Keynote Speaker at any major festival, especially when you’re also a famous movie star, because people’s expectations of you are enormously high. Unrealistically high.
Simon CallowI wondered how Simon Callow felt when he stepped on stage to give his address at the opening of the Melbourne Writers Festival last night. You could feel the weight of expectation in the air – the audience collectively holding its breath.
I have to confess I was one of the guilty ones sitting there with extraordinarily high hopes. For many reasons.
One, I was excited about seeing Simon Callow who I have long admired as an actor, ever since he captured adoration worldwide with his exuberant portrayal of the lovable Gareth in Four Weddings and a Funeral. He’s heralded as one of the world’s great theatre actors, as well as a talented and respected writer.
Four Weddings and A FuneralLouise Adler
Two, Callow was delivering his keynote address on Charles Dickens. (he recently wrote a biography) Old-fashioned though it may be, I too am a huge Dickens fan, having spent most of third year Uni focusing on his work under the guidance of uber sharp tutor, Lousie Adler – now famed CEO and Publisher of Melbourne University Press Publishing.
Three, I was like an excited kid looking forward to the first day of school, having been chosen as one of five ‘Emerging Bloggers’ to cover events at the Melbourne Writers Festival. I couldn’t wait for it all to begin.
Yep – it’s all there, isn’t it? I was setting myself up for a fall. How on earth could one man, Simon Callow, fulfil such ‘great expectations’? (sorry, couldn’t resist that one…)
An entertaining Max Gillies gave Simon Callow a warm and heart-felt introduction, describing his book as ‘a thrilling account of Dickens.’
Then as soon as Callow took to the stage, the audience hushed. You could almost touch the awe. MWF Director Steve Grimwade helped us all fall in love with him just a little bit more with a story about how Callow had popped into the festival office the day before – unannounced – just to meet the staff.
Callow started graciously, describing Melbourne as one of the most beautiful, welcoming and cultured cities in the world, but stopped short of being saccharine by thanking us for our hospitality in providing him with a dose of English weather – the wild afternoon storm. Much laughter from the audience.
The Pickwick Papers
And then he took us back to where it all began – his relationship with Charles Dickens and what inspired him to write his book. Callow was just seven-years-old when he was taken to a production of A Christmas Carol which he says, ‘scared the hell out of me.’ That led him to avoid Dickens for several years until he was laid up with chicken pox and his Grandmother brought him a copy of The Pickwick Papers. ‘I fell in love with Dickens. It was a world I absolutely and instantly adored,’ he says.
From there, Callow described his life as a theatre actor, with an hilarious account of one production of A Christmas Carol where he and a fellow actor accidentally fell through a trapdoor in the middle of a show, only to climb back up and continue performing. He says if it wasn’t for the heavy Victorian costumes they were wearing, they could have been killed. A quick-witted cast member saved the moment by ad-libbing, ‘So Mr Fezziwig, down the wine cellar again, hey?’
At this point, the crowd is laughing on cue and you can appreciate how Callow naturally draws on his skills and experience as an actor to turn his speech into a performance. He’s polished, articulate and witty, yet still manages to radiate a genuine warmth that connects him with his audience.
Next, we see a more solemn Callow as he discusses Dickens life and his work. His tone becomes more serious as he talks of the different genres Dickens wrote – short stories, essays, journalistic work, novels and terrible plays. Yes, apparently there was one literary skill Dickens couldn’t master.
‘It was because he was stage struck and he tried to recreate the theatre of the time, so that his plays had no trace of Dickens in them. Even he said that a play always turned into work.’
As for Dickens incredible talent for story telling, Callow believes much of this was shaped by his childhood. Dickens’ father was thrown into a debtors’ prison and young Charles was put into lodgings in northern London where he was forced to work ten-hour days in a freezing, rat-infested building to provide for his family.
‘It was Dickens’ impoverished childhood,’ says Callow, ‘that helps explain his extraordinary compassion, his extraordinary outrage at the lot of the dispossessed, the disadvantaged. He could easily have become a vagabond, but he rose above it with an incredible optimistic energy.’
Callow becomes more impassioned describing Dickens relationship with his readers. ‘He only saw something as real when he had an audience. His readers were the great central love of his life. He needed to be in direct contact with them. He knew that the readers felt he spoke for them, that he was their champion and he gladly accepted the role.’
Charles DickensSo many tales, so beautifully told. I realised then what I had wanted from the evening’s event. Hearing an exceptional actor talk about an extraordinary author — I wanted to be moved, to feel shivers up the spine.
Then Callow finished with a tale about how he played the role of Dickens in an episode of Dr Who. ‘The script portrayed Dickens in an imaginative and deeply felt way,’ he says. ‘At one point, Dickens turns to the Doctor and asks, “You know something about the future. Tell me, will I be read?” The Doctor says “Yes.” Dickens than asks, “And how long will I be read for?” And the Doctor answers, “Pretty much forever.” And that is how I feel too.’
Ah, the goose bumps.
Thank you, Simon Callow, for a magnificent start to the 2012 Melbourne Writers Festival.
‘Enquire Within’. That’s the catch-cry of this year’s Melbourne Writer’s Festival, urging us to explore and celebrate all facets of the literary world during this upcoming ten-day festival.
It’s an all-encompassing schedule involving more than 300 writers from around the world. But don’t assume it’s just the usual talks given by authors about their latest books. This is a program of ‘events’. In some cases, the book becomes secondary to the walk, the music, the performance or debate. In fact, I reckon you could pick just about any topic, give it a literary edge, and presto – yep, it’s in the MWF. I like this concept because it means you’re not just sitting in a vast hall listening to one person prattle on and on. Although, with keynote speakers such as British actor and writer Simon Callow, Germaine Greer and Editorial Director Henry Finder from The New Yorker – I’d be happy to hear them ‘prattle’ for however long they liked.
No, what I’m talking about is innovative ideas like WALKS around Melbourne, exploring our Bohemia, our Hidden Dragons or the Australian Renaissance. Walking with acclaimed author Sophie Cunningham, seeing first-hand the Melbourne landmarks and laneways that feature in her book on the city. Walking while talking about the ‘literary’. Cool, huh?
Then there are events involving music and performance – the Ned Kelly awards looking at crime fiction with music from The Ungrateful Dead, or the launch of the MWF’s audio-literary journal Going Down Swinging at The Toff In The Town.
For those who like debates, there are plenty of panel discussions on topics ranging from the future of journalism and education to philosophy, democracy and philanthropy.
There’s stuff for foodies too – a celebration of family and food with Guy Grossi or the ‘Sofitel Salon’ event in the Fitzroy Ballroom – a posh afternoon tea with three marvellous authors. The BIG LUNCH I’d like to attend is The New Yorker Lunch: Big Stories, Big Impact. Melbourne University Press Publisher Louise Adler will talk with Henry Finder and David Grann (TNY staff writer) about how their most important stories broke and what impact these had – in particular, when The New Yorker broke the Abu Ghraib prison story in 2004.
The MWF begins on August 23rd and runs through till September 2nd. I’m delighted to be a part of the festival this year, covering events as one of five ‘Emerging Bloggers’. So if you can’t get a ticket to any of the events (and yes, they are selling fast) then go on-line to check out a range of Blogs on the MWF’s website.
But those two words ‘Enquire Within’ got me thinking. After a quick Google search, I soon learnt that once-upon-a-time this simple phrase was the title of a book that offered advice to Victorian-era Londoners on all matters, from domestic to life-and-death.
First published in 1856, it set itself up as the ‘go-to’ guide on everything from laundry tips and etiquette to first aid, and if the first aid didn’t work in an emergency – ‘How To Bury A Relative’. There’s even a section on parlour games, which gives an insight into how people wasted their time before I-phones and Angry Birds came along.
I mean, seriously, did people really spend time modeling flowers in wax?? And are you keen to learn the difference between the types of relish you should serve for breakfast or supper?
Obviously the Victorians did because the book sold thousands and continued to be published right up to 1976 when it reached its 126th edition.
Regardless of its relevance now, it could have been a major part of all our lives. Tim Berners-Lee apparently saw the encyclopedic tome as a portal to a world of information and in 1980, named his precursor of the World Wide Web – ENQUIRE, as a result. So just think, if he’d stuck with that, we’d be left with endless confusing conversations.
Can you imagine? ‘Have you ‘Enquired’ about that on your computer?’ ‘Enquire has crashed.’ ‘Yep, it’s on Enquire.’ ‘Sorry, are you asking me or checking something on your laptop?’ We wouldn’t know what people were talking about.
No, Enquire Within is far better off as the title of the fabulous up and coming Melbourne Writer’s Festival. Let’s celebrate that.
