Hello booklovers,

On day three of our advent celebration we have Viv, another fab committee member, bringing us ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.

Viv writes…

‘This is a Christmas song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the 1944 movie ‘Meet me in St Louis’. Judy Garland sings the song to her young sister who is distraught at the family’s plans to move to New York City, leaving behind their home in St Louis, Missouri.

It has a haunting melody and has been recorded over the years by various artists, the latest of whom is Sam Smith. For me it echoes the mixed emotions of Christmas, reflecting past troubles and putting them aside for the season, opening up to the joy of Christmas, being with people we love and looking to the future.

It is a time for remembering those who are no longer with us and for giving to those less fortunate than ourselves both at home and abroad,  but also enjoying the company of grandchildren and seeing the wonder in their eyes. Christmas is about the joys of giving rather than receiving; the religious significance, not the commercialism and remembering to ‘Have yourself a Merry little Christmas’ despite all our troubles, whatever they might be.’

All the very festive best, until tomorrow!

Hello booklovers,

Today marks my own contribution to our advent calendar, my festive choice being ‘The Sussex Carol’.

‘On Christmas Night all Christians sing…’

When I was small, a favourite Christmas film of mine was an animation of The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter, which I would annually watch with my grandma. The film starts with Miss Potter (portrayed by Niamh Cusack) preparing for Christmas. She lights candles with tapers by her twinkling Christmas tree, as her maid bustles about sorting the festivities. To this day, this depiction of Beatrix Potter’s front room has been my ultimate image of a Victorian Christmas. A troupe of children playing violins and singing appear at the door and are greeted with a plate of mince pies adorned with a sprig of evergreen – the carol they sing is The Sussex Carol. 

The lyrics to this joyful tune first appeared in 1684 in a text named ‘Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs’. The music most commonly heard today was completed by much loved composer Ralph Vaughn Williams, who composed many of our most popular carols. The Sussex Carol is often performed at the King’s College ‘Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’ on Christmas Eve, marking the end of Advent and the start of the Christmas festivities.

On hearing this song I am transported back to being a small child, safe and content in the company of a much loved grandma and in the world of a much loved children’s author, waiting for the excitement and joy that Christmas brings. Whilst everything else around me changes, the music stays the same old beautiful tune it has always been.

Follow the link below to have a listen to this joyful and uplifting piece of music – happy carolling!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAjHi8Lbgo4

Imogen x

Hello booklovers,

Advent has arrived, as has the Felixstowe Book Festival advent calendar… let the excitement commence! To begin our ‘carol-a-day’ celebrations, Jan, one of our wonderful committee members, brings us In the Bleak Midwinter. 

Jan writes…

In the bleak midwinter

Frosty wind made moan

Earth stood hard as iron

Water like a stone

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

Snow on snow

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

‘This carol was published as ‘A Christmas Carol’ in 1872 in the American magazine ‘Scribner’s Monthly’. The editor had met poet Christina Rossetti and asked her to write a Christmas poem for the magazine. Long before it came to be known by its famous first line, it was set to music by the composer Gustav Holst, accompanied by the tune known as ‘Cranham’.

This melancholy and evocative carol imagines the Nativity in a snowy Northern landscape a whole world away from the more temperate climate of the Middle East. What a marvelously descriptive setting for a carol or indeed for the winter season itself.’

See you tomorrow for your next advent treat – happy caroling! 

 

Hello booklovers,

The season to be jolly and joyous is nearly upon us. I don’t know about you, but I am certainly thinking “Where on earth did November go?!”. When I reflect on what reminds me of Christmas I am always drawn to two things: books and music. Every year on the first of December my parents and I delve deep in the loft to draw down an enormous and rather heavy box stuffed to the brim with Christmas books of all shapes and sizes. In this hallowed box you can find all manner of literary treats, my personal favourites including Slinky Malinky’s Christmas Cracker (for old times sake!!) and The Wren Boys, one of Carol Ann Duffy’s beautiful little poem books. I love nothing more than delving into my much beloved copy of Christmas Days by Jeannette Winterson, a delightful collection of winter stories and recipes to boot, not to mention the annual treat of A Literary Christmas, a literary anthology courtesy of the British Library.

Once the box of books has been brought down, we turn to music. Our much loved festive carols create much needed pockets of peace and tranquility amongst all the excitement of the festive season. I adore the cheer of ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ and ‘The Sussex Carol’ just as much as the melancholy of ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ and ‘The Shepherd’s Farewell’. I find the history and traditions surrounding Christmas carols endlessly fascinating. Each year I feel the same familiar comfort of this timeless music as well as gleaning something new from it as I grow older. Matching these with the glamour and pizazz of Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole or the comforting tones of Chris Rea and Jona Lewie, my Christmas is set.

Combining literature and music, here at the Felixstowe Book Festival we are treating you to an extra special way to celebrate the Christmas season. Welcome, booklovers, to Felixstowe Book Festival Advent 2018. We present you with… a carol-a-day! From the 1st of December until Christmas eve we will have 24 days of blog fun with each day bringing you a new Christmas carol or song, with contributions from our lovely volunteers and festival guests. So keep your eyes on our blog and on our Twitter feed and let the festivities commence!

A tune humming, toe-tapping, holly-laden bookish best,

Imogen and the Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

The fourth Thursday in November has arrived and it is time to wish our friends across the pond a very happy Thanksgiving!

A North American holiday, Thanksgiving has come to symbolise the importance of home and the importance of family, marked by the preparation and consumption of a rather delicious meal. Thanksgiving has always been associated with a general thanks for the fruits of the autumn harvest, and then by the arrival of the pilgrims in America in 1621. However it was only in 1863 that, thanks to the rigorous campaigning of a lady named Sarah Josepha Hale, President Lincoln decided that the date for Thanksgiving was to be the 26th of November and would mark a day of national unity. Now Thanksgiving is fixed on the fourth Thursday of November and in Canada it has been celebrated on the second Monday in October since 1957.

As my own Thanksgiving gesture, I thought I would pay tribute to a favourite American author of mine, Louisa May Alcott, and her most beloved tale of the March girls, Little Women. Following the lives of Meg, Beth, Amy and Jo, Alcott’s story has been a favourite book for many readers for many, many years.  

Little Women is often much maligned, and labelled as a tale of hopes and dreams that are never truly fulfilled. Be my guest to take this view, but if you look closer (and I beg that you do) what you will find is a tale unfolding of self discovery through all the very realistic trials and tribulations that life offers. Poverty, civil war, the death of a sibling: issues that remain pertinent in our own society and will remain so in societies of the future.

This is a story about sisterhood, humility, friendship and the forging of equal relationships. Now often criticised for writing too much in her own time, Alcott actually very much ahead of her time, particularly in her portrayal of female agency and the process of growing up. It takes much skill as a writer to create four girls who have stayed in the minds of their readers from childhood to adulthood for 150 years.

Little Women is of particular relevance to the festival of Thanksgiving with its true depiction of familial affection and a love of home. With that sentiment in mind, I wish all the Megs, Jos, Amys and Beths of this world, and every other reader of course, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

‘I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship’ 

Louisa May Alcott

Bookish best,

Imogen

Hello-ooooooo booklovers,

October the 31st has arrived. Across the nation pumpkins will be carved, bonfires lit and sweets distributed to small visiting witches and wizards and other such spooky folk.

According to folklore, Halloween is the night where the barrier between the supernatural world and the land of the living is at its thinnest – we are closer to those who have shuffled off this mortal coil than ever before. Make of that what you will… but either way it’s a nice excuse to light a fire and indulge in some Autumn themed treats (my current favourite ingredient is pumpkin, it’s so delicious). It is also a wonderful reason to share some spine-tingling stories. For centuries at this time of year people have gathered together to ward off the Autumn darkness and to tell a ghoulish story or two. Feast your eyes below for some hauntingly good recommendations…

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

What goes unexplained is the most frightening thing in this jewel of a tale. Who actually is Peter Quint and what dreadful thing has he done? Was it even him who committed such an act in the first place, or someone smaller and seemingly more innocent?

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

If you enjoy post-war tales of old families, dilapidated houses and things that go bump in the night, this is the novel for you. An unnerving story of repression, class and the repercussions of being made an outsider, The Little Stranger keeps you guessing until the very end and looking over your shoulder for a very long time after that.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

For those who prefer a good old fashioned Gothic tale, exploring fears over scientific the scientific innovations and the decadence of the Victorian age. Lots of thick city smog, gas lamps and grotesqueness – terrific.

Enjoy dear booklovers – don’t get too spooked!

Autumnal wishes,

Imogen x

Hello booklovers!

We find ourselves in mid-October – conkers coat the ground, the evenings are noticeably drawing in and the trees are glowing. Autumn is my favourite season – it is a time to make soup, feed the birds and go for long blustery walks with the reward of a large cup of tea at the other end. It has also inspired some of our best and most beautiful poetry.

‘Fall, Leaves, Fall’ by Emily Brontë

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

 

Just as Keats’s ‘mellow fruitfulness’ encourages a sense of anticipation and reflection, this wry ode to Autumn encapsulates the sheer joy to be found in the everyday occurrences of the season. Emily smiles and sings at the sight of leaves falling from trees and at the prospect of the dark nights and the day that will follow, encouraging an appreciation of all that you see.

Too often people leap straight from Summer to Christmas and Autumn gets left behind. We need this season to reflect on the year that has passed so far and to contemplate how to make things better. Humanity is faced by so many problems, problems like poverty, conflict and global warming. We are more likely to be able to be able to deal with them if we take a step back to think, gather information and be inspired to help. One timeless way to do this is to READ. Literature offers us a chance to step into another world for a time and to emerge from it with a fresh perspective.

Here at the Felixstowe Book Festival we have on offer on a yearly basis a whole host of fascinating authors, speakers and their accompanying work for you to absorb and enjoy. So this Autumn I implore you to read a book, go for a walk, pick up conkers and twizzle sycamore leaves and enjoy this mellow and special time. Leave Christmas tucked away in the loft for now and enjoy the peace and quiet that this season has to offer.

Bookish best,

Imogen and the Festival Team

It has been an exciting but difficult few months and we know that we have neglected you throughout the summer. Most of you will probably already know that our Friends co-ordinator, Mairead, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly just before the festival. Unfortunately we have not been able to retrieve her files and are therefore faced with the impossible task of finding all contact details. We do apologise. We are aware that this is highly unprofessional and we have learned our lesson!!

We are glad to announce that two wonderful ladies, Mrs Viv Aspall and Mrs Joan Bostock, have come forward to take up this challenge and they are eager to reconnect with you all and make it up to you by organising some fantastic festival related treats.

We managed to obtain access to some of the emails and so some of you will receive communication soon. But you could make Viv and Joan’s task easier by dropping them a quick note to Felixstowefriends@aol.com. Your help would really be appreciated.

Again, we really do value your friendship and support and hope this unfortunate situation does not let you doubt that.

Kind regards, Viv, Joan and all of us at the Felixstowe Book Festival.

Hello booklovers!

We’re back after the summer break, refreshed and ready to get started on the preparations for our 2019 festival. What a lo-o-ong, glorious summer! Despite being a sun baby, I am whole-heartedly welcoming the sight of orange leaves appearing on the trees and the hint of a chilly breeze in the air. Keep your eyes peeled for some blog posts about autumnal literature that will be descending upon the blog over the next few weeks.

But let’s step back in time to our fantastic Felixstowe Book Festival of 2018 – a sun-soaked weekend filled with fascinating author talks and workshops for young and old and everyone in between. Every single one of our guests were wonderful and we can’t thank them enough for coming to visit the festival.

We were lucky enough to be visited by Caroline Slocock, who discussed her memoir of both personal and political proportions, People Like Us, documenting her time as private secretary to Margaret Thatcher. Journalist and broadcaster Jenni Murray also hit the stage with her new book, A History of Britain in 21 Women, providing us with a profound hour of laughter, discussion and an insight into the lives of fascinating women.

Quenching the literary needs of fans of crime novels in Felixstowe, we welcomed Humphrey Hawksley and Iain Maitland to the festival, as well as Quentin Bates and Barbara Nadel. Crime writer Mark Billingham was also a huge success with our visitors.

Heading over to our cracking programme for children and young adults, Peter Bunzl and Kev F (and his comic masterclass!) proved to be very popular with the younger members of our audience, as did Nick Arnold and his Horrible Science lab. Hayley Long and Virginia Bergin were fantastic guests, discussing the prides and pitfalls of being a young woman and how they depict this in their own work.

We were lucky enough to welcome back festival favourites, such as Liz Trenow, Louis de Bernieres and Oggy Boytchev, who brought their literary magic and wisdom back to our festival with great aplomb.

This is a mere selection of the brilliant variety of speakers and events we have had available at the 2018 Felixstowe Book festival. We are all so pleased and excited to be able to continue the fun and the fascination which is being put in place by our plans for the 2019 festival.

Hope to see you there!

Bookish best,

Imogen and the festival team

 

 

 

 

Hello booklovers,

Still feeling deflated post-festival weekend? How about a little reminder of the brilliant set of volunteers who make the whole event possible…

We pride ourselves in being a volunteer led festival. Everything – from being involved in the main committee, to taking tickets on the door or selling them to our visitors, to introducing the events and providing information for our guests, even to organising the volunteer schedules themselves – is made up almost entirely of volunteers whose help we are eternally grateful for. As with any highly successful event, the festival requires a vast amount of time and dedication (and sanity) but to extremely good effect! I hope everyone involved returned home on Sunday evening feeling thoroughly pleased with themselves and with each other for providing the solid foundation that is crucial to the success of any volunteer-led event.

In a world which is becoming increasingly individualistic, it was so heartening to spend time with a group of people working together as a community. You can’t fake the atmosphere created by a team and it certainly provided the back-bone to the wonderful festival feeling which left all who attended with an irremovable grin all over their faces.

Many congratulations to everyone involved!

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”

Mark Twain

Bookish best,

Imogen