This was my first literary festival and it was set in the perfect location. Bath is a city that you must visit for no other reason than its beauty. Of course, it is full of history from the Romans to the Georgians. You can wander through the steaming roman baths or glide through the elegant ballrooms where Jane Austen had her heroines causing havoc in the hearts of gentlemen.
I attended three events set in the stunning Guildhall dining room under the most coruscating chandeliers which became the focus of more cameras than the celebrity speakers. The event had several sponsors, the main one being The Independent newspaper. I only attended on the last day but was very impressed by the organisation and friendliness of all the staff, helpers and speakers.
In the last 20 years, the Festival has grown from a couple of dozen talks in 1995, to a ten day programme packed with over 200 events and featuring authors from all over the world.
Because it was International Women’s Day my friend and I chose to attend a group discussion by three young women about the female empowerment. The talk was entitled Playing Big and based on the title of Tara Mohr’s book encouraging women to take control of their lives. Another of the panel was Katrine Marçal, an economist who has also written a book “Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner. I shall be writing a review of both books in the near future. The debate was very interesting, thought provoking and perfectly pitched for International Women’s Day.
I also attended a talk with Celia Imrie who has starred in numerous comedy sitcoms as well as the recent Exotic Marigold Hotel films and has now written a novel. The hall was full and we were treated to an entertaining hour of anecdotes and stories from her long career. Celia was charming and eloquent and bewitched us all with her natural beauty. She enhances the fact that women can become more beautiful as they get older.
Our next treat was readings from the life and works of Vera Brittain and her fiancé Roland Leighton. They were read by actress Annette Badlands who is currently Aunt Babe in the soap opera, Eastenders. Annette has always been known as a character actress but the power of her mellifluous voice meant that at the end of the session and a particularly emotive poem written by Vera to her dead lover, everyone around, including me, was wiping tears from their eyes.
I hope I get an invitation next year and encourage anyone who has an interest in books or the arts to make it a date for the diary in 2016.
