Journal Entry: Norwich Crime Festival, RJ Ellory

On March 30^th, I attended the final event of the Norwich Crime Festival featuring author RJ Ellory. This event took place at the Millennium Library in the Audio/Visual section again. This event was on the smaller side with less than thirty people in attendance. Unlike most of the past audiences, however, there was a good mix of elderly, middle-aged, and student aged people. I saw the most people looking like students in attendance at this event compared to previous events. Everyone was dressed in casual wear.

This event was unique compared to the past events I attended. Instead of mainly discussing his works and reading from them, Ellory spoke about his life and his on and off career as a writer, in turn lecturing the audience on what makes good literature. Ellory told the audience about how eventually became a published writer. He started off writing twenty-two novels, none of which were published. Finally, after more than 600 rejections and spending 12.5 thousand pounds, Ellory decided to give up writing. He did not pick up a pen even to write a postcard for eight years. One day, when sat at a computer at his job, Ellory began to write again and wrote his twenty-third book, which eventually got him published after a long fifteen years. After the publishing of this book titled, Candlemoth, Ellory was contracted for thirteen more books with his publisher. I believe Ellory chose to speak about his hardships in order to give the audience hope that if they do not give up, they will eventually succeed and become published like him. Ellory also spoke about why he chose to have his novels take place in America, saying he was greatly influenced by American literature and American-related things, including the Ku Klux Klan, Hollywood, and Marilyn Monroe. He also said he was interested in having his books take place in different U.S. states, but he only visited America when he did book tours. This indicates most of his research must be done indirectly while living abroad. Also, the fact that his books take place in America may mean his books receive more of an American audience, a possible reason why so few people may have shown up to his event in England.

After speaking about his journey to success, Ellory lectured the audience about what makes “good” writing “good.” He said that the best work one can do is write something they personally would want to read, not something they think other people would want to read. He said people should always write for themselves first, then friends, followed by money. If people ever get to the stage where they are writing for money, they should stop as they should only be writing out of pure passion, not greed. He also said people need to be able to work collaboratively as that is what needs to happen after one is published in order to have a very successful book. While Ellory was speaking, the audience was very engaged with many people taking notes about what he was saying in relation to writing a good piece of literature. Ellory was very well spoken and entertaining during his lectures. The time seemed to flow by quickly. He was very passionate and was dedicated to giving advice to help others. This was demonstrated when a woman asked him about authors that write similar work to his, and he offered to exchange email addresses in order to email her a list of authors and books he thought she might enjoy. No other speaker was that personal with audience members.  Then again not many audience members seemed as interested in the speakers as the audience for Ellory was. All of the people who asked questions asked about his career, with some being writers, but not all, being writers. This was interesting to me: I wondered why a non-writer would be so interested in Ellory’s career and choices. Almost everyone else who spoke to Ellory complimented his work, indicating they were all familiar with it.

Also at the event was a Waterstone’s table with a representative selling copies of Ellory’s works that could be signed by him after the event. Unlike past events, almost every single person that attended stayed after to either speak to Ellory or purchase one of his books. This shows that this audience consisted of true fans of both Ellory and his work, and were intrigued by him as a person. In all of the past events, very few people stayed after to meet the authors. I am curious as to what makes Ellory and his books so amazing that almost every person in attendance would want to spend more of their time after the event ended to further speak to him.  I may just have to read one of his books to find out.

UEA Literary Festival: Paul Farley

On March 27^th I attended the last event of the UEA Literary Festival before Easter break featuring the poet Paul Farley. He won the Whitbread Poetry Award and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize for his second work titled, The Ice Age. He won the Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection and Somerset Maugham Award for his first collection, The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See You. Farley recently came out with a work called, The Dark Film.  He currently lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Lancaster.

The event took place in the Lecture Theatre One at the University of East Anglia. The audience was the most empty I had a seen at a literary event, with the room being only one quarter full.  The audience was dressed casually and was mainly middle-aged, with some elderly people as well. There were only one or two people that looked around the age of students. This could be due to the fact that this event took place the week before East break when students may be busy doing work to meet deadlines or revising for exams. I am not sure if workers in the surrounding areas have a substantial amount of time off for East as well, but, if they do, that also may account for the lack of audience members. If that is not the case, then perhaps not many people may know of Paul Farley or have an interest in him and his work. In the crowd, however, I did recognize a few people from the audience at past events. One audience member I recognized was a woman who is in a wheelchair and always sits in the very back, probably because she would not be able to go down the stairs and sit closer to the stage. Another woman I recognized is a poet who read her works at the International Women’s Day event held at the Millennium Library in earlier weeks. I have noticed that she and a man who appears to be her husband have attended many of the literature events, demonstrating that she does indeed have a true and keen interest in literature.

This particular event at the University of East Anglia Literary Festival seemed to be more formal in terms of how it was run than the past events. There were more workers greeting people at the doors of Lecture Theatre One and they were dressed in business-casual wear as opposed to just casual wear. The workers at the door were handing out flyers advertising poetry events to be held in May, most likely to give advance notice to the people who were showing possible interest in poetry by attending events of the Literary Festival.  As is the case at each event, tables were et up near the entrance of Lecture Theatre One with pamphlets of upcoming events and lectures at the University of East Anglia. I believe the reason this particular event of the Literary Festival was more formal and informative about upcoming literary events was because thi was the last event to be held until after the East break in May. Because so much time would be passing, one can assume they wanted to leave a positive impression upon attendees and give them even more information about upcoming events so they could mark them in their calendars so as not forget about them over the Easter holiday. This was further proven by the host reminding the audience about the last three events that were going to be put on in May as part of the Literary Festival.

At the start of the event, the host introduced Farley as normal. Farley began by reading from his new collection, which has yet to be published, giving the audience a nice free preview of his new works. Advance copies were being sold in Waterstone’s after the show, so if audience members liked what they heard, they had the ability to get a copy of it first. After this brief reading, Farley went on to read poems from his older collections, saying he wanted to read his older work to avoid giving a “shameless plug” for his new work. Throughout his readings he made humorous comments about his poems.  He also spoke about poetry in general, saying how poetry has the ability to take one by surprise. He read a good range of poems, from depressing poems to humorous poems about the Queen. I found, though, that Farley spent more time speaking to the audience about his work than he did reading to them, which was not what any other speakers had done.

The reading lasted about a half hour and then went into a conversation with the host. Farley spoke about living in Liverpool and about his transition from being a painter to a poet. Also, I noticed that, unlike past participants, Farley was sipping on a Bulmer’s Cider drink as opposed to a glass of water. I was very surprised that as a participant Farley would choose to drink an alcoholic beverage in front of the audience, as many could take this to be unprofessional. Despite the fact he only had one drink and did not seem to finish it all, there is always the possibility the alcohol could affect his performance to the audience. After the conversation, the audience could ask questions. They mainly asked about Farley’s transition from painting to poetry, which interestingly enough he said he made due to economics.  It was more economical to write than paint. The fact that people asked more about his career choice than his poetry work makes me wonder if they were more interested in learning about the career than his work.

Norwich Crime Festival, Stuart Macbride with Henry Sutton (James Henry)

On March 22^nd, I attended the first of many events of the Norwich Crime Festival, sponsored by Waterstone’s and the Norfolk City Council. This event featured author Stuart Macbride in conversation with Henry Sutton, also known as James Henry. It cost two pounds to attend, which were redeemable towards any book being sold by the authors at the event. The fact that the two pounds could be redeemable could be incentive for people who like the work of the authors to the attend the event and purchase their works as well. Like the other literary events, there was very minimal advertising done for the events of the Crime Festival. The only place I saw any advertising was on the first floor of the Millennium Library: a sheet of paper taped to a pole near the check out areas and information desk. It really puzzles me as to why these events are not advertised very well. One possibility I thought of is that maybe the people do not have funds to pay for advertising, though the events are sponsored. Another possibility could be that they do not want the general public knowing about these events.  They only want the people who actually truly enjoy literature and come to the Millennium Library to see the advertising to attend the events, people they could consider to be the “literary elite.” But still, with Norwich being such a literary city, I cannot imagine any reason as to why people would not want others to know about or attend literature related events.

The event took place at the Millennium Library in the audio/visual section, the same location as the International Women’s Day event that was held a few weeks ago. However, unlike the International Women’s Day event, a barrier was placed between this area and the rest of the library, making it seem like a more private event. I assume this was done because, unlike the prior event, this event cost money to attend and, therefore, may be considered slightly upper scale than the International Women’s Day event, which was free. The set up was similar to past events I have attended, with the two white, middle age, male authors sitting at a table in the front of the room and chairs on the main floor facing them for people to sit in. Off to the side was a table with books written by the authors to be purchased and signed with a Waterstone’s representative at the table, as Waterstone’s was the retailer selling the books. There were not many people in attendance at this event; I would say there were only about twenty people. The audience was mainly elderly people with a few middle age people, and one person who looked to be in their teenage years. I have noticed that at each event I have gone to, the crowd has always seemed to be on the older side and there have been very few people in attendance who look to be the age of students. This could be because students are just not interested in further academic related events after being in school all day, could be the fact that maybe not many students are interested in writing or have not read the works of the authors that have been invited to participate in these events, or it could also be that with the new rise of technology, reading and writing have become a pastime for an older generation that still appreciates good writing.

The ratio of men to women was about the same, but I would say there were slightly more women in attendance than men. Only a few people seemed to have come alone, just like past events, indicating that most people come together because they have a shared interest in the event, or that attending these events is somewhat of a social outing for people. This event was, again, informal with everyone wearing dressed casually. There were no microphones used at this event, but it was relatively easy to hear what the authors were saying. The conversation they had added to the informal nature of the event, as it was very casual; swear words were even used! Unlike some of the past events, it seemed more like a conversation than an interview. The authors spoke about a variety of topics, including the revelations in technology in relation to detective work and forensics today, how the use of new technology affects their writing, how they write their crime novels, and how they create the types of characters in their books. Occasionally, the authors would go on a humorous tangent, speaking about other authors they may not like or respect, about their personal lives, or about criticisms they received from others that they found to be funny. This humorous aspect of the event could have occurred accidentally due to the seemingly funny and relaxed personalities of the authors, or it could have been intentional to keep the attention of the audience. I have noticed that most of the literary events I have attended have had some sort of humorous part to them, and each time it was put into play the audience would laugh and the speakers would regain audience attention if they had zoned out.

The conversation lasted for about an hour before the authors turned to the audience for questions. Again, the audience members proved that they had an interest in the authors and were indeed being attentive as the questions asked related to the work of the authors, with one question about a lesbian character Henry included in his crime series, and another question being asked about the authors’ views on the many book prizes that exist today. Asking questions in relation to literature as a whole instead of simply just the work of the authors indicated that the crowd must be literature savvy.

Because the library closes at eight in the evening, the conversation and question and answer period had to be cut short so the librarians could prepare to close the library. However, people did have the opportunity to stay and chat in the designated area of the event. The majority of the people attending seemed to leave.  Only a few people, including the teenage girl, stayed behind to talk to the authors and purchase a book. This seems to be the case at most of the literary events I have attended: people attend to hear the authors speak, but, despite the fact they have the opportunity to stay and meet the authors or get a book signed, they always seem to leave right after. I am not sure if this is because people have other things to do, it is late for them as most of the attendees are elderly, or, though they seem to clearly like the authors, they have no true passion or keen interest in their work.

UEA Literary Festival: John Lanchester

On March 13^th, I went to the first event of the University of East Anglia Literary Festival featuring John Lanchester. The Literary Festival is put on by the University of East Anglia and is sponsored by Waterstone’s, Premier Inn, The Poetry Trust, Writer’s Centre Norwich, The Last Bar and Restaurant, and Swallowtail Print. Individual tickets for each event cost six pounds, but people can choose to purchase a season ticket for forty-two pounds and students can purchase one for thirty-six pounds. The event is held in Lecture Theatre One, located on the University of East Anglia’s campus. At the end of each event, the Waterstone’s bookstore located on campus opens for the author of the night to come sign books for people if they so choose. This event was, just like the majority of the others, run well and organized.

John Lanchester has had work as a football reporter, obituary writer, book editor, restaurant critic, and deputy editor of the London Review of Books. He contributes regularly to the New Yorker, has written three fictional novels and two non-fictional novels, and has won prizes for his work, such as the E.M. Forster Award. Judging by this information, Lanchester is clearly a prominent figure in the literary world. At tonight’s event, he was going to be reading excerpts from his novel titled Capital, which is about the effects of the economic crash on the lives of people, an issue that is still prevalent today.

Like every other literary events I have attended, there was a table in the front with promotional information about other literary and arts events. However, because this event was run by the university, there were also flyers about upcoming lectures in different academic departments. Because the main advertising for literary, arts, and educational events seems to be at similar in nature at these front desks, the advertisers are only reaching a select group of people. I can only wonder if this is done because they only want to advertise to people who take value in these kinds of events instead of the entire general public. The audience in this crowd was much older than the audiences in the past events: the majority of the attendees were elderly, with a few looking to be middle aged.  There were also a few students. I recognized a student who had attended another event at the Writer’s Centre workers in the audience. The delegates from the Norwich Showcase, as mentioned in the beginning of the event, were in attendance. The room was only a little over half full. 

The host of the evening was an economist named Sean. Though he is not a literary professional, I believe he was chosen because Lanchester’s novel was about the recent economic crisis. After Lanchester was introduced by the host, he read an excerpt from his novel for about a half hour. The section he chose to read was humorous, portraying the domestic issues of a husband and his wife during the economic crisis. It is possible he selected a humorous section to read in order to keep the audience’s attention, as in the past events I have attended, I noticed that the audience has indeed been the most attentive during the more comedic parts and readings of the events. After the reading, Lanchester and the host had a fifteen-minute discussion about the book Capital, as well as Lanchester’s writing in general. Questions were asked about the difference between writing fiction and non-fictional, about the financial issues in Capital, and what Lanchester was trying to accomplish with his story. After this discussion, the audience was allowed to ask Lanchester questions. Throughout the event, I noticed the audience was very attentive, and this notion was reaffirmed during the question-and-answer period. All of the questions were about commentss Lanchester made during the event, his thoughts on how to write about issues today, his writing style in general, and about his specific works, including Capital and another work on the economic crisis called Whoops!. Asking questions related to comments made earlier in the event demonstrates the audience was indeed paying attention to Lanchester and was interested in what he was saying. Also, asking specific questions about his work and writing style indicate that the audience members most likely were familiar with the author and his work before they chose to attend the event, and that they really did want to be there.

After the question-and-answer period ended fifteen minutes later, the event concluded and all were invited to Waterstone’s for a book signing. I waited outside of the event for a bit to see if many people did go to Waterstone’s, but only a select few did. This shows that though people may have gone to hear Lanchester speak, not many had a very passionate interest in him, his work, or what he has to say as they purposely missed an opportunity to meet and speak with him personally.

Literary Death Match

On March 12^th, I attended an event called the Literary Death Match, which was also a part of the Norwich Showcase.  The Literary Death Match, for the uninitiated, is an international reading series that has been produced in cities around the world since 2006. In the Literary Death Match, four authors are chosen to participate. Two go head to head at a time, each of which have seven minutes to perform a piece of their literature. After each round, the authors are judged by a panel of three judges on literary merit, performance, and intangibles. The winners of each round then go on to compete in a final round, called the Literary Spelling Bee, where they have to spell the last names of certain authors. The Literary Death Match normally goes to 40 big cities, such as Miami, Los Angeles, and London, so the fact that it came to a smaller city like Norwich really demonstrates how much of an important literary city Norwich truly is.

In this particular Death Match, the writers chosen to compete were Ted Hughes poetry prize list short lister Martin Figura, Aisle16 poetry collective’s Ross Sutherland, performative poet Francesca Beard, and playwright/performer Siddhartha Bose. The judges consisted of Hay Festivals director Peter Florence, who judged literary merit, stand up poet/author/ukelele player Tim Clare, who judged performance, and stand-up comedian Amy Nicholson, who judged on intangibles. The mix of men and women with different ethnicities shows the event planners were most likely trying to make sure they included a bit of diversity in the event. The event was hosted by Literary Death Match creator Todd Zuniga and the Literary Death Match executive producer Suzanne Azzopardi. The event was held at the Norwich Arts Centre, which is located in an artsy area of Norwich, surrounded by music and art stores along with a variety of restaurants and vintage shops. It also costs six pounds to attend, so one can assume if people are paying to go they must really be interested in the event. This was confirmed later when I noticed all of the audience members were indeed paying close attention to the event, and, based on the many laughs I heard, were quite enjoying it.

When I first walked into the Arts Centre, just like at the past Showcase events, there was a front desk filled with materials advertising the arts. There was also a café/lounge area, where people could go hang out and grab a drink before the show. I noticed a decent amount of people doing just that. Just before the show began, the room completely filled up. I noticed the audience for this event, again like the prior events, was mainly middle aged, with a few people looking like they were in their late twenties. They all varied in types of dress: some were in casual or business casual apparel, while others were quite dressy, wearing…. I think there was a variation because it was unclear how formal this event would be. Some seats in the room were reserved, indicating to me important people would be in attendance. At first, I assumed these seats were reserved for the delegates of the Norwich Showcase as they were going to be in attendance, but, after the host revealed a local poet was in the audience, I then realized that due to the lack of reserved seats, they must have been for him or other authors not apart of the Showcase. Also, when I first walked in, I heard one man who was working for the Writer’s Centre mention something to the women at the front desk about a guest list.

The event atmosphere was formal, yet relaxed. It was organized and carried out very well and seemed to be more for entertainment than scholarly value. The majority of the audience came as a group.  Many of them were drinking wine or beer and left the performance halfway through to get more. Drinking at this event reinforced that it had a more relaxed atmosphere and was more of a fun, social event. Additionally, before the event began, the hosts and participants of the event were seen chatting with members of the audience, making jokes and asking them how they heard about the Death Match and what they were expecting. Again, having this type of interaction at an event demonstrated how relaxed it was. Unlike the other events, most of the workers I saw seemed to be on the younger side, looking like they could still be in university or recent graduates. It was interesting to me that the younger people were left in charge of the “less important” entertainment event whereas the older, more mature people were in charge of running the educational events.

The show overall was very humorous. The hosts constantly made jokes and, if they occasionally messed up, they would go with it and make a joke out of it, adding to the humor. Plugs were also made by the hosts in between each round for the author’s work, as their literature was being sold at the event. This could have been an incentive for the authors to participate in the event. Based on a flip of a coin, it was decided that Martin would battle Francesca and Ross would battle Siddhartha. In each round, one writer performed a humorous piece and the other would perform a more serious one. All of the judges gave positive feedback towards each writer after each round, portraying all of them in an extremely positive light to the audience. Interestingly enough, the judges chose the more humorous performance in each round, indicating they preferred entertainment value over the intellectuality of the pieces. Martin ended up winning his round and Ross won his. They went on to compete in the Spelling Bee, where they had to go into a sudden death round because they were both tied. Ross was ultimately the winner of the Death Match, defeating Martin by a mere one point. After the Death Match finished, the hosts encouraged people to stick around to grab a drink and purchase the works of the authors. On my way out I noticed that many audience members, excluding the delegates, did indeed stick around for a chat with their friends and a drink. Again this shows that, unlike other events, this event was more social and for entertainment. Like the past Showcase events, I noticed a distinct difference between the delegates and the other attendees, as the delegates have done different things from the rest of the attendees. For example, in the past events they would remain after and either have a meal or mingle and in this event they left immediately. This separates them from the rest of the “normal” audience members, therefore making the “normal” audience members the “Other.” To me, it seemed that the delegates did not stick around to mingle with the “Other” because, they being literary professionals, were the elite and therefore had a different agenda from the rest of the audience.