Saturday 12 April 2014

'Aye Write!' - Glasgow's Book Festival

This year's 'Aye Write!' festival lasted from the 4th to the 12th of April. Among a variety of events, I chose the following:

A. L. Kennedy - All the Rage
Venue: Mitchell Library - Burns Room
Author: A. L. Kennedy
Book: All the Rage (Jonathan Cape, 2014)
Date: 8th April
Price: £8    

I have read some of Kennedy's short stories, as well as a number of her articles/reviews, so I decided to give this event a shot. Also, I had recently discovered that she is a stand-up comedian, so I thought: literature + humour = winning combination! I really had a great time at this event. The host's liveliness contrasted with the writer's dark wit, and I thoroughly enjoyed her reading aloud from her new collection of stories. The story she read was 'This Man', in her own words an attempt at writing something 'happy' (after which word she made a pause and added, with a mischievous half-smile: 'ish'). The story itself is a wonder of attention to detail (she said she's not a very good observer in real life - but she can make up the details in fiction). It focusses on a female character on a first date with 'this man', and on how she over-analyses every little gesture, sound, smell. It was sweet, awkward, thought-provoking and funny all at once. If these weren't enough positive words about her and her work, here you have more: I checked her website to find out about the publisher/date of All the Rage, and I discovered that she lists both good and bad reviews about her books (and also 'silly' ones), and that she replies to some of them! Priceless.




Bernard MacLaverty - The Collected Stories
Venue: Mitchell Library - Mitchell Theatre
Author: Bernard MacLaverty
Book: The Collected Stories (Jonathan Cape, 2013)
Date: 9th April
Price: £8 

I read MacLaverty's novel Cal as part of one of the courses in my undergraduate degree, and loved it. I like open endings (unlike one of my best friends, and a lady in the audience), provided they're well-written. In this occasion, he read two of his short stories, included in The Collected Stories: 'On the Roundabout' and 'Words the Happy Say'. The first centers around a violent incident and the telling of it afterwards, the second revolves around a calligrapher and a lady in love with the Emily Dickinson poem the title of the story refers to. His reading voice is fantastic, I'm so jealous of his grandchildren! He also talked a bit about his native Belfast (which he described as both a wonderful and horrible place) and he recommended other writers' work, such as Gerard Manley Hopkins, Michael MacLaverty (no relation of his), Mary Flannery O'Connor or Paul Muldoon, among others. The only downside to this event was the host, she was a bit too stiff and formal for my liking. I'll leave you with the poem by Emily Dickinson:


The words the happy say
Are paltry melody
But those the silent feel
Are beautiful —

Emily Dickinson, 1750



The Untold Story - By Our Own Tongues
Venue: Mitchell Library - Burns Room
Authors: Ivory Kelly, Joanne Hillhouse, Martin MacIntyre
Books: Pepperpot: Best New Stories from the Caribbean (Peekash Press, 2014)
Dannsam led Fhaileas / Let Me Dance with Your Shadow (Luath Press, 2006)
Ath-Aithne / Re-Acquaintance (Clar, 2004)
Date: 11th April
Price: £4 (drinks incl.)

This event brought together three writers, who read bits of their work and talked about it with the host, Dr Gemma Robinson (University of Stirling). The panellists were: Ivory Kelly (Belize), Joanne Hillhouse (Antigua) and Martin MacIntyre (Scotland). Kelly and Hillhouse read from their short stories included in the anthology Pepperpot. MacIntyre read from his poems (Let Me Dance with Your Shadow) and stories (Re-Acquaintance), in Gaelic and in English. The main topic for discussion afterwards was language and the position of their work within the English-speaking world. Kelly said she chose to use a hybrid between standard English and the standardised Belize creole, with enough of each to be understandable and still have the taste of Belize. Hillhead talked about the acceptance of creole languages as something legitimate (not like a 'bastard child', in her own words), she said she believes this is a way for creole speakers to learn to accept their own identities. MacIntyre talked about his personal relationship with Scottish Gaelic: his grandfather was monolingual in Gaelic, his father spoke both Gaelic and English, MacIntyre learnt Gaelic as an adult. The three of them talked about how privileged they are to feel the freedom to write about whatever they want, in whatever language (or mixture of languages) they want. This event was organised by the British Council, the Commonwealth Foundation (Commonwealth Writers), and The Gaelic Books Council







Of course, I think it's great that the 'Aye Write!' festival included events such as this one, with speakers that are 'minor' authors (in terms of sales/media promotion). However, I still had the uncomfortable sensation that this event had been marketed as 'exotic' or 'marginal' literature (were the low price and the free drinks incentives to an otherwise uninteresting event in the eyes of the general public?), and the ghost of colonialism was definitely in the room (interestingly enough, the Gaelic community was included in this). As a speaker of a 'minority' language (Catalan, which has more than 10 million speakers), I feel part of that uncomfortable situation. I recently read (in an academic analysis of publishing called Merchants of Culture, by John B. Thompson) that more than half of all books written in English are translated into other languages, but only 6% of books written in other languages are translated into English. English native speakers are also, apparently, among the least interested in learning other languages. Is it that they don't know what they're missing, or that they don't care?

As a general comment regarding the three events I went to, I have to express my surprise at the fact that I was only among the 5% of the audience that were under 50 years old. This might mean that 'Aye Write!' organisers advertise very effectively for a 50+ audience, but somehow I doubt that. I'm sure they advertise for as wide an audience as possible. Is it the prices what make young people not attend? Is it the events themselves? Are they not interested? Do they prefer to spend their money on the books themselves rather than go listen to the authors? Do I have a weird taste for someone my age? I don't think I do...

As always, I welcome any comments about the authors/books/issues I talked about here! =)

Tuesday 8 April 2014

This Wide Night + Glasgow Film Festival

I have been busy with essays and other stuff lately so I haven't been able to write here! Today's entry is about theatre and film, I hope you enjoy it!

This Wide Night

Venue: Tron Theatre
Play: This Wide Night
Playwright: Chloë Moss
Director: David Greig
Price: £8 (preview)

On the 21st of February, I went to the Tron Theatre here in Glasgow to see This Wide Night, a play by Chloë Moss directed by David Greig, with whom you'll already be familiar if you have read my other entries in this blog. I wrote a review for VOIX Magazine which you can find here.

You can also take this opportunity to browse through their page. This magazine is a young and promising project with lots of talent and enthusiasm behind it! You can also check out their Facebook page here.

On the anecdote side, I tweeted a link to this review, and David Greig himself retweeted it, haha! =) If you don't believe me, you can see it here.



Glasgow Film Festival

You may remember I caught the Glasgow Short Film Festival by the skin of my teeth. I was ready for the Glasgow Film Festival, but there was so much on offer I had a hard time picking which screenings I went to!

I was too late to get tickets for the opening night screening of The Grand Budapest Hotel, but I have heard incredibly good things about this film. If you have watched it, you can tell me about it in the comments! I finally chose these two:

LFO

Venue: Cineworld
Movie: LFO (2013)
Screenwriter/Director: Antonio Tublén
Country: Sweden/Denmark
Language: Swedish
Price: £6.50 (student)

A weird Scandinavian middle-aged guy discovers that Low Frequency Oscillator sound waves can alter people's behaviour. With this powerful and very dangerous tool in his hands, he will try to change his life and, later, the world. This movie is hilarious, sad, creepy, intimate and thought-provoking all at once. The dialogue is brilliant and Patrik Karlson, who plays the protagonist, does a GREAT job both with his face and his voice. I definitely recommend it!





A Touch of Sin

Venue: Cineworld
Movie: A Touch of Sin (2013)
Screenwriter/Director: Jia Zhangke
Country: China
Language: Mandarin
Price: £6.50 (student)

This film follows the paths of four characters in contemporary China, as they are pushed to their limits by corruption, degradation, misery and a restrictive society and government. Visually and music-wise, this movie is amazing. I also think this director has a special way with silences, they're one of the most beautiful things about this movie. I kept expecting the four stories to come together at the end, but they don't (except by the fact that they all suffer the miseries of living in contemporary China). Don't waste your time trying to find clues and connections between them like I did, you'll enjoy the movie more. I was slightly dissatisfied by the first story of the four (with actor Jiang Wu as the protagonist), because I didn't feel his reactions were properly scaled: it all felt a bit too rushed and, at points, gratuitous. The other three were exceptional and not to be missed!






I went to see both films on the same day, and I had a great time! When I came back home, however, someone had tried (and thankfully failed) to break into my flat! *sigh* Anyway! Did you go see This Wide Night? What did you think of it? Also,if you've watched any of this films or other films that have a connection with these, I'd be more than happy to hear what you have to say in the comments! =)


Glasgow's book festival 'Aye Write!' is on just now, so that'll be the next thing I'll write about! I'm going to see writers A. L. Kennedy and Bernard MacLaverty, and I'll be going to a panel session with Caribbean and Scottish Gaelic writers. I'll tell you more about it in a few days' time! =)