the writer is a lonely hunter

writing by Gail Aldwin and other authors

Nov 8

A visit to Winstone Books of Sherborne

by gailaldwin

Winstone’s is situated at 8 Cheap Street, towards the top of the town in Sherborne.  The shop is double fronted and light streams into the space that contains a huge range of books. As well as shelves along the walls, there are central displays and stands for book-themed gift cards.  A quarter of the floor space is dedicated to children’s books and the owner, Wayne Winstone has worked hard to establish links with schools to promote reading as an important life experience for children of all ages.

The children’s area is inviting with a couch, a rocking horse and a standard lamp to entice families to stay and browse.  Children are invited to review books and as part of the Sherborne Literary Festival, a short story competition for children was held.

Wayne has been successful in attracting authors to deliver talks and book signings at the shop and recent events included a book launch by Sarah Challis. Read the rest of this entry »

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Oct 17

Wimborne Literary Festival, 1-3 November 2012

by gailaldwin

Earlier in the year I paid a visit to Gullivers Bookshop in Wimborne and you can read about my experience here.  I’m delighted to again be writing about Gullivers but this time in relation to the Wimborne Literary Festival which the book shop is hosting for the second year.  The on-line programme has just been published and there’s a wide range of workshops for adults and children. Click here for the link to the site.

I’m pleased to see Dorset’s writing talent on the programme, including a workshop to be delivered by Sarah Steele who runs the Wimborne Writing Group. This will be a treat for anyone interested in poetry.  Sarah is an experienced tutor who runs the Wimborne Writing Group which meets once a month on a Wednesday in the Community Learning and Resource Centre. Members are experienced and talented writers who enjoy tasks and activities set by Sarah to develop writing skills.  The collaborative support offered by group members is something I definitely miss now that I am temporarily  unable to attend the sessions due to work commitments.  You can read more about Sarah here.

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Aug 18

Heading for Edinburgh, a holiday hit

by gailaldwin

Ann Hathaway’s Cottage, Stratford

The destination for our family holiday was Edinburgh. We stopped in Stratford-upon-Avon so that we could use the hotel reservation and theatre tickets cancelled earlier in the year due to exam revision pressure. (I’m pleased to say that my daughter got two As and a B in her A levels and will be going to study history and American studies at Nottingham University). We saw Troilus and Cressida at the Swan which I enjoyed but my husband thought it pretentious and my son wanted to slit his throat rather than go back in after the interval. The interpretation was baffling with the Trojans represented as North American Indians and the Greeks as desert soldiers and there was a transvestite for the fool. In addition, there were TV screens around the stage showing footage of Inuit cultural traditions interspersed with Hollywood movies. Now that was a little confusing, particularly when the actors watched the screens and replicated the actions. Overall the family gave it the thumbs down, as did The Guardian, and  you can read review here.

Beatrix Potter’s Cottage

We stopped for a few days in Cumbria with our friends the Huggetts and managed to visit the lakes, Beatrix Potter’s home and spent a day at the seaside. The weather was wonderful and the company great. Our first night in Scotland was in Glasgow and we had breakfast in the Willow Tea Rooms which boasts an interior designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and serves a splendid Scottish breakfast. Following a visit to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (there’s a fascinating and brave section on Glasgow life) we drove to Edinburgh where we stayed in a Stockbridge flat for the rest of our holiday.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Jul 31

An almost family outing to Camp Bestival

by gailaldwin

A few years ago, when the children were young enough to be able to buy a family ticket, we spent a day at Camp Bestival, Lulworth Castle.  Dave, my husband, hated it and retreated to the car with a newspaper for almost the entire time. He did come with us to the Big Top where Lee Mack was doing a stand-up routine where he proclaimed Camp Bestival to be Glastonbury for the middle-aged. I’m not so sure about that, as a toddler hanging off your hip appeared to be a compulsory accessory.    This year I went back again with my daughter, now eighteen and my son of sixteen.

Fortunately, it was a warm day with plenty of sunshine even if it did turn a little windy as the evening drew on. We studied the programme and each of us chose something we wanted to do.  My choice was to attend the RSA discussion on optimistic vs pessimistic views on the state of the world.  Eliane Glaser argued for a good dose of sceptisim (rather than pessimism) particularly in view of ‘green-wash’ that sees petrol companies using fake green symbolism when their interests lie in oil production and bakers who promote whole food breads that in one slice, contain more salt than a packet of crisps. Laurence Shorter, on the other hand, talked about the search for happiness through optimism. Happiness is a choice, he argues so the advice is simple: if you’re not happy, get happy.  After an hour of listening to the discussion, me and the children had plenty to talk about.

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Jul 24

A splendid story slam in Shaftesbury

by gailaldwin

I wrote an earlier post promoting the story slam in Shaftesbury here and I’m now delighted to share with you details of this great event.  Organised by  Jennifer Oliver and Jennifer Bell who run Storyslingers a creative writing group held at the Shaftesbury Arts Centre, the story slam offered the chance for writers to read their work to an audience and gain feedback.  Five writers put their names forward for the competitive element of the evening, and five others took the microphone to showcase their work.

The judging panel comprised Allie Spencer author of romantic comedy novels including Summer Loving and Summer Nights and myself (recently awarded first prize in the Winchester Writers’ Conference ‘Slim Volume, Small Edition’ competition).

Allie Spencer (left) and Gail Aldwin (right)

I was thrilled to be invited to judge the event and I’d love to see more story slams taking place across the county. Allie was a great person to deliberate with in finding the winner and runner-up, particularly as the standard of all the stories was very high. We finally agreed that James Broomfield’s story should win due to its extraordinary content (about a man trying to find his brotherhood in North Devon by experimenting with smoking beard trimmings).  Technically the writing was superb with a strong and unique voice.  Runner up came Andy Hamilton’s ‘Stage Fright’ a classic ugly duckling scenario told in a fresh way.

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Jul 10

Writing Britain (and more about notebooks)

by gailaldwin

The British Library’s current exhibition Writing Britain illustrates the changing landscape of the country over the last 1000 years with reference to items from the collection and loans from elsewhere. The exhibition includes artwork, original manuscripts and texts that explore a range of locations grouped according to the following sections:

  • Rural dreams
  • Dark Satanic Mills
  • Wild Places
  • Beyond the City
  • Cockney Visions
  • Waterlands

Interestingly, writing about Dorset features in several of the sections, including Maiden Castle by John Cowper Powys which tells the story of a supernatural presence at the iron-age hill fort near Dorchester. Jane Austen’s Persuasion is set in Bath and Lyme Regis, where Louisa Musgrave falls from the harbour wall (known as The Cobb) in an attempt to gain male attention. Harold Pinter’s script for The French Leiutenant’s Woman, based upon the novel by John Fowles is also set in Lyme Regis. A little further along the Dorset coast, Chesil Beach features as the location for Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name, where Edward and Florence spend their wedding night at a fictitional hotel on the beach.

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Jul 3

A visit to Serendip, Lyme Regis

by gailaldwin

My post for this week about independent bookshops coincides with  Independent Booksellers’ Week.  Please join me for a visit to Serendip.

The bookshop on thriving Broad Street, takes its name from the island of Sri Lanka. Serendip has a fresh feel, with a new frontage changed in 2010 from the original created 30 years ago during the filming of The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Inside the space is airy and light, with a high ceiling. Bee Painton, who runs the bookshop with her husband Chris, invests in daylight quality lighting to create the effect.

The shop is arranged for easy access, with displays and shelving providing enough room for wheelchairs and buggies.  It caters for a range of customers, including residents, second-home owners, and visitors to the area of all ages. Bee has introduced a wide range of quality greeting cards, postcards, wrapping paper and book themed gifts to complement the selection of books.  Titles about the local area (including walking and fossil books) appear near the entrance together with new fiction. Shelves along the walls hold fiction titles and there is a large range of children’s books. Background music, including jazz, is played to create a relaxed atmosphere.

By the modern-effect fireplace there is a rocking chair and a child-size chair for in-store book sharing. The non-fiction section is tucked away at the back of the store with another lovely seating area to encourage browsing.

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Jun 19

A visit to Gullivers Bookshop, Wimborne Minster

by gailaldwin

This is the first in a series of posts about independent bookshops in Dorset. Once a month I attend a writing group in Wimborne led by poet, writer and teacher, Sarah Barr (you can find out more about the Wimborne Writers’ Group here). Last week I took the opportunity to visit Gullivers Bookshop, a family owned business in the centre of the market town run by Malcolm and Anne Angel and their daughter Jane with their son and his wife.

As I went into the shop, Malcolm was in the throes of  dismantling the window display that celebrated Dorset Art Weeks from 26 May – 10 June, which comprised a collection of papier-mache heads featuring characters from books. With another community event approaching, it was time for a change. To celebrate 20 years of Bookstart, Gullivers is hosting a Busy Bear Party on 22 June and the new display will feature a teddy bears’ reading group.  This engagement with the community is a feature of the bookshop that has been in Wimborne for over 40 years.

The shop feels bright and airy, well-stocked but not cluttered and an easy place to spend time. Displays by the entrance feature the latest fiction titles with further books on the shelves. There’s an area dedicated to Dorset’s people, places and culture and support for local authors (for a comprehensive list of publications click here). Thought has gone into organising the areas in an accessible way, for example, the young adult books have been positioned in a corner, away from the desk and the children’s section, to encourage self-conscious teenagers to browse.

The children’s section is delightful, decorated with mobiles and balloons. There’s Lego to play with and books for younger children displayed on shelves at just the right height. Children are welcome to chatter and play while choosing books, some saying that they ‘love the smell of the bookshop’.

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May 15

A cultural couple of days

by gailaldwin

I spent a couple of days in Surrey last week with Sue, a friend I met at an Arvon course in 2010 and she introduced me to Carol last year, when we were together for a weekend in Cornwall.  Sue is a fantastic host, cooking delicious meals and making us feel very welcome.  You can find out more about Carol by visiting her blog Scribbling in the Margins.

In spite of the wet weather, we spent the whole of one day at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum. Here buildings of historical merit have been relocated to form a fascinating ‘village’ that includes a medieval hall-house, a tudor kitchen, a toll house, and a working watermill.  For those who are interested in historical writing, the musuem is holding an event in August titled Historical Fiction Day where Emma Darwin, Maria McCann and Alison Weir are offering input.  There’s also a short story competition that you can enter.

And if that competition doesn’t interest you, why not think about entering the Historical Novel Society short story competition?

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May 1

The free book giveaway – World Book Night

by gailaldwin

Since last Monday, I’ve been giving away copies of the brilliant book, ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue, as part of World Book Night.  The story draws from the case of Josef Fritzl and tells the story of five-year-old Jack who is incarcerated in one room with his mother.  Ma has done her best to teach Jack through games and stories and he learns about ‘outside’ by watching the television.  When freedom arrives, following Jack’s escape, both mother and child have further hurdles to negotiate. Click here for an interesting link to an interactive website.

The aim of World Book Night is to encourage irregular readers back into the reading habit through the giveaway books.  The first person I gave a book to was my seventeen-year-old daughter.  She doesn’t see books as a source of interest or pleasure but it’s not as though she isn’t reading.  She’s frequently glued to Facebook and likes to flick through magazines.  It’s just that books aren’t her thing. I doubt that she’ll begin reading ‘Room’ before her A levels, but she might take it on holiday during the summer, if I encourage her.

Other people I offered the book to, found the subject matter objectionable and had no hesitation in declining the book.  Some became curious upon reading the cover, where there’s a quote from ‘Scotsman’ comparing the book to ‘The Lovely Bones’ and were thereby encouraged to accept a copy. From my recent experience of hand-selling books in Dorchester, I had thought that giving them away would be easier.  But with World Book Day over a week ago I still have one or two copies that require new homes.

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