so. last friday i not only did an event at the playhouse but also took part in the one-day first story literary festival for schoolkids and teachers in the morning. it was organised by, among others, the incomparable william fiennes and katie waldegrave of first story and took place at the also-but-differently incomparable broughton castle. the writers talking and running workshops were starry, enthusiastic and inspiring (michael morpurgo, jackie kay, kate clnachy, philip pullman, meg rossoff...), the setting made edinburgh, hay and mantova look a little tawdry.
on friday 23rd september at 5pm i'll be doing a talk at the oxford playhouse entitled swimming and flying (a talk which started life as a much shorter talk for 5x15). i shall try to be witty and edifying.
so, i finally bought one, not least because i'm asked every so often about the future of the book, so i should really know more about the subject. verdict... i'd expected the object itself to feel slightly fisher price but i rather liked it, the shape and weight, the way you don't have the hold the page open, the way you can read lying on your side. the qwerty keyboard is horrible but you rarely need it. however... the interface is crap. it's really hard to skip easily back to passages you remember. you can't underline or put a little asterisk at the top of the page.
something for the annual art room charity in oxford...
totally unable to write for the last few weeks after finishing the red house, so this is one of the things i've been doing instead.
(photo: sarah lee for the guardian)
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