I haven’t been to Birmingham for over 15 years. What a beautiful downtown area. Victoria Square is lovely with great old monuments and imposing buildings. I met up with Tania Hershman and Brian Clegg for a bite to eat before our session began. I’ve known Tania for a while now but this was the first chance I’ve had to meet Brian in person. Sharing a meal with both of them and then working together on the session was great fun.
The building where the session was held, the Function room at the Old Joint Stock pub and theatre, was fantastic. It was a gorgeous old building with an enormous domed stained glass ceiling and we were given a large room full of chairs and wooden tables – too large we feared. To be honest, we were worried that no one would show up at all. But as it happened, people did show up, a small but enthusiastic group, all eager to listen to the 3 of us read and chat, and some eager to read their own work. In the end, the atmosphere was so informal and fun that everyone agreed to read with the result that we had an evening of very varied work shared. Some people came from the festival, but one came after reading about it on Adele Ward’s newsletter, and the grand prize winner came from the Apples and Snakes listing (which we didn’t even know had included us – thanks Apples and Snakes!). And congratulations to
Heather once again for her winning piece, a biographical poem about the founder of forensic science. There were also poems about quarks,horses, cells and the making of the moon. We were all then able to sit around and chat about writers’ favourite topics – process and publication. I also had a chance to buy one of Brian’s books which I’ve been meaning to get
my hands on for a while, “The Instant Egghead Guide to Physics.”
I do enjoy reading my work out loud. I read brief excerpts from “Tangled Roots” and from an as-yet unpublished story called “Uncle Isaac’s Theory of Time and Momentum,” as well as a poem, “What Can Be Taught.” It was fun thinking about science again. Although the next novel I’m now starting to plan will have a secondary science theme, “A Clash on Innocents” puts a big toe into the murky waters of politics instead. Being a judge, though, is really quite difficult. Thankfully, Tania led us through with a sensitive and assured hand. I do hope we get to do it all again next year and that more writers discover the wealth of inspiration that science can provide.