Literary links

    Following on from yesterday's post, if you have access to A.N. Wilson's* article on 'forgotten' books/writers enjoying a new lease of life, do read it. He describes the revival of Stoner as "a sort of parable of the true life of a book," and goes on to talk about literary pleasure: "the unique magic of what happens when you hold a book (or Kindle) in your hand, and from that moment onwards, enjoy the peculiar intimacy that exists between writer and reader. You go to live in that place – the world of the book." Indeed you do.

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    If you've read our first At the Writing Desk post you'll know that Adèle Geras has a new novel for adults, Cover Your Eyes, coming out in July next year. In advance of that, Adèle's publishers Quercus have just re-issued her earlier adults' books in e-book format and you can find them all here; follow the links for my posts on Hester's Story  ("Ballet Shoes for grown-ups"), A Hidden Life ("a family drama full of secrets from the past ..."), and Made in Heaven (dilemmas, tough decisions, and a wedding in prospect).

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    The Royal Society of Literature has announced its programme of events for Spring/Summer 2014. Booking will open on 16th. December, and among the highlights are Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton in conversation with the chair of the judges, Robert Macfarlane, Alexander McCall Smith talking about how W.H. Auden changed his (AMcCS's) life, and a celebration of the work of Penelope Fitzgerald with Susannah Clapp, Alan Hollinghurst, Hermione Lee and Penelope Lively. Click here for the RSL archive which includes audio recordings of previous events.

 

*Anyone interested in C.S. Lewis who missed last week's documentary by his biographer A.N. Wilson should try to catch it on iPlayer.