EAILF Kate Mosse and Victoria Hislop

Victoria Hislop and Kate Mosse

Liz Thomson explained that both women were given a platform on Richard and Judy and both attended Oxford.

Victoria is a reluctant novelist and only became one at 45. It was a total surprise for her as she never wanted to be a novelist. She is too loud and gregarious but suddenly one day inspiration struck. She was on holiday with her family in Crete and trying to please husband and teenagers and in a guide book she found there was a nearby island that had been a leper colony. She was inspired by the place and they way people seemed to misunderstand the island. There was no real feeling of misery. With the two that she was there she had formulated the story. She felt compelled to write.

Life is full of surprises and this required a complete change of lifestyle. She made the comment that when the book was book into the many translations that you lose control – the readers respond not to just the book but also the translation.

Kate Mosse then spoke and mentioned that she too is inspired by place and that she was a writer who had not written as a writer up to 43. Writing was a pragmatic decision then she wrote Labyrinth.

Be proud of what you do- keep trying. Many writers are not comfortable in their skin – you are not necessarily the writer you are as a reader. Your reading voice is different than your writing voice.

She fell in love with Carcassonne then began to read. It was a private love affair.

If you use real history you must get it right so that you can be free with your imagination. She met her character ten years before she began to write.

Victoria had also met her character before writing. She just knew she had to write it – compelled, a responsibility to write about it. Victoria is more interested in modern history – 20th century is what she likes.

She did also no research because it was all in Greek and she didn’t speak it then. The Greeks didn’t seem to mind that she made it up. It is now being made into a 26 part Greek TV series.
Kate was she was pedant and totally immersed in the history.

Victoria said The Island was very hard to sell and it’s first print run was 5000. It was just a good story and nothing more. She clarified that she did research leprosy.

With historical fiction people wanted to be entertained and learn something. A novelist can be biased (telling only one side of the story) a historian has greater pressure. Novelist have freedom.

Victoria was asked about second books – awful. Third is worse. She would only write another one if she had an idea for it. She only wrote the two because she had ideas for them. She doesn’t want to bore people so she may not write another unless she is struck by an idea. She must be compelled to write the story. Victoria said her website

Are websites important? Victoria wasn’t a big website person. It works well for overseas readers but she would much rather meet readers in person. She also said she was too old to get excited about them.

On the other hand Kate said hers was really important to her. It was part of a teaching programme and it was to reach people who would not come to events. It was a good way to engage with others. She spoke about blogs – the writing is the exact opposite of what is required for novels. Blogs are quick, succinct and novels take time.

She felt it was the job of a successful writer to support other writers. Course can be helpful to learn skills. You can’t teach creativity but skills can be taught.

That's the last of my reports on the festival. I can't wait for next year's. It was brilliant and I personally gained so much more than I could have hoped. Through the words of the various authors I have clarified in my mind exactly what type of writer I am and where it fits. This has been a huge struggle for me but with the lightbulb moments from Kate Mosse and Rachel Billington I have a much clearer vision of where my voice fits and the stories I am compelled to write. So now head back down to the real work at hand - writing!

EAILF Margaret Atwood

Here are my notes from Margaret Atwood at the Emirates Airlines International Festival of Literature.

The first topic was the ‘banned book’ by Geraldine Bedell. Margaret said it took her five days to track down sources. There was no launch planned she just hadn’t been invited like many other writers. In the end Margaret went with the meaning of the word banned. Something happened but it wasn’t what people thought.

She would much rather be here in the sun. Margaret asked what’s the line between taste and censorship or call it sensibility and censorship.

What motivated her writing? What’s it like to go into a new book? She said it’s dark and then it get lighter.

She spoke about her path to becoming a writer back in the 1950s. She said she had very little real choice. She began writing with pen and paper – she cannot type. She now uses a computer as she she can correct without the little white brush. Her mother comment when told that her daughter was going to be a writer – you had better learn to spell and Margaret’s reply was other’s will do it for me.

Everybody comes from somewhere…write from that…the weather, the economy, the history, the language – all enter into who you are as a writer. Then she comment on the fact that being short she had a distinct point of view as she saw things differently than a tall person.

Who you are is all part of your writing.

Labels publishers use can be helpful but limit. They think its helpful as a marketing tool. Bookseller need to know where do I put this?

Quality transcends genre. Using the title literary limits interest.

Asks if she was starting now – she would despair as it is all marketing led. Publishing is not a business it is an art or a craft with a business element.

All books are unique. She likes to write book by book. For new authors it is tough to sell this way. Today you have to make money. Publishers in the past were willing to invest time and money in developing a writer – they are less willing to do this now. Writers are now much more living hand to mouth. It is brutal now.

She writes in many varieties yet most are pigeonholed. She can do this because she is old and no one has told her any different. She has had a free field – no structures.

Her ideas come from Shakespeare, history, politics….Her new novel’s title is The Year of the Flood. It took 15 titles before they settled on that one which they felt would stand the transatlantic divide however the covers will be different.

The question came from the audience about hope for the future. She said the questions she received in the 70’s were about gender then moved onto free speak. Now the questions were about hope. This reflects today.
-uncertainty
-can’t see where we are going
-environment
-human population
-the relationship of the last two
-people’s rights
-women’s rights (when jobs start to go then its is usually the women’s jobs that go first)

She said that humans are inventive/creative
-many minds are trying to solve these problems
-we have the ability
-hopes we have the political will
-it has taken us a while to see the problems
People are working hard and they have the will plus the ability which gives us hope. We have to look at water, air, energy and use the above to make sure that there is a sustainable future.

A member of the audience stated, “The west has betrayed it own values…How familiar with you with literary tradition with Arab world.
-more familiar history – it is easy to translate
-not with poetry because the meaning lost in translation
-novels fall in-between with the translation difficulties
-there is tremendous interest now

Tomorrow my last report from the festival.....Kate Mosse and Victoria Hislop.