CULTURE EDITION
LITERARY FESTIVAL Curl up with a good read… The weekend of 23 to 24 November brings a smattering of exciting authors to town – here’s a round-up
as Gareth Keenan in The Office (UK) and Ragetti in Pirates of the Caribbean , talks about his musical hero Nick Drake. The former Fitzwilliam College student is the subject of Crook’s latest book, If Nick Drake Came to My House . Sunday 24 November looks equally promising, with Patrick Grant of The Great British Sewing Bee fame starting off the day. Grant has authored a book about the excesses of global fashion, urging us to rediscover the joy of living with fewer but better- quality clothes. Did you know the equivalent of one bin-lorry full of clothing is dumped in landfill or burned every single second? Alan Hollinghurst, Booker Prize-winning author of The Line of Beauty , will be in conversation with Alex Clark at the Old Divinity School. Hollinghurst will be talking about his most recent novel Our Evenings : a story of race and class, theatre and sexuality, love and the cruel shock of violence. Gracing the weekend with his star appeal, actor Rupert Everett will also be at the festival this year to talk about his collection of unsuccessful Hollywood pitches called The American No . With his witty, eloquent writing, Everett weaves together themes of love, loss, drama and his experiences in the glamorous yet tumultuous world of film and theatre. The American No is a playful description of how Hollywood likes to let you down gently, listening intently to your pitch and never quite telling you no directly. “I’ve always been drawn to larger-than-life stories,” he says. “This collection allowed me to explore them through my own experiences. Things move so quickly now… If you can make memoirs interesting, they’re great.”
Autumn is the ideal time to snuggle up on the sofa with a good book, and the Cambridge Literary Festival this month spoils us for choice. Its line-up of author talks begins Saturday 23 November with Shami Chakrabarti on her guide to the laws and logic underpinning human rights. She will be followed by One Day author David Nicholls talking about his latest novel You Are Here and fashion icon Zandra Rhodes sharing her insights into the world of fashion and the famous people she has dressed. The Life, Writing and Legacy of James Baldwin at the Old Divinity School, St John’s Street, explores the work of this US writer and civil rights activist. Baldwin wrote the acclaimed novel Go Tell It on the Mountain in 1953. Mackenzie Crook, creator of Detectorists and famous for his roles LITERARY LINE-UP Rupert Everett is just one of a star-studded selection of speakers attending this year’s festival
For more details, see cambridgeliteraryfestival.com
20 NOVEMBER 2024 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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