Sunday 1 October 2017

Narberth Book Fair 2017

Tenby Book Fair had already become a permanent date in my diary and each year it grew in size and success. Because of that, its organisers, authors, Judith Barrow and Thorne Moore, moved the venue this year to bigger premises. It was held at the Queen's Hall in Narberth, a market town in Pembrokeshire, eleven and a half miles north of Tenby. Appropriately for writers and readers, perhaps, the town plays a high-profile role in Welsh mythology, where it is the chief palace of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, and a key setting in both the first and third branches of the Mabinogi.

Judith, Thorne and Honno crime writer, Jan Newton
The day was jam packed with events from the time the fair opened at 10 a.m. until it closed at 4 p.m. These included talks, readings, workshops, a raffle, competitions and a children's corner. Forty authors attended, a number of those offering recently published novels, and each stall had an array of attractively displayed books.

Wendy with her children's books
 alongside 'Not Thomas'
Checking my prompt cards before we begin!
I was very pleased to lead one of the events to interview Wendy White about her fantasic debut adult novel, 'Not Thomas', written under her pseudonym, Sara Gethin. You may read her guest interview on my blog back in July HERE. Since then, 'Not Thomas' has been nominated and shortlisted with the largest number of public votes for the Guardian's 'Not the Booker' prize. I was very nervous but once we started, it seemed to be like an informal chat about the book. After the initial questions about the inspiration for 'Not Thomas' and its road to publication, the conversation turned to being part of the 'Not the Booker' experience.

Sally Spedding
In the afternoon, my writing friend, Helen, and I attended two excellent workshops. The first was a crime writing one, entitled 'Fear is the Key - Creating the darkest places for the darkest hearts' with Sally Spedding. The second was 'Building a Short Story' with Judith Barrow. Both sessions inspired us to come back and get writing. 

It was so good to chat to authors throughout the day and talk about their books. The whole event ran like clockwork and was a testament to the amount of hard work and preparation put in beforehand by Judith and Thorne. Congratulations to both of them!


Roll on 2018!
Thank you for reading. Have you been inspired by a book event lately? Do you have a literary festival you'd recommend? I'd love it if you'd leave a comment. Thank you. 
You may also follow me on Twitter @JanBayLit and on my Jan Baynham Writer facebook page.

14 comments:

  1. How exciting for you to lead one of the sessions, Jan. Congratulations. I know how much you enjoyed "Not Thomas," so that must have been a real pleasure for you (once you got past the nerves!). I'm glad you enjoyed your two workshops. I must admit to a pang of envy when I read about them. I haven't attended a workshop for ages. I'm so glad the day went well. I'm looking forward to reading your interview on Tara Greaves's blog tomorrow.

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    1. Thank you, Sue. I enjoy workshops and always seem to take something back to my writing. Appearing on Tara’s blog was another first for me so thank you for putting us in touch with one another.

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  2. Thank you so much for this, Jan. You have supported us through the years at our book fairs. Glad you enjoyed leading Wendy's session; I heard good report about it. Hoping you will be one of the authors selling your book next year. I have reserved you a place!!x

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    1. It’s always such a good day, Judith. The date is always fixed in the diary. Now wouldn’t that be wonderful to be one of you4 authors - I can but dream!

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  3. I agree, Jan - it really was a brilliantly bookish day, and a lot of hard work went into it from Judith and Thorne. Thank you so much for interviewing me about Not Thomas, and for your perceptive questions. Despite both of us having nerves beforehand, it actually turned out to be fun. As Judith says, it would be lovely if you had your own novel for Narberth next year! Happy writing xxx

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    1. Thanks, Sara. A great day and it was a pleasure to be your interviewer. 🙂

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  4. What a fabulous sounding book fair! Well done for leading the interview with Wendy, I'd have been so nervous! I haven't been to as many book fairs as I would like - I must rectify that next year. Sam x

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    1. Yes, I was nervous, Sam, but Sara put me at ease. I hope you get to more book fairs especially with your new book coming out. It would be a good opportunity to talk to readers about your two novels. 🙂

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  6. Genuinely sorry not to have caught your interview with Wendy. Not quite sure how I missed it to be honest.
    It was a brilliant event, organised as ever by Judith & Thorne with attention to every detail.
    "Have you been inspired by a book event lately?"
    Funny you should ask..! Snow Sisters is now out & about & the official launch last Thursday was lovely. See you on the #BlogTour! xXx

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    1. The photos from your book launch look as if it was a great evening. The reviews are superb and I look forward to introducing you and your book to readers of the blog next weekend.

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  7. Sounds like a brilliant event.

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    1. Yes, it was, Patsy. A lot of hard work by the organisers but definitely worth it for writers and readers alike.

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  8. Hi Jan,
    I'm making a short video to promote my book The Art of The Book Fair and wonder if I might include a picture from your blog for a few seconds? It's the wide shot of the hall. I think Narberth was one of the best book fairs I've been to and the comments from the other authors seem to be the same.
    Regards
    Graham

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