The Hay Festival of Literature begins tomorrow. Lasting for ten days, and touted as the world's largest literary festival, it is
located in
Hay-on-Wye (Y-Gelli), the world's first
booktown and self-proclaimed
Independent Kingdom.
Hay-on-Wye is a booklover's paradise (or hell, depending on the state of your credit card), with over 40 incredibly well-stocked
bookshops (in a small town of only 2500 people, this means about three bookshops per block).
This year's Festival offers a chance to hearfrom the likes of DeLillo, Atwood, Said, Childish and Hitchens, and while some are obviously on-tour and will be standing next to a table of their newest product, the events aren't free. Would you pay to hear
your favourite authors read? Has hearing an author changed the way you read his/her book? Which authors have been as entertaining in person, and which have turned you off reading their books forever?
posted by spandex
on May 22, 2003 -
10 comments
Must people who work in book shops have an English Literature degree? "At Foyles, the book-lover's bookshop, I approach the counter with a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses. "I bought this book the other day," I say, "and I want my money back. It's full of typing errors and there's no punctuation." But who dumbed down first, the readership or the book trade? Also, I notice Books
etc isn't included, perhaps because the clerks in that chain have to write little reviews of all the books they read, which are then put on the edges of the shelves ...
posted by feelinglistless
on May 7, 2002 -
39 comments
