Small Is Beautiful: the Oxford Writer's Group

You might be forgiven for thinking that with all our 'big' events we've been doing of late, we might have got a bit too big for our boots (or at least the shop) when it comes to events, but (hopefully) that's not the case. In fact, it was a real treat - now that the miriad of cardboard boxes containing event books have largely disappeared - to shift the old tables around, crack open a few bottles of wine, and host a nice, intimate event in the shop again. On Thursday night, we held a Mostly Booklovers event with the Oxford Writers' Group, a remarkable group of novelists, poets, performers and writers - both published and unpublished - who are the driving force behind two very successful anthologies of short stories: The Sixpenny Debt, and The Lost College. We've wanted to do a writers evening for a long time, and - with OWG member Mary Cavanagh a good friend of the shop, and a member of the Mostly Booklovers herself, we asked her to arrange the evening - which she duly did, inviting fellow members down to the shop and helping us structure the evening. We took the opportunity to invite members of other writing groups along as well, and were delighted to welcome members of the White Horse Scribblers, as well as Robin and Birte of the Turl Street Writers (who have together recently published their own very successful anthology Turl Street Tales). With so many other writers, would-be authors and book-lovers together in such a small venue, there was plenty of networking going on - with one very important outcome (more on that below). The evening format was ostensibly a roundtable discussion on the challenges and opportunities of writing in and around Oxford. We'd dubbed the event "In the Footsteps of Pullman and Tolkien" but once questions started coming in from the audience, the discussion went off in a number of fascinating directions, ranging from the importance of writers' groups generally, essential editing tips, the Oxford Literary Festival and top tips on staging events. It was standing room only - literally. I'd miscalculated on the number of chairs, forgetting that we had nine writers to seat for starters, so even pressing the counter stools into service we were still several short. Apologies to the late arrivers, and thanks to those who nobly gave up their seats when we played musical chairs after half an hour... The OWG are - from left to right: Mary Cavanagh (author of The Crowded Bed and A Man Like Any Other), the redoubtable Radmila May (the editing supremo behind The Sixpenny Debt), Ekaterinburg author Helen Rappaport (who we did a wonderful garden event with almost exactly a year ago), journalist and writer Sylvia Vetta, Proper Family Christmas author Jane Gordon-Cumming, Angela Cecil-Reid, Margaret Pelling, Laura King (aka The Poet Laura-eate) and finally Gina Claye, author of Don't Let Them Tell You How To Grieve (and for a wonderful review of that book, read Dovegreyreader's thoughts here). A very diverse group of writers, but the support they provide each other, and the obvious fun they have in their various endeavours was a massive advert for joining a writers group - or starting one yourself. And several of the audience did just that. As a result of the event on Thursday, I'm proud to be the first person to announce the creation of the (as yet working-titled) Abingdon Writers' Group. Anyone reading this who lives in or around Abingdon, and would like to join - please get in touch and I will pass your name on to the founding members. It's all jolly exciting - and for anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time, you'll know that this is the kind of thing that we love getting involved in - and makes all the incredibly hard work of running our little shop worthwhile. We have a number of extremely talented writers and authors who live in Abingdon, who it's been a privilege to have gotten to know since opening the shop, and this is the first step on a very exciting journey to something big.

Thanks to Mary - and the members of the OWG - for an energising and buzzy evening, and as the lady said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

P.S. This coming Monday (July 13, 7.30pm) we will be welcoming well-known local food writer and enthusiast of all things country pub + dog, Helen Peacocke, as she talks about her book Paws Under The Table, a collection of 40 dog-friendly pub walks around Oxfordshire...

A Man Like Any Other

Mary Cavanagh is an author who we've got to know and love since opening at the shop. But just in case you think we boost her books because she's a mate - you should go check out reviews from as far afield as The Big Green Bookshop, dovegreyreader and Ex Libris in the US. Last year we did an evening event with Mary and discussed her book The Crowded Bed in the shop - and we've watched with excitement and trepidation as Mary's new book - A Man Like Any Other - approached launch date. We were therefore delighted to welcome her back last week and have the chance to hear something about the book - and Mary's development as a writer.

Great first novels from writers with bags of potential are one thing - but the 'tricky second album' syndrome often means the next book is disappointing; it's as if the author got everything they wanted to say out into the open in the first book - and now they are simply going through the motions. What you want to see - as a fan - is the writer developing, keeping a firm hold on the style and themes that you liked in previous books, whilst showing ambition in terms of moving in new directions. A Man Like Any Other (or AMLAO as I'm already referring to it as) delivers on this last score. We think the book is fantastic - but, as I say, you might think we're biased so go read the cracking review that Miranda Stock has written on Oxford's Daily Info - the book is garnering plenty of rave reviews elsewhere. I was trying to think of exactly why I like Mary's writing. I think - and I can only speak personally - it comes down to how I got to where I am as a reader, and my shameful past of reading vast quantities of 'success literature'. Like any genre, there are the one or two great books, a few other good ones - and the rest also-rans which are usually fairly derivative. I think the good ones tell you something about the tools you need to achieve your goals, whereas the great ones tell you about the goals themselves. That covers the journey and the destination, but most success books tend to fall-down on the embarkation point, knowing who you are and where you are starting from. This is where great fiction steps in. Forget work-through exercises trying to identify your personality type, instead map yourself onto different characters in challenging situations and ask yourself questions: Would I have done that? Why does this feel wrong? Mary gets under the skin of her characters (particularly the men) in a way which is often discomforting - which usually indicates that there are truths lurking around nearby. Whilst the situations and plot twists may not always be strictly realistic, this is storytelling after all - and bold storytelling at that. Keeping the reader turning the page and teaching them a thing or two about life is not to be sniffed at; you often get one without the other. On Wednesday night Mary read from the book, and gave us some fascinating insights into the development of the main character. When Mary contributed a short story to the book The Sixpenny Debt, she imagined how the little boy in that story would have grown up, and the ain character in AMLOA is the result: Father McEwan. She also shared her journey in terms of getting the book published (which I won't go into here, but is at times as dramatic as her writing). Suffice to say it was an illuminating evening. A Man Like Any Other is published by Troubador - and it goes without saying that we have plenty of signed copies in the shop.