6 | February 12, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News
Opinion
Act swiftly on crossing plea
BROUGHT TO BOOK: Alan de Botton with festival director Cathy Moore at last night’s launch. Right, Germaine Greer and Joanna Trollope
THE death of Malcolm Potter on the Dernford railway crossing at Sawston is a terrible tragedy – and Network Rail must pay heed to the safety plea from assistant deputy coroner Belinda Cheney. Mrs Cheney is convinced the way the crossing is laid out was a contributory factor in 76-yearold Mr Potter not realising that a second train was on the way. It may simply be a question of re-thinking the use of warning lights, and that surely would not cost a fortune to implement. And if other lives are potentially at risk, there must not be the slightest delay in getting this sorted out.
No tipping please SOUTH Cambridgeshire District Council deserves praise for taking court action against flytipper Babacar Ndour – and we hope the council sticks by its vow to do the same to others who dump rubbish in laybys and other areas. To his credit, the culprit went back and tried to tidy up, but he should not have acted as he did in the first place. Most people in our region live within a relatively short distance of a waste and recycling centre, so there is no excuse for this sort of behaviour.
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Literary lions open festival’s new chapter T
HE full Cambridge Literary Festival line-up was announced last night at a celebratory launch event starring philosopher and writer Alain de Botton. And, unsurprisingly, it’s rather good. The News-backed festival, which started as Cambridge Wordfest in 2003 and will run from April 1–6, has nabbed Booker prize winners, the Poet Laureate and big names from the worlds of science, history and politics for the occasion – plus there’s a children’s strand for little ones too. Here are our programme highlights:
The Cambridge Literary Festival promises to be a feast for book lovers – and anyone who’s interested in the world. ELLA WALKER picks her top 10 highlights.
n Eleanor Catton (Tuesday, April 1) Catton was the youngest ever winner of the Man Booker Prize for her 2013 brick of a novel, The Luminaries (honestly, it’s practically the same size as the Yellow Pages). The New Zealander will be discussing why she loves historical fiction and what the Booker has meant for her career.
n Joanna Trollope (Friday, April 4) The master of middle class romance and family drama, Trollope is making her festival debut in honour of her latest novel, Balancing Act. How do you juggle three kids and a useless but artistic husband? Especially when everything seems to be going horribly wrong… You can find out with the help of columnist Allison Pearson, who’ll be on hand to begin the grilling.
n New Statesman Debate (Saturday, April 5) This year, weekly current affairs magazine The New Statesman has joined the festival as a media partner and is running a debate on the motion: “This house believes that young people have never had it so good”. If you aren’t lucky enough to nab a ticket to the event, the conversation will be continued in the magazine and on newstatesman.com
n Hanif Kureshi (Saturday, April 5) The brilliant Kureshi has plied us with literary marvels – namely The Buddha of Suburbia and screenplays, My Beautiful Laundrette and Le Week-End – we expect The Last Word to be just as engrossing. A tale of preserving your reputation and reviving your fortunes, his new book will be the jump off point for Kureshi to discuss his life and work.
n Carol Anne Duffy (Thursday, April 3) Duffy, Britain’s esteemed Poet Laureate since 2009, will be performing some of her own craftily written poems and then chatting away to Gillian Clarke, the National Poet of Wales. The pair plans to discuss what opportunities their positions bring and what they’re doing to inspire youngsters to get penning their own verse.
n Jacqueline Wilson (Sunday, April 6) For a lot of us grown-ups it’s difficult to imagine a childhood without Vicky Angel, The Illustrated Mum or the Double Act twins for company: you can definitely see why Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s stories about colourful misfits are still going strong. Meet her, quiz her on her best loved creations (we’re looking at you, Tracy Beaker) and find out all about her
n To download a full copy of the programme, and to book tickets, visit cambridgeliteraryfestival.com. You can also follow the festival on Twitter @camlitfest and get all the latest news at cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson.
new book, Paws and Whiskers. n Germaine Greer (Saturday, April 5) Greer certainly knows how to capture attention – and rile everybody up in the process. The feminist, writer and academic is set to share throughts and passages from her memoir, White Beech, which tracks her mission to restore 60 hectares of land in Queensland, Australia, to absolute natural health. Taking in the emotional, political and environmental struggles the project faced, it should be a more than inspiring talk. n Simon Singh (Sunday, April 6) You wouldn’t necessarily think The Simpsons had anything to do with science; meet Singh – the ridiculously popular author of five breakneck maths and science books – and you’ll definitely think again. In fact, he’ll have your whole brain a-buzz with theorems, cosmological secrets, puzzles, cryptic codes and quirky medical queries. Homework not included. n Pat Barker (Sunday, April 6) As part of the festival’s Remembrance strand, looking at the centenary of World War I, Barker will be discussing her Regeneration trilogy which focusses on the lives and experiences of war poets Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and psychiatrist William Rivers. It’s a chance to look back, remember and assess the role of patriotism and duty, as well as the effects the Great War is still filtering down to us. n Jim Crace (Saturday, April 5) Crace has announced that his latest novel, Harvest, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker, is also his last. “A spell-binding evocation of rural England” in the pre-industrial age, he’s going to have to answer to The New Statesman’s assistant editor, Michael Prodger, on why he’s giving up a career that’s also brought us Quarantine, Being Dead and The Pesthouse.