Our Visit to The Cambridge Literary Festival

The working day of a publisher isn’t quite as glamorous as a lot of people seem to think. We drink too much instant coffee, do battle with malfunctioning printers and spend a large portion of our days sat behind a desk getting frustrated with the internet connection. However, on occasion we are coaxed/prodded/flung out into the sunlight to pasture. I mean, attend an event.

Recently, a couple of us were fortunate enough to attend The Cambridge Literary Festival.

Walking along past the famous colleges, the railings lined with bicycles, you can’t help but think that this is the perfect setting for a literature festival. And stopping off for lunch in one of the many unique cafes along the way, you can’t help but think this is a nice alternative to eating sandwiches at the desk, crumbs dropping into the keyboard while you type out that email one handed!

Tucked away in the grounds of one of the aforementioned colleges, the festival HQ can be a little tricky to find for those visiting Cambridge for the first time. But, when you do find it, it is most certainly worth the searching. There’s a little something for everyone: talks from authors of all genres, workshops, Q&A sessions, even a book binding workshop!

There is even a dedicated programme of events aimed at children and young people with attendees and activities including Holly Smale (author of the fabulous Geek Girl series), The Wimpy Kid Show based on the bestselling children’s series and a special 150th anniversary celebration of the works of Beatrix Potter. The event we chose to event was held by Julian Clary & David Roberts.

Julian Clary, perhaps best known for his comedy, has previously written several novels very much not suitable for children! Now, however, he has turned his hand to children’s fiction and was here to promote the release of his new book, The Bolds To The Rescue (published by Anderson Press). Following on from Clary’s first children’s book, The Bolds to the Rescue continues the story of The Bolds… a family of hyenas living disguised as humans in Teddington. A bizarre and hilarious concept, as you might expect from Clary.

David Roberts has been working as an illustrator for many years and is now drawing the accompanying pictures for The Bolds series.

Instead of a simple reading followed by a chance for the audience to ask questions, Clary and Roberts turned this into a truly interactive and engaging event. As Clary read from the book, Roberts sketched a copy of the accompanying illustration which, via the magic of technology, was projected onto screens while he sketched.

This then progressed to a few ‘audience participation’ sections. In the first, children were encouraged to suggest weird and wacky objects for Roberts to sketch on Mrs Bold’s new hat. The sheer randomness of the children’s suggestions lead to Mrs Bold wearing a rather cumbersome hat complete with such objects as a flamethrower, a plank of wood, a toilet seat, a burglar alarm, and, of course, an ostrich. In the second session, children were suggesting parts of animals (a ram’s horn, a pig’s ear, a set of frog legs) to be put together to create a whole new animal.

Of course, there was still time for questions. The duo even gave a young fan a sneak preview of what to expect in the third book in the series and a small insight into the publishing process itself. Although the story for book three is now complete, it will not be finalised and available in stores until 2017.