The Country Bookshop Spring Peak Festival
The Country Bookshop Spring Peak Festival kicked off to an excellent start with Gary Younge, the Guardian Newspaper's New York correspondent, who gave us a fly-on-the-wall insight into life in America today.
Gary Younge was an excellent speaker and his observations of the American way of life were delivered with wit and humour. He spoke of many current events including the Iraq war and the events leading up to and following the hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans and of the terrible mismanagement by the government. His talk was refreshingly different leaving us all eager to hear more.
Stuart McLean, Canadian best-selling author, award winning journalist and humorist, then read chapters from his book, 'Vinyl Café', based on his CBC Radio programme. When it was pointed out that his voice and mannerisms were so like the American film star, James Stewart, he said it had been remarked upon before.
Many of the events of the Spring Festival were inspirational and Jeanette Orrey and Sue Cowley, teacher, writer and presenter, gave a thought provoking session for educationalists and those interested in children's nutrition. Jeanette Orrey, dinner lady from Nottingham, had also worked with Jamie Oliver on improving school meals. She continuously campaigns for improving the meals children receive in school especially as she knows that for many it is the only decent meal they will eat that day.
Other issue-based and thought provoking events included a fascinating account from Moazzam Begg, one of the 9 Britons detained in the camps at Guantanamo Bay, of how he was kidnapped in the middle of the night and how he survived the three years spent in the terrifying and Kafka-esque world into which he was thrown. After spending so long in solitary confinement it wasn't surprising to hear that he now needs to spend many hours alone.
Immaculee Ilibagiza, another survivor, flew from New York to talk about her book, 'Left to Tell'. Immaculee is a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and she told her extraordinary story of how she lived hidden in a bathroom for three months and how most of her family and friends were slaughtered whilst the world looked on and how she now deals with it.
But it wasn't all issue-based and Ann Widdecombe, Margaret Dickinson, Anne Fine, Don Shaw and Edwina Currie talked about their books, their writing careers and were most entertaining. Local historian and a regular contributor to the local paper the Peak Advertiser, Julie Bunting, discussed her book, 'Bygone Industries in the Peak'.
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