Pam and I travelled swiftly down to the Bloomsbury area of London to Old Conduit Street for a literary luncheon in the Persephone Book Shop. Ali Smith was to talk about Katherine Mansfield's work and in particular the 'Montana Stories' and 'Journal', that Persephone books have published.
We were looking forward to listening to Ali Smith and also to see the bookshop that published these interesting novels with extras that make them so charming, (lined in a fabric pattern that also makes a book mark, thicker book paper, uniform covers etc).
And charming and stimulating the lunch was. Ali Smith was extremely entertaining in her colourful delivery and in-depth knowledge of Katherine Mansfield. I almost felt that she had met and knew her ! Also as a writer of short stories herself, Ali really appreciated the quality of Mansfield's works and identified issues that many of us had missed.
Lunch was just right, lovely salads, puddings, cheeses and yummy biscuits to lead us into the next session. Ali read the short story 'This Flower' published in 1919 and then we all discussed it. It brought out how we as women were intrigued with the detail of Mansfield's writing, how she captured the moment but you never quite knew where the story was going.
All this was held in the bookshop which is charming and really is the administrative hub for the distribution of the books. From talking to the employees we understood how they are distributed worldwide and indeed from the 30 or so ladies at lunch there were several nationalities represented. Old Conduit Street is pedestianised so its in a perfect location for London.
All in all it was great to bring the Katherine Mansfield books alive by visiting the place from where they are published and to listen to someone who really appreciated her work.
Finally, Nicola the owner of Persephone Books is coming up to Much Wenlock next year on June 20th for the Wenlock Festival to talk about her experiences in publishing. The event is to be called “An Evening with Persephone” and will be held at Acton Round, courtesy of Sue and Huw Kennedy. Pimms and smoked salmon sandwiches will be served: that's a date to put in the diary !
We were looking forward to listening to Ali Smith and also to see the bookshop that published these interesting novels with extras that make them so charming, (lined in a fabric pattern that also makes a book mark, thicker book paper, uniform covers etc).
And charming and stimulating the lunch was. Ali Smith was extremely entertaining in her colourful delivery and in-depth knowledge of Katherine Mansfield. I almost felt that she had met and knew her ! Also as a writer of short stories herself, Ali really appreciated the quality of Mansfield's works and identified issues that many of us had missed.
Lunch was just right, lovely salads, puddings, cheeses and yummy biscuits to lead us into the next session. Ali read the short story 'This Flower' published in 1919 and then we all discussed it. It brought out how we as women were intrigued with the detail of Mansfield's writing, how she captured the moment but you never quite knew where the story was going.
All this was held in the bookshop which is charming and really is the administrative hub for the distribution of the books. From talking to the employees we understood how they are distributed worldwide and indeed from the 30 or so ladies at lunch there were several nationalities represented. Old Conduit Street is pedestianised so its in a perfect location for London.
All in all it was great to bring the Katherine Mansfield books alive by visiting the place from where they are published and to listen to someone who really appreciated her work.
Finally, Nicola the owner of Persephone Books is coming up to Much Wenlock next year on June 20th for the Wenlock Festival to talk about her experiences in publishing. The event is to be called “An Evening with Persephone” and will be held at Acton Round, courtesy of Sue and Huw Kennedy. Pimms and smoked salmon sandwiches will be served: that's a date to put in the diary !
Sue Birt.
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