6 | February 12, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News

OpinionAct swiftly oncrossing pleaTHE death of Malcolm Potter on the Dernfordrailway crossing at Sawston is a terrible tragedy– and Network Rail must pay heed to the safetyplea from assistant deputy coroner BelindaCheney.

Mrs Cheney is convinced the way the crossingis laid out was a contributory factor in 76-year-old Mr Potter not realising that a second trainwas on the way.

It may simply be a question of re-thinking theuse of warning lights, and that surely would notcost a fortune to implement.

And if other lives are potentially at risk, theremust not be the slightest delay in getting thissorted out.

No tipping pleaseSOUTH Cambridgeshire District Councildeserves praise for taking court action against fly-tipper Babacar Ndour – and we hope the councilsticks by its vow to do the same to others whodump rubbish in laybys and other areas.

To his credit, the culprit went back and tried totidy up, but he should not have acted as he didin the first place.

Most people in our region live within arelatively short distance of a waste and recyclingcentre, so there is no excuse for this sort ofbehaviour.

Literary lions openfestival’s new chapter

BROUGHT TO BOOK:Alan de Botton with festivaldirector Cathy Moore atlast night’s launch. Right,Germaine Greer andJoanna Trollope

THE full Cambridge Literary Festival line-upwas announced last night at a celebratorylaunch 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 fromApril 1–6, has nabbed Booker prize winners,the Poet Laureate and big names from theworlds of science, history and politics for theoccasion – plus there’s a children’s strand forlittle ones too.

Here are our programme highlights:

n Eleanor Catton (Tuesday, April 1)Catton was the youngest ever winner of

the Man Booker Prize for her 2013 brick of anovel, The Luminaries (honestly, it’s practicallythe same size as the Yellow Pages). The NewZealander will be discussing why she loveshistorical fiction and what the Booker hasmeant for her career.

n New Statesman Debate (Saturday, April 5)This year, weekly current affairs magazine

The New Statesman has joined the festival asa media partner and is running a debate onthe motion: “This house believes that youngpeople have never had it so good”. If youaren’t lucky enough to nab a ticket to theevent, the conversation will be continued inthe magazine and on newstatesman.com

n Carol Anne Duffy (Thursday, April 3)Duffy, Britain’s esteemed Poet Laureate since

2009, will be performing some of her owncraftily written poems and then chatting awayto Gillian Clarke, the National Poet of Wales.The pair plans to discuss what opportunitiestheir positions bring and what they’re doingto inspire youngsters to get penning their ownverse.

n Joanna Trollope (Friday, April 4)The master of middle class romance and

family drama, Trollope is making her festivaldebut in honour of her latest novel, BalancingAct. How do you juggle three kids and auseless but artistic husband? Especially wheneverything seems to be going horribly wrong…You can find out with the help of columnistAllison Pearson, who’ll be on hand to begin thegrilling.

n Hanif Kureshi (Saturday, April 5)The brilliant Kureshi has plied us with literary

marvels – namely The Buddha of Suburbia andscreenplays, My Beautiful Laundrette and LeWeek-End – we expect The Last Word to bejust as engrossing. A tale of preserving yourreputation and reviving your fortunes, his newbook will be the jump off point for Kureshi todiscuss his life and work.

n Jacqueline Wilson (Sunday, April 6)For a lot of us grown-ups it’s difficult to

imagine a childhood without Vicky Angel, TheIllustrated Mum or the Double Act twins forcompany: you can definitely see why DameJacqueline Wilson’s stories about colourfulmisfits are still going strong. Meet her, quiz heron her best loved creations (we’re looking atyou, Tracy Beaker) and find out all about her

new book, Paws and Whiskers.

n Germaine Greer (Saturday, April 5)Greer certainly knows how to capture

attention – and rile everybody up in theprocess. The feminist, writer and academic isset to share throughts and passages from hermemoir, White Beech, which tracks her missionto restore 60 hectares of land in Queensland,Australia, to absolute natural health. Takingin the emotional, political and environmentalstruggles the project faced, it should be a morethan 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 fivebreakneck maths and science books – andyou’ll definitely think again. In fact, he’llhave your whole brain a-buzz with theorems,cosmological secrets, puzzles, cryptic codesand quirky medical queries. Homework notincluded.

n Pat Barker (Sunday, April 6)As part of the festival’s Remembrance strand,

looking at the centenary of World War I, Barkerwill be discussing her Regeneration trilogywhich focusses on the lives and experiencesof war poets Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owenand psychiatrist William Rivers. It’s a chanceto look back, remember and assess the role ofpatriotism and duty, as well as the effects theGreat 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 ManBooker, is also his last. “A spell-bindingevocation of rural England” in the pre-industrialage, he’s going to have to answer to The NewStatesman’s assistant editor, Michael Prodger,on why he’s giving up a career that’s alsobrought us Quarantine, Being Dead and ThePesthouse.

The Cambridge LiteraryFestival promises to be afeast for book lovers – andanyone who’s interested inthe world. ELLA WALKERpicks her top 10 highlights.

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