WESTERN MORNING NEWS SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7 2013 WESTCOUNTRY LIFE 13WMN-E01-S312 WESTCOUNTRY LIFE SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7 2013 WESTERN MORNING NEWS WMN-E01-S3

BooksFood, crime, poetry, biography, polit-ics and fictional tales are all on themenu in the literary strand of thisye a r ’s Splash festival in Falmouth,which runs from September 13 to 21.

Top names taking part include SirAndrew Motion (see interview, right),Rick Stein, Ann Widdecombe, HelenDunmore, Stuart Maconie and EmilyBarr in an eclectic line-up to suit allpalates, with events happening at ThePoly or in Dolly’s Tea Room and WineBar, above the Falmouth Bookseller.

It begins with a supper party hostedby Lucas Hollweg, former S u n d ayTimes cookery writer and winner ofthe 2012 Guild of Food Writers Cook-ery Columnist of the Year award. Thenyoung cooks aged 12 and under willcompete in The Great Junior BritishBake-Off , with a trio of cake-eatingconnoisseurs judging.

St Ives writer Debby Fowler willdiscuss her Felicity Paradise crimenovels with her publisher, IvanCorbett of Truran. Falmouth authorRobin Harris will be talking about hisbiography Not For Turning: The Lifeof Margaret Thatcher which is basedon the many years he worked as herspeech writer and close adviser.

Ann Widdecombe, former shadowhome secretary and star of Strictl yCome Dancing, will be talk about herbestselling autobiography, Strictl yAnn. Emily Barr, whose latest novelThe Sleeper is set on the night trainfrom Cornwall to London, will be inconversation with two fellow crimewriters, and Veronica Henry andLucy Diamond will chat about theirbest-selling chick-lit novels in thefun-filled A Girl’s Night In.

Author and teacher Charlie Carrollwill be discussing the very personaljourney that led to his book No FixedAbode: A Journey Through Home-lessness from Cornwall to London.

Writer Helen Dunmore and illus-trator Rebecca Cobb will be discuss-ing Cornwall as an influence in theirwork, including latest collaborationThe Lonely Sea Dragon, and Radio 2’sStuart Maconie will introduce Th ePe o p l e ’s Songs in which he tells thestory of modern Britain through therecords that we love.

Who wants to write a songwith Charlatans’ Tim?A last-minute addition to the bill isCharlatans frontman Tim Burgess,who is inviting Falmouth’s childrento help him write a song at Ex-pressini. He will then read from hisautobiography, Telling Stories, at Fal-mouth Bookseller ahead of his even-ing show at the Princess Pavilion onWednesday, September 18.

IN NEXT SATURDAY’S WMN:

Read our interview with Rick Stein( p i c t u re d ) , who will be discussing hisautobiography Under a Mackerel Sky:A Memoir at Falmouth’s Poly onSeptember 14.

Here are the authors whowill be making a Splash! The poetry in Motion is stirred by his

own father’s experiences of the war

Sir Andrew Motion has won awardsfor his poetry and prose writing withan acclaimed biography of PhilipLarkin, the novella The Invention ofDr Cake, a memoir In the Blood and asequel to Treasure Island, Silv er. Hewas Poet Laureate for ten years andknighted in 2009 for his services tol i t e r at u re.

It is a glittering career which makesit all the more surprising to learn thatAndrew had a very ordinary upbring-ing.

“My childhood was very unbook-ish,” he says. “My mum and dad werecountry people doing country thingswhich did not include reading. Theywe re n’t interested in cultural or in-tellectual matters at all.

“That life was really given to me bymy English teacher at school when hestarted teaching me at A-level.

“Day one it walked in to my headand turned the lights on and it hasnever wavered.”

Having discovered his passionduring his schooldays, Andrew, 61, isan enthusiastic advocate for inspiringyoung people. Next week he comes toFalmouth to take part in the Splashfestival where he will talk about hisnew book of poems, The Customs

House, but also become involved in acompetition to find the Young PoetLaureate of Falmouth.

He credits his school teacher forbeing responsible for introducinghim to great writers.

“There were very interestingthings that he gave me to read, in-cluding a lot of poets that have re-mained favourites ever since. Hardy,Thomas, Larkin and, memorably ashe has recently died, Seamus Heaney.I met him in 1970 and I had my bookinscribed by him. That was 43 yearsa go.

“And I was off... off to university, thefirst of my family to go. I was readingEnglish and a lot of other people werewriting much better poems than me.It was a great reality check.

“For me, it hadn’t been a quantumleap from reading to writing. Therewere issues of confidence, of course.But I always say to students now, justdo a bit. There’s no better way to un-derstand other people’s poems than tohave a go at it.

“I published my first book quiteyoung. I was 23 when it came out andI had gone to teach English at Hullbecause of Philip Larkin. He doesn’ttravel and he hates everybody so Ithought, if I want to meet him I’m

going to have to go there. And webecame great friends.”

In the search for Falmouth’s youngPoet Laureate, Andrew and two otherjudges will hear ten contestants per-form their poem with any aid what-soever – their dog, cat, budgie, power-point or fancy dress – in front of anaudience at The Poly on Saturday at11am.

Last year’s writing event for youngpeople involved lots of dogs and il-lustrators in Dog Tales. It may proveto be a tough act to follow, butA n d rew ’s zeal for passing on his ownlove of words spurs him on.

“With the greatest respect to teach-ers today, they often find themselvesin the grip of a curriculum whichd o e s n’t let them speak,” he says.

“The curriculum is designed in away to make people think that whatmatters is the subject. The mostthought-provoking poems are the

ones that hit their subject pretty ob-l i q u e ly.

“T here’s a tendency for people tothink about poetry too precisely.

“They are about sound and musicand imagery and should not feel toohigh bound. You don’t have to under-stand a poem. That’s not gettingacross to children.

“We need to make room for thinkingabout different kinds of poetry. Butwonderful things are happening. Id o n’t want to sound like an oldg rouch.”

After the search for future poets, thespotlight will shift in the afternoon toA n d rew ’s own work and his new col-lection of poems, The Customs House.

The book is in three sections, andopens with a sequence of war poems,Laurels and Donkeys, which draws onsoldiers’ experiences from the Firstand Second World Wars, through tothe recent conflicts in Iraq and Afgh-

anistan. The Customs House was, inpart, inspired by his own father’sexperiences. Andrew acknowledgesthat his father, like many men of hisgeneration, shied away from talkingabout what happened.

“My dad was better at talking to mychildren than to me,” he says. “As achild I thought he didn’t talk muchabout the war because nothing muchh ap p e n e d .

“It was because he didn’t want theshittiness to fall into my life.”

One of the poems in the book isabout Harry Patch, the SomersetFirst World War veteran who died at111, the last survivor of the WesternTrenches. It is just 20 lines and itmakes me cry.

“It’s supposed to,” says Andrew.“The subject is death and it’s an elegy.All of my poems are elegies for me.

“I picked up a lot of things when Italked to Harry Patch. I wanted towrite the poem in a way that tookaccount of what he’d done but at thesame time make it emotional.

“The collection does follow a his-toric trajectory, but the geographychang es.”

At the Falmouth event Andrew willalso read from The Cinder Path, short-listed for the Ted Hughes Award forNew Work in Poetry, and Silv er, thesequel to Treasure Island, beforequestions about his writing and abook signing.

He’s looking forward to what hesays is a “wo n d e r f u l ” f e s t iva l .

“The more the merrier of thesethings as far as I’m concerned. It’s awonderful celebration of reading andall things cultural and educationalwhile still being entertainment.

“It’s wonderful for the communityin these self-knowing times and forpeople to be able to say – ‘we careabout this’.”

For Splash festival details visit falmouth.co.uk.

Su Carroll talks toformer Poet LaureateSir Andrew Motionabout his inspiration

‘A lot of other peoplewere writing much betterpoems than me. It was agreat reality check’

Sir Andrew Motion

A stitch in time ascountryside scenesare preserved by asewing traditionBY SU CARROLL

Traditional crafts have found a newplace in our hearts with programmeslike The Great British Bake Off andSewing Bee reviving a passion forbaking and sewing.

It’s perfect timing, then, for Jo Col-will to release her first book – C u s h-ions and Quilts; Quilting Projects toDecorate Your Home.

Jo set up Cowslip Workshops on thefamily farm on the outskirts Laun-ceston to share her craft skills withclasses on patchwork, quilting andrag rug making.

She will be at the Splash Festival inFalmouth to talk about the book andhold a workshop to teach people howto make a small embroidered wallhanging.

Her lovely book is packed withgreat ideas and lots of detail aboutmaking a number of projects – quiltsand cushions all reflecting Jo’s love ofthe countryside and animals.

“It’s the kind of thing peoplelearned from their granny and itseems to be of interest to both youngand old people,” says Jo.

“I’m very honoured to be asked todo this for the Splash festival. I re-member I went to Falmouth when Iwas five and it rained all the time soI made a cross-stitch tablecloth andlearned how to do a lazy daisy stitch.We went into a lovely shop which soldembroidery threads.

“I’ve always really loved sewing...sewing and animals. I’d wanted to bea vet, but at the age of 16 I decided thatlife was a bit more important thans t u dy i n g .

“I’m completely self-taught andstarted sewing to be able to keephorses. Sewing has always been apleasure for me. I used to work in ariding school and made all the cos-tumes when we took part in the car-nival. I loved making something outof nothing.

“I started off making clothes andcompeting with the Young Farmers’C l u b s. ”

Like many of her generation, whenJo married over 30 years ago shestarted making soft furnishings –curtains, quilts and cushions.

She joined the fabric shop Inscape,where she learned about “colour andtexture and design”.

The projects in the book show a realunderstanding of the skills needed tomix different fabrics and Jo likes toinclude recycled fabrics in projects.It’s often a great way of retainingm e m o r i e s.

“I started Cowslip Workshops 25years ago and we get visitors from allaround the world,” she says, addingthat the old tradition – particularly inAmerica – of people working togetherto create an heirloom quilt is catch-ing on.

“It’s very friendly. People help eachother and they have little parties tocreate special presents for a wedding,or perhaps if someone is having ab aby.

“They are modern heirlooms andhark back to the old make do and

mend era. It’s almost as if we havecome full circle.”

Jo hopes her book will take some ofthe fear out of such work.

“People do get very scared, but thisbook is about building up confidence.They can start with a vintage buttoncushion project – we even sell thepacks of fabric – before building up toquilts, or maybe the advent calender.

Jo Colwill will be at Dolly’s Tea Room and Wine Bar onThursday, September 19, from 10am-12 noon. Tickets are£25 which include a copy of her new book, Cushions and

Quilts: Quilting Projectsto Decorate YourHome (published byDavid and Charles,£16.99) a kit ofmaterials to make awall hanging andDolly’s delicious teaand cake. Ticketsavailable fromFalmouth Bookseller01326 312873

Jo likes to capture country scenes in her cushions and quilts – above and left – made at her Cowslip Workshops near Launceston

Jo Colwill, left, turns little scraps of material into quilting and cushioning art

Top: Sir Andrew Motion and, above, last year’s Dog Tales at the Splash literary festival inFalmouth, which involved young writers, illustrators and a variety of dogs