I met T on the first day of the John Hewitt Summer School thirteen years ago. Since then we’ve had to go through plenty of trials (cancer, parental dementia, etc) but these have strengthened our devotion to each other. To celebrate the occasion of our first meeting, we return to the Marketplace Theatre in Armagh every year. We always run into old friends, like Paul Maddern and John McAllister, and take part in literary events. This year there were two that stood out.
Andrew Miller was interviewed by author Michael Hughes about his latest novel ‘The Land in Winter’. This brilliant book explores England in 1962-63 through the intertwined lives of two young couples. It is an atmospheric story of love, loss and survival in a winter landscape that becomes increasingly harsh. Michael’s questions were thoughtful and probing, bringing out a series of insights from Andrew – that his father had inspired one of the main characters, and that Andrew’s work in a secure mental hospital had led him to write another of the main characters. The book won several major awards and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was the favourite to win, but didn’t. Unjustifiably overlooked, in my view.
Sinead Morrisey was interviewed by poet Maureen Boyle about her new memoir, ‘Among Communists’. A marvellous account of her growing up in a family that were devoted members of the Communist Party. We were treated to an engaging and very entertaining series of extracts which revealed a world where the Soviet Union was the promised land and where Sinead’s attraction to Brownies set her on the slippery slope to appeasing the monarchy. Maureen’s questions were gentle and full of anecdotes. I would’ve liked more insight into how this rather fractured childhood, where everyday events were interrogated as features of capitalism, led to Sinead developing her masterful poet’s eye.
All too soon we had to leave. The next morning I needed to drive T to Belfast for some medical appointments. We switched from the sublime to the anxious. But such is life.
