 |
| Ann Kelley |
Ann
is the sort of person who’s naturally gifted both with empathy and with an
incredible sensitivity to location. Her house was full of quirky, unusual and
beautifully presented objects and artworks. She’s a photographer and poet as
well as a novelist, and this can be seen in her eye for composition and
selection, for lyrical celebration, for economy, for precise and lovely images.
‘If you lie down
and put your ear to the beach, you can hear the surf booming through the sand.’
(The Burying Beetle)
 |
| A view like this is worth a landslide or a lightning strike! |
She
has written three books of poetry and runs poetry workshops. She gave me a copy
of The Poetry Remedy and I found it both moving and helpful in a recent
period of stress and grief. She’s also written YA fiction – her latest novel, Last Days in Eden, was published in July
and her previous teen books are Runners,
Koh Tabu and Lost Girls.
However,
for me, it’s all about the Gussie books: the series of stories tracing the
experiences of a young girl suffering from incipient heart failure – this was
inspired by Ann’s own son Nathan, who sadly died after a heart-lung transplant
but who seems to have been a most extraordinary person. Gussie is an equally striking
character. Her situation is grievous but her spirit is never bowed. She is a
creature, quite simply, of joy. She’s cheeky, rebellious, imaginative, often
solitary, eccentric. She celebrates life – and this is where Ann’s talent comes
into play for she shows us what I suppose we would call ‘mindfulness’ in
action. Gussie, aware that her illness may limit her lifespan, doesn’t intend
to waste a second. She notices
everything from the tiniest insects through to the undercurrents in the adult
relationships around her. She’s endlessly curious, not always tactful, but
always lovable. You root for her from start to finish. When she gets the chance
of an operation with the potential to save her life, you’re willing it all to
go smoothly.
When
I read the Gussie books, I found her character compelling of course – but I was
also seduced by the mesmerising descriptions of location and the fine detail of
the natural history in them. In an interview, Ann described the books as ‘a
hymn of praise to this place’ – to St Ives and its environs. And I tell you
this, these novels get better every time you go back to them!
I
hope you’ll join us at Fictionfire by the Sea, from 17th to 19th
October, for our workshops, for quiet time to write and to hear Ann give a
reading and answer our questions about her aims and practices as a writer.
The
Gussie series of novels: The Burying
Beetle, shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award; The Bower Bird, winner of the Costa Children’s Book of the Year
2007; Inchworm and A Snail’s Broken Shell.
‘It’s exciting
to be here when there’s a strong wind blowing. The rooks look like broken
umbrellas or black tattered cloaks, thrown away and tumbled by the gusts. The
gale shaves the tops off the waves and sends the spray flying back into the
sea.’ (The Burying Beetle)
Come
and hear Ann – join us at Fictionfire by the Sea Writers’ Workshop and Retreat
17th to 19th October, in a beautiful artists’ studio by
the sea in St Ives. Workshops will focus on how to stay true to your writing
dreams and how to evoke the spirit of place – but there will be lots of time as
well for you to simply write! Full details and how to book are at www.fictionfire.co.uk/page28.htm
Don’t
forget my October to December programme of Focus Workshops in Oxford starts
this Saturday (11th October)! Details at www.fictionfire.co.uk/page26.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment