{"id":819,"date":"2020-01-24T08:41:58","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T08:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=819"},"modified":"2020-01-24T08:53:24","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T08:53:24","slug":"seamus-kelly-and-sophie-hannah-words-from-the-writer-by-norman-warwick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2020\/01\/24\/seamus-kelly-and-sophie-hannah-words-from-the-writer-by-norman-warwick\/","title":{"rendered":"SEAMUS KELLY AND SOPHIE HANNAH words from the writer: by Norman Warwick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEAMUS KELLY AND\nSOPHIE HANNAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

words from the\nwriter: by Norman Warwick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Robin Parker and I started in the UK more than ten years ago soon included Steve Cooke, who took over the reins when I eventually left to come to retire here, or \u00b4to run our all across the arts<\/em> European office\u00b4 as I grandly announced it. In the years before I left, though, we had been joined on the UK team by the likes of Steve Bewick and Alan Lawless as our jazz correspondents, John Cooke reporting on the visual arts, Eileen Earnshaw and Ray Stern on literary matters and Katie Haigh on anything that took her fancy. More recently we have included work, on my Sidetracks and Detours blog, by the likes of Michael Higgins, Graham Marshall and Dave Espin. They all have that knack of writing an article that offers plenty of information but that will invariably enthuse you to make explorations of your own about a name that is new to you, or that you feel you have overlooked for far too long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was certainly the case when I saw a piece released recently for our all across the arts <\/em>UK outlets, in which one of my favourite poets, Seamus Kelly, wrote about another of my favourite poets, Sophie Hannah. Come join me as we look at her web site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Morman Warwick (left) with Seamus Kelly<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I\nknew Seamus around the arts scene for many years before I retired over here: He\nwas always helpful, and a significant contributor to writing groups and\nperformance poetry events. He wasn\u00b4t one to shout and demand or command\nattention, though, and if I\u00b4m honest I thought of him as a decent enough bloke,\nbut because it was never accompanied by any beating drum or blaring trumpet\nfanfare his poetry kind of passed me by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 When I realised I ought to ask somebody to\nfulfil some engagements I would have to leave outstanding in the UK once I had\nmoved over here, Seamus Kelly\u00b4s, though, was the first person I wanted to ask\nto take them over. That surprised me.  In\nfact,, to quote another Irish voice, \u00b4it stoned me to my soul, stoned me just\nlike Jelly Roll\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nwere plenty of other good, brash, even cocky pub poets around just like me who\nwould have been a like for like swap,\u2026.but somehow, I looked to the quiet guy\nin the corner, Mr. Reliable, Mr. Dependable or Mr. Perhaps Just A Little Bit Too\nSerious, as I had carelessly labelled him. And yet, I was magnetically drawn to\nask him if he would step in for me, and, of course Mr. Dependable agreed to do\nso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever\nsince then I have become increasingly aware, from a couple of thousand miles\naway, of his quiet integrity and resolute, but often unspoken, determination.\nKids in schools would usually respond pretty well to what I thought was my\nrapier wit and irrepressible personality. And yet I constantly hear how they\nrespond to Seamus and his poetry, with its rhythm and cadence and sincerity, as\nit gently steers them towards mature discussion and reflection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou think I am demeaning him, or praising him too highly, have a look at his\nweb site, http:\/\/seamuskellypoetry.co.uk\/ The man cannot be diminished and his\nwriting cannot be praised too highly. He faces straight ahead into concerns\nthat even poets often turn away from and he addresses those concerns with an\nhonesty and a courage too many of us lack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nstoicism in his verse is an inspiration but you don\u00b4t have to look too deeply\nto find an optimism, too, in his poetry. Nevertheless, like their writer, his\nwords talk quietly but carry a big stick as they knock us back into our seat to\nmake us think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis a mark of the man that is  Seamus\nKelly that he remains keen to learn from his peers, regularly attending talks by\nother writers, as evidenced below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SURFING FOR\nSOPHIE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sophie Hannah<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Seamus\nKelly recently wrote in the all across\nthe arts<\/em> page of The Rochdale observer recently about attending a talk by\npoet, novelist and self-help book writer Sophie Hannah about her Dream Author\nproject, a coaching course for writers. Seamus spoke about how the audience at\nThe Royal Toby where Sophie gave her talk seemed surprised to know that even\npublished and well known authors suffer from the same occasional self-doubts, plot\nparalysis or character development as do aspiring writers. Seamus reported that\nsome of Sophie\u00b4s advice was surprising too, and that it would be far too\nsimplistic to say she merely implored them to more positive thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nfact, in the closing question and answer Sophie, as a guest of the Rochdale\nLiterature And Ideas Festival, responded to them all, many from frustrated\naspiring writers, with honesty and humour. Seamus was no left in no doubt that\nall her advice had been gratefully received and that all those in the audience\nleft enthused to write, or read more, or both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nhome page of Sophie Hannah\u00b4s web site leaves you in no doubt that she is a\nhugely successful author, qualified to offer such advice, but then you probably\nknew that already, before you took a goggle at google. If you are a lover of\npaperback novels that is probably what sparked your interest. Her best-selling books\nare mystery thrillers that also take an acute look at family and other human relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe,\nthough, you have gone to goggle because you have read her poetry and been\nbeguiled, as thousands of others have been before you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps\nyou have read one of her self-help books, and thought, hello, she speaks a lot\nof practicable common sense. Let me find out more about her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophie\nHannah has two different audiences in our house. My wife reads her novels and I\nam a lover of her poetry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare, nevertheless, more than two or three drop down headings on her web site\nthat reward our exploration with further information. Those headings are Books,\nExtras, News And Events, About Sophie and Contact. This home page is clean,\ntidy, easy to follow and perfectly legible in largish print, depicting perhaps\nthe common sense she displays in her self-help works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nwe open the pull-down titled Home at the top, we can immediately see the\ndiversity of her work and the number of genres she writes in. Immediately we\nnotice information about a new Hardback thriller due out, also in e-book and\naudio, on January 23rd 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sophie Hannah\u00b4s new book<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Coincidentally\nwhilst sitting on the beach reading my morning paper today I came across a very\npositive review in, The Daily Mail, calling Sophie \u00b4one of this country\u00b4s most\naccomplished writers.\u00b4 Her new book, Haven\u00b4t They Grown, published by Hodder\nAnd Stoughton and reviewed today in the psycho thriller section of the paper\u00b4s\nliterary page, \u00b4bears testament to Sophie\u00b4s ability, as she creates a\nconvincing narrative, cleverly managing the suspense whilst dealing with many\ncontemporary themes.\u00b4 Reviewer Christena Appleyard also assures us that Sophie\nHannah hasn\u00b4t lost her knack of sending readers chasing off in the wrong\ndirection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npull down section on Sophie\u00b4s official web site https:\/\/sophiehannah.com\/ also\ngive us Perfect Little Children paired in tandem with this new work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nKillings At Kingfisher Hall is not due out until August 6th<\/sup>, but\nalready The Times is waxing lyrical about \u00b4a literary marriage made in Heaven;\nSophie Hannah and Agatha Christie\u2026\u00b4 In this work Sophie manages the return of\nHercule Poirot to unravel a mystery, allowing the The Sunday Telegraph to\npreview the book by observing that Agatha Christie and Sophie Hannah share \u00b4an\nability to show us that the impossible might be possible after all.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nsection of her website also tells fans how they can add their name to her\nreaders\u00b4 list and join her on social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nare given an even more comprehensive picture of her work, however, when we\nclick on Books, and pull down a page that shows a list of her UK and USA\nfiction and the titles of her self-help books, including How To Hold A Grudge\nwith its clever, symbolic cover showing a watering can spraying some very\nprickly looking cacti. Happiness: A Mystery is the title of another, and given\nthat in her fiction work she always solves the mystery, there is hope in that\ntitle for all readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening\n\u00b4About Sophie\u00b4 we find a photograph and a brief biography from which we read\nconformation that Sophie, as a Sunday Times and New York Times best-selling\nwriter of crime fiction, is published in 49 different languages and 51\n\u00b4territories\u00b4 whilst selling millions o books worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her\nwork on Poirot novels (she has now written three) is undertaken with the\nblessing of the Agatha Christie estate, revealing their satisfaction that the\ncentral-character detective is safe in her hands. Sophie has won The Crime Thrillers\nOf The Year Award as well as the Specsavers National Book Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nwill still be many who first knew, and maybe only know, her work as a poet for\nit is certainly true that she has enjoyed great success in that genre too. The\nlatest of her five collections of poetry is Pessimism For Beginners and was\nnominated for The T S Eliot award. Her work is now firmly placed on the\neducational curriculum, being studied from GCSE level to degree level across\nthe UK: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nis appropriate because it seems that Sophie Hannah sets great store by\neducation and, indeed, she recently helped design a Creative Writing Masters\ndegree course at the University of Cambnridge where she is the main teacher and\ncourse director. She has also founded Dream Author, a coaching course for\naspiring writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n\u00b4Extras\u00b4 pull down is self-explanatory about what is in store here. Sub\nheadings include latest News, Interviews and Articles by Sophie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nLatest News section was announcing, last time I browsed there, details of a\nschool staging a \u00a8Sophie musical\u00b4, details of the Dream Author coaching\nprogramme, some travel writing and a piece on how and why she plans her novels.\nHer name is often seen in magazines such as Writing News discussing practical\nmethodology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nthe Interviews ledge we find her talking on Classic FM and elsewhere on the\nradio nattering with Norton of the Graham variety or in print with newspapers\nlike The Independent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nNews & Events pull down reveals that this month Sophie is out on the\nJanuary \u00b4Haven\u00b4t They Grown\u00b4 tour, to promote the new novel we mentioned\nearlier. It sounds as if, to coin a phrase, she will be following Sidetracks\nAnd Detours all across the arts<\/em> as\nshe wends her way from Waterstones in Cambridge on 21st<\/sup> January to\nboth Lytham St. Annes and to York on the 31st<\/sup> January, in what\nsounds like an exhaustive, and exhausting, fifteen gig itinerary in only ten\ndays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later\nin the year it seems Sophie will be speaking at various writing and literary\nfestival and writers\u00b4 retreats etc. If you have a look at her web site to find\nout when she will be in your area, and if you attend the talk and speak with\nher please say you read about it here in Sidetracks And Detours all across the arts<\/em> at https:\/\/aata.dev<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis really gratifying to see my former partner Steve Cooke continuing to afford\nspace to local contributors in Rochdale and to see his pages still running as\nforcefully as they ever did to promote the arts and to introduce them to non-traditional\naudiences. Steve had his own article on the page alongside Seamus in the\nJanuary 10th<\/sup> edition of The Rochdale Observer talking about local\ntheatre productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\npiece was as informative as they had always been when we were working together,\nand from it I learned that The Bolton Octagon Theatre, a venue I worked in, and\nreported from, many times when living in the UK is in the final stages of a\nmulti-million pounds renovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Miri Anwar<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Steve\nmentioned that, only in passing, as he delivered news of the upcoming\nproduction of Shirley Valentine at the nearby Bolton Library Theatre, where\nMina Anwar will be playing the eponymous role in this play by Willy Russell\n(another one time guest at Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival). Mina\nherself is perhaps best known for playing a WPC in television comedy Thin Blue\nLine with Rowan Atkinson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nromantic comedy of Shirley Valentine, from the same writer as Blood Brothers, of\ncourse, was turned into an unforgettable and award winning film starring Pauline\nCollins (one of my heartthrobs when I was a younger man) and Tom Conti. This\nproduction runs for two weeks from 10th<\/sup> February and tickets are\navailable from the Bolton Museum or at The Box Office. I hope Steve, or one of\nthe all across the arts<\/em> family, get\nthere to review it. I would enjoy reading that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nthe bottom of that all across the arts<\/em>\npage I noticed what Steve had listed in the what\u00b4s on column that used to drive\nus both batty as we struggled with the countless scraps of paper we had been\ngiven by people who wanted us to include their event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nparticular week Steve was carrying notification of the Castleton Literary And\nScientifc Society, a group I have given a talk to on a couple of occasions. It\nseems they have come a long way from the depths of ridiculousness of me talking\nabout my first haircut (yes, honestly !) to the sublime of Ross Tetlow giving a\nspeech on long distance walking in The Nepal Himalayas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nRochdale Town Hall was the first performance of the year by the World famous\nRochdale Town Hall Organ (yes, honestly !!). Organ and violin duo Alexander\nBinns and Dora Chatzigeorgiou played a concert, followed by light lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally,\nthis nostalgic trip through what Dylan would have called My Back Pages, brought\nme to Steve\u00b4s notification about another concert later that same week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mezzo\nSoprano of The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and Duncan Glenday on the\npiano (RNCM and Manchester University) gave a lunchtime recital in the huge and\natmospheric, and some say haunted, church of St. Mary On The Baum in Toad Lane\nin Rochdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So,\nthere is an all across the arts<\/em> scene\nin Rochdale, as there is in the rest of the UK and there is an all across the arts<\/em> scene on Lanzarote\nas there is on the rest of The Canary Islands and throughout Spain.  Those of us who wander all across the arts<\/em>, to report to wherever you are reading this,\nfollow Sidetracks And Detours, and so very rarely even walk in parallel lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nso, as you can deduce from this, we might be \u00b4never together, but we\u00b4re close\nsometimes\u00b4 as Johnathan Edwards wrote, then The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band sang in\n1983 and Carlene Carter echoed in 1989.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEAMUS KELLY AND SOPHIE HANNAH words from the writer: by Norman Warwick What Robin Parker and I started in the UK more than ten years ago soon included Steve Cooke, who took over the reins when I eventually left to come to retire here, or \u00b4to run our all across the arts European office\u00b4 as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aata","category-literary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}