Monday 16 May 2011

Is anyone coming to Hay?


I'll be there on Tuesday 31st May, bright and early, so we can make Hay while the sun rises.

26 comments:

Murgatroyd said...

Ooh yes! Don't forget your wellies for the full festival experience. Have a peek at the Merchant & Mills stand when you get there...

Lilacs said...

Sadly, not this year, have a great time with all of those lovely bookish types. I hope the weather holds for you.

Justine Picardie said...

Have just peeked at the Merchant&Mills website -- it looks lovely. Thanks so much for the suggestion -- I'll definitely go to the shop while I'm at Hay.
Will be talking at other festivals this summer, including Ways with Words at Dartington and Port Eliot, so hopefully I will meet up with some of you in the coming months.
Meanwhile, v glad to hear from Lilacs in May and Murgatroyd -- I was beginning to wonder if blog silence was permanent, after last week's technical hitches.

enid said...

Oh how I wish that I could be there. We are coming to London in June/ July. Will there be any literary festivals or talks by you then ?

Justine Picardie said...

Sadly, I don't think I'm doing anything in London in June -- I'm going to Russia for a week to do publicity for the Chanel book in Moscow and St Petersburg, which is exciting for me, but not much use for you. I can highly recommend the Ways with Words festival at Dartington Hall in Devon; I'll be there on Sunday July 9th, but it's some way from London...
No one ever seems to ask me to talk at literary festivals in London; maybe I should organise my own festival in the back garden in June? Would anyone like to come?

Lilacs said...

ohmygoshyes!

kairu said...

Wish I could be in London! Or anywhere in England...I'm off to Russia this year, but not until mid-July! Lucky you, Justine, to be in St. Petersburg for the White Nights. When the sky is still full of light late into the night, you feel like you are walking through a dreamland...

enid said...

I would love a Back Garden book experince - make it the end of June PLEASE

Rose said...

every year I say next year... there are so many talks I want to go to but sadly a wedding and work have made it impossible this year... have a glorious time

Justine Picardie said...

OK, so it looks like an intimate garden festival with me, Enid and Lilacs in May in late June. We'll adjourn to my kitchen if it rains. Cakes will served, obviously. Would anyone else like to come? There will be a surprise guest.

enid said...

I can't wait I am really excited I get to London on June 20th

Lilacs said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lilacs said...

Ooops, over excitement...

That sounds just lovely Justine, thank you.

Roland-Gérard said...

Chére Madame,
Je tombe par hasard sur votre blog et je me permets de vous écrire ces lignes pour vous remercier pour votre trés beau livre
"if the spirit moves you"
que je viens juste de lire après l'avoir gardé dans ma bibliothéque presque 9 ans sans l'ouvrir et qui m'a beaucoup touché.

Salutations amicales
Roland G. M.

mezco said...

Yes, looking forward to escaping there for a few days and looking forward to going to your event.

Justine Picardie said...

Monsieur Gerard -- merci beaucoup, vous êtes très gentil.
Mezco: please do come and say hello, if you have time.

mariette said...

Dear Justine,

I saw the book of Coco Chanel on your blog, there are two books by your hand:Coco Chanel her life and Coco Chanel,her legend her life.
Which one is the best to buy?
I just visited Rue de Cambon, and I want to buy one of these books ,but I don't know which one.
Hope to hear,
thanksMariette Yntema

mariette said...

This is the first time I visited a blog perhaps you received my reaction twice, sorry for that.
I saw yor book about Coco Chanel,it is a bit confusing because I saw two of them, Coco Chanel her life and Coco Chanel her legend an life ,which one is the best to buy? I visited Rue de cambon this week and was very impressed by the staircase I was able to see,she fascineates me.
I hope to hear.
Thanks, Mariette

Justine Picardie said...

Mariette -- you can either buy the French edition -- Chanel, Sa Vie, which is published by Steidl, or the English original, Coco Chanel, the Legend and the Life, published by Harper Collins. Hope you enjoy whichever one you choose!

Lazywell said...

Mariette

For what it's worth, my advice would be to buy the original - "the Legend and the Life". For me, much of the appeal of Justine's book lies in the fabulous photographs and illustrations which she was able to find from a variety of sources, many never seen before. The HarperCollins edition incorporates them into the text really well, and the whole book looks wonderful. The Steidl edition ("sa Vie") on the other hand bunches all the pictures together, reduces the size of many of the most striking ones and even turns some of the colour images into black and white. The book thereby loses much of its subtlety and appeal. And frankly, the extra drawings by Karl Lagerfeld are scant consolation. I also prefer the remarkable photograph on the cover of the original to the somehow harsher picture by KL on the front of the French edition. To be fair, though, the French translation is pretty good at capturing Justine's inimitable prose.

jaywalker said...

I will be in London on 21 and 25 June - any chance of arranging it for either of those days? I would just love to join you.

I've been to St Petersburg briefly in both winter and summer and it still lingers in my memory as one of the most fascinating places in the world. I achieved one of my life dreams by going to the Bolshoi opera in Moscow for Queen of Spades and the Marinsky ballet in St Petersburg for Swan Lake. Heaven!!

mariette said...

dear justine,
thanks for yor reaction, we have two different books here in the Netherlands both from Harper Collins publishers and in English: Coco Chanel a life (34,90 euro), sept.2010 and Coco Chanel the Legend and the life(24.90 euro)febr.2010, so I want to buy the best one of these two in english, is that still the legend and the life?
thanks
mariette
hope to hear

Justine Picardie said...

Mariette, if you click on the book cover on the top right of my blog -- the picture of the young Coco Chanel -- you'll find the right edition.
Hope that helps.

Justine Picardie said...

Jaywalker, Lilacs in May, and Enid -- and anyone else who wants to come to the secret back garden festival -- how about 21st June, to fit in with Jaywalker's arrival from Tasmania and (hopefully) Enid's from Cape Town?
I can't do the 25th, so fingers crossed the 21st works for you. If that suits, will you email:
kdf58@dial.pipex.com
Then I'll email you back with relevant details...

jaywalker said...

Thank you Justine. Will do that straight away.How exciting! I had a quick look on the net and it looks as if I could get a No 91 bus right from Russell Square, where we are staying, to Crouch End.
Now only have to pray for the volcano to calm down.

mike said...

This is great to go to a place like that because we can feel so calm that only one thing I'd miss would be iservepharmacy.