Hello, I am writing to you in post London Book Fair euphoria, a state of relief brought on by being allowed to leave the confines of Earl’s Court One and Two.
It was my first Book Fair and I found that I split my time evenly between fending off passers-by trying to interest me in Hesperus-irrelevant business ventures and getting hopelessly lost on the way back from the bathroom: I found the three days to be quite eventful, but am definitely relieved to be back in the fresh air.
The main topic of debate that I heard rearing its head (that’s a hell of a mixed metaphor, but I’m too to think this through) the most often was the question of the relevance of Book Fairs in modern society. According to some, trade Book Fairs are dead and internet advances have superseded any need to meet face-to-face. I suppose this is a compelling idea when the logistics of such enormous fair are considered. However, I was struck by the interest that all publishers seem to evince with regard to their neighbouring companies. Part of this is probably monitoring rival companies but I was still surprised by how passionate and genuinely interested publishers still are about books. Getting them all together in one room seems to me still to be at the very least a culturally interesting and enlightening pastime. Tangentially, may I say how much I enjoyed and learned from the British Council lectures about Indian literature. I found the authors to be so fascinating and diverse in their achievements and political views. On Monday, I found myself quite unexpectedly listening to sung renditions of ghazals, a surreal (for Earl’s Court) but fabulous experience.
Right, must sign off, the post-book-fair pub party last night turned out to be a slightly messy one for me and I am slightly feeling the effects… More soon, Martha
