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Thursday 11 March 2010

A Grand Day Out

I had a smashing day out in Bath on Saturday. First I met up with fellow author Jane Odiwe for lunch, which was lovely, thank you, Jane. Then on to the Guildhall for a fascinating talk by Claire Tomalin on the art of biography, sponsored by Jane Austen's Regency World. Claire gave the audience some intriguing insights into the way she approached writing her biographies of Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens. She advised would-be biographers to ‘travel the ground’ where their subjects lived whenever possible. The Guildhall is a beautiful building; the room where we had the talk was decorated in pastel green and gilt, illuminated with huge sparkling chandeliers. After the talk I met up with Tim Bullamore and other luminaries from Jane Austen’s Regency World, and we had a lovely afternoon tea at the Jane Austen Centre. So a big thank you to Tim for inviting me, and for the warm welcome I received. It was wonderful to meet everyone.

Image: The author and Jane Odiwe, author of Willoughby's Return, outside the Guildhall in Bath. © Sue Wilkes.

3 comments:

Laurel Ann (Austenprose) said...

What alovely day Sue and to spend it with Jane even lovelier. Wish I had been there to enjoy Claire Thomalin (wow) and be in BATH! Thanks for sharing.

Sue Wilkes said...

Thanks, Laurel Ann! It was really inspiring to get a glimpse of how a writer like Claire Tomalin approaches her writing. Food for thought! And I was so thrilled to meet up with Jane at last!

Jane Odiwe said...

It was so lovely to meet you - I'm glad you had a good time!