Here we go…
It is 8:00am on the last day before Worlds kicks off and I am feeling worryingly calm. Before I even worked at Writers’ Centre Norwich this week in June was one of the highlights of my year and now that I am centrally involved in the planning and running of Worlds I can’t quite believe my good fortune. This year we have more than 40 writers descending on Norwich from thirteen different countries across the six major continents. (Sadly that famed Antarctican penguin Misha - from Andrey Kurkov’s darkly comic Death and the Penguin novels - already had plans.) They will be reading at an exciting programme of events over the week, many of which are free and all of which offer the chance to discover great writing from across the world. Basically, it is going to be great and I cannot wait.
However, it is this excitement which has me worried. The idea of organising this many writers – feeding them, transporting them around Norwich, providing them with a stimulating and enjoyable experience – as well as managing a whole series of events should, by rights, have me huddled in a corner worrying about all the many things that could go wrong. But as I look out across the office at the ordered piles of paper ready to be put together into packs and think of all the spreadsheets which have been created I can’t help feeling…yes, ready. Even the weather looks like it is going to be good.
It all kicks off tomorrow with the BCLT’s Worlds in Translation launch in the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library at 5pm and from then on there are free daily events across Norwich. I really hope to see some of you at them over the next week.
2 comments:
It all sounds very exciting but have you got a link listing when and where everything is happening. I actually have time to go this year!
Yes indeed there is.
Just go here:
http://www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk/worlds-literary-festival/
and you will find information about all the events this year.
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