Charleston Literary Festival - calm in the chaos

The Orchard at Charleston

Last weekend I escaped home to Sussex for some much needed peace and to see Carol Ann Duffy at The Charleston Festival. Duffy has been one of my favourite poets for a long time - alongside Alice Oswald - and I have heard her read her poems before but seeing her at Charleston was truly delightful. We all bundled into the marquee thankful that it wasn't the usual howling wind and rain accompanying the event. Just as Duffy started to read a poem, the cows in the neighbouring field decided to pipe up. I am not sure that such things happen at the slick Hay Festival but these messy, honest occurrences are what keep Charleston charming.

Going to Charleston is an annual event for me and my ritual is to have a slice of lemon drizzle cake with my tea before the event.

Lemon Drizzle at Charleston

The tea tent was bedecked in bunting this year and the cow parsley even more abundant than my memory of it from last year. Sitting in the orchard sipping on tea and scoffing cake is one of my favourite things and I look forward to it every year. May in Sussex is a perfect month as everything is fresh and abundant ahead of the withering power of the summer sun. The burnt tinge of August is a future concern and the countryside sparkles with shades of green.

I love the way that the trestle tables and chairs are scattered as if they naturally appear in the orchard.

Carol Ann Duffy read for nearly an hour and, along with the cows, held the audience spellbound as she read both old and new poems. Her dry humour and subtle delivery had us in paroxysms of mirth, particularly 'from Mrs Tiresias' which recounts the myth of Tiresias from the point of view of his wife - the poem is from the collection The World's Wife which I will talk more about in another post as I could write reams about the collection.

During the past week my life has turned completely topsy-turvy (self-inflicted I hasten to add) - I have set many exciting changes in motion which I will elaborate upon as time goes on and things become more certain. So, going to Charleston was a moment of peace before the (hopefully organised) chaos that the next couple of months will be. After my tea and cake I found something pink and fizzy with which to celebrate in the sunshine; heavenly.

Charleston Festival 2009

The Charleston Festival is a wonderful literary festival held at the Bloomsbury Group's country home in East Sussex. It is such a magical setting with the rolling South Downs overlooking the untainted farmhouse where the Bloomsbury Group used to paint, write, read, debate and, ultimately, work. http://www.charleston.org.uk/

It was the topic of work which led me to sit in a bustling marquee to listen to Alain de Botton talk about his latest book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work http://tiny.cc/L4dLV Alain never seemed to draw breath as he held the audience captive with tales of shipping goods across the world and the workings of a biscuit factory. For anyone who ever feels bored, frustrated or even numb in the workplace - this is the book for you. Alain does not provide the answers, instead he explores the modern workplace with all its complexities and absurdities and he presents it back to us in a digestible form - the lasting message? It is ok to turn off the Blackberry; work does not have to define who we are.

I also went to see Debo Mitford, otherwise known as, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. She is a stunning, bright and inspirational eighty-nine year old with a quicker wit than I think I have ever encountered before. Hearing her talk about her life is both hilarious and awe-inspiring. Having attended major events of the 20th century, such as Kennedy's inauguration and funeral, she is a true witness to the mind-boggling change that took place during the last century.

Lastly, the Charleston Festival is one of the best places in the known universe to get a cup of tea and a slice of lemon drizzle cake. The Charleston Tea Tent is situated in the orchard overlooking the Sussex countryside; peppered with cow parsley that skirts around the trestle tables and knarled apple trees, the orchard is where tea was made for drinking.