Peck’ up your ears
You could be forgiven for not immediately thinking of Peckham as the most obvious venue for a literary festival. And as Bookpacking walked through the chip papers and past the metal shutters outside Peckham Rye, it didn’t look too promising.
But a quick pint of Star in under-the-arches Bar Story and we were ready to hit the cultural front line on Bellenden Road. It’s quite an achievement for a small (but beautiful) bookshop to have a published poet on the staff - but two? Review bookshop hosted readings from staffers Retta Bowen and Evie Wyld.
Retta mused on broken love affairs while Evie made a stand for prose with an excerpt from her forthcoming novel After the Fire, a Still Small Voice. The Q&A led to some interesting questions about using material sourced from close to home.
Artists have traditionally put themselves ‘out there’ to push boundaries, allow the rest of us to live vicariously, and ask the questions we dare not to. But they also have to live among their friends and families, so there’s a balance. Both writers had experience of either toning down their writing, changing names, or using composite characters. So before you embark on that Philip Larkin-style polemic, think about the fallout.