JACOB POLLEY - WORDS BY THE WATER

Monday 08/03/2010. My motivation for this event is centered on Jacob Polley (the picture shows me with Jacob as he signed my copy of "The Brink"). Popularily described as an "up-and-coming young Cumbrian poet" he appeals to my interest in current Cumbrian writers and given the area's poetic precedents you have to admire anyone who makes an effort! With two collections of poetry published "The Brink" & "Little Gods" Jacob has now turned his hand to fiction and has recently had his first novel called "Talk of the Town" published. It's a tale of teenage life, angst and a bit of a who-done it? set in Carlisle. I have copies of these books and was keen to see him in the flesh, this being one of the attractions that litfests offer readers. I have to say though that he was a bit of a disappointment, the lecture was essentially about novels and writing styles so his poetry played no part in the proceedings, which was a shame as I'm sure that is his strength. He spoke vaguely, and sadly did not come over well, and I got the impression he would feel more comfortable with a reading group in a small-town library, sorry Jacob but your poor showing as a live performer, does not detract from your value as a poet. Jacob, like his fellow Cumbrian author, Sarah Hall is a product of the "creative writing" scene, when this came up in discussion he made a rather telling point is stating that if a young violinist showed great talent with a violin they wouldn't be left to get on with it themselves, a good teacher would be considered essential, true enough, provided you don't look to closely. We also heard from a bright and sassy American author called Amy Bloom - who was new to me, unlike Jacob Polley, she was a great speaker but her reading from her latest novel seemed very dull kitchen-sink stuff to me; I found myself thinking why had she bothered writing it and who would be intersted enough to pay to read it, not me for sure Mam, where is the Brit interest in hearing about "racoons invading the kithen ", or of "semesters"? Next came the interval and the opportunity to mull over a disappointing first half and that this event was turning out to be a bit of a duffer. Back to our seats and we were introduced to Matt Hilton, a Scot now living in the Carlisle area who has emerged as a new sort of Jack Higgins novelist of the fast moving - death and destruction on every page, no matter how fast you turn them school. I was considering not going back in for this session but was delighted that I did as Matt was hugely honest, modest, engaging and entertaining to boot, and he kept the audience enthralled by his personal story and how he goes about writing. His success has come after 20 years of effort and he is clearly enjoying every minute of it, so his performance not only saved the event from a medicore tag but was tremedously good fun too, just another of the good things that can happen at litfests. Well done Matt, I will buy one of your books someday! Promise.