Jane Rusbridge's Blog, page 10
June 26, 2012
It’s midsummer, beach lovers – let’s celebrate!
Have you heard of nature deficit disorder? I hadn’t, until quite recently.
I grew up in Bexhill-on-sea, in East Sussex, where we had a beach hut at the west end of the front, towards Cooden; a hut like a little house, with curtains, a stove and a sink, hooks and shelves to store blankets, buckets, spades and shrimping nets, deckchairs leaning up against the wall and a line to hang our wet costumes on to dry – everything you need for whole days on the beach from breakfast until bed time. Which we did.
I was lucky enough to spend much of my childhood on the beach, huddled under blankets reading comics perhaps, if it was cold, or racing barefoot on the broad stretches of sand at low tide. Many of these memories flowed into The Devil’s Music , especially when I was writing from the child’s point of view.
During the years I was working on the novel, we were living with our children in a house just across the road from Wittering beach in West Sussex, the house with the green roof, just in view in this picture. From my writing shed, I could hear the suck of waves on pebbles, taste salt on the wind and smell the ocean; see the broad sweep of skies and sense the churn of constant motion.
At the moment, I’m reading a book recommended to me by a friend, Christine Green, who is a primary school head. It’s called Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, and is about the need to save our children and grandchildren from what he refers to as ‘nature deficit disorder’. Many children do not spend much time playing outside, and Louv speculates on the lasting effect this might have, not only on their bodies, but also their minds. Most of us adults have memories of beach holidays and day trips, collections of souvenir pebbles or sea-glass, a favourite photo or two. So, it may be rainy at the moment in England, but let’s see what we can do to fight this particular deficit, and start by cheering ourselves up this summer with some of those snapshots of seaside memories from our childhoods. I’ve shared a few of mine in this post.
If you’d like to add your childhood photo memory, please do! Just scan and email it to me using the contact form on this website. Since The Devil’s Music is set mostly in the late 50s, early 60s, I’m particularly interested in beach photos from that era – but don’t worry if yours aren’t, just send them to me, along with the approximate date on which the photo was taken. And we’ll make our own photo album …
Fancy a trip to the seaside? Bring your children to Bracklesham Bay’s Fun Day on July 7th
Book chat, reading and signing at Blake’s Belles
Sussex writer Jane Rusbridge is thrilled to be invited to chat to Blake’s Belles at their next monthly meeting on July 2nd.
Time: 7.00 for 7.30 -9.30 pm
Venue: Felpham Village Hall
Blake’s Belles is an exciting new group for Felpham and the surrounding areas, recently set up to inspire women to get together to learn new skills, meet like-minded friends, and have fun. Local women from age eighteen upwards are invited to be part of this exciting new generation group.
Jane will be joined by Gabrielle Kimm, another local West Sussex writer. Jane and Gabrielle are two thirds of the group ‘Three Sussex Writers’ - the third member is Isabel Ashdown.
Jane and Gabrielle will answer questions about their route to publication and the writing process. They will read from their novels and sign books at the special event price of £5.
Jane will also give Blake’s Belles as sneak preview taster of ROOK, her latest novel, out in August.[image error]
ROOK by Jane Rusbridge: ’intense, atmospheric and beautifully written’ : Joanna Briscoe, author of Sleep with Me.
Read more about ROOK in a review by Katie Ward
June 24, 2012
Three Sussex Writers at Stoughton Fete
*NEWS FLASH* After Fete party with hog roast at the Hare and Hounds at Stoughton
Come along and join all the fun at the fete, where the Three Sussex Writers – Jane Rusbridge, Isabel Ashdown and Gabrielle Kimm - will be setting up a stall with bunting and books. You can Throw a Wellie, bid on a Silent Auction, meet Mystic Meg or enjoy Mediterranean food cooked by Donna and Rami Kabbani at this traditional village fete held in the beautiful Downland village of Stoughton.
Community run, the fete has taken place every other year in the gardens of Church Farm, Breakneck Lane (click for map) for more than sixty years, to raise money for the upkeep of Stoughton’s ancient church, St Mary’s, which boasts Saxon herringbone brickwork and a Saxon chancel arch.
If you’re a walker, Stoughton is a great place from which to explore Kingley Vale, and two of most beautiful areas of woodland in West Sussex, Wildhams Wood and Inholmes Wood, to the north of Stoughton. You can finish your day with a cream tea at Stoughton fete, as long as you get there before 4pm!
Jane, Isabel, and Gabrielle will sign and sell copies of their books, and donate a pound to the church fund for every book they sell. They’ll also be running a Lucky Book Dip.
So come and say Hi, and have a chat with three local authors.
Read more about the Three Sussex Writers and their books here
June 20, 2012
Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival 2012
Jane Rusbridge in conversation with writer and reviewer Isabel Costello at London’s biggest literary festival.
Tickets: £7
Join Jane Rusbridge and book blogger Isabel Costello as they talk about Rusbridge’s new mesmerising story of family, legacy and turning back the tides. Rook beautifully evokes the shifting Sussex sands, and the rich seam of history lying just beneath them.
Jane Rusbridge lives and works in West Sussex. Her first novel, The Devil’s Music, was nominated for the International IMPAC Literary Award in 2011; her second, Rook, Bloomsbury Circus, is a mesmerizing story of family, legacy and turning back the tides. She has an MA in Creative Writing and has taught both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Chichester for the past ten years.
Isabel Costello is a writer of women’s fiction belonging to a small writers’ circle and is a member of a long-established and highly opinionated book group. She studied Modern Languages at Oxford before moving to London where she is the lone female in a household with a bike-mad doctor husband and two sons aged 14 and 10. Her blog, On the Literary Sofa, features in-depth book reviews, listings and articles about fiction.
Now established as an important addition to London’s literary calendar, the fourth Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival will be taking place once again at Ivy House, former home of prima ballerina Anna Pavlova, from 9-11th September. Other 2012 authors include Howard Jacobson, Rose Tremain, Michael Palin, Kathy Lette, Lisa Jewell, Rt.Hon.Peter Hain MP, Tom Holland, Alison Weir, Rt.Hon.David Lammy MP, Pam Ayres, Robert Goddard, Gillian Slovo and Guy Walters. Nearly 60 events to choose from over 3 full days, including a number of creative workshops. Book now to avoid disappointment. Details and booking here
‘Rook is a novel of layers and textures, patiently crafted, and beautifully finished’ Katie Ward Girl Reading
June 19, 2012
Three Sussex Writers at Arundel Literary Festival
Jane Rusbridge will be appearing at the Arundel Festival 2012 
with Isabel Ashdown and Gabrielle Kimm.
The three authors are known as the ‘Three Sussex Writers’, and regularly appear together at festivals, libraries, schools, universities,charity events and book groups across Sussex. At Arundel Festvial, they will read from their books, chat about the writing process, and answer questions. Come along and join the conversation!
At the end of the session, for anyone who wants to try their hand at writing, or spark up their creative energy, there’ll be a chance to participate in some quick-fire and fun writing exercises.
Details for this event to be confirmed
Find out more about the THREE SUSSEX WRITERS and their novels
June 16, 2012
Psychologies Writing Workshop with Vanessa Gebbie and Jane Rusbridge
Place: Bloomsbury Publishing, 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP
Cost: £20
In association with Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook
Psychologies Magazine presents a workshop on writing from life with authors and creative writing experts, Vanessa Gebbie and Jane Rusbridge, at Bloomsbury Publishing, Bedford Square, London. They will be running a writing workshop for people with a story to tell and offering their advice on turning your own experience into a novel.
Jane Rusbridge is the author of Rook and The Devil’s Music. She taught at primary and preschool levels before returning to education herself as a mature student to study English at Chichester University, where she went on to gain Distinction for her MA in Creative Writing. She has won many awards for her writing. For the past ten years she has worked at Chichester University as an Associate Lecturer in English. She has taught across a range of critical modules, including Race and the Literary Imagination, Reading Women’s Writings, Genre: Poetry and Genre: Prose Fiction, but her particular teaching interest is Creative Writing. She lives on the coast in West Sussex with her husband, a farmer, and three of their five children.
Vanessa’s debut novel The Cowards Tale was chosen as a Financial Times Book of the Year. She is author of two collections of short fiction and contributing editor of the creative writing text book, Short Circuit. She is a freelance writing teacher working with writers of all ages and abilities. She has been invited to lead workshops by The National Association of Writers in Education, by literary festivals, by universities, schools and writing groups. She has worked as Writer in Residence at Stockholm University, run week-long workshops on short fiction at Anam Cara Writers’ and Artists’ Retreat in Ireland, and will be leading a course on the novel later in 2012 in Austria, at The Vienna Writing Studio.
Read more about the event in Psychologies Magazine online 
June 13, 2012
Canada Water Library author event
details to be confirmed
Bloomsbury Institute: Jane Rusbridge and Vanessa Gebbie
Jane Rusbridge and Vanessa Gebbie. Details to be confirmed.
May 15, 2012
Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival 2012
Jane Rusbridge will be in conversation with writer and reviewer Isabel Costello when she returns to the Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival this September. Authors at the 2011 festival included: Raymond Blanc, Esther Freud, Peter Snow, Edna O’Brien, Diana Athill, Martin Sixsmith, Nicholas Parsons, Andrew Morton, Peter Sissons, David Aaronovitch, Barbara Taylor Bradford and Daisy Waugh.
This year, Jane will be talking about her creative process and introduce the stories behind her mesmerising second novel, Rook , one of 9 launch titles this year from exciting new imprint, Bloomsbury Circus . Rook is a novel steeped in history and place, set in the ancient Sussex village of Bosham where Cnut is said to have proved even he could not turn back the tide.
Now established as an important addition to London’s literary calendar, the fourth Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival will be taking place once again at Ivy House, former home of prima ballerina Anna Pavlova, from 9-11th September.
Bookings will open online on 1st July at www.hamhighlitfest.com
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