Thursday, September 25, 2008

Things I wish I had said to Janice Galloway -



1) Anything sensible rather than the breathless, gushy nonsense I babbled at her!

(Ha ha)

Okay, I was a little nervous. The more I thought about it the more I realised that of my revered three (Galloway, Lorrie Moore, Ali Smith) Galloway is the writer who I have respected, admired, and aspired to, for the longest, with an unwavering belief that she really does write the best prose of anyone. She is concise, precise, smart, never sentimental, never baggy or saggy. So, y'know, she rocks. And I honestly get a kick out of recommending her books to others, so that they get to read writing of such quality. It occurred to me that I could meet her and dislike her. It happens right? Your hero up there on a pedestal turns out to be an utter arse. I wondered (because I am the type of person to waste time fretting about things that have not yet happened) if I would still heartily recommend her books. I figured I would, because the writing is what counts, not the person.

Didn't need to worry at all, she was lovely, and very kind to me. She even gifted me a copy of "Rosengarten" which I am delighted by. She looked amazing, read beautifully, answered questions, and asked a couple herself. She was funny and warm, and the extracts she read from "This is not about me" sounded fabulous. I'm very much looking forward to getting stuck into it.

Hurray!

5 comments:

pierre l said...

Thank you to Sara for organising a wonderful evening, and to Ms Galloway for being so lovely (and what a great accent).

Anonymous said...

What a fantastique outfit! Sounds like a fab time was had. Well done m'lady! I must say, This Is Not About Me, does look really good.

Unknown said...

Pierre! It seems that you have had a very busy week as I have just read at Sarah Salway's blog that you were at the Salt readings too.

It was a good event I think, though there were fewer people than Ms Galloway should have had.

Kellie - I know! Amazing outfit. The book looks superb doesn't it. Can't wait to tuck in.

pierre l said...

It was indeed an unusually busy week. I was actually at Caroline Smailes book launch, but Sarah had been to two events that evening (and met Tania Hershman, lucky Sarah).
I am sorry that you didn't have more people, but I'm sure the ones who came were very pleased with their evening, as I was.

Unknown said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it pierre. I certainly did!

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