Coastline is an irresisitible lure to line-up of writers

Sue Lawley – Western Morning News 15.08.2009

Budleigh Salterton, one of the jewels of Britain’s only World Heritage Site, sits on a coastline of great beauty which dates back 180 million years. But now its worldwide reputation may come to depend on something more than its splendid situation – its taste for literature.

Our coastline may be Jurassic – but Budleigh Salterton’s first literary festival, to be staged this autumn, is very much of the 21st century. We’ve called it Writing By The Sea – a notion that a lot of people appear to find attractive. Not least, I’m delighted to say, a number of talented writers who’ve accepted our invitation to attend.

The list is enough to make any bookworm squirm with delight – from crime-writer Val McDermid, author of Wire In The Blood, to Michael Morpurgo, the former Children’s Laureate; from Simon Brett, creator of Radio 4’s After Henry, to Sarah Harrison, who’ll be telling us How To Write A Blockbuster.

Writers and poets have often made the link between the rise and fall of the sea and the rhythm of life. There’s an eternal quality to both as poet Matthew Arnold pointed out in Dover Beach: Listen! You hear the grating roar of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, At their return, up the high strand, Begin, and cease, and then again begin.

That’s often how it sounds in Budleigh Salterton. I spent a long time casting away writers to Radio 4’s mythical desert island and I have to say that most of them relished the idea of being alone on the shore with pen and paper as their luxury.

Of course as honorary president of this event, I have to do my bit too. So with my husband, Hugh Williams, and East Devon’s MP, Hugo Swire, I’ll be appearing in a show called Old Thunder in which we will celebrate the life and work of Hilaire Belloc.

He didn’t actually have a lot to do with East Devon – he was a Sussex man – but he’s a writer we think deserves more attention today.

We’ll be reflecting on the lives of our local literary greats too. Adolphus Trollope, Anthony’s writing brother, ended his days in the town. Actually, he lived in the street where Hugh and I have a house – and, we think, entertained Charles Dickens’s mistress there. The biographer Pamela Neville-Sington will be telling us more about the life and times of this extraordinary family.

Oh yes, like all busy towns, Budleigh Salterton has its scandals and romance. To set up a successful literary festival, three qualities are vital. You need vision to have the idea in the first place. You need courage to follow it through. And you need the ability to work very hard on unglamorous, unrewarding and often unrecognised jobs. In Budleigh Salterton we seem to have an endless supply of people to meet these challenges. It’s one of the most rewarding aspects of being part of a festival like this: tapping into community spirit and finding it strong, rich and talented.

As with most “first-evers”, this has been – still is – something of a leap of faith. But we’re daring to hope that the whole weekend will be one not only of words but of wit and well-being too. But perhaps the greatest star will be the East Devon coastline and countryside – and the quiet attractions of Budleigh Salterton itself. Together they provide the inspiration to make us all want to read, to listen, or to write, by the sea.

The festival starts on Saturday, September 5 with a pre-festival event at which Michael Morpurgo will read from and discuss his work. The rest of our cast will be in Budleigh from Friday to Sunday, September 18-20.

More details and tickets are available now at the Budleigh Salterton Tourist Information Centre (01395 445275).