Dining With The Stars

There is powerful pressure operating on authors, who are essentially private people, to become public figures, and this phenomenon is nowhere more observable than at a Literary Festival.

The recently-held Fairway Galle Literary Festival provided many examples of this, and this Festival was remarkable in that most of the authors held the middle ground with forcefulness, equanimity and grace. The authors were being made available to us in several forms: via public solo performances 'Thinking Out Loud', via conversation-style public chats 'Duets', and Literary Lunches, Dinners and 'Private Affairs' (lunches for authors held at private homes in Galle, but which are available to ticket-buyers).

 While the majority of authors were witty, eloquent and enthusiastic, some were clearly jet-lagged, one or two were grumpy, grudging and ungenerous with themselves, and the schism between public and private showed too clearly at their reluctance to move around and talk to everyone, or even break out a smile, at events for which their fellow guests were paying a baseline Rs. 6,500 per plate, and had been promised a more intimate experience of them, but this was human, and ultimately understandable. The guardian angels protecting authors' rights to privacy were vigilant, ably supported by the volunteers in bright blue shirts.

It is the luck of the draw at these occasions as to where you are seated in relation to the celebrity author, so if the author just sits where they are placed all afternoon or night, getting up only to read out extracts from their books or answer questions at a podium, the majority of guests have no real access to the object of their admiration at all. It takes some brio to approach a person you don't even know to say hello, and compliment them on their award-winning work. Fortunately, empowered by the illusion of intimate access in exchange for rupees paid, and the 'get what you pay for' ethos of contemporary commercialism, the brief window of opportunity provided by these events was taken advantage of by many.

 Levels of access to the authors were graded in economic tiers, so that if you saw them in the Hall de Galle, in a big crowd, it was Rs. 1000, sitting in plastic bucket chairs, at a more intimate venue such as a Poetry Reading or a Workshop it was Rs. 2000 to 4000, and for Lunch or Dinner you pay between 6,500 and 8,000, where the chairs are far more comfortable, and a three course meal is served. If the author is creative, generous and open, the Workshops are great opportunities to see how they work, and be granted access to their creative skills and techniques and insights into literature. You have a real experience of being mentored. But it takes an exceptionally giving author to share themselves at a Literary Lunch or Dinner.

 The authors are private people, of course; but they are also professionals on a public engagement, their accommodation and travel paid for by the event organisers. So they are in a real sense expected to perform, to sing for their supper. Or, in this case, to read and think and emote out loud at our supper.

 They are serious writers, and not dilettantes. They earn their living from writing, and the public performances which showcase them at festivals like this are like actors putting on their glad rags and gorgeous gowns to attend the celebrity-studded gala events which draw attention to the actual work they do. The quality of the written work they actually produce may not suit everyone's taste. The polished (or unpolished) accents of the authors and the moderators and presenters at these events are often criticised. But they show up because it is important that creative people find their form of expression, and that other people listen, read, appreciate and feel inspired or repelled to respond to that expression, each in their own way.

Artists are often accused of pretentiousness, and posturing. The excessive use of superlatives in the introductions and biodata for the authors in this Festival was said by several people to be unnecessary: real quality of work should speak for itself. But this excess was not so much generated by the writers but those who were showcasing them, creating the buzz, the low vibrant hum that intensifies to a crescendo at every successful event.

 There seems to be a particular way of speaking about authors and arts-related events that is adopted: no low modal or understated adjective is used if a high modal one can be substituted for it. The writers are without exception described as 'brilliant' and 'renowned', their work as 'astonishing' and 'riveting'. The attendees speak of what they have witnessed as 'superb' or 'phenomenal'. All the hyperbole collides off every speaker of it, like dodgem cars, reverberating, and because it is continually reinforced it cumulatively drains the reader/listener/lunch and dinner-goer, after a while. All the breathy exclamations start to meld into a sort of one-hued vapour which sucks the oxygen out of the January air.

Several of the writers commented on the hard work they do, the meticulous research involved, the arduous labour of putting pen to paper and hand to keyboard, virtually every day. They clearly spend a lot of time alone, thinking through their plots and dialogue and settings, and above all their characters and the voices in which those characters speak. Lots and lots of alone time is required.

 But future writers, for future events, some advice: when in public, engage with the public. There is a time to be solitary, and a time to merge with the hive mind which does the effortful work of reading and thinking about what you write. It may be an ordeal, but try not to let that show, if possible, to the admiring multitudes whose admiration supports your literary life.

Feast Of Reason, Flow Of Soul

Published in the UTS Alumni publication 2017

In the second year of its revival, the Galle Literary Festival in 2017 is structured in such a way that it is fluid, focused and flowing. It feels like a bright stream of literature, conversation and joyousness, and it feels self-renewing. By this, I mean that even the non-attendance of Margaret Drabble and Dinah Jeffries did not give its expansiveness much pause. This festival's celebration of literature and creativity now has an exuberance and generates an atmosphere of goodwill which is independent  of individual 'big names' or celebrity figures, and is more inclusive of a range of interests and levels of literary engagement than ever before. 

The administrative team, with its volunteers in bright blue shirts, and its tough, courteous and patient young desk staff, has perfected the challenge of dealing with difficult customers: those wanting to change, refund or cash in their tickets, those wanting to attend events which they had only just discovered were on, those unaware of the complexities offered by the myriad options of events, and trying to sample everything, as if at a smorgasbord or a buffet, with all possibilities arrayed before them. 

The town of Galle seems somehow gentler, calmer, and more accessible this year. Perhaps it is because, knowing that there would be a great demand for accommodation during the 4-5 days of the Festival, we booked our rooms several months in advance, right in the centre of town: walking distance to all the venues. This year, the organisers had included a map of the town, with all the venues located on it, which could be easily downloaded and printed before arrival.

The events are packed. Ranging from the public events at the Hall de Galle and the Maritime Museum, to the Literary Lunches and Dinners, at various old houses which have been converted into boutique hotels, where numbers are limited, it is a perfect fusion of financial jackpot and aesthetic sweet spot: every attendee can choose to see and hear an author talk about their work and literature in general either in a big venue, solo in 'Thinking Out Loud', or in conversation with another author in a 'Duet', or in a more private setting at a Literary Dinner or lunch, where there is an opportunity to meet each author personally. All these events are priced in gradation, so for Rs. 1000 you can hear an author present their work and give insight into their ideas and working process, for around Rs. 3,500 you can attend a 2 hour Workshop where an author communicates their skills and craftsmanship to creative writers, and for Rs. 6,500 to 8,000 you can dine with them. 

Then there is the small town structure of Galle, where the venues are within walking distance of each other, and the old Dutch buildings of honeycomb-coloured stone, and tiny paved streets make it easy to venture and roam. One of the loveliest aspects of Galle is that the Festival takes place in the heart of the fortified town, amidst the everyday lives of the local citizens, who are selling jewels and hand-made lace, going to school, receiving speeding tickets, going to work, having coffee and hot snacks in convenient architectural interstices amidst the droves of literary querents and questors. Men sit at corners in plastic bucket chairs apparently with plenty of time on their hands to give directions to confused, would-be intrepid travellers. I wondered briefly if they were being sponsored by the Heritage City, or performing their service out of good will and habit. 

         My guest house has a rooftop room, reached by 5 flights of steep steps -reminiscent of Sri Pada, and best ascended shoeless. The room has tiny windows on every side, overlooking the rooftops of Pedlar Street. Opening them in the morning, you hear the birdsongs, and the Tuk Tuks, the town waking up, light airplanes droning in the sky above the sea which is just outside the realm of vision, glimpsed through the faded orange, clay-tiled sloping roofs. The araliya trees are in lustrous gold and white full bloom just two metres from the verdigris stained window handles, and their stunning fragrance rushes in, without knocking, as soon as the windows are opened, and the breezes commence their orchestrated sequences. 

The wonderful Soul Sounds choral group sang a vibrant programme last night at the Fairway Pavilion, full-voiced and bejewelled in gorgeous green sarees, and blue and white billowing silk caftans: a medley of traditional Sri Lankan folk songs, and some powerful gospel songs and popular hits. They gave opportunity to several of their members to sing solos, and take the lead in singing different songs, and were clearly enjoying themselves hugely. Their blasts of vocal joyfulness and vitality were lyrically accompanied by the artistic drawings in real time projected onto a screen by the artist Reinhard Kleist, whose rapid pen sketches projected onto a large screen on the stage reflected the themes of the songs most fluidly. 

The Chamber Music Society will perform a classical repertoire in the Dutch Reformed Church on the last night of the Festival. No need to attend any dinner after that - the music itself will fill our every need for sensory attunement, and accentuation. 

Books glossy and glorious are being bought like boxes of chocolates and sweets, and lucky winners find tokens for a free book under their chairs in the halls. The Lit Cafe has colourful lanterns hanging from the trees and comfortable sofa chairs, and there is pro bono tea provision going on all around us, adding to the carnival atmosphere. People drive fun cars - jalopies and charabancs - sports cars with removable roofs from Colombo to Galle especially for the days away from the work schedule. 

This year, there is an entire Sinhala Day programme on Saturday at The Maritime Museum, and a Children's Programme at which children can learn to love reading by meeting authors, engaging with books in a fun atmosphere, and collaborating in fun activities that will associate reading with pleasure for them from a young age. 

The Literary Festival is not only a thing, it has become THE thing with which to begin the calendar year. The setting, in the old seaside heritage town, the relaxed and cheerful atmosphere, the accessibility and the variety of events, the buzzing and squawking three wheelers, the discussion of writing and the civilised arts, focuses us on joy and created beauty in the year ahead.

It is appropriate that Fairway Holdings, the main financial underwriter of the Festival, is a building and construction company. Their business presence is far more evident this year, with prominent advertisements mounted around the central venues, highlighting their buildings and apartments, and even a scale model of their high-rise plans for Colombo located at the entrance to the Fairway Pavilion, where the winner/s of the Fairway Literary Award will be announced later today. 

Creation is at its heart a constructive activity, both in words and pictures, and in stone. The Galle Literary Festival is a celebration of that spirit of constructiveness. In 2017 it seems joyfully here to stay.