Ipswich Arts Association Town Lectures and Concerts – ‘Telling Tales’

On Thursday 14th May an audience that included many SBL members gathered at Museum Street Methodist Church to hear Brian Morron deliver a Town Lecture, sharing memories and anecdotes of his time at Suffolk Book League (SBL) as Chair from 1999-2016, having been Deputy Chair previously.

Brian reminded us that SBL has been around since 1982, when it was established as the first branch of the National Book League. In the event, it was also the only branch, but it has continued to thrive and has retained the original name. Dame Margaret Drabble, a founder member, is Honorary President. The mission at the outset was to encourage reading and to support reading related charities; this mission continues to be honoured.

Brian reminded us of the many authors who have visited SBL over the years. One of the earliest was Ronald Blythe, who returned many times. We were shown a copy of a letter he sent to our own Jean Hill, who used to give him a lift.

Other notable authors were P. D. James, who entertained the audience by telling them how to commit the perfect murder. She was in her 80s as were a number of other women authors, including Penelope Fitzgerald in 1995 and Diana Athill aged 87. Doris Lessing visited aged 85 on a cold February evening. She was collected by Brian and Jacquie Knott and her chief request was that she could have Suffolk ham and chips for dinner.

Elizabeth Jane Howard came in January 2003. She was at the time living in Bungay. It snowed and the snow settled but she was still happy to come. Brian drove to Bungay and back, enjoying excellent conversation on the way.

Many writers came more than once, including Alexander McCall Smith. Brian was host on the second occasion and discovered afterwards that his microphone had not worked. Hilary Mantel first came in 1994, when Brian discovered that her time at the London School of Economics overlapped with his. When she returned sixteen years later, after the publication of Wolf Hall, the event was very much oversubscribed.

There were adventures along the way. Brian Keenan came to talk about An Evil Cradling, an account of his four and a half year incarceration in Beirut. He was collected at Stansted by Brian. During the evening Brian described his most frightening experience ever – being driven the wrong way round a one way system by Brian.

Eleanor Bron demanded a bar stool for her visit and had set an alarm to ensure the interview ended after 45 minutes. Helen Dunmore came a day early and Elspeth Barker didn’t turn up at all. She forgot! But, despite mishaps along the way Brian thoroughly enjoyed his time as Chair of SBL and we certainly enjoyed hearing his anecdotes.

Dymphna Crowe