As we manoeuvred our way through the throngs of crowds on site, Paul Blezard, turned to me and said, 'you see there's something I like about the way people are dressing today, when you see more knees, then you know the weather is good.' It's been a sunny morning.
I read some of my short stories in the company of Owen Sheers at the Literature in Wales stand. We were celebrating the Welsh/Zimbabwe link. Also present was Peter Finch, the Academi chief executive and my Zimbabwean publisher, Jane Morris of ama'Books.
It was a dream come true to find myself in the company of the great African novelist, Ngugi, who gave a rousing talk about his latest creative project Wizard of Crow. He described the book as a 'summary of the post-colonial dictatorships in Third World countries.' On stage with him was young Nigerian writer Helon Habila who is growing in confidence with every book. His latest novel, Measuring Time, has been by Jim Crace as 'elegant, heartfelt and commanding.'
I had a chat with Ngugi before his talk. When I told him I was living in Wales, he wanted to know if I could speak Welsh. I told him, not quite. I know some basic Welsh. He said teach me. I laughed. He was serious. We rehearsed all the little Welsh vocabulary I know. Then, he walked on stage and said 'Bore da!' to the delight of the audience. It was only 1pm. Bore da means Good Morning. Hours later we met and this time he was holding a small shiny black booklet with red print on the front cover. He wondered if we could steal some minutes from my schedule. I said yes of course. This was the time of a life time. The booklet was Street Welsh Phrase Book and Ngugi wanted me to teach him Welsh accents. Talk of the blind leading the blind.
Does listening to an author talk about their writing increase book sales? I talked to Di Blunt, one of the Hay on Wye booksellers who aptly summarised my query. "We sell more books if an author give's a good talk. If a good author doesn't give a good talk they don't sell at all," she explained.
The night was bright.
