Dates for the Diary

Two events next week. On Thursday 14 May, 2.30 pm in Fowey Town Hall, I will be speaking at the Daphne du Maurier Festival on the topic of 'Golding and War'. William Golding served as a naval officer during the Second World War, and was involved in the Atlantic convoys, the sinking of the Bismarck, the invasion of Walcheren, and the Normandy landings. The First World War also left its mark. Some of his earliest memories were of wartime incidents in the bay at his home town, Newquay. He claimed to have seen the sinking of a U-boat, although he wondered in later life how much was the work of imagination rather than memory. The significance of war in Golding's fiction can be gauged from the fact that six of his twelve novels are set during one war or another.

On Saturday 16 May at St Andrew's Church Centre, Churchdown (near Gloucester), the Gurney Society holds its annual meeting. The AGM begins at noon, and there are talks by Richard Emeny, Richard Carder and Pamela Blevins from 2pm, followed by a song recital at 3.30. Pam Blevins will be signing copies of her book from 4.30pm.