Festival Director of Cambridge Wordfest

Cathy Moore, the First Lady of Cambridge book festivals, chatted to Agenda about Winter Wordfest, local bookshops and what she really thinks about e-readers.

Q: What’s new at Winter Wordfest?

A: This is the fourth Winter Wordfest and we’ve always had one day and one venue but this year we have two venues, the ADC and the Winstanley Lecture Theatre, part of Trinity College. It’s close to the ADC so it’s easy for people to walk from one venue to another. We’ve also increased the number of events to almost double the amount compared with Winter Wordfest last year so we’re very busy!

Q: What sort of events can people expect?

A: There will be intimate readings, debates, ‘In conversation with’ events, some will be lecture style, so a real variety on offer. The ADC seats 230 and we expect many things to be sold out, but we like to use intimate venues and feel that it’s preferable to be close enough to see an author’s features when they are talking.


Q: How has Wordfest evolved over the years?

A: We’ve got much bigger. We started with about 800 people attending the first ever Wordfest and now we have about 75 events a year and an annual audience of nearly 10,000 people.

Q: Which event are you most excited about at this year’s Winter Wordfest and why?

A: It’s obviously really hard to say as I have this wonderful cherry-picking job where I can see what’s out there and say ‘yes please – I’d like that and that and that,’ so my cup runs over. One thing I’m hugely pleased about is the first event on Sunday morning, Peter Popham’s biography of Aung San Suu Kyi. She is an amazing woman comparable with Nelson Mandela so I think that will be a fascinating discussion.

Q: What current issues and hot topics can people expect to crop up?

A: The main one is education. Melissa Benn, daughter of Tony Benn, is coming to talk about her book School Wars, The Battle For Britain’s Education. Education is a great one for getting people’s hackles up. Since the coalition has come in, with the policies they are trying to put in place, it has really raised the temperature on the education debate.

Q: What book do you have by your bed at the moment?

A: Collected Short Stories of Katherine Mansfield. I’ve only got as far as the introduction which is by Ali Smith, who’s amazing and who refers to Katherine Mansfield’s stories as ‘the opposite of inadvertent,,’ which beautifully encapsulates the stories of Katherine Mansfield and perfectly demonstrates Ali Smith’s

quiet cleverness.

Q: What book do you re-read most often and why do you
enjoy it?

A: The only book I’ve ever re-read is Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson because her writing is lyrical and inventive. I don’t generally re-read. In my dotage I might revisit books I’ve enjoyed and read in a more leisurely way, but for now there are so many new books out there to discover.

Q: What do you think of e-readers and the fashion for reading on tablet computers?

A: I’m a bit of a Luddite and I’m very much a supporter of the book. I would never contemplate reading a book on an e-reader. I like the feel and look of a book and it seems like a curiosity to me to read off a computer screen. I was in a hotel recently ordering dinner and we were given the wine list on an iPad! 
The technology is here to stay and that can only be a good 
thing if it makes it easier for people to read or encourages them, so it’s not a bad thing but we all have to choose our own preferred medium.

Q: What do you think about the lack of independent bookshops

in Cambridge?

A: Heffers and Waterstones are both good shops of their kind but I think it would be wonderful for Cambridge to have a genuinely independent bookshop that reflected the books that the Cambridge population wants
to read.