22 | March 20, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News

WE had a quick-fire chat with creativewriting tutor and Cambridgeshire basedwriter Jill Dawson (author of Fred and Edie,Watch Me Disappear and Lucky Bunny).

Can you tell us about your new book, TheTell-Tale Heart?The Tell-Tale Heart is the story of three men:Patrick, a 50-year-old womaniser, academicand drinker who receives a new heart intransplant surgery; the heart donor, Drew,a Fenland teenager in love with his teacher;and Willie Beamiss, one of the Littleportrioters of the 19th century and Drew’sancestor.What made you want to write this story?I always wanted to write about the Littleportrioters and the rest of the novel has beenin my mind for a long time, too. I watcheda documentary years ago that stuck in mymind. It was about cellular memory (theidea that other organs in the body mightcarry memories and traces of personality).What stayed with me was the scene wherethe transplant recipient meets the motherof his donor and the mother asks to hearher son’s heartbeat in his chest. It was anextraordinary scene and very moving.It’s set in rural Cambridgeshire – what do youfind so inspiring about living here?I love this part of the world though I didn’tgrow up here. I find it absolutely fascinatingand quite unlike anywhere else in England.We moved here about 13 yearsago to build our house (I have toadmit I had nothing whatsoeverto do with the building of it,my husband is the architect),and I fell under its spell. I thinkpeople either find it boring,oppressive, flat and featureless(“one big nothing” as GrahamSwift famously called it), or,like me, they really adore it:the big skies and low horizonsand sense of space. YesterdayI was standing in the kitchenand watched a heron fly

over with a beak as long andfine as a newly-shaved pencil –mesmerising.What’s the No 1 tip you always

give your creative writingstudents?Is the writing you’ve done aliveor dead? That’s what you need toknow.

What are you currentlyworking on?I’m just about to start a new novel,

set in Suffolk in the 60s and I’m still at theresearching stage.

What are you reading at the moment?I am reading and enjoying very much SallyCline’s biography of Dash Hammett, thehard-boiled fiction writer and author of TheMaltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett: Man ofMystery). I’m very much looking forward toseeing the film again and hearing Sally Clinetalk about the book and Hammett’s life atthe Cambridge Literary Festival (Saturday,April 5 at 3pm).

WHETHER you grew up readingDouble Act and The Illustrated Mum,sobbed over Vicky Angel and learnedabout boys thanks to Girls in Love;or have children poring over theadventures of Tracy Beaker and HettyFeather, Jacqueline Wilson is a literarylegend.

Currently in the middle of writingher 100th book, she’s the star name onthe festival’s children’s programme.

“I love coming to Cambridge,” she

explains, genuinely enthusiastic.“Partly because Cambridge is awonderful place, partly because I’mnow being made an honorary fellowof Corpus Christie which is a hugehonour, and best of all, my daughter

lives in Cambridge so it’s anotherexcuse to see her too.”

Wilson will be discussing herlatest cat and dog anthology,Paws and Whiskers, and saysthat one of her favourite thingsabout being an author is meetingher readers: “when, with eyesshining, they tell me just howmuch they love this or that story, youcan’t help but feel that’s a wonderfulfeeling.”

The critical list: more hot tickets Follow us on Twitter@CamWhatsOn

Books

Cambridge Literary

� Joanna Trollope:Cambridge LiteraryFestival, UnionChamber, Friday,April 4 at 5.30pm.Tickets £11from (01223)300085 /adcticketing.com

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Jacqueline Wilson� Meet Jacqueline Wilson: CambridgeLiterary Festival, Union Chamber, Sunday,April 6 at 2.30pm. Tickets £7 from (01223)300085 / adcticketing.com

Jill Dawson� Lunchtime withRachel Joyce & JillDawson: CambridgeLiterary Festival, UnionChamber, Friday, April 4at 1pm. Tickets £6-£8from (01223) 300085 /adcticketing.com

Get 2-for-1tickets to seeRachel Joyce andJill Dawson, and

Joanna Trollope. Whenbooking online or on

the phone, quoteCLF2014RJ orCLF2014JT. Thecodes are casesensitive.

As we gear up for this spring’s Cambridge Literary Festival (April 1-6), ELLA WALKER and HANNAH STEPHENSONtalk to some of the shining female authors preparing to speak during the week long books extravaganzaPS: Read our interview with Man Booker-long listed author Charlotte Mendelson at cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson

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