If you know me, you'll know how I always dreamed of being a writer (still do and I will get that book finished one day!). In fact a few years ago I lived and breathed one story in particular and I was determined to complete it and get it published, but then my passion for photography kind of took over everything and my unfinished manuscripts and note books are all tidied away until I get some free time. But there is one thing that links me back to that time and that I think of so fondly. It hangs to the right of my computer screen and I look at it every day.
That precious item is my Cheltenham Literature Festival Volunteer pass. Let me explain.
I first heard about the Cheltenham Literature Festival when it's 2006 programme arrived on my doorstep. My jaw dropped when I opened it up and saw that there was to be two whole weeks devoted to literature with authors from all over the world coming to talk about their books in front of thousands of people. And when I say authors, I include actors, explorers, gardeners, artists, designers, comedians, poets, politicians and musicians...if you were releasing a book in 2006 you were going to be at it. What drew me most especially were the authors who wrote for the teen market, which was who I was aiming my book towards at the time, so I knew I HAD to be there to hear them speak.
My only problem was that I was broke and could not afford to go to hear all the authors I wanted to and afford to stay in Cheltenham. What they did need though were volunteers...
The Cheltenham Lit Festival prides itself on the fact that most of it's 'staff' for those two mad and gloriously hectic weeks are volunteers. They give you free food, a bed to sleep in and access to all the author events that you could dream of...but you'd be 'working' at the same time! And so, I found myself headed to Cheltenham, being thrown in at the deep end with lots of literature enthusiasts who gave up two weeks of their time to get the chance to be involved. We helped build stages, put together furniture and marquees, I vividly remember being handed black material and a staple gun and being told to cover a wall and make curtains (a very very funny experience ending up with the best curtains you've ever seen ;) We were shown how to be stage hands and how to set up the stage for each new event and each author/speakers requirements and there was even the possibility of dressing up as Spot for the afternoon (thankfully I was too tall for the suit!) and don't even get me started on caging up the woolly mammoth every evening but you would have had to have been there to have witnessed it...
We would wake at 7, be at the main hall for 8, fight for the events that we really really wanted to be at, and grumble at the ones you really didn't - on one such event I almost fell asleep in front of the author! - If you weren't from Cheltenham then basically you had no excuse not to be there and lending a hand so you wouldn't be getting into bed till around 1am but funnily enough, I really don't remember complaining, it was just such an amazing experience and you really didn't want to miss a moment of it.
One such event that I really wanted to volunteer on was Frank McCourt. Thankfully my hand was up the fastest and to my even better luck I got the role of first microphone. If you were first microphone you got to set up the event which meant that not only did you get to be introduced to the author in his sound check but you also got to be the person who helped them off the stage, take them to the book signing event and be with them for as long as they needed you. Not only that, but to get to the book signing was a 5 minute walk and you had the opportunity (if it presented itself and there was no-one else taking their attention) to talk to the author during that walk. You can always tell what your chances are when they get introduced to you at the sound check and when Rob said, 'Frank, I'd like to meet Carly, she'll be looking after you,' Frank came over, gave me a big smile, shook my hand and said a warm hello! I couldn't wait. His event was completely sold out and I was in the front row!!
So after the event, I met him at the bottom of the stairs of the stage and took him out the side door. His interviewee said it was lovely to chat to him and then said goodbye and it was then that I realised that it was only me and Frank McCourt at the front on the walk to the book signing tent (with all the audience fast approaching). When he heard my accent and that I was from Northern Ireland he chatted away about the places he'd visited to and I remember him calling over to one of his assistants, telling them where I was from! He asked what on earth was I doing over in Cheltenham and was I a literature student and I said no, I was a pottery assistant but I loved to write! He was just lovely. When we reached the book signing I got him seated I asked if he wanted a drink, went and got it, and came back to look after the very long queue of waiting fans. You always had to tell them to get their books ready on the first page to have them signed lol! But he was lovely to each and evey person throughout, one lady even brought him a beer! Usually you'd leave towards the end, but he was so lovely that I was happy to stay and at the end when everyone else had left I got my own book signed. I then said my goodbyes and he stood up and shook my hand, gave me a wink and told me it was a pleasure to meet me. I met a lot of people over those two weeks and you'd be surprised at the amount of people who practically ignored you, so to have that experience with an author I admired was absolutely fantastic and an experience I will never forget.
I was very shocked to hear of his death yesterday evening and I am sure I am only one of many who will all say what an unbelievable character he was, only if I had the chance to witness it for a few brief hours.
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