To Charlotte Square Gardens, where two youngish authors discuss their new books ‘Twenty-One Locks’ and ‘Beauty’ respectively. Clear reading of passages made one remember the thrill of being read aloud to, and invigorating discussions of the future of the printed word and that fact that Wolverhampton and Wigan, such dour places, inspired them made for an entertaining Q&A. Selbourne reveals that he reads no contemporary authors, preferring the old classics to inform his book in which a young girl comes to England from the Middle East. I was persuaded to buy Beauty for my mum. Barton revealed that it took her husband, music journalist Paul MacInnes, a while to read her book, as he feared the male antagonists would be close to him. Hear the interview I carried out with her, some points of which she iterated in the Q&A, on the site soon. It will be interesting to track the careers of these two talents.
