26 members recommend for September
‘My Trade: A Short History Of British Journalism’ by Andrew Marr (Pan Books £7.99 list or Amazon £3.99)
An engaging hybrid of autobiography, history and insider perspective from the BBC’s outgoing political editor. Andrew Marr takes us through his eventful career and the evolution of Fleet Street at an entertaining canter. There are real insights among the anecdotes, and its good humour is always laced with incisiveness. Note the clever cropping of his famous ears on the cover.
JD......................................
http://www.authortracker.comFor those with more obscure tastes than JK Rowling, this ultra-handy web site lets you know when new material by your favourite authors is due to be released. Just sign up and you’ll get an email two weeks before the book’s due to be published, plus details of promotional tours. One minor gripe – the site is sponsored by Harper Collins, so watch out for a slight bias.
JD......................................
http://tenbyten.orgA hundred words and a hundred images that define each hour of each day. Every hour 10X10 scans the RSS feeds of Reuters, BBC World Edition and New York Times International News to create a telling visual and verbal tableau of the international social and political landscape. Is it art or is it news?
JD......................................
‘Dr Johnson’s Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story Of The Book That Defined The World’ by Henry Hitchings (John Murray, £14.99 list or £10.49 on Amazon)A highly readable account of the good doctor’s epic struggle with the English language. The birth of the dictionary is obviously the main story, but the sections on Johnson himself are equally engaging. ‘A delightful book about an extraordinary man’ (according to the rather less extraordinary John Humphries).
RH......................................
‘The Writer’s Voice’ by Al Alvarez (Bloomsbury £12.99 list or £8.44 on Amazon)
Never quite gets stuck into the sort of tone of voice issues 26 folks deal with, but it's interesting stuff all the same. Half a dissection of the author’s role, half literacy criticism, Alvarez argues that voice is distinct from style and is the source of a writer’s greatness. Enjoy.
RH......................................
‘Cloud Atlas’ by David Mitchell (Sceptre 7.99 list or £6.39 on Amazon)
Shortlisted for last year’s Booker Prize, and somehow failed to win. Take it, if you like, as an exercise in creating a different tone of voice for six different characters. But consider that each character lives in different times, ranging from the 19th century to the near past to the unspecified future. Each story is riveting, each is subtly connected. Put them all together and it’s a wonderful, profound book.
JS
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‘Down And Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance And The Rise Of Independent Film’ by Peter Biskind (Bloomsbury £8.99 or £7.19 on Amazon)
Fascinating story of the rise of ‘indie’ film production in the 1990s from a journalist who is controversial in Hollywood, but loved by readers. Biskind tells how the Weinstein brothers beat the studios at their own game, picking up new directors from Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival and winning Oscars with them. It’s also interesting to see how these ‘outsiders’ quickly became part of the establishment with their ill-fated sell-out to Disney
. MB
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This month’s plugs by Jim Davies, Roger Horberry, John Simmons, Matthew Blackbourn and Tim Rich. These are not necessarily the views of 26, but we hope they’re not far off the mark. Any contributions gratefully received.
26 members recommend...
‘Sideways’ on DVD (Fox Searchlight,
Amazon £12.99)
Deftly written, this hilarious yet poignant variation on a road movie sees Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) get into a series of scrapes on a wine-tasting tour of California the week before Jack’s wedding. Giamatto puts in a delightfully lugubrious performance as a struggling novelist with a taste for Pinot Noir. Lashings of fine wine, middle-aged angst and the trials of getting your manuscript published... subjects close to the heart of many 26-ers.
JD...................................
‘The Clumsiest People In Europe: Or, Mrs Mortimer’s Bad-Tempered Guide To The Victorian World’ by Todd Pruzan and Mrs Favell Lee Mortimer (Bloomsbury,
£10.29 on Amazon)
Fabulously funny book in which American editor and writer Pruzan shares his fascination with Mrs Mortimer, the Victorian children’s book writer. She wrote rabidly insulting travel guides such as ‘The Countries Of Europe Described’ without venturing further than the English coast. ‘...The Spaniards are not only idle, they are very cruel,’ opined Mrs M. ‘Though the Welsh are not very clean, they make their cottages clean by white-washing them...’ ‘Nothing useful is well done in Sweden.’ And much worse. A hilarious and deftly handled study of peevishness and xenophobia. Great holiday reading.
TR...................................
Email disclaimersSick of the legalese, veiled threats and authoritarian paranoia attached to the emails you get from anyone working at a large business? It’s not your friendly employee-friend who is responsible – the disclaimers get attached automatically to every email that’s sent, it seems. What a great opportunity for a big corporate to differentiate itself. While we wait for that to happen, here are some awards for laughably mad disclaimers.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/05/18/readers_letters_the_email_disclaimer/ TR
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‘The White Stuff’ by Simon Armitage (Penguin, list price £7.99,
Amazon £6.39)
26 favourite Simon Armitage’s second novel is out in paperback. The tale of a marriage at breaking point as a couple struggle to conceive a child, its narrative voice gracefully flits from the laddish banter of pubs and stag parties, to a more graceful internal prose used to highlight the male protagonist’s inner torment. Oh the angst of being a modern-day man.
JD...................................
‘Nouvelle Vague’ by Nouvelle Vague (Peacefrog,
£9.99 from Amazon)Reworkings of classics songs by the Clash, PiL, the Cure and the Specials, among others. And when I say reworkings, I mean reworkings. They’re sung by a couple of laid-back French chanteaux, in a kind of catchy, low-key, bossa nova meets easy-listening style. Quirky to say the least. And it goes to prove one thing – those raucous 80s anthems hid some fine lyrics and cracking tunes.
JD...................................
http://abecedaria.blogspot.comSuzanne McCarthy’s blog is, it says, “about keyboarding in diverse scripts, literacy and digital literacy”, which is a dull way to describe a fascinating bazaar of language-related insights, oddities and observations. Wonderful stuff on Cherokee and the alphabet, plus entertaining ruminations on letterforms and some seemingly profound stuff about the language of computer code that lost this visitor completely!
TR...................................
‘Dexter’s Laboratory’(Cartoon Network, every day, 6am-6.30am and 12.30pm-1pm or Cartoon Network + 7am-7.30am and 1.30pm-2pm)
How a typical suburban American family spawned a short, squat child genius with a Mittel-European accent and a secret, custom-made laboratory is left unanswered. But Genndy Tartakovsky’s superbly animated cartoon series certainly gives ‘The Simpsons’ a run for its money in the writing stakes, with quick-fire gags, infectious catchphrases, and canny cultural references. Not to mention the maddest, baddest theme tune on television.
JD...................................
http://www.cucumis.orgA new free online translation service. Become a member and get access to a community of translators. “Cucumis roughly translates as ‘Watermelon’ from Latin, a spherical fruit like the earth, full of vitality and happiness. With about 3000 spoken languages over the world, we hope this website will help us to get to know each other.” Lovely stuff.
TR
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http://www.weaselwords.com.auA site for people who have silently wept into a crumpled copy of their company's mission statement, for teachers who want to work in classrooms and not customer service points, and for all those who have been underpinned by an innovative, value adding, creative, sustainable, diverse and optimised framework.
TR
This month’s plugs by Jim Davies and Tim Rich. They aren’t necessarily the views of 26, but we hope they’re not too far off the mark. All contributions gratefully received.
Forthcoming events
Just to whet your appetite. Summer and autumn events will be focused around the London Design Festival, with an exhibition of posters and the book launch of From Here To Here (see above). But we thought we’d give you a taster of the kinds of things we had up our sleeves for the coming months...
The events team have been busy. We’ve already secured the services of Martin Firrell, an artist who produces words-based pieces in public spaces. Like till receipts and public toilets. Robbed of their usual context, Firell’s often provocative words take on totally different emphasis and meaning. We’ll let you know more as soon as we can.
We’re also in the throes of arranging talks on inspiration (as in where do you get it from?); how to get your manuscript published; ‘Wordsworth’ or what to pay for writing; the triumphant return of Paul Burke on writing for radio (after his previous technical glitches); scriptwriting; and more poetry readings…
A more social 26 gathering has been mooted too, though we’re still mulling over where, when and the most engaging format to lure you all away from the shackles of Microsoft Word.
As usual, we’re open to all your ideas, suggestions and opinions. And if you’d like to take the initiative and set a 26 event up yourself, please let us know and we’ll do everything we can to support you. Just get in touch at talktous@26.org.uk.
The circle is forming
Work continues on the Circle Line project. The book
‘From Here To Here’ is printed and will be in the shops soon. It was on the presses when the bombers struck London on 7 July. Fortunately we were just able to add a paragraph of dedication, explaining that the book had been written before the bombings. Some of the chapters have an added poignancy in the light of the events. The book itself is a great read, a celebration of London’s diversity through the writing of 31 authors and a photographer who are all members of 26, each responding to different places in London. Our thanks to all who took part. (See the book offer.)
As well as the book, watch out for ‘From Here To Here’ posters appearing on the Circle Line from 8 September onwards. The posters, based on each of the Circle Line stations, have been created by teams of 26 writers and design students from the London College of Communications. The posters are part of London Underground’s Platform for Art.
And get along if you can to the ‘From Here To Here’ exhibition at the London College of Communications, Elephant & Castle, from 15 September. A
big exhibition, featuring the work of our writers and designers, one of the highlights of this year’s London Design Festival.
Don’t miss the website either –
http://www.fromheretohere.com
An offer you could refuse...
…but you’d be missing out. One of the first benefits of our partnership with Cyan Books is that we can offer you some great deals on books. Two books just about to be published,
‘From Here To Here: Stories Inspired By London’s Circle Line’ and ‘26 Malts’, are now being offered as a pair to 26 members at a heavily discounted price. So have a wee dram to celebrate the money you save.
The books, featuring the work of (astonishingly) more than 80 members of 26, will be launched in August. Come along to the Edinburgh Book Festival on 15 August if you can. If you buy the books from a bookshop, you’ll get a couple of coppers change from £28. If you buy them direct from Cyan, stating 26 members’ offer, you will get them for only £20 (inc p&p in the UK). They’re beautiful books too.
Please contact sales@cyanbooks.com to place your order. Or send your cheque to ‘Cyan Communications Limited’, 119 Wardour Street, London W1F 0UW.
Free Sex And Chocolate
Review by Sarah McCartneyYou’ve got to admire the audacity of the Belfast furniture store owner who put up a poster headlined:
‘Sofa
kinggood’
But as Matt Wilson from the Advertising Standards Association told us, the complaints came in, so down it came. Matt took the title of his 26 talk (held in July at the October Gallery) from the three words most likely to attract our attention. Once he’d got us, he held his audience captive with a really useful talk about the ASA’s services, generously sprinkled with a series of outstandingly offensive (and some outrageously funny) ads to keep us all amused.
The ASA administers the UK’s advertising codes independently for the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) to protect customers and make advertising fair. As well as the mainstream mass media, direct marketing material, brochures and website banner ads come under the ASA’s remit. (Organisations’ own websites, like packaging, are handled by Trading Standards.)
Matt described some mailshots from what he called “the dark underbelly of advertising”: leaflets promising ‘free’ gifts but with multiple strings attached and a mailing from Damart stamped “Final Reminder” which implied that the receiver was defaulting on their payments. Distressed elderly people were worried about the postman telling their neighbours they were in debt. The writer should have taken into account the context and the likely audience.
Matt explained that the ASA measures “the offence threshold of the nation”; it’s not the volume of complaints received which gets an ad banned, but their validity. The ASA gets around 25-30,000 complaints a year – around 75% of these aren’t followed up because they are not breaking any rules. (Over a pint following the talk, Matt explained that my own personal unfavourite ad at the moment, the M&S food ad “this is not just smoked salmon…” etc… could not be banned just because it irritates the hell out of me. Shame.) The regulations are complicated and many fine lines are drawn, but the traditional “legal, decent, honest and truthful” guidelines still apply.
26 members all reached for their pencils when Matt told us about the pre-checking service for advertising and marketing copy. Both the
ASA website and the
CAP site have a store of free advice; if in doubt, go there first. It was reassuring to see examples of ads which were permitted to run, despite their potential to cause offence to some. We were told a cautionary tale of the ad agency which checked first, was advised against, went with it anyway then got fired when their ad was banned, but we won’t say who it was.
26 thanks to Matt for a great evening.
26 to the power of three
We know. It’s not the paltry £26 for a whole year’s membership of the UK’s most exclusive words-based club. It’s the hassle of writing out a cheque every 12 months. Writers are so stingy with their words. So we’ve decided that members can now sign up for three years in one fell swoop. And you don’t even have to reach for your cheque book any more. Just ask your bank to wire us the money. Get in touch with us at newsletter@26.org.uk and we’ll send you our bank details. That’s it.
New members for August
Poet and author
Simon Armitage has accepted our invitation to become the 260th member of 26. Simon’s collections of poetry include ‘Book of Matches’, ‘Travelling Songs’ and ‘The Universal Home Doctor’. His novel ‘The White Stuff’ has just come out in paperback (see ‘26 members recommend...’). Visit
http://www.simonarmitage.co.uk to find out more.
And a warm welcome to our other new members... Designer
David Hughes has been given honorary membership for his sterling work on the 26 newsletter; Matthew Blackbourn of Polon; copywriter Simon Carberry; Dan Barley, Robert Bell, Lucy Forrester, Peter Green, Isabella Park and Paul Roberts, all from COI Communications; copywriter John Fountain; Delia Elcock of Citigate SMARTS; and last but not least, Natalie Woodhead.
We’re now up to 271 members.
We hope you will all enjoy and contribute to 26.
Finally, for our new members...
A big thank you for joining 26.
We started meeting as a group in 2002. We were eight individuals in search of others involved in the daily business of working with words. We simply wanted to share our experiences and ideas, and learn from one another. You can find out more about us at http://www.26.org.uk/who.htm
News spread of our meetings, and it soon became clear that 26 could be, should be, something much bigger than just us. So we decided to open up the organisation to other writers, editors, language experts and anyone else with a love of language. We launched 26 formally in September 2003...
..And here you are. We're delighted you've become one of 26. We hope we’ll get to explore and enjoy language together in all sorts of interesting and unexpected ways.
26 is open to new ideas from any of its members. We would be especially pleased to hear from you if you'd like to be involved in 26 talks, publications, seminars or other initiatives – even in a small way. You can reach us on 0870 121 13 26 or at talktous@26.org.uk
As for your 26 quid... thank you very much. The funds we're raising with your annual subscriptions will go towards running events (most of which will be free to members), developing our web site, creating an online message board for members, and bringing to life a whole range of other initiatives we haven’t even imagined yet.
A number of members have asked whether they can refer to 26 on their business card or in their emails, web site, autobiography or whatever. We think this is a great idea as it helps to raise awareness. We just ask that you use the phrase One of 26, followed by the web site address www.26.org.uk.
In the meantime, your friends and colleagues can find out more about 26 and join at http://www.26.org.uk , so spread the word.
