North London Food & Culture

5 things we learnt from Will Self last night

The author packed the room for his appearance at the second ArchWay With Words literary festival this week. Here's what he had to say

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‘Reading a book is a creative act’. Will Self at ArchWay With Words this week. Photo: Justin Piperger

Earlier this week, “rock star of the literati” Will Self popped by ArchWay With Words, the literary festival I founded last year that is in the middle of its second annual run.

Self was speaking to promote his latest book, Shark, which revisits maverick psychiatrist Zack Busner – and Self’s “attempt to give form and substance to the hall of mirrors within which the modern psyche pirouettes and strikes attitudes.”

Not everyone who can write can speak publicly, but Self’s intelligence and wit has enthralled audiences on panels and festivals all over. And true to form, the evening didn’t disappoint: it was, as hoped, a fantastic opportunity to see him talk. Here are just a few (of many) things we learnt:

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  • 1. Reading aloud to someone is an act of love.
  • 2. Stressing about the difference between ‘that’ and ‘which’ is pointless. It’s bollocks.
  • 3. Trying is lying: no-one tries to write – like anything else, you either do it or not. Great advice from a drugs counsellor.
  • 4. Reading a book is a creative act.
  • 5. Optimism and pessimism are false positions as they assume knowledge of the future. Better to be a meliorist: it’s all about what you do to make improvements to potential futures.

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Missed Will and keen to catch the rest of the festival?

Guardian writer and author Michele Hanson appears on Tuesday.
Guardian writer and author Michele Hanson appears on Tuesday.

Don’t fear, there are still 8 days left. We’re particularly excited by tales of cross-dressing in Victorian England (8pm, tonight), the Rebekah Brooks Guilt & Shame Booth (Sat 18, Archway Market, midday-5pm), the Rubbish Lesbian (Sat 18, 445pm), the Big Pearly Party (Sat 18, 3-9pm), Wayne Gooderham’s Secret History of Second Hand Books (Mon 20, 630pm), Michele Hanson and Elisa Seagrave’s Memoirs of Mothers, and, on the final day, the now infamous Wuthering Heights Flashmob (in which punters gather in the mall to belt out the Kate Bush classic, Fri 24, 7pm). Stephen Emms


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