Jeanette Winterson @ EIBF

Article by Renée Rowland | 20 Aug 2010

 

Literature is filled with larger-than-life characters inside its stories – The Edinburgh International Book Festival is the perfect medium to provide us with the opportunity to experience the big characters outside the stories. The Jeanette Winterson event celebrated the 25 year publication anniversary of her seminal novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. The story is full of strong characters, but Winterson herself contains all that's best in a fictional character, manifest in reality. Winterson spoke on the themes of time, maternal relationships, the pursuit of happiness and a recurring theme surrounding the Ed Book Fest this year: the reconciliation of literature with ‘the digital age’. When inevitably questioned, Winterson expressed the view that there would always be a place for the ‘real thing’ and is not overly concerned about the digital movement, but she is concerned about the future of being human. She finishes the event by telling the audience to lobby to maintain a culture with a strong artistic manifestation by continuing to engage with literature and art, otherwise we risk becoming a society so regulated, so monochrome, that we are incurious and unaware of even being alive. "Don’t go through life by being half dead, stalk life through literature." [Renée Rowland]

 

Jeanette Winterston appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on 16 Aug