News & Events

The news!  I always neglect the news.  Thursday 7th October - Birmingham Books Festival 19.00 Birmingham Conservatoire Tickets (5 pounds) and more information available here: Richard Beard in conversation with John Boyne and Janette Jenkins I haven't seen John  and Janette together for fifteen years, since we were at UEA together.  When Malcom Bradbury died I wrote 24 Hours with Malcolm Bradbury for the Paris Review, but otherwise haven't been a great revisitor of that time.  However, I'm looking forward to playing David Dimbleby to Janette's Bolton Joanna Lumley and John's John Boyne.  The last time I saw John he generously stood in at a Dublin reading when I came down with chicken pox hours before the event. Wednesday 25th November - SHOUT Festival

Click an image to view Richard's books at the Amazon Bookstore Becoming Drusilla Reviews and Synopsis Manly Pursuits Reviews and Synopsis Muddied Oafs Reviews and Synopsis Dry Bones Reviews and Synopsis X20 Reviews and Synopsis The Cartoonist Reviews and Synopsis Damascus Reviews and Synopsis

National Academy of Writing From April 2009 I shall be director of the NAW at Birmingham City University. www.thenationalacademyofwriting.org.uk

  Deux artistes un ecrivain   Quand êtes-vous déjà mort? J’essaie de ne pas penser à la mort. Je préfère penser à la vie. Qu’est-ce qui vous fait lever le matin? Mes enfants. Que sont devenus vos rêves d’enfant? Des rêves d’adulte. Qu’est-ce qui vous distingue des autres? Comme tout le monde, je crois être différent des autres. Vous manque-t-il quelque chose? Tellement de choses… Pensez-vous que tout le monde puisse être artiste? Quoi qu’on crée, il y aura toujours quelqu’un quelquepart pour trouver que c’est de l’art.  D’où venez-vous? De l’étranger, du sud-ouest, de la ville voisine, de la porte voisine: tout dépend où je suis. Jugez-vous votre sort enviable? Par qui? Il y a des gens mieux lotis,

By Ernest Hemingway Translated from the English In the autumn the season was starting and there were games everywhere, but the luxury coaches left without us. It was cold in Milan, and getting dark very early, but with the street-lamps on and the lights in the shops it was nice to look in at the windows. There were still bargain rails out on the street, and some early powdery snow caught in the lapels of the coat-collars.  There were sports shops with last year's replica shirts on sale-rails blowing in the cold wind, spinning round on hangars so we could see the names over the numbers on the back.  Every afternoon we were all at the hospital. There were different