Dreamy Spires

As such things do, my delightful week came to me courtesy of a friend at De Montford University after I had developed my literary crush on Nagra, & she told me he would be talking there this year. It turns out that Cultural Exchanges has been running since about 2000, but it has really taken off this year, and what a programme it was. I had to end my run on Wednesday, due to that dissertation thingy I should have been writing, so missed Andy Hamilton & Paul Defour, but did have the opportunity to listen to Darcus Howe, Claire Fox & Hardeep Singh discuss multiculturalism. Maybe more of that another time, because there are things to say & audiences to discuss, as well as transculturalism...

Sometimes a girl really does have to pinch herself though, when she finds herself listening to Iain Sinclair, whose son I waitressed with in London BTW (& I would have liked to ask how Will got on at film school!), or having a chat with Claire Tomalin about Thomas Hardy in the 'green room'. Luckily for you, my bubble will be bursting next week as I strain myself to complete my dissertation, but it is all enough sustenance to sustain me! Found out after I got home, that Claire is married to Michael Frayn, which I am kind of glad I didn't know when I met her; Copenhagen was a bit too clever for me!