Not that any of us are actually going. There is, however, a web page. The people who are going are Clotilde Dusoulier and Maureen Freely who will be attending the Perth writers festival. Both are getting good reviews already which for a writer would I imagine be the best kind of welcome. And then there's Rhyll McMaster, who is of course, lives there and already got great reviews . Which reminds me, I should do an author page for her.
And for Pauline Kael who, fruit bat* eared listeners will have heard lauded on the Today programme this morning as one of the great critics in times past. The point of the interview being that there are no great critics in times present. The fellow speaking (I'm afraid that I didn't catch anyone's name, except for Pauline Kael's and Kenneth Tynan come to think of it, because I was brushing my teeth**) seemed to be suffering from that peculiarly contemporary fear that wot wiv that internet and all this dummingdown, our culture is getting diluted. 'Where are the heroes of criticism? Without them who will keep the barbarians gated?' He didn't but might have lamented. But then the other fellow he was talking to reckoned that these hero-critics had never had much sway outside of ivorniversity and that this species still flourishes in its natural habitat. For the little it's worth I think that there's still plenty of great critical writing out there and if there's one thing that the internet definitely has done it's been to make it easier to find...perhaps it's just that it has become more difficult to make a living as a critic. But then there are a lot more literary festivals, talks etc. than there ever have been Isaywithnoevidencetobackitup.
Anyway, the point is that Pauline Kael was a great critic; accessible, important and widely read so she should definitely get an author's page.
Kit
*is there an animal famous for its hearing? I chose fruit bat because they have big ears and the whole echo thing.
** very definition of too much information.
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