Earlier this year I was honoured to be invited to take part in a peformance at the Wirksworth Festival. Titled ‘Inspired,’ the evening showcased local artists and performers talking about their work and their inspiration.
It took place last Tuesday at Wirksworth Town Hall. Seni Seneviratne read some of her moving and beautifully written poetry about growing up in Leeds as a child of Sri Lankan heritage. George Grignon spoke very engagingly about how he became a musician, and played us some of the music he loved as a teenager. Photographer Kate Bellis showed some of her recent work documenting the lives of Derbyshire hill farmers, and talked about her motivations. And I presented a short talk on how my version of Kikimora came to life while I was struggling to write a ghost story.
Public speaking is most definitely not my natural environment. I was in a state of constant, stomach-churning panic from about two weeks before the event. But somehow it all came off flawlessly. And I must admit, it was very gratifying when people told me the story of Kikimora’s genesis intrigued them to read the novel.
You can read an edited transcript of my talk here.
Thank you to Pam Taylor and Debi Hedderwick for inviting me, and to compere Paddy Turner for talking to me calmly and soothingly pre-performance. Thank you also to the audience, who listened attentively and laughed in the right places.
Below are a few photographs from the evening, courtesy of Phil Richards.
Emma at Inspired talking about classic fairy tale illustration by Edmund Dulac
You can barely even see the fear in my eyes
Kate Bellis at Inspired
Seni Seneviratne at Inspired
emma woodcock 