Launching the Big Read with a night of intrigue, questions, and conversation…

The first of Resonate’s two Big Read events took place on the evening of Tuesday 28th March and was a wonderful exploration of the world of writing and story-telling.

We kicked the evening off with talks, Q&As and discussion from Penny Batchelor and Adam Wood. Penny, author of crime thriller fiction, shared how her ideas come from all sorts of real and fictional sources, how her book synopsis is mostly worked out but she allows her characters and story lines to develop as she goes which may mean a completely different ending to what was originally planned. We then welcomed to the stage Adam Wood, a local true crime writer who regularly gets lost in the research he’s doing and how looking into one story or one person can lead to so many other people and other stories. He shared that when writing about true crime it’s important to get as many details as you can, and that they are not always in one place, so you have to go looking in all sorts of places and at lots of different sources.

After the interval we heard from Ben Richardson and Janet Ainsley, part of the Leamington History Group, whose new book delves into the history of Leamington and the people that have lived or relocated to the Spa town. A fascinating look into a town that became popular for it’s healing waters, then it’s industrial impact after the Second World War and how speaking to people who have lived in the area for decades brings out hidden gems and stories that wouldn’t have featured in newspapers or news headlines. Our evening concluded with three of the team from the Schools of Modern languages and Cultures at the University of Warwick, who got us thinking about the truth behind fairy tales and how story-telling is more than just the tale, but also in the telling. Do you know the origins of Little Red Riding Hood? Go check it out!

A great evening about writing, stories and story-telling and the research and steps that writers take. The audience either went away wanting to pick up a book (probably the one they bought on the night) or in some cases, start writing their own!

You can find out more about Penny Batchelor, Adam Wood, The Leamington History Group and the School of Modern Languages and Cultures on their websites.