Arthur - The Storyteller's Tale by Steve Gladwin

For this series of blogs about King Arthur and what he and the related stories mean to us nowadays and their continuing importance, I wanted to talk to a storyteller who also has a great love of the tales as well as having his own individual way of telling them. I decided to talk not to a full-time storyteller, who might inevitably live the tales more professionally, but to a true enthusiast who doesn't make his actual living out of it.

So answering my questions this month is my old friend and fellow Red Hot Bard, Andy Harrop-Smith, a part-time storyteller, who has a day job at Wrexham Hospital as an occupational therapist.

I first met Andy during an event which was part our storytelling festival, The Festival of the Singing Head in 2002, in and around the Meifod and Welshpool area. He was telling stories in the local tea-shop alongside a lady who wrote beautifully illustrated cat stories, and was being heckled by a suitably precocious eight year old who could have come out of a story himself. Years later Andy told me it he was the worst heckler he'd had in in all his years of storytelling.

Over the years I've worked with Andy on a number of projects as our alter-egos, the Red Hot Bards, including our Norse cycle of tales, 'Bright Pretty Things' and most relevant to this blog, on our 'Gawain'. He was also Bottom in my Midsummer Night's Dream themed hand-fasting and by the end of this blog you will have a good idea why!

The Big Man himself in Performance

For Andy is a true force of nature and as anyone who knows him and particularly has heard and seen him tell his tales can confirm,, he has a style quite unique to him; powerful, muscular and exciting, often raw and rude but never crude. In this series of questions you will get the real Andy and with it a true sense of what people at The Festival at the Edge and elsewhere have been experiencing for years. Should anyone be offended by any comments, (fans of Guy Richie and Captain America mainly!), I'm sure he will be delighted!

Also this may well be the first use of the word 'Mallorific'. Long may it continue.    

Now do read on.

First of all, thanks Andy for agreeing to talk to an awfully big blog adventure readers.

Now the theme of these three interviews is King Arthur and the way that the so called Matter of Britain has been told and retold, with a particular accent on re-tellings for the younger generation. So let’s start, if you don’t mind, by asking you if you can remember the first King Arthur tale you ever heard and what impression if had on you. Can you remember how old you were?

Hi Steve, and thanks for having me on the blog. King Arthur, I’m glad you asked. He’s a massive subject, and has become a massive character from somewhat humble beginnings. Pen power is permanent.

History was always my favourite subject at school. Apart from girls that is. I was fascinated mainly by British history, and dragged my poor, long-suffering parents around any castle that still had a few stones standing or a wonky portcullis hanging on its hinges. And I loved historical films, especially ‘medieval Hollywood’. OK, historically maybe not so accurate, but that’s the stuff of stories! Those films were like stories on celluloid. The two films that remain at the top of the list, in glorious Technicolor, are ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ with Errol Flynn (unarguably the best Robin Hood film ever) and ‘Knights of the Round Table’ with Robert Taylor as Lancelot. So by the age of about 9 years old I was hooked. And I’ve never really grown up…I don’t think storytellers ever do. The first book I read about Arthur was by John Steinbeck. All very ‘Mallorific’, but let’s face it, he’s one of the guy’s that gave us Arthur in the first place, and we need to be very grateful to him.

Now, as you know, last month I talked to John Matthews about the ‘old Arthur’ - if you like the more ancient and Celtic version -and the way that Arthur’s younger self is portrayed in his new book ‘The Sword of Ice and Fire.’

Do you have a favourite version of Arthur?

Well, as I mentioned, Steinbeck’s ‘The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights’ certainly left its mark, and was quite an inspiration for a young would-be Lancelot. And there was no ‘sanitisation’ either…at least one beheading or lance-through-the-helmet every page. I loved it. More recently I read Bernard Cornwell’s ‘War Lord Chronicles’ which was a different take on the legends completely. He’s a great author, his research is meticulous, and the books would have made a much better basis for a film series than the latest film abysmalisation, that ‘Legend of the Sword’ rubbish. Sorry Mr Ritchie, stick to gangsters.

Now I know you don’t make a living as a full time storyteller, although I’m sure you could do. Clearly however, stories of Arthur and Gawain and Merlin and Lancelot are meat and drink to your average storytelling audience. What do you think it is about these tales that appeals.

I think it was Roly Rotherham or Ronald Hutton who described Arthur as ‘the world’s first superhero’. And I think that’s why he appeals to every generation, young and old. We all love a hero, right vanquishing wrong, especially if he’s in shining armour. He’s certainly better than Captain America. Unfortunately Arthur’s not quite so well treated now as he was when I was a lad. And that’s a while ago, although I know that’s difficult to believe.

The tales are like an onion. By that I mean they’re ‘layered’, and not like a big brown vegetable that makes you cry when you chop it up. On the surface the Arthurian legends are big, bold and glitzy, especially when they’re clad in plate armour and carrying magnificent swords. But that doesn’t make for good storytelling on its own. I feel the next level is the Magic and that’s mainly supplied by Merlin. Because he’s a wizard. And when you examine the real ‘tell-able’ tales, they’ve often got Merlin as the leading man, with Arthur coming in as second or third on the bill. Arthur is the figurehead, but the story will often revolve around other characters who take the main part of the plot to its conclusion. And there never was a good story that didn’t have a little ‘magic’ in it. Of course there’s a serious side to the Camelot Saga…love, intrigue, adultery, betrayal, jealousy, revenge, slaughter, incest, cross dressing…like the plot of an old ‘Crossroads’ episode. So it’s all there, waiting to be told. Overall it’s the entertainment value, stories that people can relate to with a hint of mystery, magic and romance that holds the audience. And of course there’s the added possibility that some of the legends might just be true, which makes the stories even more fascinating. Like Captain America.

Can you tell us a little about the Arthur tales you’ve told and why you chose to tell those particular ones?

I tend not to tell the tales in any sort of order. That is from Arthur’s birth through to his demise at Camlan and chucking Excalibur away. That was a bit silly really. That’s the stuff of serous performance, and it’s been done many times before.

My favourite tell-able tale is certainly Gawain and the Green Knight…highly influenced by Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It’s a full performance in itself, and has all the ingredients needed for a good rousing story: a hero, magic, monsters and sex. And coconuts. That’s important. Contact me on Email to book a telling!

Others I like are ‘The Coat of Beards’, a really good tale for children with a moral and lots of snot up the giants nose. ‘The Sleeping Knights’ is a good one too…there’s another layer, the post-legend stories. Does Arthur sleep under the mountain with his trusty but rusty warriors waiting to ride out to save Britain in its time of need (possibly closer than we’d like to think).

Now presumably most people first hear the stories of Arthur as a child, and we know nowadays that less and less emphasis in schools is on children

being read to or even reading actual books, while at the same time their grip on some of the things in nature we took for granted is slipping away. I think it’s fair to say that there’s a huge connection between Arthur and the land and nature in the stories. Would you tell us your thoughts on that aspect? I’m thinking particularly perhaps of the story of Gawain and the Green Knight.

Having established how you first read or heard Arthur, have you read or seen any interpretations which have appealed to you and if so why? Also is there a right and wrong way to tell the Matter of Britain, or are we just being a bit precious about it all.

OK, I’m going to deal with all that in one go. I do think there’s a right and a wrong way to deal with ‘The Matter of Britain’, which is probably sounds hypocritical coming from the storyteller who twists myth and legend to suit the moment. But I do believe that you need to stick with the essence of the legends as they’ve been passed down through the centuries. For example John Boorman’s film ’Excalibur’ will remain the absolute definitive Arthurian epic of all time, and will never be out done. But if you want to make a film about some East-End thug growing up as a bouncer in a brothel, don’t dress him up as King Arthur…call him King Darren and make his court ‘Nelson Mandela Towers, Peckham’. If you change the plot too much it won’t work. And I do believe that we can afford to be a little precious about things that are precious. I think that most of the versions of Arthur aimed at a younger audience are pretty much true to the principles of Chivalry and respect, and outline the time-seasoned stories very well. How widely they’re actually read I have reservations about. As a trained Environmentalist, I’d like to see Lancelot do more recycling, and feel that the waste from Camelot’s garderobe could be processed more efficiently.

I’d like to move on to talk about The Festival of the Edge, widely recognised as one of, if not the leading storytelling festival, which you’ve been involved in the organisation of for quite a while now, and I also know you’ll be performing your version of The Soldier and Death there this July. How did you come to be involved and how is to going? I understand the festival has recently moved.

I’ve been with the organisation team for FatE for 17 years now. Doesn’t time fly? Not really, aeroplanes do. It’s always a stressful weekend for us…this year it’s 20-22 July, and we’ve got a cracking line-up of storytellers and musicians. Check out the website, tickets are still available! We’re over at our new beautiful location at Alderford Lakes near Whitchurch, so come along and have a brilliant weekend.

I love being part of the process that brings stories to people. I’ve got many treasures from storytelling over the last 20-odd years, and it’s a joy to be able to give something back. Yes, I’ll be doing a full performance of ‘The Soldier and Death’…with a little ‘storytelling licence’ and a puppet to spice it all up a bit.

In your time has there been much focus in the festival programme on tales of Arthur and all the rest?

To be honest we’ve not had a great deal of Arthurian stuff over the years. The most memorable was Sarah Rundle’s 2 hour-long version of ‘Gawain and the Green Knight’ about 4 years ago. Well 4 years and 2 hours actually. It was truly amazing, some of the best storytelling I’ve ever heard. The ‘biggie’ previous to that was Eric Maddern’s ‘Merlin’ over a decade ago. Apart from the odd tale told around the bonfire, Arthur has never really featured as a headline event. Tastes change, and storytellers generally steer clear of anything that’s considered to have been ‘done to death’. There’s been a bit of a resurgence in the Mabinogion in recent years, and Michael Harvey’s wonderful ‘Kilhuch and Olwen’ includes the original tale of Arthur’s court and his rather randomly talented band of warriors. Maybe we need to promote old KA a little more, there’s still plenty of mileage there.

Finally Andy, can you see there ever being a time when the tales of King Arthur will fall out of favour?

Well, as mentioned in the previous question, I think that a lot of storytellers are constantly looking for material that’s not had a great deal of exposure, especially for a general audience. Perhaps ‘Arthur and the Matter of Britain’ has become the subject matter for a more specific clientele…Druids, pagans etc, who can better appreciate the deeper layers of the onion. And cry. But there’s always room for the old myths and legends in the storytelling world, they really are bread and butter to storytellers. It’s new, vibrant re-workings that speak to our DNA memories that we need. Perhaps you and I should work on an Arthurian epic to tell around the various camps? Now, there’s a fitting project for the ‘RHB’s’!!

Thanks again Andy for talking to us and good luck with The Soldier and Death.


Coming Soon(ish)- Arthur Through the Seeing Stone with Kevin Crossley-Holland 

More on Festival at the Edge and this year's tellers etc at www.festivalattheedge.org

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Steve Gladwin

Writer, Screenwriter, Performer and Teacher

Author of 'The Seven' and 'The Raven's Call'

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On Promotional Events, by Dan Metcalf

Ooh, it’s a quandary, isn’t it? Whether or not to ‘launch’ your book or let it slowly slide out into the world like a beached whale getting picked up by the tide once more? Whether to tour around flogging your wares or to concentrate on getting the next thing written and letting the stories do their own marketing?

For my most recent book, Dino Wars: Rise of the Raptors, I had thought long and hard about doing a book launch; a local cafe and caterer had offered their space but frankly my imposter syndrome kicked in and I felt unworthy to hold my own party and blow my own trumpet in this way. I’ve a few books under my belt now but I’m still very much a minnow in the world of kid’s lit, so I felt uneasy launching the book to a great fanfare – and who would come?

No, I felt more comfortable (for some reason) booking a small tour of events in the May half term where I would stand in front of complete strangers and tell jokes, read parts of my book and play silly balloon games with the assembled children. I set about finding places to hold them and soon found a few Dinosaur related venues – I live in Devon, which plays up its tourist destination of the Jurassic Coast well. Soon I had book events at the Dinosaur Museum inDorchester and Torquay's Dinosaur World. 

Dinosaur Wolrd Torquay, With Thanks to Lyn Jolly

This is where my experiences become a cautionary tale. Yes, my choice to go to dino-related venues was undoubtedly genius, (Okay, first suggested by my wife) but they bring their own challenges. Most are small affairs and have little space in which to hold events; an event in another fossil museum was a no-go due to lack of space. Dorchester had a cinema room which they were willing to hand over to me for my hour sessions, while Torquay had to clear part of their gift shop. Also, if you’re taking up space then it may affect their footfall numbers – we did the Dorchester event while still open during the day, but made the Torquay one a ticketed event for five o’clock when the venue was closed to the public. Another challenge was the fact that museums may not have the same relationships with wholesalers that a bookshop or library might have, so it was touch-and-go whether we would have enough copies to sell.

Both were well attended, largely due to the weather; it rained in Dorchester, driving families into the indoor tourist attractions, and the patchy weather coupled with it being the end of the day and parents being desperate for something to do meant that Torquay, while not packed out, was comfortably attended. Book sales were respectable – not going to bother the New York Times Bestsellers, but the venues were happy, and retained all the stock they had bought to keep in their gift shops. This means that Dino Wars is in two more places that they would have been normally, and places where children are hungry to spend their parent’s money. My evil plan to dominate the earth is coming together. Mwuh-ha-ha-haa!

Two other events in a well-known bookshop chain (beginning with W and rhyming with Porterstones) were weather-dependent – one had a handful of attendees and sales (showers), while the other, on a gloriously hot day when the entire population was at the park, pub or beach, was sloooooow. Again though, the silver lining is that stock remained and is now on the shelf in these High Street vendors, which they would not have been otherwise.

With Thanks to Claire Barker

Another event, organised by a specialist children’s bookshop and local library, had just one attendee. It was another hot day but we had fun nonetheless. I was even told afterwards that the child had only recently gone to live with them, as he was in foster care and it was the first quality time they had spent with them, which made the visit all the more worthwhile.

The half-term events? Tough to judge – I enjoyed doing them, but I’m not sure a spring-summer holiday is the best time to hold an indoor event. You live and learn.

The negligible results of my self-organised, self-promoted week of events was put into sharp contrast when just a fortnight later I was taken ‘on tour’ by my local bookshop, the splendid Crediton Community Bookshop. Arranged by the formidable Cathie, I was picked up at my house by their schools volunteer team and driven to ten schools over four days, speaking to over 800 children in years 2-5. The end of the week was topped off by a creative writing workshop in the bookshop after school for 17 children.

Results? Amazing. Cathie had a prediction (based on years of experience) that for every three children we saw, we would sell one book. This ratio worked perfectly: if I spoke to 180 children, we sold 60 books. If I spoke to 30 children, we sold 10. This didn’t quite work out at one book a child; a great deal on my Lottie Lipton Adventures saw many buying three books for £10, but we sold a handsome amount of Dino Wars too. There were a few challenges; miscommunication with the school meant that we weren’t able to stay after school as they wanted, meaning that some children may have been disappointed. This blow was softened by the bookshop handing out a £1 voucher to be used in the shop to every child. Some schools had promoted the visits more than others. Those that had talked the visit up in class and used some learning time to read my books to the children and research me (via my website) got a lot more out of the visit, and we sold a lot more books. Some children however entered the hall with looks of confusion on their faces and no money in hand – the staff insisted they had sent home an email or text to parents to inform them of my visit, but as Cathie put it, ‘Pupil pester power is the best promo tool’.

Lessons learned? Perhaps that I, as solo worker trying to write and promote at the same time, have not got the time to do it all. Visits are far more effective when a) organised and promoted properly and b) when the children have no choice but to turn up (I.E. Schools). The location of the event also has an amazing effect on how the children behave; in schools they are involved, better behaved and more interactive. In a public setting around parents they clam up and will barely say hello!

Now where did I leave that T-Rex?

This may not be news to a lot of you, but I thought it prudent that I note down these observations for myself even if not for anyone else. Anyway, aside from a couple of school visits that was my ‘launch’ event programme for Dino Wars: Rise of the Raptors. Now I can sit back until at least September, when Dino Wars 2: The Trials of Terror is released and the whole thing starts again!

Authors! What’s your experience of school visits / bookshop tours / alternative venues? What works best for you? Let me know in the comments and share with your peers!

Dan Metcalf is a children’s writer from south-west England. His latest book, Dino Wars: Rise of the Raptors is out now from Maverick Children’s Books. He is available for speaking at schools, libraries and literary festivals. See more at danmetcalf.co.uk

What can we do? by Anne Booth.

First of all,  I believe that every single children's writer in this group has been looking on at the news these last days with horror and that the spectacle of babies and children being taken away from their parents at the American border is breaking their hearts. The fact that I know that, makes me very proud to be part of of this group and our profession and grateful to have a role within it. It is an honour to write for and about children, and I feel like doing our job helps us be in touch with what really matters. Meeting the children I write for, inspires me every time.

Last week I met this lovely boy who wrote me a letter to say he was my greatest fan! Every writer here will know how lovely such a letter is to receive. The school librarian really wanted me to meet him, and got permission from his mum for me to share his picture. He is 8, and he told me enthusiastically that he loves all the cute animals in the Lucy books. The children at the school are not from a privileged background, like so many prominent politicians doing horrible things. He is bright and open and tender and loving. He is wonderful. I felt so honoured that he took the trouble to write to me and it brought tears to my eyes that meeting me meant so much to him - he had no idea how lucky I was to meet him.   It cheers me up every time I think of him.

The whole school has a wonderful atmosphere and the children are happy and enthusiastic, and I think it is because the school really lives up to the words of the banner you can see in the photograph and supports the pupils but also the parents who love them. The wonderful school librarian is going to organise after school support classes for the parents - this is a community short on money but based on love, and books and reading play a large part. It gives me hope and it was an honour to go there for World Book Day, where they paid me properly. So I went back and did the launch of my latest book there as a thank you. I love being with these children and this school community.

So what on earth is  happening when children turn into hate-full adults? Everyone starts off gorgeous, made to give and receive love. The politicians who do such hateful things, the journalists who smear, the people spouting fear-filled hate online and in phone-ins, were once as innocent and open to love as the little babies and toddlers at the border of America and Mexico or as these children in the picture.  What went wrong and how can we put it right?

I'm sure it all comes down to love. I try to remind myself, when I feel panicked and overwhelmed by all the horrible things going on and my own inability to fix them, that maybe we can't all be politicians or  aid workers or teachers or a librarians or nurses or social workers or any number of other jobs, but what we can do  is do the jobs we love. As writers we can love writing  and hope that that love comes through and out the other side to our readers. Loving readers can take the form of making them laugh, giving them a wonderful world to escape to, as well as educating them or inspiring them. There are many different types of writers and many types of genres  and many different children each of whom may read a variety of books.

I don't know how to fix the world, and I can't spend all my days RT horrific news, although i do feel we do have to share it and make a noise. I am finding that it is so easy to despair, but that getting on with my job gives me peace, and I wish it for each of us today.

P.S. - for when we forget about how truly important our jobs are and why - and inspite of ourselves feel a bit depressed or self-doubting  when we don't win awards or sell millions - I thought this might make you smile and also inspire!

Video of the opening song at The Tomy Awards 2018

From A (around the houses) to Pineapple by Joan Lennon

I'm going to be a mother-in-law!  Not only that, the wedding's going to happen in Jakarta, where my oldest son and my daughter-in-law-to-be now live.

I've been lucky enough to visit them before, and each time I've gone, friends here have said to me, "What an inspiration it's going to be!  You'll get some great writing ideas!"  But the thing is, for me, inspiration doesn't work like that.  It's not an A to B sort of process.  It's more roundabout and eccentrically connected - more A to, I don't know, Pineapple, by way of a google map of Birmingham.  So when amazing, overwhelming, inspiring Indonesia does filter through to my writing, will you be able to tell?  Will I?

Is your road from inspiration to the words more straightforward, or do you, too, meander something chronic?  Let us know!


Joan Lennon's website.
Joan Lennon's blog.
Walking Mountain.

JM Barrie and An Awfully Big Blog Adventure - Lucy Coats

Before this blog existed, when it was just the germ of an idea, the first thing we needed was a name. So that was the question we asked each other. What should we call this new venture for the Scattered Author’s Society? There were many suggestions, some more whimsical than others, but then somebody suggested An Awfully Big Blog Adventure, a play on the words of Peter Pan: ‘To die will be an awfully big adventure’.

It therefore seems fitting to remember JM Barrie, the man who wrote those words, who died on 19th June, 1937, exactly 81 years ago today. Barrie’s Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens was published in 1906. However, that story of a ‘Betwixt-and-Between’ half-bird boy is much less well-known than Peter Pan or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, aka Peter and Wendy, first a 1904 play and then, in 1911, a novel, which has been in print in one form or another ever since. My own treasured copy of the former, with the original Rackham illustrations under onion skin paper, belonged to my grandmother as a child, and has been handed down through four generations now.

However old-fashioned the idea of children in nightgowns with nannies might seem to today's tech savvy kids, the story itself, with a boy who never wants to grow up, the ultimate pirate captain and crew, Lost Boys, a ticking crocodile and a dying fairy is still intriguing enough to stand the test of time.

However, some of the elements, such as the ‘native American’ princess Tiger Lily, and her tribe are now rightly regarded as dated stereotypes, and have thankfully been quietly excised from modern versions. Peter Pan has now appeared in the form of films (both of the story and spin offs), the perennial Christmas panto, a musical, and endless book adaptations, as well as TV programmes and associated productions such as the biopic Finding Neverland. The boy who never grew up remains perennially young. I wonder if JM Barrie himself would believe that his creation was still being talked about over a century after Peter first stepped out of a London window and flew down to Kensington Gardens to meet with old Solomon Caw and Queen Mab. I suppose that’s the true memorial every author really wants (if they are honest) — for their work to live on, and themselves through it. So, happy death day, JM Barrie — and thank you for letting us adapt Peter’s words as our name. You definitely live on in our hearts here at ABBA.

OUT NOW: Cleo 2: Chosen and Cleo (UKYA historical fantasy about the teenage Cleopatra VII) '[a] sparkling thriller packed with historical intrigue, humour, loyalty and poison.' Amanda Craig, New Statesman

Also out:  Beasts of Olympus series "rippingly funny" Publishers Weekly US starred review

Lucy's Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram

How do you confront a giant? - by Lu Hersey

What do you do if Amazon, online giant retailer with more power than most small countries, decides to remove some of your most treasured book reviews? It happened to me just over a year ago, when several of my reviews disappeared overnight. Worse, I had absolutely no idea why it happened and I couldn’t find any way to contest Amazon's decision.

This week there was a piece in the Bookseller on the subject. Apparently publishers and writers are becoming increasingly concerned about Amazon’s heavy-handed policy on removing book reviews, though unsurprisingly, most gave the Bookseller their comments anonymously. (I’m pretty nervous putting my name this post to be honest – hopefully Amazon won’t read it, as no writer can afford to alienate the largest bookseller on the planet...) 

One of the few brave enough to risk the wrath of the giant corporation in the article was HarperCollins’ commercial publisher, Kimberly Young. ‘Writing an honest review of a proof copy of a book is both an established practice and also a very modern tool,' she said. 'Reviews drive word of mouth and help readers find the right books for them. We know algorithms favour well reviewed books and I can’t see how the removal of reviews across so many titles on Amazon can benefit the consumer – it narrows the range and discoverability of books and is another step in Amazon supporting their own books at the expense of others.’

For me, the scariest thing is the way the company gets its information. Writer Kiltie Jackson wrote a blog post on the subject. She’s convinced her review of a fellow romance writer’s book was taken down because they were in the same online book club.

The bottom line seems to be Amazon mines data from social media sites and eliminates book reviews it judges are written by known contacts. As one publisher (anonymously) said, ‘ The fact that someone follows you on facebook or twitter does not reveal a conflict of interest for their reviews on Amazon and does give the book buyer a really good service.’

Most writers use sites such as Twitter and facebook as writer chat forums. It goes with the territory that we spend a lot of time on our own, and social media is a way of connecting. Like many writers, I haven’t met half of my facebook ‘friends’, and know only a tiny fraction of my followers on twitter. Which makes Amazon’s removal of reviews on the basis they’re written by known contacts incredibly harsh. People take the time and trouble to write a review of a book and give a star rating because (hopefully) they like the book, not because the writer is bribing them to do so. 

So what can the individual writer can do about it? There's no point in going on strike, because no one would notice - frankly we have to be pretty famous for anyone to notice if we die. How can we possibly confront such a powerful giant? 

If you're expecting me to give you the answer, sorry - it was a rhetorical question. But if anyone out there can find a solution, please let us know. They’ll be doing all writers a favour.

Lu Hersey

website: luhersey.com

twitter: @LuWrites