If you happen to be going to the Oxford Literary Festival on Sunday, do come along to the Grand Marquee, Christ Church, where I will be speaking at an event (sponsored by the Orwell Prize) alongside Ed Vaizey and ... Peter Hitchens. You can expect some sparks to fly, bearing in mind my history with Mr Hitchens... You can book a ticket HERE.
Was that Garden Marquee or Grand Marque?
ReplyDeleteBlimey. It will be like a Festival of Cheap Points and a Celebration of Half-Baked Wisdom.
ReplyDeleteI will send round my friends, the Oxford Liberal Bootboys, to lay in with a few well chosen heckles like "you are not colour co-ordinated this evening Iain" and "Hitchens, your analysis of the collapse of Marxism lacks the insight of your brother, who can at least string a sentence together! Take that, revisionist scum!!"
I'm Christ Church alumni, do I get in for free?
ReplyDeleteJust try not to make it like Guido/Draper's poo-flinging contest.
ReplyDeleteShameless plug. On my blog today I've taken had a look at the good house price news and compared today's slump with the 1990s housing market. The results are surprising
http://from-the-north.blogspot.com/
Isn't there some kind of a conflict of interests given that you are short listed for the Orwell Prize? It does appear as though there is some mutual backscratching going on. It does appear to be a bit like product placement in films. I would have thought that both the Orwell Prize and yourself ought to have kept some distance between you to avoid the appearance of bias.
ReplyDeleteOh FFS. They are the sponsors of several of the events. They asked me to speak at it way before I was even shortlisted.
ReplyDeleteDo people really need to see a conspiracy behind every thing I do?
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ReplyDeleteCrimeficreader, apologies, I deleted your comment by mistake.
ReplyDeleteHere it is...
"I will be there and taking notes. I'll be the one sitting nearest the fire exit, just in case the sparks ignite... "
You're forgiven, Iain. It must be the excitement of being in Cardiff, where I am headed for a job interview this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteI am looking foward to Sunday; I was very impressed with the events I attended at Oxford's LitFest last year. They run an efficient and effective operation.
Iain: I was just asking a question. FFS, do you need to get so touchy? It gives the appearance of something to hide.
ReplyDeleteYou state that you was asked to speak before you was shortlisted. Fair enough. That answer would have sufficed from your end.
However, it may call into question the organisers of the Orwell Prize. What on earth were they thinking? How might it appear to critics?
Personally, I think there is a wide gap between George Orwell and the Orwell Prize and yourself and your blog. This is why I am surprised that you were short listed. I cannot help but think perhaps that they are rather desperate and maybe there were not enough entries to make a valid choice.
They had 83 entries from bloggers. You can see the list on their website.
ReplyDeleteYou are on the right lines, jailhosue, but I think they just have a false impression of Iain's importance from his TV appearances. If it's anything like the Booker, most of them don't bother reading most of the entries anyway!
ReplyDeleteNo longer Anonymous: "I'm Christ Church alumni."
ReplyDeleteIs your name Legion?
@ No longer Anonymous
ReplyDelete"I'm Christ Church alumni."
Not a Classicist, quite obviously.
"I'm Christ Church alumni."
ReplyDeleteSo was that clown Charles Falconer!