It may have been blowing a gale outside, but inside the NLC there was a rapt silence as our TWO guest speakers captivated us with stories and anecdotes from their diverse lives. The occasion was our annual Autumn lunch and our speakers were Andrew Lewer MP, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Publishing (APPG), and Sunday Times bestselling novelist Jane Corry.
Andrew is the only person in Britain to have served as an MP, MEP and Council Leader. His first job was in publishing and, as a writer himself, he spoke with passion about the industry. One of his concerns is the closure of libraries and he recalled that, when he was the Leader of Derbyshire County Council, he had the opportunity to open two new libraries, something he was very proud of. The publishing industry as a whole, said Andrew, is fundamental in safeguarding the UK’s cultural identity and standing in the world, with the UK already being the world’s biggest exporter of physical books.
After lunch, Jane Corry spoke about her life in the writing world, which began as a magazine journalist, including a period as feature writer for Woman’s Own. She also spent three years as writer-in-residence for a high security prison for men, and submitted eleven manuscripts to publishers before her first novel was accepted. Now a highly successful novelist, her three most recent books have all been listed in the Sunday Times bestseller lists. You can read a full report of this event in the Autumn issue of The Woman Writer, coming soon.
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