Wednesday 10 February 2010

The Literary Project

Last October, Gemma Noon, interviewer extraordinaire, started a blog called The Literary Project. She has interviewed writers, publishers, writing tutors, and even a literary scout. I didn't know literary scouts existed until I read Gemma's interview with Louise Allen-Jones (which proves that literary scouts do not, as someone suggested recently, get little reading badges and swear to do their duty).

After only a few months, Gemma's blog already provides a fascinating insight into various aspects of the publishing industry. The writers she has interviewed come from a range of genres and, so far, include Bernard Cornwell, Della Galton, Steven Hall, Philippa Gregory, Cally Taylor, Andrew Cowan, Michael Marshall Smith and Sally Quilford, among others. The playwright John Godber is next up; I'm looking forward to reading that interview. Also, if there is anyone you would like Gemma to interview, you can email her to ask - of course, there are no guarantees, but she seems to have a knack for persuading people to say 'yes'.

Given the range, scope, and quality of Gemma's interviews, I'm surprised she hasn't generated a wider following. I've learned a lot from reading her blog, so I thought I'd pimp it here. (And before you ask, Gemma isn't a personal friend; we've never corresponded beyond each others' comments boxes; and I haven't been bribed to write this post.) (Although, if Gemma is reading this, I do accept retrospective bribes, especially in chocolate.)

I know many of you are writers, and those that aren't, are readers. I strongly recommend that you head over to The Literary Project, browse through the archives, and bookmark the blog for future reference.

11 comments:

Sue Guiney said...

Thanks for the tip! I'll head over right now.

Jenny Beattie said...

Thanks Queenie - I'm signed up.

Elizabeth Bramwell said...

Wow, thank you Queenie! I'm really glad that The Literary Project is proving to be interesting and useful to people.

The interview with John Godber goes up tonight, I hope it lives up to expectations!

If anyone is interested, the next couple of interviews include:

Christina Jones (author)
Nicola Morgan (author)
Jonny Geller (agent)
Will Atkins (Macmillan New Writing Editor)
Carole Blake (author)
Valerie Wood (author)
Linda Acaster (author & reader for a London literary agency)

As Queenie said, if you let me know who you'd like to see an interview with, I'll do my best to arrange one.

Queenie - drop me a line with your addy and I'm happy to send you chocolates :-)

Elizabeth Bramwell said...

err, that should have said Carole Blake (agent) ... although she did write the excellent "from pitch to publication"

Queenie said...

Sue, JJ, you'll enjoy it, I'm sure.
Gemma, you know what, I read 'agent' for Carole Blake because I know she is! Great list - I was thinking of suggesting Nicola Morgan, her blog is great and I'm sure she'll do an excellent interview. Jonny Geller, too, ooh, they ALL look good! (BTW I was just kidding about the chocolate!)

Elizabeth Bramwell said...

Queenie - it is NEVER good to joke about chocolate :-P

Nicola Morgan's interview is a good one, she's not as crabbit as she makes out! The hardest part for me is not publishing them as soon as they are finished, I get so excited when I read them through. Carole Blake's should be a good one, too; she is so nice and gave me such good advice, although the knee-high slsh pile next to her desk (one week's worth of reading) scared me a bit.

HelenMWalters said...

All sounds very interesting. Will have to investigate further.

Queenie said...

Gemma, I stand corrected! I know Nicola Morgan isn't really crabbit, in fact she seems like a proper softie.
Helen, it'll be worth your while.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Thanks for the tip. I'm off to Gemma's blog now.

Queenie said...

Debs, I bet you particularly liked the latest interview, it's right up your street!

Kath McGurl said...

Thanks Queenie, how has The Literary Project passed me by so far? It looks like a great site, I will be a regular visitor from now on I suspect.