Cambridge Conference

I just got back last night from a conference at Cambridge. Just getting there was a big adventure for me because I'm so sheltered. I was never allowed to commute when I was in Manila but in London I'm all over the place. I've travelled around before but I guess this was the first trip that I planned and executed all by myself, from booking the coach tickets online to finding the damn coach and getting on the right one. I think that travelling a good distance by myself is always going to be an adventure because, first of all, there's the destination to look forward to. The feeling that you're going to see a new place and do new things. Then ofcourse there's that light hysteric fear trying to sit quietly in the back of your stomach: will-i-miss-my-train/plane/bus/coach? I didn't, and that makes half the trip good. 3 quiet hours in a bus looking at the English countryside whiz by popping Cadbury shots in my mouth flirting with sweetest fattest baby who was on the seat opposite me. Heehee.
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Fran Abao met me at the train station and we went around Cambridge. She was supposed to leave me a little map to explore the place by myself so that she could work on her paper at home. Ofcourse, that didn't happen. While in the town center, Fran took me to a secondhand children's bookshop called The Haunted Bookshop. I went wild, I must confess. The lovely thing about studying is that it opens your eyes to the value of things that you'd never have noticed before. Because I've been taking Visual Texts, I was able to recognize a lot of the illustrators and authors that were in the shop and appreciate all the little tricks and labours that people have gone through to make these books. I bought a hardbound copy of Once Upon a Time, The Fairy Tale World of Arthur Rackham. A set of six tiny hardbound fairy tales illustrated by Jan Pienkowski (I love tiny harbound volumes. I love the way they almost fit into your hand, like some little treasure. How they must be 'just right' for little hands to hold. When I was looking through the set in Fran's room I was even more pleased to spot similarites between Pienkowski's approach to the illustration and Rackham's later style. It's all about the sillhouettes, baby.) I also bought a book I'd never heard of just because the illustrations freaked me out a bit. It's called Witch Watch. The text is a poem by Paul Coltman and the illustrations were by Gillian McLure. It was one of those books where the story is one thing but the illustrations are telling a story of their own. I don't really regret the money I spent. They're beautiful. :)

We took a nice walk through the town and decided to head for Fran's house. I LOVE the house she lives in. It used to be a cottage for nuns, it's so quaint and quiet. White walls, brick and stone. And her room is MASSIVE. She has lots of room for her books, and her desk with lots of floor space to spare. For a moment I wished that I studied in Cambridge. :P We had Italian for dinner and when we got home, Fran did some work while I stayed up reading a young adult novel that was part horror, part trashy romance. I loved it. Blood and Chocolate-- latest guilty pleasure.
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The next day, it was good we got up early because we had more time to putter about. It took me ages to get my ass off the floor. It took awhile to get comfortable (and at my age it's bad for the back. heh.) But we got out and we got there. The conference was great. A lot of the specialists were there. It started with a lecture by Victor Watson (who is so charming and funny) on whether children's ltierature HAS come of age and the significance of crossover novels to the genre of children's books. I saw Margaret Meek, she's adorable. I wanted to put her in my pocket. She's got so much spirit and energy that when i grow old i can only hope to be half that... And I heard Philippa Pearce and Jan Mark speak. They were brilliant and articulate and amusing. (I got Philippa Pearce to sign my copies of A Dog So Small and the Battle of Bubble and Squeek. And I managed to tell her with a very pink face that feelings I'd forgotten came rushing back when I read her books. Feelings I could never articulate came rushing back. Oh Ms. Pearce you are the greatest.) I attended a seminar by Geoff Fox on stories and illustrations of WW1 and WW2. He was very very lively and he spoke with this deep, powerful voice. He read PG Wodehouse and now I want to buy the whole set. Whooopeee! (That's the danger of conferences like this. They expose you to great books and then you want to buy the whole lot. Feck.) Then Kimberly Reynolds (who used to ehad our department in Roehampton but left to start a new one in Newcastle) spoke about frightening fiction and how horror stories for children have evolved. She also brought up an interesting point about the parallels between gothic fiction and cyberfiction and the kind of horror they utilise. hm. Fran really liked that. She was scribbling furiously away. :)
Then Peter Hunt spoke. Peter Hunt is our rock star. He's handsome and charming-- and in a room full of retired school teachers, librarians and young (female) students, I guess he knows that. Heehee. I was so happy to find an academic who could also work a room. He delivered a talk on fantasy and alternative worlds and as an exercise he asked us to "close your eyes and think of your deepest fantasy...there, i thought you'd enjoy that." Cheeky but sho cute! And sooo smart! Yoko came out of that lecture with stars in her eyes. Hee... Peter Hunt spoke about retiring from the academe and taking a step back to take stock of what was really going on from a different perspective. I think that made me admire him even more.
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After the series, Fran and I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant where I had "ants crawling up a tree" and then we went to browse around Borders before we went our own way. Another trip another triple somersault in my tummy. Where was that damn coach station? I saw the bus stop but was the coach stop beyong or not? I spent some time looking at all the signs and checking my e-ticket, too shy ot ask anyone for directions. Finally I set down a path and asked a woman walking her dog for directions. Woah! That was weird. She had these eyes that never looked straight at me and as soon as i asked her a question she went on this fast, stuttery, stacattoey about how the bus station was back there, you see but but back there behind the trees where i jsut came from and the coaches stop there see but but but sometiems they dont they stop at M--- Street and M Street is back there too see? Right beside the bus stop but sometimes they don't go there. But soemtimes they do and i was in pain for her. Whew. That was interesting. So I went to the bus stop and sure enough the coach stop was some distance beside it but hidden by trees.
Another coach trip, this time by night. I put my bag beside me, slipped off my slippers and sat quiet in the dark. Then I watched the lit open windows of the buildings and houses we passed as we got closer to the city. That was nice too. At Victoria, two drunk guys tried to sell me a travel card for two pounds. Then the District Line was down for repairs and I was a bit panicked about getting home. But I managed to take a Victoria to Green Park and take a Picadilly to Hammersmith. Whew.
Stayed up to watch a bit of Runaway Jury with Kate and Sheena but zonked off soon after. Good night's sleep in a proper bed. Aaaaah...