The Write to Know Festive (ish) Spectacular
Recommendations, reviews, randoms and reindeers
Welcome to this stocking filler of festive delights.
This is the last The Write to Know of 2024 and I intend to pack it with as much stuffing in as I can.
Firstly, how are we all doing?
I’ll be honest, between work, study, writers group, The TEN, and setting up my new writing workshops, I’m ready for break.
But there’s something about this time of year that’s actually very special. The last-gasp crawl to Christmas offers us the anticipation of festive gatherings, the satisfying composition of the out-of-office message, the hard decisions about how much cheese is too much cheese and the chance to showcase some quality knits.
I particularly love the no-man’s land of ‘the inbetween’, which is always the most precious and peaceful time of year. These are the days between Christmas and New Year when nobody really expects anything of you (well, they certainly don’t of me) and the phone can stay on silent or better still, in a drawer.
It’s a license to lounge, and lounge I will. I’m planning a conveyor belt of low-effort activities such as eating, reading (my tbr list is now terrifyingly long), walking, sleeping, a modicum of drinking and a maxicom (new word) of watching The Muppet Christmas Carol (the greatest Christmas movie of all time).
But before that, let’s take a look at the trinkets on the tree that have caught my eye this month.
REMAINS OF THE SLAY
Let’s first take a moment to revel in the genius of producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, who rose to prominence nearly forty (!) years ago with films like A Room with a View (1985), Maurice (1987), Howards End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993).
All of the above were written by the enormously talented Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, except for Maurice, which was written by James Ivory.
Other movies in their canon include Heat and Dust, Jefferson in Paris and Mr & Mrs Bridge.
Their movies, which were primarily adaptations of E.M. Forster and Kazuo Ishiguro novels, brilliantly captured Edwardian and post-war England, combing aesthetic splendour with sharp social commentary.
With 43 films to their name, Merchant Ivory have never shied away from bold subjects. For example, Maurice broke ground by giving its gay protagonist a rare happy ending during a time of pervasive homophobia. These subversive elements and their ability to delve into deeply human struggles, like repressed desires in The Remains of the Day, showcased their remarkable emotional depth and cultural insight.
Long overdue, a documentary, called Merchant Ivory, about this pair of artistic wonders, has just been released and James Ivory talks about it in this chat with the BFI. Ismail Merchant passed away in 2005.
It features contributions from Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Grant, Vanessa Redgrave, Emma Thompson, Simon Callow, Rupert Graves and more. I honestly can’t wait to see it.
REBOOKED
The winner of the Booker Prize was won this year by Samantha Harvey, for Orbital, a novel that looks at themes of our place in the cosmos and the value of human life, through the eyes of six astronauts as they orbit Earth.
Do leave your review in the comments if you’ve had a chance to read it.
If it’s an ambition of yours to win a Book - and I imagine it’s rather a mountain to climb - here’s an article I loved about a few nominated books that were initially rejected by publishers.
Read the article here. Essentially, the message is don’t take no for an answer.
MAKING PROGRESS
The Women’s Prize Discoveries, run by Creative Lives in Progress, is running rather an interesting competition for unpublished female writers with brilliant ideas.
They are inviting unpublished and unagented women writers, in the UK or Ireland, to ‘submit the opening of a novel in English – up to 10,000 words – for the chance to take part in a bespoke creative writing course, secure personalised mentorship packages, an offer of representation from Curtis Brown and a prize of £5000’.
Sounds pretty good, right?
Discoveries is run in partnership with Audible, Curtis Brown Literary Agency, and the Curtis Brown Creative writing school. The closing date is 13 January, 2025, and you can find out more here.
A SPEC OF HOPE
Okay, so we’ve heard a lot recently about the spec script market being dead. Many of my friends in Hollywood are in despair over the state of the industry, however, it seems that there is a flicker of hope.
Screenwriter Natan Dotan has landed a sweet deal for his spec script, Alignment. According to Deadline, the figure landed in the $1.25 million against $3 million range.
The story follows a cutting-edge tech company whose latest AI model begins manipulating global markets and stoking international conflict. A principled board member and an out-of-his-depth software engineer must race to convince their profit-obsessed colleagues to shut down their creation before it triggers a globally catastrophic event.
Taking a punt on a newbie has more than a sniff of a robust Hollywood about it, so let’s hope it hails the start of more positive landscape for other screenwriters looking to break through.
The premise of Alignment is very much about our world now but 1983’s Wargames was also about AI, so this is a theme that Hollywood knows it can rely on (Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film, A.I. Artifical Intelligence plays along a similar track).
In Wargames, a cherub-faced Matthew Broderick - see above - plays a wise-cracking teenager, who thinks he’s hacked into a computer game but it turns out to be the nuclear codes. Cue international panic stations.
I feel like that every time I use ChatGBT.
YOUR FAVOURITE XMAS MOVIE
You all know that my favourite festive movie is The Muppet Christmas Carol but what’s yours?
If you’re looking to extend your festive viewing, take a look at the British Film Institute’s 10 Greatest Christmas Movies of the 21st Century.
Forget Love Actually, Holiday Inn and Elf, because they take a more high brow approach. I still need to see The Holdovers, pictured above.
Shockingly, there isn’t one muppet in the entire list.
OLD PEOPLE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?
Over 60? This writing comp is for you. (And frankly, nearly me).
The Never Too Late 60+ Award, from The Bridport Prize, is now open to submissions.
This tantalising £500 award is for the highest placed writer, who has reached the grand old age of 60 and over, across poetry, short story, novel or flash fiction.
Championed by best selling author Kit de Waal, who was 56 when she published her first novel, and London Literary Agent, AM Heath, this award ‘aims to recognise success over sixty and a ‘never give up’ resilience that is the mainstay of writers’.
So, if your old bones can manage to reach the keyboard, your failing eyes can see the screen and your shrinking brain can cope, why not have a go?
You have until 31 May, 2025, to enter (that’s if you manage to live that long).
GIFTING GUIDE: GET CARRE-D AWAY
If you’re stuck for gift ideas, the London Review bookshop has a list of reading recommendations that include everything of interest this year from a new George Smiley/John Le Carre spy thriller, to a reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to a contemporary horror story set in the Fens. There’s literally something for everyone.
LONG READ KLAXON!
This long read may not be particularly festive but it is extremely fascinating.
By Eleanor Beardsley and Nick Spicer for NPR, it tells the story of how the identity of the person who took forbidden photos of Nazi-occupied Paris, was uncovered.
Taking these clandestine slice-of-wartime-life photos was an extremely dangerous act during the occupation, which is why they’re so extraordinary. Read it here.
REINING IT IN
I promised you reindeers and you shall have reindeers!
Author, Caroline Crowe, who wrote Santa’s New Reindeer, with Jess Pauwels, put together a list of six super stories about reindeers, for The Book Trust. If nothing else, the illustrations are all to be marvelled at.
I’m adding as my own recommendation, I Follow The Fox, by Rob Biddulph (of Draw With Rob fame). The book was published in October and is utterly delightful!
AND FINALLY…
If you’re looking for wine pairings with your reading, viewing and lounging this Christmas, give wine expert Luke Flunder a follow.
He’s constantly updating a list of all the best bargains this festive season, and is the reason I’m able to navigate the wine aisles without feeling completely clueless.
The question remains, is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Answers on a postcard.
You’re going to love the Merchant Ivory doc. It’s so nostalgic, but there’s a lot of surprising new information in there. I went to a screening where Mr. Ivory himself joined us for the Q&A via Zoom (which was just as clunky and awkward as any Zoom with a 96 year old) and proved once again why he has National Treasure Status
Thank you for sharing this. It's been a long time since I've been too young to apply for something! Off to my local bookshop to by Orbital! Happy holidays. X