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sMall woNder
beth Miller talks to a pork-pie-hatless Alexei Sayle
The short story had been in d<strong>us</strong>ty
decline for many years, but lately
has made something of a comeback.
Its revival is due in part
to events such as Charleston’s
Small Wonder Festival, a four
day celebration of all things
short story-ish. This year’s starry
line-up includes A.S. Byatt,
Salley Vickers, Joseph O’Connor
and Michele Roberts. Flicking
through the programme I
thought for one heart-quickening
moment that Colin Firth was
also appearing, and he is, but
only in celluloid form – a latenight
showing of A Single Man.
There are events for families
too, including the intriguingsounding
Ho<strong>us</strong>e of Fairytales, a
storytelling/theatre thing which
runs over a whole weekend.
Last year I attended the
legendary short story slam (my
name wasn’t picked from the hat
so I can’t report on a marvello<strong>us</strong>
triumph), and to the lovely
Stories under the Stars, which
took place in a c<strong>us</strong>hion-strewn
Arabian tent. The slam is on
again – take entries along on the
night - and the tent will host a
m<strong>us</strong>ic event this time.
The speaker I am most keen
to see is Alexei Sayle, himself
w w w. V I VA l E w E s . C o M
an accomplished short story
writer. I spoke to Mr Sayle the
other day and asked if he would
have been a member of the
Bloomsbury Set had he been
around in the 1920s. ‘No! They
would have hated me and I
would have hated them’, he said.
‘We would cut each other dead
at salons.’ On further reflection
he made an exception for Lytton
Strachey, who looked as if he
‘liked a laugh.’
Alexei’s writing CV is impressive:
tv scripts, five novels, two
short story collections pl<strong>us</strong>
‘almost enough for another
collection’, and most recently a
memoir entitled Stalin Ate My
Homework. He enjoyed writing
the memoir most, though it took
a while to get the technique: ‘I
threw a first draft away.’
I asked Alexei if he had any
unfulfilled ambitions, other than
the one noted in his blog: to
be on the ‘pretentio<strong>us</strong>’ South
Bank Show. He confessed that
he would love to win a literary
prize – ‘or be short-listed.
Or even j<strong>us</strong>t long-listed.’ His
proudest achievement was
having made the transition from
comedian to serio<strong>us</strong> writer, and
he felt an award would be a fine
l I t E r At U r E
ack<strong>now</strong>ledgement of that.
The conversation returned to
short stories, the best of which,
he said, were like ‘little gems’.
His favourite short story writers
were Raymond Carver, Saki
and Graham Greene. And his
favourite story was Bartleby the
Scrivener by Herman Melville,
which he described ‘as like
nothing you’ve ever read.’
The festival programme is also
like nothing you’ve ever read,
taking in as it does not j<strong>us</strong>t
writing workshops, interviews
and disc<strong>us</strong>sions, but also plays,
the actress Kerry Fox, ping pong,
conversation cards, tiny figurines
and other little gems. Beth Miller
Small Wonder runs from 23rd-
26th September at Charleston.
Alexei is appearing on Sunday
26th September at 2pm. The full
programme is at www.charleston.
org.uk/smallwonder. <strong>Call</strong> 01323
811626 for a printed copy. Details
of how to book tickets can be
found in the programme.
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