Published on December 16th, 2008 in Readings and Events by Christopher Hamilton-Emery
Elizabeth Baines: “Around the Edges of the World” Tour
Elizabeth Baines: Balancing on the Edge of the World
Around the Edges of the World
These are stories about power: children without it and adults vying to get or keep it. A small boy struggles with his parents’ divorce, a doctor fails to understand the limits of his medical power, a wronged wife finds a uniquely powerful way to wreak revenge. Sometimes satirical, sometimes innovative and lyrical, the stories home in on those moments when power can spill into powerlessness: the split-second when a self-satisfied teenager is held at knifepoint by muggers, the trip to the woods with the ‘poor kids’ which teaches a small girl she’s no better than them. They chart the opposite moments when people wrest back power: a daughter rebels against her violent father, a struggling writer decides to expose a con man arts worker, a little girl who wishes her lost father would come back finds she has magic powers.
But it’s a slippery thing, power, and these vivid, wry stories spring surprises: for nothing, in the end, is ever quite what it seems.
| Stops | Tour Date | Blog |
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| 1 | 14 January 2009 | Barbara’s Bleeuugh |
| 2 | 21 January 2009 | Me and My Big Mouth |
| 3 | 28 January 2009 | Keeper of the Snails |
| 4 | 4 February 2009 | Caroline Smailes |
| 5 | 11 February 2009 | Sarah’s Writing Journal |
| 6 | 18 February 2009 | Vanessa Gebbie’s News |
| 7 | 25 February 2009 | Dovegreyreader Scribbles |
| 8 | 4 March 2009 | Charles Lambert |
| 9 | 11 March 2009 | Debi Alper |
| 10 | 18 March 2009 | TaniaWrites |
So excited and honoured to be part of this tour! Kettle will be on in March.
Tania, I’ll bring muffins!
That logo was a CMYK file, which is why you were having problems, Elizabeth, I’ve updated it now. Should work fine if you grab it off the site.
Love
The Tour Guide
Oh, great, thanks, Chris, I’ll grab it again.
I’m looking forward to this very much! Roll up your sleeves, Elizabeth, and make you’ve got the grindstone and wheel handy…
Yikes, Charles!
Nah, bring it on…
Looking forward to having you in Ireland, Elizabeth!
Just what I need, Barbara – some Irish air! Looking forward to answering your probing questions, and hope I can do them justice!!
Pingback: Cyclone » Caroline Smailes’ “In Search of Adam” Blog
Pingback: Cyclone » Sarah Salway’s Writing Journal
Yay, Elizabeth! Looking forward to following your travels.
Check out the first leg on Barbara’s Bleeuugh! Barbara plies me with Roman delicacies and then comes in with some killer questions about my writing process:
http://intendednot2b.blogspot.com/2009/01/testy-test.html
Scott Pack, Wednesday’s host, reviews the book beforehand here:
http://meandmybigmouth.typepad.com/scottpack/2009/01/balancing-act.html
Pushing the boundaries and pleasing the punters: on the second leg of the tour, Scott Pack, publisher and former chief fiction buyer for Waterstone’s, gets me talking about the effect the market has had on my writing.
http://meandmybigmouth.typepad.com/scottpack/2009/01/interview-elizabeth-baines.html
Check out the latest leg at Clare Dudman’s Keeper of the Snails blog. She quizzes me about my use of a child’s perspective, how far I use real people and places in my stories, how acting relates to writing and how I relate to snails!
http://keeperofthesnails.blogspot.com/2009/01/balancing-on-edge-of-world-and_28.html
New leg of the tour at Caroline Smailes’ blog. She asks me the hardest question of all: why do I write stories? See how I do!
http://insearchofadam.blogspot.com/2009/02/around-edges-of-world.html
Leg 5: Novelist Sarah Salway gets me to confess which of the stories in Balancing was stolen, and to reveal my idea of the literary party from hell. We also discuss how so-called short stories can encompass huge themes.
http://sarahsalway.blogspot.com/2009/02/writer-worth-cooking-muffins-for.html
Leg 6: Dovegreyreader and I talk about literary lenses – microscopic versus telescopic – and, would you believe it, my writing jumper! AND THERE’S A PRIZE DRAW: A FREE COPY OF BALANCING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD TO EACH OF THREE LUCKY READERS WHO LEAVE THEIR NAMES IN THE COMMENTS SECTION!
http://dovegreyreader.typepad.com/dovegreyreader_scribbles/2009/02/dovegreyreader-asks-elizabeth-baines.html