| By
Luci Cummings
Joanne
Harris, ex-teacher and author of 'Chocolat', 'Five Quarters of the
Orange' and 'Holy Fools' came to the Oxford Literary Festival to
promote her latest work, 'Jigs and Reels'.
Unlike
Harris's other works, 'Jigs and Reels' is a collection of short
stories, representing ten years' work. She discussed her work with
broadcaster David Freeman.
Unusually,
Harris says that she finds short stories more difficult to write
than novels. In a novel the author is given more time to settle
down and make friends with their characters, whereas Harris describes
her new characters as extreme personalities.
The stories are a mixture of what Harris calls 'what-ifs' and characters
or situations taken from her own life. Among the 'what-ifs' are
beaches which only admit beautiful people and the hitherto unknown
hiding place of ugly vampires (Blackpool).
Among
her other inspirations for the stories were her grandmother (whose
fictional persona escapes from a care home to go shopping in London)
and her secret addiction to certain glossy magazines.
When
asked if this collection was a second-best answer to publishers'
pressure for a novel, Harris denied this. She stated that she did
not react to such pressure, and that her publishers have wisely
chosen not to exert any.
Harris
also discussed her novels. She described her first (Evil Seed) as
the most poorly written of these, but still her favourite. Her love
of the darker side of life was evident during the discussion, and
comes across in the new stories.
On
the subject of her next novel, she stated that the subject matter
is likely to be a departure from that of her previous works. She
confessed to a fear of repeating herself. Nevertheless, with such
a wealth of life experience and varied interests, her readers are
unlikely to be disappointed.
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