The Montpellier wasteland

Nine days after the end of our ten-day Festival of Literature, this is what Montpellier Gardens looked like at lunchtime. Still, there were people at work from the marquee hire firm - but who's going to restore the messed up park, and how soon?

I'm all in favour of the Festival, but would propose that it concentrates its tents upon Imperial Square, and uses other venues such as the Everyman, the Parabola and the Playhouse - instead of ruining both of our major gardens for what is surely a disproportionate part of the year. I may be repeating myself (as well as the view of others), but it seems to me to be a no-brainer. At present the tail is wagging the dog.

Nor is our gargantuan event pleasing to all the publishers who come. I was chatting with a representative of one well-known international firm on Saturday last: "How does Cheltenham rate amongst all the literary festivals you must go to?" I asked. "It's too commercial, too impersonal," she replied, without missing a beat.

"Sharing Eden"

Three Festival of Literature events today: near my limit! Two of them were sponsored by the splendid Coexist Foundation. On the platform for the first of these, a discussion took place between followers of the three great Abrahamic faiths, pooling insights which could secure a better future for our planet. As Rabbi Nathan Levy (2nd from left in my photograph) said, "Even if we don't all share the same vision of heaven, we share the same Earth."

A common Earth manifesto subscribed to by the world's great religions? It could give people of faith that credibility they often lack within our sceptical yet green-inclined society; but how can we hope to achieve such a thing when within each of our faiths there are those who question any commitment to the importance of global stewardship?

This said, I bought the book after the event, the first time I'd succumbed this Festival: I usually buy more, but I'm in a mean streak.

Rabbi Nathan, a co-author of Sharing Eden, reminds us that people of faith are uniquely placed to speak truth to power about a concern for environmental justice. Politicians work to a five-year plan, business people may adopt a ten-year plan, but we are used to thinking longer-term: only after seven times seven years do we celebrate jubilee: "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

A lot – or sometimes very little – can change in 50 years. As I recorded last month, it’s that period since I started at university: had I instead, as destined, gone into articles in a solicitors’ firm in Birmingham, my life would have been very different. Yesterday was 50 years since the 2nd Vatican Council opened: some would say, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose." More mundanely tomorrow will be 50 years since the last train went from Cheltenham to Kingham on the old Honeybourne Line, running 50 yards from our front gate: what would we now give to have back the comprehensive rail network, which Beeching axed?

Words & Pictures

"Words & Pictures: the Art of Illustration" is the title of the new exhibition at the Gardens Gallery, which I visited yesterday afternoon. The layout of the Literature Festival's Montpellier campus seems rather more friendly to this useful gallery this year. Something that's borne out in visitor numbers, I gather - and I hope sales too.

For Niki Whitfield has assembled a most colourful collection of exhibits: four quite different - but all vibrant - takes on the art of illustration, in the form of cards, books, framed/mounted prints and water colours. And as with all Niki's shows, it's immaculately curated. You can catch it till Tuesday evening next.

Having viewed the pictures, I went on to listen to the words - in this instance of Anglican priest, Lucy Winkett. Not that she was advocating too many of them: "the power of silence," was her theme, and indeed she "led us into" silence very effectively at the end of her hour. "Imagine," she urged us, "that you are sitting on a lovely river bank, and placing all the noises you hear into an endless procession of little boats, which float off downstream."

This was a beautifully reflective talk from someone who's surely made to be one of the first women bishops. But how did she she manage to suppress any mention of the word "prayer"? And a friend pointed out afterwards two other omissions: the silence from which a perhaps-depressed person has to be helped to escape; and the value of the mantra as a means of sustaining an individual's period of silence. But then an hour was too short.

Understanding Islam

As a Summerfield Trustee, one of my proudest achievements was to establish the Summerfield Lecture within the Cheltenham Festival of Literature. Our first lecturer was the then little-known Will Hutton, trailing his seminal book, The State We're In. As grant givers, we wanted to be visible within the community so those in need of funds would know where to come, but more than this I felt we had a responsibility to explore big ideas - and where more appropriate to do this than within our own local festival of ideas?

The Summerfield Lecture seems to have morphed in recent years: last night's featured Fiona Reynolds, on the role of the National Trust: admirable speaker, but hardly cutting edge stuff. (Perhaps this is sour grapes - I am not now invited.)

Which yesterday was just as well, as another foundation, now well enmeshed in our Festival, provided an excellent alternative at the same hour: Coexist have sponsored a number of challenging events this year, including Mary Robinson's, in their quest for an expansion of what they term religious literacy. To the extent that hostility to faith-based ideas stems from ignorance, they must be on the right track.

Certainly "Understanding Islam" was a revelatory session - and (judging by the searching questions it elicited) not just for us. Why don't you hold things sacred? the Muslim world asks. Is the price of our intellectual freedom that nothing is sacred?

A London-based Imam, Shaykh Ahmad Saad al-Azhari recited (aided by his iPad) four separate passages from the Qur'an; each one was then translated by commentator Abdul-Rehman Malik, and expanded upon by both the Imam and Dr. Mona Siddiqui (her voice familiar from Thought for the day).

We learnt that for Islam, the God of Abraham is a secret God, longing to be known. So he gives love, but he is not, as for us Christians, love itself. We believe he has revealed himself in the person of Jesus: Jesus (for Muslims) is both the bridge and the gulf - immaculately conceived by Mary, yes, but though of divine spirit, the servant, not the son of God.

We were told this was just a taster session, but I've said it before: we need a follow up mechanism, so that those whose minds are fired up by Festival events can meet again to help one another further along their paths of discovery. Come on, organisers! Where is the Cheltenham Continuing Festival... of Ideas?

Mary Robinson

For me, the highlight of this year's Festival of Literature, so far, has been Christopher Cook's riveting interview on Saturday with Mary Robinson. This took place in the vast Forum marquee, set up in Montpellier Gardens. Sitting at the very back, I wasn't well placed to catch a photograph. Coming home, though, I found this one of her: I took it after hearing her address a conference I was attending in Belfast while she was still President of Ireland.

With inevitably more lines to her face than 17 years ago, she still inspires in me the same warm admiration I felt after that speech. Whereas Peter Hennessy (the day previously) made recent history seem trivial, Robinson revealed through her thoughtful, often humble, answers to questions a total involvement with the burning issues of the past quarter century: the notes I made show as much.

"We have to make the world fairer... I was taught to believe, not to question... Why, I asked myself, is there so much emphasis on form rather than substance?... It's the distortion of religion that divides us... Admitting your mistakes is sometimes not a bad idea... The United States dipped its human rights standards after 9/11: the war on terrorism [sic] skewed the agenda, political opponents being characterised as terrorists... The rise in anti-Americanism is due to a perception that America operates upon double standards... Climate justice energises me: I wake up every morning with a sense of urgency and passion."

"Is it true," our celebrated guest was asked finally, "that you dance?" "Yes," came the smiling reply: "You bond with people when you dance with them: you dance with your eyes."

Mary Robinson - a prime candidate, I'd say, for the Nobel Peace Prize - and/or being made a Cardinal!

"Distilling the frenzy"

Peter Hennessy has recently started writing in The Tablet. Though I have admired various contributions he's made on Radio 4 over the years, I don't find his column quite so must-go-to as (for example) Clifford Longley's.

Hennessy was much in evidence during our thronged literary festival's opening weekend. I liked his self-effacing touch as interviewer with John Cruddas and Tessa Jowell, which produced a worthwhile hour: less successful, however, was his earlier appearance, solo, to promote his latest book: its title as above (referencing Keynes). Never at any festival event have I heard such a litany of quotations by others, or, to put it another way, so many names dropped! If each quote deserves a footnote, then Hennessy has to be right when he confesses, "I'm a footnote person."

He jokingly threatens an autobiography entitled, I've never been one for gossip but... On this evidence, there would be plenty to fill the space after that "but..." - not much scope, though, for substantiating the opening statement. Concentrating on post-War history, he seems obsessed by rumour and the personalities who purvey it. Now that he is a member of the House of Lords - a place for "weapons-grade gossip" - "I have lunch," he boasts, "with my exhibits".

Hennessy sees the role of historians to be that of "natural stay-behinds." They need to look for the "malign combinations" - yet it seemed he sees nothing to which we should be alerted in our leaders of recent decades neglecting to husband resources or tackle long-term environmental threats: "climate change" rates just one brief mention in Distilling the frenzy, according to its index.

"I'm a media tart," he said: at least he's honest enough to admit it.

Times live

The 2012 Cheltenham Festival of Literature is in full swing. On Friday and today, amidst the plethora of events, main sponsor, The Times, held its leader conference live. I hardly ever read that newspaper these days, yet it was a privilege to sit in on this process.

Each day at midday, eight highly intelligent people grapple with the day's main stories, one after the other pitching in on the question, which are the most important? Until James Harding says, "Here's what we're going to do." The youngest person to become editor when appointed five years ago, there's no doubt it's James who's the boss, resolving not only what subjects should fill the leader columns in the next day's paper, but also exactly how The Times should "thunder" on those stories.

Rising from the meeting after an hour, the appointed journalists trot off to research their subjects, finalising their 600-odd word leaders in time for a six o'clock deadline. Brilliant theatre!