Friends Evening at Brodies

Moffat Book Events' first Friends Evening at Brodies on a lovely sunny evening (Tues June 28)was a most enjoyable and productive gathering. We toasted our new chairman, Adam Dillon, who outlined plans for our October 15/16 2011 event on the theme of identity: its manifold aspects from the mythical ability of characters such as Merlin to 'shape-change', Merlin's connection with Moffat (his cave on Hartfell); the role of DNA in enabling us to trace our personal history; the stories we tell ourselves and how to compile an oral community history; the importance of the presentation of self through dress etc. What promises to be a fascinating day with something for every taste will end, as has become traditional for MBE, with a festive tea at our venue, the Moffat House hotel. New ideas were invited, and will be explored such as adding a creative writing workshop session, perhaps on the Sunday morning, and, through the good offices of Andrew Wheatcroft, inviting a representative from the Chinese book industry to attend the October event to see how a community book event can work for the benefit of all.