Re(a)d or white : uncork a book

Manly Library hosted an informal evening of wine tasting on Thursday 18th September with presenters matching wines to their favourite books. It was a great success and we've had requests for information about the presenters and the wines they selected.

Ann Skea read from and talked about The Letters of Ted Hughes (Ed. Christopher Reid). With special insight as a friend of Hughes and his family and the editor Christopher Reid. She recommended a Canary Island sherry - part of the traditional butt of sack awarded as payment to Poets Laureate. Ted went to Spain to see his wine being bottled and he designed his own label for it. http://ann.skea.com/

Sue Murray talked about Breath by Tim Winton (as an ex-West Australian who knows the south coast of WA well and the wineries there too!) Sue has worked in both theatre and education: as a member of a children's theatre company, a clown, a teacher, a university tutor, a project officer at Australia's national drama school and the series editor of the Macmillan Drama Studio. http://www.suemurray.com.au/

Michael Hedger talked about Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and selected a Hardy's red to go with it. Michael is the Council’s Cultural and information Services Manager. He was previously Manager of Visitor Services at the National Maritime Museum and before that the Director of the Campbelltown Regional Art Gallery and the Deputy Director of the British Council in Australia. Before these positions he was a teacher, lecturer and education officer. He was the art reviewer of the Newcastle Herald and the writer of Public Sculpture in Australia which was published in 1995. He has MAs in English Literature and Arts Administration.

Wendy Burridge chose The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. She recommended a smooth, easy drinking Merlot to accompany it. Wendy has been part of the Humphreys Newsagency Team for a number of years now and runs their Book Department. She has access to all the latest publications, selecting the best for their Manly clientele. Wendy has developed a high standard of customer care, provides personalized service, loves her work and has a brilliant product knowledge. She reads what she sells. http://www.humphreys.com.au/

Felicity Pulman is a young adult author who wrote the Shallott trilogy and The Janna Mysteries series. Felicity talked about the books that informed and inspired The Janna Mysteries, ie Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters, When Christ & His Saints Slept by Sharon Penman, and also her new crime series featuring Justin de Quincy, the Queen's man, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and Sarum by Edward Rutherford - she recommended that they be washed down with a glass of mead. http://www.felicitypulman.com.au/

John MacRitchie talked about a favourite book of his: Augustus Carp, being the autobiography of a really good man, by Anon. This is a classic of Edwardian humour, about a pompous prig named Augustus Carp, and it features a scene where wine figures prominently, specifically port wine. Carp, the secretary of the local branch of the Anti-Drunkenness League, never takes strong drink. Until... (The entire text of the book can be found online).

John is Manly Library's Local Studies Librarian. He spends four hours a day commuting by public transport so he spends plenty of time reading. John is a regular reviewer and contributor of articles to library journals and to the Manly Library weblog. He is compiling a book of bad poetry to be called ‘Mongrel Doggerel’. Don’t encourage him.