Helen Marshall, a writer and poet originally from Canada, entranced the room with details about her life and her writing. In a talk that ranged from her journey to the UK to the relationship between herself and her sister, she told us how those events have inspired her work.
Within the short hour we attendees had with her, Marshall explored her life with writing, including how she first began writing poetry at the age of five in her back garden. She also read excerpts from two of her books; The Migration and Gifts For The One Who Comes After.
The Migration, her newest novel, took inspiration from the bond that Marshall has with her sister and the journey they have been on together, much like the characters in the novel.
Gifts For The One Who Comes After, a collection of short stories, features 'twisted surrealities' that delve into mythology and childhood imagination. The story which Marshall read to us was 'The Hanging Game', which explored how games we played as children could provide some very real terror.
Helen Marshall's talk at the Cultural Exchanges Festival this year was an nspiring evening that left me itching to get back to my own writing.
Yes I bought her book of short stories, and yes I spent all night reading it.
Megan Greene
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