"Once Upon A Time, When People Sent Postcards......"

There's a distinct lack of postcards arriving at my house these days. No jolly or exotic, funny or arty ones land on my doormat anymore.

In the past, we'd pick them up, read them, stick them on our kitchen cupboards.....where they'd ( colourfully//gaudily) remain........YES, OK, they'd collect dust and grease and nosy folk's finger marks.....but they brightened up our kitchen no end...reminding me of family and friends whenever I cast a glance upwards....BUT OH DEAR! rarely do we receive any postcards now....

BUT YES, when I've had the sad bewildering ( sometimes surprising?) task of clearing out the cupboards and drawers belonging to deceased family, I've found countless postcards...some dating back to the start of the last century...and these postcards have been a wonderful chronicle of the lives of my " ancestors"....

But alas no more. Blame emails, mobiles, texts, exhorbitant costs?? ....Oh dear!

Writer Angela Carter ( 1940 -1992) sent postcards. She certainly did. She sent lots to her friend Susannah Clapp**  and Clapp has sorted them together to feature in her slender little book called : " A card from Angela Carter".... which clearly shows Carter's unique and fetching use of language...as well as her quirky brilliant  imagination....
SO last Sunday, Susannah Clapp talked with us as part of Chester Lit Fest. We learned lots about Angela Carter as both writer and woman. Much was revealed through her postcards, as well as through Susannah Clapp's affectionate tribute as a close friend...

** Susannah Clapp has been publisher, editor, radio critic of Sunday Times, theatre critic of New Statesman, book reviewer, contributor radio and theatre critic of Observer since 1997.**

*******AND MORE WOMEN WRITERS seen at Chester Lit Fest this week:
2 poets from our NW region came yesterday: Rebecca Goss and Mary Robinson, who " duetted" their work to acclaim in the Court Room at the Town Hall yesterday lunchtime. They read from their collections: Rebecca's ( " The Anatomy of structures")  and Mary's ( " The Art of Gardening")
Says it all that I bought both books, one as a pressy for someone who m knows Mary's part of the world like the back of 'er 'and.....