Martin shares highlights at Manx Litfest
Martin Bell
FORMER BBC war correspondent and politician Martin Bell will return to the island next weekend to discuss his books and work with Unicef as part of the inaugural Manx Litfest.
The man in the white suit who turned 74 this month currently spends his time split between being Unicef’s ‘expendable ambassador’ and giving talks on cruise ships.
The aim of his last visit to the island two years ago was to pitch for some Isle of Man Overseas Aid cash for Unicef. This time, having just published his first book of poetry For Whom the Bell Tolls: Light and Dark Verse, he will do An Evening With... at the Gaiety Theatre as well as giving a talk about Unicef to sixth-form students at the Isle of Man College.
Far from being retired, Martin is busier than ever. ‘As I get older I accelerate because I don’t know how much time I have to do everything,’ he explained, ‘I just like being busy.’
In fact, as well as being sent to the dangerous countries that Unicef’s other celebrity ambassadors are not allowed to visit, this winter he will head off to Burma onboard a Cunard cruise ship. But this month he saw his name included in a published list of 2,000 people who had been blacklisted in Burma.
‘I’d never even been there,’ he said. ‘And I’d never even written about it. I had to write to the lady on the ship and tell her I was sorry but I didn’t know I was on this list but since I’m no longer on it I don’t think it matters.’
He said: ‘Did you know that the magnificent theatres on the Cunard ships are modelled on the Gaiety Theatre in the Isle of Man? Isn’t it great – they have boxes and everything.
‘I think your island is a lovely place,’ he added. ‘I like islands – especially remote islands. My favourite of them all is St Helena in the South Atlantic.’
Listen to Lottie’s interview with Martin by clicking this link: Martin Bell Interview mp3.
Martin was asked to join the line-up for the four-day Manx Litfest, starting next Thursday (September 27), as his literary agent is a friend of festival organiser John Quirk.
So how important is literature?
‘I’ve always been fascinated by words,’ he said. ‘My family is a family of wordsmiths. My father founded The Times crossword puzzle in 1913 and was an eminent author while my sister is the English translator of the Asterix cartoons – so we deal in words. But I never wrote a book until I was 54. I’ve now written six non-stop. And I love writing dodgy poems – it’s a great way of expressing yourself.’
He explained: ‘I wrote a poem aged 19 when I was a Lance Corporal editing the regimental magazine and being in active service in Cyprus. I didn’t write another one for 51 years but I can’t stop now.’
As well as his books, Martin will also share his experiences of war. One that immediately springs to mind is the day he was hit by shrapnel live on TV in Bosnia.
‘It was like a very bad stomach ache but I was lucky I was only in hospital for about six days,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t go through that again willingly but of course you can’t take those risks anymore. Now journalists are sought out by various combattants.
‘I think the kind of free-ranging journalism we practised, even in war zones, ended at 9/11. People got picked out, singled out or targeted.’
He added: ‘It’s not do-able anymore in the old sense of the word. I have a long reigning argument with John Simpson about this – he claims that it is but it just isn’t. You have to hide away in fortified compounds and green zones or else you get embedded with a military unit which has its merits but it’s a very fragmented way of reporting a war.’
He must have seen a lot of hellish things in his career.
‘A senior UN soldier in Bosnia believed I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,’ he said. ‘But to be quite honest none of my nightmares are about war zones, they are about lost baggage! It’s ridiculous but they are.’
Listen to Lottie’s interview with Martin by clicking this link: Martin Bell Interview mp3.
Tickets to see Martin at the Gaiety Theatre at 8pm next Friday (September 28) start at £15. Call 600555 or visit www.villagaiety.com.
Visit www.manxlitfest.com for the full festival schedule.
The Kindle by Martin Bell
Do you remember there were books
At first attracted by their looks
Then we would open them like lovers
For mysteries within their covers
We found in them a light divine
A soul, a spirit, and a spine
They taught us history, art and Greek
To write to think to woo to speak
Yet sadly they are in such decline
That they are becoming as antique as a spinning wheel and spindle
And we are left with the kindle
People on the underground read slabs unprinted and unbound
And paradise will not be found
Nor God’s grace shone around
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Weather for Isle of Man
Thursday 23 May 2013
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