LIBRARY LIFE

Gladstone's Library, Hawarden

By Rhian Waller - Gladstone's Library PR and marketing

Hello readers! Our literary festival Gladfest is over for this year, and we are back to business as usual. In September and October, the university year begins again, so it seems a good moment to turn to the researchers and non-fiction writers who call the Library their place of work.

This week and next, we will highlight some of the factual work done in our Reading Rooms. Introducing a small selection of the authors of Gladstone's Library, in their own words:

Fran Mulhern, essayist. Publications include Rediscovering Irishness and a column in the Belfast Telegraph: "I write fiction and essays. Gladstone's Library is an incredible sanctuary where you meet all sorts of individuals but also have a lot of space to think and write.

"Last time I was there I wrote an essay called On Speaking of the Dead, which was just recently published - and on our last evening there (my wife joined me for the last night) we ended up in the common room getting very tipsy with an international cheese judge, a member of the House of Lords and a man writing a book about the father of the girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland. It was, quite possibly, the best evening I've ever had!"

Read more:

Ira Mathur, author of Love the Dark Days: "I began writing my memoir here. Now published, it was one of the UK Guardian's top choices for 2022 and is longlisted for the OCM Prize for Literature."

Michael Free, lecturer in clinical psychology and author of Cognitive Therapy in Groups: "I finished off the manuscript for the second edition of my Cognitive Therapy in Groups book there in 2007 and drove the manuscript down to Wiley at Chichester whilst staying at the Library. Also worked on my subsequent book CBT and Christianity at that time. I'd love to work there again, but I live in Australia!

Kathryn Bishop Carden, author of Board Talk: 18 crucial conversations that count inside and outside the boardroom: "I stayed at the Library in October 2022 and wrote a chapter of my business book there - it is called Board Talk: 18 crucial conversations that count inside and outside the boardroom and will be published next October. Being surrounded by books and fellow writers made me more productive - such a enjoyable few days"

Thank you for reading. We love to hear from all our visitors. Email rhian.waller@gladlib.org if you want to share your projects!