A tour of the Exeter City of Literature Book Market on Sunday JUne 9th, part of Exeter’s indie Arts festival, June Boom A firm favourite
It’s Friday lunchtime, and outside, on the cobbles of Stepcote Hill, the sun is shining. There’s a steady flow of parents manoeuvring buggies and holding the hands of little people, moving towards The Hall. A sign on the door reassures us that the gig finishes in time for the school run.
Inside the nearby 17th-century Custom House – once an excise centre for the busy port, now a visitor centre and arts and culture hub – an audience was gathering to hear Philip Marsden talk about his new book, Under a Metal Sky – a journey through minerals, greed and wonder.
We laugh, united in the dark stalls by the sight of this soft-voiced woman, her notebook stuffed with words, ideas and doodles, the pages marked with flurries of orange and pink, alone under the spotlights of the proscenium-arched stage – reclaiming the mic and helping us back to ourselves.
The event is billed as ‘vibrant and uplifting’, and as it turns out, it’s both of these things. But, as is characteristic of Spork!, it’s comically dark, thoughtful, and subversive too.
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