OMI: Ali Bowden Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Posted by The Lost Book in One minute interviews.
Tags: books, interview
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Ali is the director of the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust and one of the people who made The Lost Book possible. She and her colleague Anna were enthusiastic about the initial idea and did a huge amount of promotion as part of The Lost World Read 2009.

In fact, Ali makes all sorts of things possible. The City of Literature do an awful lot with very little – the amazing reading campaign and all the events associated with it only happen because of Ali and Anna’s tireless work and brilliant persuasive skills. For example, here’s Ali persuading someone to read The Lost World – you’d do what she asked, wouldn’t you?!

[Photo from the reading campaign gallery - one of only two where Ali's in front of the camera rather than behind it!]

Many thanks, Ali, for all your support – and for answering our One Minute Interview. Read on for Ali’s thoughts on sniffing books and imaginary friends.

 

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One minute interview: Ali Bowden

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Occupation
Professional Book Lover and Fan Of Reading using the day-to-day title of Director, City of Literature Trust.

Where were you born?
My dad said it was in a barn but I’m thinking under a bush.

Where do you live now?
Edinburgh, world’s first City of Literature.

How many books are there on your shelves? (Approx.)
Far, far, far too many. Really. I’ve taken to stacking them two deep, one row in front of the other. Eeek. Send help.

What’s been the most fun thing about this project? (The first word of your answer must begin with L and the last word begin with B!)
Laughing (with Helen and Adam from Binary Fable) and being amazed at the creativity and inventiveness of everyone who’s written in and contributed something brilliant.

Do you think that constraints are creative?
Nope but sometimes they help focus the creative mind and that can be productive. Something to kick against.

Who do you think stole the book from the National Library?
Me. Tell no one.

Which book would you most hate to lose?
My own Book of Books. It’s a scrapbook I’ve been keeping for years now, of things I love that I’ve found in books – phrases, poems, pictures, extracts, all kinds of wonderful.

Who’s your favourite fictional detective?
I love Sherlock but secretly I want to be Marlowe.

Who’s your favourite fictional dog?
Oh tough one. I’m going to cheat and demand that I’m allowed to choose a bear and that it can be Fozzie Bear. He’s great. Quite a philosopher in his own secret way. He’d be my sidekick of choice.

Which book has affected you the most?
To Kill a Mockingbird is one I love deeply, and Tale of Two Cities by Dickens I read periodically, mostly just to check that it ends the way it always does (why doesn’t it ever change!). I love micro-fiction and especially Franz Kafka’s ‘Red Indian’. 65 words of magic. I read a book recently called Three Dollars and fell in love with it immediately. I also had the joy of meeting the author and talking about his book so it’s now got a really special place in my heart.

When and where do you read the most?
I have two reading chairs, one in my garden and one in my bedroom. I also try to carry two books with me at all times, like Robert Louis Stevenson, one to write in and one to read.

Where’s your favourite ‘booky’ place?
What a great question. I was recently in Prague and they have a really old library there in the Clementinum, which I had a sneaky peek into and it was amazing. Exactly the way old libraries should be, like something out of an Umberto Eco book. Brilliant. My head was dizzy from all the years of reading packed into its walls and the quiet whispering of its old, old books.

What do you like most about a book apart from the story: its size, its smell, its cover, its…?
That the really good ones grab you and you just can’t leave. You want people to just go away so you can sit and read it. I love that feeling.

For you what does a book lack the most – music, moving pictures, …?
Good books have their own pictures and soundtracks I think, which roll in your head, and keep playing long, long after you’ve finished reading. What books have that nothing else has is that fantastic smell. Go on, sniff a book, it’ll do you good.

Have you ever used a book as a 1) doorstop, 2) missile, 3) an excuse not to do the washing up?
Yes to everything. Also as a way of wooing boyfriends, making friends, saying sorry, saying hello, and also very good to have a sly nap under.

Have you ever regarded a book as a friend, or indeed a monster?
Some of my best friends are entirely made up and live in books. Long may it be so.