There has been as many of you already know, an on-going celebration of Barbara Pym’s centenary this year: a read-a-long of her novels by members of the Librarything Virago group. Now though with her actual birthday approaching on June 2nd – we are being treated to a Pym reading week hosted by My Porch and Fig and Thistle. Please pop over to their blogs and join in. There is a lot of Pym talk going on, on twitter and it’s all getting very exciting for fans of Pym.
I have created a Facebook group – the Barbara Pym virtual tea party – so that we can all get together on the day, wherever we happen to be, to share a cup of tea, a plate of cakes etc and chat about our Pym activities. It’s open for anyone to join, so please do, and then share your pictures on Sunday, even if it’s just your favourite tea in your favourite mug. I am actually having a real life tea party on Sunday –with several friends – there will be things to eat, lashings of tea and a Pym themed pass the parcel game. I will be taking pictures! I have also been alerted to some programmes on BBC radio 4 extra – a repeat of Barbara Pym’s 1978 desert island discs appearance, on Sunday morning – and a dramatisation of Jane and Prudence that starts Monday.
For the Pym reading week I am planning to read ‘A very Private Eye; An autobiography in letters and diaries, and No Fond Return of Love – which I remember very fondly from my first reading of it. I will move on to ‘Quartet in Autumn’ later in the month, as the Librarything Virago group will be reading two Pym books this month.
I am reminded that my thanks to the lovely Bello books is very overdue. They sent me three of the Pym novels they publish to complete my collection. They are lovely editions too.
If you are joining in the Pym centenary celebrations I do hope you have a lovely time. I am hoping to covert some friends to Barbara Pym with my pass the parcel game, and have been threatening my mother with some too-as she has shockingly never read Pym, that will have to be remedied.
Your Bello editions look lovely – I shall try to join in next week!
[…] originally learned about the BP Reading Week event via Heavenali, who is also hosting a Barbara Pym Virtual Tea Party on Facebook. As I don’t […]