[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-the-new-neighbours-at-the-cambridge-lit-fest-2018":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"Last weekend I took \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.co.uk/the-new-neighbours/\">The New Neighbours\u003C/a>\u003C/i> to the Cambridge Literary Festival and for the first time wore my BIG GOLD HAT. Sadly there were not many people in the festival lounge so I had to sit there looking Very Literary and admiring it myself. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/401097_original-00b2a186fe.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Literary Review cover by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/chrisriddell50\">Chris Riddell\u003C/a>, of course it is\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nFor the train ride up, I'd packed some top-notch lit by local Cambridge authors \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/DaveShelton\">Dave Shelton\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/crispriestley\">Chris Priestley\u003C/a>: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/403159_original-d51716adf3.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n(Spot glimpses of my new dress by Esther Marfo.) Spring was coming to Cambridge, look at the blossoms! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/401655_original-199fb227c2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's the view from Festival Headquarters at the Cambridge Union: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/401300_original-0c0763dab1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nFor me, the highlight of the festival itself was getting to see terrific writer-illustrator \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NadiaShireen\">Nadia Shireen\u003C/a>! I hardly ever get to see her, but she's one of the funniest people on social media that I know. (\u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NadiaShireen\">@NadiaShireen\u003C/a> on Twitter, if you're wondering.) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/401871_original-b70556bbd4.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more under the cut!-->\\r\nAnd here are some of the bunnies we drew at \u003Ci>The New Neighbours\u003C/i> event! They're a little hard to make out in this light, but they were super bunnies, and we had a lot of fun. Here are some of the kids who stuck around right to the end of the signing afterward. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/401967_original-a90c6879d1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's another local picture book author, Izabela Baker. She sent photos later of her daughter, who went away afterward and made a terrific bunny costume for herself. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/402356_original-eeeac42693.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nIf you missed the event, here's a quick tutorial about how to draw a bunny (which you can \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/the-new-neighbours/\">download and print from my website\u003C/a>, along with other activity sheets).\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/the-new-neighbours/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/381976_original-477028e0ae.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/the-new-neighbours/\">Download here\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nBig thanks to the Cambridge team who organised my visit - Cathy Moore, Katie Edwards, Mo Soper, Greg Clowes and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/llunae\">Llunae\u003C/a> (left), who looked after me on the day. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/402663_original-701ad6b134.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/402893_original-06924fa914.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nThe festival was SUCH a great excuse to get up to Cambridge to see these fine folk for dinner: \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/mrphoenix\">Woodrow Phoenix\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/pam_smy\">Pam Smy\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/DaveShelton\">Dave Shelton\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/bridge\">Bridget Hannigan\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/403356_original-64962adc70.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nPam and Dave have been working so hard on their books lately that almost no one has seen them, so I'm going to post another photo, just so we don't forget what they look like.  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/403576_original-370f29e0cc.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nExtra bonus, when I stayed with Bridget and Woodrow, I got to try on Woodrow's specs... wahey! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/403821_original-29bf3225c3.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nFinal stop was brunch with the excellent \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/crispriestley\">Chris Priestley\u003C/a>, who is a terribly funny writer, brilliant painter and one of those all-around sensible people who keeps things sane for me when politics get too crazy. (But I mostly only get to talk with him on the Internet, so this was a very special treat.) I loved his first Maudlin Towers book and I can't wait to read the second. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/404213_original-169b74b5b7.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nA few more pics of blossoming Cambridge: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/404291_original-e5a6a83f2b.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/404713_original-3c71f160ec.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/404784_original-72d5fea461.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nOh! And one more thing: on the way back, in London, I stopped off at Cowlings & Wilcox art supply shop in Shoreditch and suddenly remembered \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/arrillustrator\">Alejandro Ramiro\u003C/a>, one of my ol' art-college chums, is the manager there. So of course we had to have a glorious golden hat-fitting session. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/405220_original-fb68ba244f.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">","2018-04-17T18:00:00.000Z","the-new-neighbours-at-the-cambridge-lit-fest-2018",[],"the new neighbours at the cambridge lit fest 2018",1776628729560]