Deia renaissance

The four-day festival of books, food, wine, film and good conversation has attracted the participation of great Spanish, Catalan and English-languages writers from all over the world, including, for example, the famous Pakistani writer Hanif Kureishi, Deià*s very own Tomás Graves, Lynne Franks, Welsh poet Owen Sheers, Louis de Bernieres and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber with the collaboration of a number of leading literary commentators including Bulletin arts critic and political commentor Ray Flemming.

The four-day festival, which the organisers hope will grow to become The Hay Festival's “sister” event, will also feature film, music, poetry, with obvious references to Robert Graves who lived and died in Deià, and art from Majorca and across the globe.

One of the driving forces behind setting up the festival is Simon Finch, a writer and one of Britain's leading dealers in antique books who will next week be opening a new book shop in Deià, Zembla, where he also has a home.

However, a number of Deià residents, including Tomás Graves, Patrick Meadows, Jaqueline Waldren, Lynne Franks and Andrew Lloyd Webber have also been very active in getting the festival off the ground.

The organisers believe that Deià, “a little village rather like Hay-on-Wye,” is a perfect location for this kind of festival, the likes of which, as the second-hand-book capital of the world, attracts 70'000 people a year.

Public relations and women's issues “guru” Lynne Franks has owned a home in Deià for many years. She wrote her latest book Grow there last year and said that the festival is “wonderful news, we're all really excited.” Franks told the Bulletin yesterday “the idea has been bubbling over for years and we've been working on this for months, I think, we all think, it's going to be fantastic for the village and Majorca. “It will really put Deià on the map as a cultural centre as opposed to a holiday resort. “There are some really big names coming, but there have also been some big names living and coming here for years and this festival will help to establish Deià as a cultural centre of Europe,” she said. “This, I believe, is the start of a renaissance in Deià. Ever since the great Robert Graves lived here, wonderfully artistic people have been coming from all over the world and I think now we all want to put something back. “We all consider ourselves residents of Deià, even though some only come every now and then, and we all want to give something back to the village and Majorca. “It's a wonderfully creative place which has inspired so many people over the generations. It inspired me, I spent five months writing my last book here and I'm going to be spending more and more time here, it's where I want to be and it's the same for some of my children,” she said. “I know of many other artists and writers moving to Deià to work and live, now the island's got broadband it's so much easier.” But on a more serious note Lynne Franks believes that the Festival is going to be the start of something really special and will help to preserve Deià*s rich cultural tradition which goes back to Robert Graves.

From October 29 to
November 1 for more information www. hayfestival.com/terulia