Revisiting the Newcastle witch trials and other Books on Tyne highlights
Witch trials, left wing politicians and the felling of a famous sycamore tree are just some of the topics embraced by Books on Tyne, as David Whetstone reports
Andrew Bergin’s journey into fiction began five years ago on a train that had ground to a halt after heading north out of King’s Cross.
For the author, Hexham-born and now Berwick-based, it was a case of the mundane giving rise to the momentous.
“We were stopped in the Newark area where the A1 runs very close to the line,” he remembers.
“The fields were grey under water, the sky was low and grey and the traffic on the road was also at a standstill.
“Suddenly I had an image of this guy slogging on horseback up the Great North Road (as the A1 used to be called) and he’s desperate to get home to Newcastle.
“But he’s also in despair, dreading what he might find when he gets there.”
It was the genesis of The Wicked of the Earth, the first foray into fiction by a man – writing as A.D. Bergin - whose previous literary output had been related to his careers as historian and then business consultant.
The novel is set against the notorious Newcastle ‘witch’ trials of 1650 which resulted in 15 women being hanged on the Town Moor – the largest such mass execution in England.
Andrew’s fictional horseman is James Archer, a traumatised Parliamentarian spy (this being the time of the English Civil War) who is riding home to Newcastle where his sister is missing in the aftermath of the trials.
There he will get drawn into investigating the disappearance of the women who campaigned to free the accused.
This is something Andrew insists did happen although it’s not well documented. By delivering “this extraordinary true story as a very accessible thriller,” he hopes to put it in the public domain.
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His novel, published on November 21 by Northodox Press, has drawn comparison with those of the late C. J. Sansom and excited plenty of pre-publication interest.
“The hunger, the thirst for this story is extraordinary,” he says appreciatively. “It’s gone a bit bonkers.”
But another journey he’ll be making shortly is to the Lit & Phil in Newcastle where he will talk about his novel at the annual Books on Tyne festival.
He won’t be the only one. The twelfth Books on Tyne, split between the Lit & Phil and Newcastle City Library, provides a platform for many different writers from the North East and further afield.
“We don’t usually like to blow our own trumpet but we think we’ve put together a really good programme this year,” says Kay Easson, librarian at the Lit & Phil.
“We’ve got some old favourites taking part but also new people. There has been a lot of interest and we’re very pleased with the ticket uptake.”
Fellow programmer Derek Tree, publications manager for Newcastle Libraries, says: “Tickets are selling really well. People are clearly coming out again now after Covid.”
Some events at both venues are sold out, including (at the City Library) the blend of literature and cabaret promised by Polari, featuring writers Paul Burston, Andrew McMillan and V.G. Lee, and Joyce Quin’s talk about the second Angels of the North volume of notable North East women, co-authored with Moira Kilkenny.
But Derek says as tickets are free, there might still be room for anyone turning up on the day.
He is particularly looking forward to the visit of Andy Beckett, historian and journalist, to talk about his book The Searchers, looking at five left wing MPs (Tony Benn, Ken Livingstone, John McDonnell, Diane Abbot and Jeremy Corbyn) and their many enemies.
As he notes: “Things have changed quite a bit since the book came out in May.”
Bookending the festival programme at the City Library are events involving James Routledge, bookseller and founder of website Opt Indie Books which celebrates “bookshops, books and the people who read them”.
On the opening day, November 23, he and writer Sarah Davy will be joined at 11am by children’s authors David Almond and Julia Green for the first episode of their podcast series, Books, Unpacked, to be recorded live.
Then at 2pm on the final day, November 30, Opt Indie Books and the Northern Fiction Alliance, comprising radical voices in publishing, will join forces for a panel discussion about what it takes to run a small press.
At the Lit & Phil some events are also sold out, including Robert Lloyd Parry’s reading of ghost stories by M.R. James and Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee talking about her extraordinary family, which she documents in An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals.
But on the opening day there’s still a chance to hear David Breeze talking about the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree and the book it prompted, Hadrian’s Wall in Our Time, featuring contributions from 80 archaeologists and others.
After that, in a presentation by Red Squirrel Press, poet and playwright Tom Kelly and historian and broadcaster John Grundy will chat and read from their work.
Then there’s broadcaster and author John Suchet whose passion for Beethoven must surely be unrivalled. His latest book, In Search of Beethoven: A Personal Journey, is just out and John returns to the Lit & Phil to talk about it on November 28.
And if the witch trials are your special fascination, A.D. Bergin’s talk on November 30 will be followed by that of Northumberland author Sue Reed, author of The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn.
The novel, for young readers, tells of 15-year-old Molly and her encounter in a Northumberland wood with Martha, a girl from the 17th Century who is on the run from the witch hunter.
Martha’s mother, already languishing in a Newcastle dungeon, is Ann Watson, one of the real-life victims of the trials of which A.D. Bergin writes.
Running from November 23 to 30, you’ll find the full programme on the Books on Tyne website.
Very much looking forward to speaking at the Lit & Phil! Thanks for giving The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn a shout out!