I'm a big fan of bookclub meetings with friendly banter, good books and being a meeting of minds. The bookclub meetings held at the Festival last year were an absolute treat. Following the comedic revelation that I was not Carol Ann Duffy there were some wonderful insightful comments about her poetry. Sally Nicholls also gave a wonderful reading from Jackie Kay's short stories. One of my highlights of the Festival was hearing Jasper Fforde & Andrew Tate (two of my favourite writers) discussing Walden which somehow drifted into a discussion about the Muppets. It was an essentially Greenbelt moment – profound, spiritual and witty.

The people who came along to the sessions shared from their own experiences, talked of their responses to the books. (Thank you for that, I was deeply moved by some of the things you shared & said).

This year the literature subgroup have popped their collective thinking hats on, had some passionate discussion and have picked three very different books which we commend to you for discussion at the Festival.

1) Ali Smith – The First Person and Other Stories

Ali Smith is a wonderful writer and in the short story form her skills really zing. Smith has a knack for capturing conversations, pinning moments in a relationship & unlocking the process that goes into writing a novel. There's much here to delight and inspire, some of these stories will leave a smile in your mind.

2) Thornton Wilder – The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Wilder's novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928. The story of the collapse in 1714 of "the finest bridge in all Peru", killing five people, it is a parable of the struggle to find meaning in chance and in inexplicable tragedy – a struggle many people face today. In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy Prime Minister Tony Blair quoted from the novel at a memorial service.

In the novel, a Franciscan missionary sees the bridge "divide and fling five gesticulating ants into the valley below". He then sets out to trace the lives of the victims, linked only by their deaths, in an effort to understand the seemingly random nature of the tragedy. Wilder later explained that he was seeking to address the question: "Is there a direction and meaning in lives beyond the individual's own will?

3) Star of the Morning: The Extraordinary life of Lady Hester Stanhope by Kirsten Ellis

The life of Lady Hester Stanhope (1776-1839) sounds like something from fiction. She was Prime Minister Pitt's niece and companion. She joined her brother on a voyage to Spain and kept travelling. She travelled to Constantinople and Damascus and was the first European woman to enter the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, but eventually made a home in Joun, in the mountains of Lebanon. When her clothes were lost in a shipwreck she dressed like a Turkish man, smoked a long water-pipe and rejected her birth culture. Famous for her wit, beauty and energy, she became the greatest woman traveller of her day. She developed a passion for the Arab world and forged lasting friendships with pashas, emirs and sheikhs – and was revered by the Bedouin, whose cause she championed, as their ‘Star of the Morning.’

If you don't own any of these books, you should! Click on the titles of the books to buy them from Amazon, and a portion of money will go to Greenbelt. Your local library should also stock these.

You'll find these discussions in The Hub the venue where Visual Arts and Literature coexist. Bring a mug of something warm and prepare to share your thoughts with other equally passionate souls. I can't wait to hear what people will have to say about these books. Will you be there? You won't want to miss this, it's going to be great!

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Ben Whitehouse is Literature Coordinator for the Greenbelt festival. He writes a blog – White Like Milk – and you can follow him on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Benjiw

Following on from our highlighting of the Kairos Palestine Document, we'd like to draw your attention to a second document that was published before Christmas by a variety of organisations including Amnesty International, Oxfam, CAFOD, and Greenbelt partners Christian Aid.

Entitled "Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses", the report is an analysis of the aftermath of Israel's Operation Cast Lead, and a condemnation of the lack of international action to secure the ending of the blockade of Gaza, which is preventing reconstruction and recovery. The report highlights the grim reality endured by 1.5 million people in Gaza, and urges people to take action by reminding elected officials of their responsibility to traumatised, impoverished and isolated people.

Download and read the document, and then take a moment to send an email to the Foreign Secretary David Milliband MP to intervene and end the blockade.

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The short film No Way Through by Alexandra Monro and Sheila Menon also highlights mobility restrictions in the West Bank and is well worth a watch. It won an award  as part of the Short Film Project from Ctrl Alt Shift.

Bono – who probably won't be at next year's Festival – had an article in yesterdays NY Times listing 10 ideas for the future.

Our favourite idea is the Festival of Abraham:

Here’s something that could never have happened in the Naughts but will maybe be possible in the Tweens or Teens — if there’s a breakthrough in the Mideast peace process. The idea is an arts festival that celebrates the origin of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Every year it could be held in a different location; Jerusalem would obviously be the best place to start.

In Ireland, at the height of the “Troubles,” it was said that the only solution for rabid sectarianism was to let 1,000 punk-rock bands bloom: music helped create a free space for dialogue (of a high-volume variety). So no politicians allowed. Artists only.

Read more over here.

In December, a group of Palestinian Christians, representing a variety of churches and church-related organisations, issued "The Kairos Palestine Document" – an animated and prayerful call for an end to the occupation of Palestine by Israel. The call comes at a time when many Palestinians believe they have reached a dead end, and raises questions to the international community, political leaders in the region, and churches worldwide about their contribution to the Palestinian people's pursuit of freedom.

The document – entitled "A Moment Of Truth" – echoes a similar one issued by South African churches in the mid-1980s at the height of repression under apartheid, with a similar aim of galvanising churches and the wider public. It raises the challenge to religious and political leaders in Palestinian and Israeli society, international community, and to "our Christian brothers and sisters in the churches" around the world, of the urgency for peace with justice; yet even in the midst of what they describe as "our catastrophe", the call is described as a word of faith, hope and love.

With Greenbelt's campaign continuing into the new year, we would encourage you to download and read the document or visit the Kairos website for more ways to get involved.

GB09 headliner Duke Special recently parted company with his record label. But how does a dreadlocked troubadour survive when the music industry is going through its toughest time in decades? He turns to an alternative method of funding his artistic projects; something new, DIY, and unique, which lets an audience connect directly with their favourite artist.

And that's how the Duke decided on Pledge Music, a method by which fans can directly invest in the band and their projects. Income raised will help with the release, promotion and touring of three new records being officially launched in 2010, live events through May and June, the building of a promotional team, as well as a percentage going to Duke Special's chosen charity Depaul Ireland (www.depaultrust.ie) which works with homeless and disadvantaged people.

His new approach has already been highlighted in a blog post on the Guardian website, and over 250 pledges have already been made, so do look into supporting the Duke's work by pledging on his Pledge Music site, or have a browse through some of the other artists funding their work through similar means.

In our last podcast of 2009 – and of the decade – we take a look back over Greenbelt's noughties.

We talk to Andy Thornton, The Festival's Manager coming into the decade, about the move to Cheltenham, Jude Levermore, The Festival's Chair in the early part of the decade about beginning to turn things round, Karen Napier, the Festival's Chair in the mid-to-late part of the decade, about moving Greenbelt from crisis to sustainability, and Andy Turner, the Festival's brand new Chair at the start of a new decade, as he looks forward to what the next ten years might bring.

Click here to download the .mp3 podcast file (34.8MB)

Or stream the audio using the player below.

[podcast]http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/downloads/podcasts/gb_dec_09_final.mp3[/podcast]

Timings – so you can dip in and out if you want to:

00.00 – 01.20 – Intro
01.20 – 03.30 – Andy Thornton talks about the 'hairy' early days of the decade
03.30 – 08.00 – Jude Levermore talks about how close Greenbelt came to death
08.00 – 10.20 – Karen Napier talks about steadying the ship and setting a course
10.20 – 13.50 – Andy Turner looks back to look forward
13.50 – 16.20 – Andy Thornton talks about where he sees the Festival being now
16.20 – 17.20 – Jude Levermore talks about the good things that have been born
17.20 – 19.00 – Karen Napier talks about the wonderful volunteers
19.00 – 19.55 – Jude Levermore says 'thank' you to Christian Aid
19.55 – 21.00 – About Greenbelt's 'Just Peace' campaign
21.00 – 24.11 – Goodbye and play-out with Sufjan Stevens

Resources and links

The Thirty Book
The book Greenbelt published on turning thirty in 2003
Read about it and download a PDF version of it here
Read it online here

Video
Click here to view video footage captured at Greenbelt
Click here to view BBC 1 Heaven and Earth Show footage from GB07

On the record
What people have said about Greenbelt over the past 10 years

A decade of Festivals – those we have sections for on the website
2002: Kiss of Life
2003: Diving for Pearls
2004: Freedom Bound
2005: Tree of Life
2006: Redemption Songs
2007: Heaven in Ordinary
2008: Rising Sun
2009: Standing in the Long Now

The Soundtrack of the Greenbelt Decade

Jah Wobble – Heaven and Earth
ADF – Obsession
Bugge Wesseltoft – Stille Nacht
My Morning Jacket – I'm Amazed
U2 – I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Jose Gonzales – Storm
Coldcut – Music for 18 Musicians
Hope Springs Eternal – Autumn Leaves
Eddi Reader – Lazy Heart
Sufjan Stevens – Sister Winter

Credits

• Narrated by Grace Wroe and Garry Rutter
• Mixed and Edited – bigJohn Noble
• Written and Executive Produced by Paul Northup
• Co-production – bigJohn Noble
• Narration recording – Iain Archer
• Field Recording – Paul Northup

Andy Cato – of Groove Armada fame – is blogging for the duration of the UN Climate Change summit in Copenhagen "rooting for a deal that's ambitious, fair and effective".

He seriously knows his beans, so if you want an interesting and fresh perspective on what is going on visit http://andycato.tumblr.com/

And if you're still not sure what all the fuss is about, or need to be convinced, he's also produced a great little booklet called 'The condensed version of Climate Change and a simple way to stop it'.

Last month we asked you to show your support to Trust Greenbelt recipients Heavy Load by voting for them. Well, they won both the awards they were nominated for:

• CDN Diversity Award for Excellence in Creative Output: (presented to the film)
• DADA Community Arts Award (presented to the band)

Congrats, congrats, congrats!

… interviewed about her job at GB

In the post below you'll see a mention of a video Jonah Mayfield produced – with some able assistance – at this year's Festival. Well, here it is…