FROM HERE …
FEATURING Nigel Wild
WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
What brought you to France, when and from where? My wife and I retired to France from Oxfordshire in 2013. We’ d both led very hectic lives and were looking for a more relaxed pace. For over 10 years, we viewed French property while on holiday and fell in love with a lovely but neglected old house converted from a barn.
What are the advantages of living in France for a writer? Everyone has time for everyone else and as you gradually unwind from the oftenfraught pace of the UK, your head clears and you start to think. The peace and tranquillity are just so restful.
Has your writing output increased since you came to France? Actually, it ' s decreased. My first novel Nightwalk was published in 2012. I had regular features and deadlines for lifestyle and business magazines when I lived in UK and I often contributed to our regional newspapers and radio. I continued to write for the lifestyle magazine until my feature became a victim of budget cuts. Working seven days a week on renovating a house put a dampener on my writing activities; now the renovations are all but complete.
Is there anything you find hard to cope with in France? The language is difficult. I spoke good French before I moved and it ' s improved with practice, but fluency is hard to achieve unless you speak French on a daily basis. The accent here is tough, too. Our new French neighbours from Alsace can ' t understand a word! The driving is bad, largely through inattention rather than aggression. Meat is generally succulent; beef rarely is, because the French don ' t hang meat. Finding a decent steak is akin to winning the lottery.
What impact did France have on you emotionally, sensorally or intellectually and did you incorporate this into your writing? The culture is markedly different, but in a good way. The people are so polite and also warm and welcoming. They ' re proud we ' ve chosen to live in France and have bent over backwards to help us integrate. Our French neighbours are simply wonderful and time and oft, knock at the door with gifts of vegetables or bread. They think Brexit is total lunacy. The scenery here in south-west France is breath-taking, with bastides( fortified towns and villages), often built from warm honey-coloured stone. Some of my writing is about the local culture.
What are local attitudes to writers? There is a strong focus on literature and the arts, with regular events in towns and villages. The other day, we found a number of French authors having a book signing in the local Carrefour. We ' ve a well-attended English / French literary festival at nearby Parisot every October, which attracts well-known writers and
15 | NOVEMBER 2017