The delightfully named Small Wonder was a five-day literary festival situated in the historic grounds of Charleston, and the final event was entitled Three Minute Stories.
Formerly a meeting place for the Bloomsbury set, Charleston has a rich literary history and is known nationally for the quality of its talks, debates and festivals.
Three Minute Stories featured Bob Stanley, of London indie band St Etienne, discussing his favourite tracks and the lyrical stories they contain.
As a former NME and Melody Maker journalist, as well as part of a very successful band, Stanley has been in the music industry for decades, and as such was perfectly placed to explore the theme.
As every music fan knows, three-minute pop songs can tell intricate and moving stories, and are often remembered in association with a time in one’s life, a relationship, or a person.
Stanley explained the references in pop culture using examples from the 1950s to the 1990s and gave a personal insight into his own feelings too.
The night was compered by Guardian journalist Alexis Petridis, who kept the theme focused, asked challenging but fascinating questions, and created a wonderful dialogue going throughout the talk.
Small yet wonderful.
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