[Eric]

Watching a programme about John Prescott (Brits will know who this is) on TV this evening, I found out what's wrong with the Hay-on-Wye book festival: it's regarded as middle-class. So, perhaps the middle classes are to blame for shunning all those foreign authors and inviting only friends and TV personalities only.

Maybe one problem with Britain today, one which inhibits the spread of decent literature from abroad, is that money and commerce have got in the way of curiosity and taste. Now that we're plunging into recession, I hope this will somehow mean that Brits, sobering up and noticing that Europe is in the same boat, will get more interested in its literature. (Books in translation are cheap for out-of-work City people.)

I myself am middle-class, but I can't help wondering why this class can't loosen up. The Hay festival would become so much more stimulating if they took on board Europeans, from whatever class.