Literary Suffolk

Suffolk has been an inspiration to many artists, writers and poets over the centuries, some of whom have been influenced by the county's enchanting landscapes throughout their whole lives.

 

Sometimes it's the people who inspire great works and sometimes it's the atmospheric setting of a place that sets an idea in motion.

Ronald Blythe wrote his fictionalised depiction of life in a Suffolk village, Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village (1969), based on conversations he had with people in the village where he lived. The book has become a classic of its genre and was later made into a film by Peter Hall in 1974.

 

John Appleby, an American serviceman who was stationed near Bury St Edmunds and Lavenham during WWII wrote his ever-popular and highly evocative book A Suffolk Summer (1948). Describing his time here towards the end of the war, he wrote: “The English landscape at its subtlest and loveliest is to be seen in the county of Suffolk. I can say this with dogmatic certainty because it is the only county in England that I can pretend to know. Furthermore, the people of Suffolk themselves tell me this, and I know it must be so.”

Author of the famous Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, Arthur Ransome, moved to Suffolk in order to be nearer the sea, where he could more easily indulge his love of sailing, and he moored his beloved yacht the Nancy Blackett at Pin Mill on the Shotley Peninsula. It was in this peaceful place “down the deep green lane that ended in the river itself…this happy place where almost everybody wore seaboots, and land, in comparison with water, seemed hardly to matter at all” that he set the opening of his book We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea (1937). Read the fascinating story of the restoration of the Nancy Blackett here.

Crime writer PD James lived for many years in Southwold on the coast

and set some of her detective stories in Suffolk. James's good friend of 40 years and fellow crime writer Ruth Rendell lived in Polstead, and she too based some of her stories in the county. Sudbury, Bury St Edmunds. Polstead, Orford and Aldeburgh all feature in various novels she wrote and she also produced a book Ruth Rendell’s Suffolk (1992) about her favourite places in the county.

 

Our literary heritage is celebrated across the county with a number of festivals taking place each year. Please keep an eye on our events pages for details of upcoming events.

 

 

There are many bookshops worth browsing in Suffolk and this list is just a taster of what's on offer:

 

The Aldeburgh Bookshop is the winner of the Independent Bookshop of the Year award and plays host to book signings, launches and other events and have a regular book club.

Browsers Bookshop in Woodbridge offers regular talks by authors, book launches and a book club.

Westleton Chapel Books in the village of Westleton, is a secondhand bookshop oozing with character. Definately a place to spend an hour or two browsing its eclectic collection.

Landers Bookshop in the elegant village of Long Melford, sells new and secondhand books.

Gainsborough's House (birthplace of artist Thomas Gainsborough and now a museum, gift shop and print workshop) in the market town of Sudbury has a gift shop with an extensive selection of art books (in particular on Thomas Gainsborough).

Waterstone's in Bury St Edmunds extends over two floors in the heart of the town. Selling new books, there is also a cafe and events take place during half term and at other times.

The Harris & Harris Bookshop in the pretty village of Clare, sells new and old books and is a “one-stop literary haven for readers of all ages”.

Many tourist information centres in Suffolk sell unusual local history and other specialist books, which are not always available elsewhere. Try Stowmarket, Sudbury, Lavenham and Ipswich Tourist Information Centres for books on timbered buildings, history, WWII airfields and much more.