The apparently frivolous business of the People's Republic of Hay-on-Wye and self-appointed "King of Hay" Richard Booth's impending defenestration (Eyes passim) has a serious point.
The "dethroning" - confirmed at a meeting last week - is an attempt to ensure an effective succession, and is very much in Booth's own humorous spirit, with an announcement about the appointment of state executioner promising "an attractive package, including travelling expenses and luncheon vouchers".
Thankfully, festival director Peter Florence is sympathetic, keen to ensure the happy co-existence of festival and town and happy to discuss various options with the booksellers.
However, the booksellers also have to combat a dangerous attitude in the local tourist quangos. At a recent meeting of the great, the good and the bloody awful, the suggestion that "the 'Town of Books' image is strong but may be damaging tourism prospects" was accepted without a murmur, with the phrase "dusty old books" even making an appearance.
The tourist officials seem not to realise that this is Hay's unique selling point. Without "dusty old books" and smelly old authors, would anyone be coming to Hay at all?
(Bookworm: Books & Bookmen)
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
An Appeal
To Booksellers and Retailers, Hay-on-Wye
From Paul Harris, Oxford House Books, and Peter Harries, Boz Books
3rd. March 2009
AN APPEAL FROM THE COUNCIL OF STATE IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF HAY
HAY IS IN DANGER! JOIN US!
Many of you will have seen the posters which have recently appeared around town proclaiming 'Down With The King', or you may be aware of the extraordinary coverage in the media (Independent on Sunday, Private Eye, BBC Radio 4, et al) about the news that a Commonwealth had been declared in Hay-on-Wye, and that moves were underway to bring Richard 'Bokassa' Booth, self-proclaimed king of the first book town, to trial. Alternatively, perhaps you simply heard on the grapevine that 'something' was afoot.
This appeal sets out why we have taken this action, and, more importantly, invites you to join us in our efforts to ensure that Hay remains world-renowned as the book town, with an added diverse range of shops and other attractions worth visiting year-round.
Background
Firstly, we absolutely recognise the key role that Richard Booth has played. After declaring independence on 1st. April 1977, the king began to form a well-documented body of self-publicity which has served the town to great effect through many years. Often bizarre, frequently impenetrable, his pronouncements ensured that Hay continued to appear in the media and were pivotal in making Hay the model for other book towns, as well as making Hay a destination of choice for visitors.
Although the Independent on Sunday perhaps over-emphasized the issues in terms of town versus festival, it's undeniable that visitors and sales have decreased since the festival moved out of town, despite the event's increasing size. We must therefore respond to Festival Director Peter Florence's challenge that booksellers (and presumably other town businesses), 'need to rethink their strategy'. Peter has helpfully offered to explore what this might mean and we plan to meet with him in the near future. In any event, we are painfully aware that in addition to maximising what happens during the festival, there are another 355 days of the year, and we do not exist merely to attack the festival.
The effects of the 'credit crunch' are exacerbated for booksellers by changes to book buying more generally. Increased sales of books by supermarkets, computerisation and the internet all pose severe dangers to independent high street bookshops. More and more dealers are giving up their shops in favour of an internet presence only. The implications of these developments for Hay, where books and the publicity surrounding them are the key drivers of our local economy, are stark for all local businesses and, of course, their employees. At an Open Meeting on the 24th. February, various local groups and individuals nearly all outside the book trade, and partly presided over by the Director of Brecon Beacons Tourism, there appeared the almost unbelievably reckless and ill-informed position that the 'Town of Books' image might be damaging tourism prospects for Hay. Hay, it was argued, appeared to be nothing but a lot of 'dusty old books'. But it is precisely the fact that we are a rural economy based on the second-hand book as an international commodity which makes Hay uniquely different from other market towns in the U.K., and gives the us our undisputed presence as the capital of the global book town movement.
Should any future committee backed by any kind of regional agency decide Hay must move away from what makes it a destination town, a brand recognised from Sydney to San Francisco, it would mean a commercial mistake of jaw-dropping magnitude, and represent an act of extreme cultural barbarism.
So what can we do?
Our conclusion? We're not opposed to new ideas, just backward ones. For every revisionist supporter of the 'dusty old books' routine, we'll find a journalist to oppose them. We will go on where the king is leaving off, celebrating the uniqueness of our town in the way Hay endears itself to national and international travellers, without turning it into a web centric clone of a thousand other inferior destinations.
The decline of Hay, even in these difficult times is not inevitable. We are not powerless in the face of very real economic and social changes - but, if Hay is to be successful for years to come, our publicity machine will need a few more gears. A simple paint job and oiling the old cogs will not be enough.
We suggest that we proclaim even more loudly the end to the monarchy and the institution of a republic: the Commonwealth of Hay. With our plans for the king to appear before the Court of the Council of State on 1st. April to answer charges of dereliction in the matter of duties to his kingdom, we can expect even more national and international coverage.
Join the Revolution!
Please let us know what you think - write, call into our shops, or email us at oxfordhousebooks@aol.com or peter@bozbooks.demon.co.uk
Better still, come along to our next Council meeting on 11th. March at 7.30pm, at the Council Offices near the Clock Tower, to discuss how you can help and what we need to do next.
From Paul Harris, Oxford House Books, and Peter Harries, Boz Books
3rd. March 2009
AN APPEAL FROM THE COUNCIL OF STATE IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF HAY
HAY IS IN DANGER! JOIN US!
Many of you will have seen the posters which have recently appeared around town proclaiming 'Down With The King', or you may be aware of the extraordinary coverage in the media (Independent on Sunday, Private Eye, BBC Radio 4, et al) about the news that a Commonwealth had been declared in Hay-on-Wye, and that moves were underway to bring Richard 'Bokassa' Booth, self-proclaimed king of the first book town, to trial. Alternatively, perhaps you simply heard on the grapevine that 'something' was afoot.
This appeal sets out why we have taken this action, and, more importantly, invites you to join us in our efforts to ensure that Hay remains world-renowned as the book town, with an added diverse range of shops and other attractions worth visiting year-round.
Background
Firstly, we absolutely recognise the key role that Richard Booth has played. After declaring independence on 1st. April 1977, the king began to form a well-documented body of self-publicity which has served the town to great effect through many years. Often bizarre, frequently impenetrable, his pronouncements ensured that Hay continued to appear in the media and were pivotal in making Hay the model for other book towns, as well as making Hay a destination of choice for visitors.
Although the Independent on Sunday perhaps over-emphasized the issues in terms of town versus festival, it's undeniable that visitors and sales have decreased since the festival moved out of town, despite the event's increasing size. We must therefore respond to Festival Director Peter Florence's challenge that booksellers (and presumably other town businesses), 'need to rethink their strategy'. Peter has helpfully offered to explore what this might mean and we plan to meet with him in the near future. In any event, we are painfully aware that in addition to maximising what happens during the festival, there are another 355 days of the year, and we do not exist merely to attack the festival.
The effects of the 'credit crunch' are exacerbated for booksellers by changes to book buying more generally. Increased sales of books by supermarkets, computerisation and the internet all pose severe dangers to independent high street bookshops. More and more dealers are giving up their shops in favour of an internet presence only. The implications of these developments for Hay, where books and the publicity surrounding them are the key drivers of our local economy, are stark for all local businesses and, of course, their employees. At an Open Meeting on the 24th. February, various local groups and individuals nearly all outside the book trade, and partly presided over by the Director of Brecon Beacons Tourism, there appeared the almost unbelievably reckless and ill-informed position that the 'Town of Books' image might be damaging tourism prospects for Hay. Hay, it was argued, appeared to be nothing but a lot of 'dusty old books'. But it is precisely the fact that we are a rural economy based on the second-hand book as an international commodity which makes Hay uniquely different from other market towns in the U.K., and gives the us our undisputed presence as the capital of the global book town movement.
Should any future committee backed by any kind of regional agency decide Hay must move away from what makes it a destination town, a brand recognised from Sydney to San Francisco, it would mean a commercial mistake of jaw-dropping magnitude, and represent an act of extreme cultural barbarism.
So what can we do?
Our conclusion? We're not opposed to new ideas, just backward ones. For every revisionist supporter of the 'dusty old books' routine, we'll find a journalist to oppose them. We will go on where the king is leaving off, celebrating the uniqueness of our town in the way Hay endears itself to national and international travellers, without turning it into a web centric clone of a thousand other inferior destinations.
The decline of Hay, even in these difficult times is not inevitable. We are not powerless in the face of very real economic and social changes - but, if Hay is to be successful for years to come, our publicity machine will need a few more gears. A simple paint job and oiling the old cogs will not be enough.
We suggest that we proclaim even more loudly the end to the monarchy and the institution of a republic: the Commonwealth of Hay. With our plans for the king to appear before the Court of the Council of State on 1st. April to answer charges of dereliction in the matter of duties to his kingdom, we can expect even more national and international coverage.
Join the Revolution!
Please let us know what you think - write, call into our shops, or email us at oxfordhousebooks@aol.com or peter@bozbooks.demon.co.uk
Better still, come along to our next Council meeting on 11th. March at 7.30pm, at the Council Offices near the Clock Tower, to discuss how you can help and what we need to do next.
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