Laughing Len and Live Literature

For some time now, I’ve been thinking about Live Literature and where it fits in the wider arts landscape. By live literature I primarily mean an author reading. The truly outstanding Leonard Cohen may me think on it further when I was lucky enough to see him play last Friday evening in Kilmainham. During his set 12,000 people listened intently as he spoke a poem You Came To Me This Morning (For Sandy 1945-1998), also known as the lyric to A Thousand Kisses Deep

It did allow me to make a very obvious comparison between song and word. I can’t think of a writer who could draw more than 10,000 out on a Friday evening. Is the experience of the spoken word more particularly a personal private one or can it connect with a stadium crowd? Is an author speaking their words enough or do we inevitably wait for Q&A and ‘added value’? In the world of children’s books it seems authors and illustrator must possess a bag of tricks to deliver their words – from Eoin Colfer’s Stand Up routine to creative writing workshops and I’m not sure it’s fair – we don’t expect visual artists to juggle their paints do we?