Clarissa backs NFU at Stratford Literary Festival
Around 200 people packed a marquee in Stratford to hear authors Clarissa Dickson Wright and Christine Coleman speak about their lives and writing.
The NFU sponsored the two writers at the first ever literary festival to be held at Shakespeare's birthplace and the lifelong friends were a hit with the crowds.
Last night's event (Thursday, May 1) was also attended by NFU staff, members of the farming community and NFU West Midlands regional director David Collier.
Former barrister Clarissa Dickson Wright is best know for her TV work with the late Jennifer Paterson in the cookery show Two Fat Ladies and more recently with Johnny Scott in Clarissa and the Countryman.
Her autobiography Spilling the Beans was published late last year and made the Sunday Times bestseller list.
While her best friend Christine Coleman had her novel, The Dangerous Sports Euthanasia Society, published by Transita and is also an award winning poet.
She has written other works which are not yet in print and fits her writing in around her work as the manager of an adult education centre, in Birmingham.
During their talk both women touched on the importance of rural life and how it had helped shape their lives in different ways.
Speaking after the event Clarissa wished the NFU a happy centenary birthday, heralded the importance of British produce and the need for people to continue to support the countryside.
The NFU also handed out free goody bags which contained information about the importance of farming to the economy and countryside.
