In November 2015, Brasenose’s Pater Society held its first meeting of the academic year, playing host to a fascinating talk from successful commercial author Chris Manby. A former student of St Edmund Hall, Ms Manby returned to the university to deliver an eye-opening and insightful talk on the title of ‘From Bridget (Bridget Jones’ Diary) to Ana (50 Shades of Grey): Twenty Years in Women’s Commercial Fiction’.
The talk took the form of a chronological journey through the genre, beginning at the time of her first venture into this area of literature and following the ways in which it has developed over time up until the present day. She began with the revelation that the world of women’s writing was originally dominated by men, and told the anecdote of her first visit to her publisher’s office, where she was greeted by crowds and stares. When she asked for the reason behind this, she was informed that they had never had a young woman writing this genre before and were intrigued to see what she was like.
Ms Manby then spoke about some of the most famous pieces of women’s fiction since the year 2000, including Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’ Diary and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. She discussed the different types of heroine found in these works, from the relatable, ‘normal’ Bridget Jones to the tougher, more independent Bella Swann. It was particularly interesting having seen the differences between these female characters to then look at images of the lead males from the film adaptations of these books, all of whom share the same tall, dark and handsome theme.
In addition to this, Ms Manby illustrated that the trends in women’s fiction are greatly affected by major world events. The economic crash, for example, had a great effect on the success of the film Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was based on a piece of women’s commercial fiction written by Sophie Kinsella years earlier. Ms Manby also spoke about the fact that she uses different pseudonyms depending on the type of novel which she is writing, for example whether it is a story about romance or family.
The event had a good atmosphere, and a highlight came when Ms Manby answered questions from the audience; it was very interesting to hear advice for budding writers coming from someone with such experience in the industry.
By Eve Lytollis (Second Year French Student)
The Pater Society is a Brasenose-based arts society which hosts events once a term. The Society is named after former Brasenose tutor, Walter Pater (pictured, along with Eve). If you have any questions or suggestions for events you’d like to see, please visit our Facebook page.