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Together with Soroptimists International Jersey, we are delighted to welcome back to the 13th Parish Festival, author and Jersey native, Jenny Lecoat.
In this informal chat, Jenny will be talking about her childhood in Jersey and how it led her into a career in the arts spanning forty years. From the Jersey folk clubs to stand-up comedy, TV and radio presenting, television scriptwriting and finally a film and novel set in her birth island, writing has always been at the root of her work. What does it take to become a professional writer, and is it still a tougher choice for women? What have been the highs and lows? And what did she and Arthur Smith get up to in a hotel in Blackpool? All this plus questions from the audience. Come along and grab a cheeky lunchtime drink at the same time!
This conversation is hosted by Simon MacDonald, writer, performer, lecturer and a founder of the Jersey Festival of Words.
About Jenny
Jenny Lecoat was born in Jersey. She was a pupil at First Tower Primary School and then at Jersey College for Girls on a States scholarship; in her teens she became a regular performer at the local folk clubs. After a Drama degree from Birmingham she moved to London and became a highly successful stand-up comedic on the new alternative circuit. After years working on TV sitcoms, soaps and dramas, and with a passion for true-life dramas, she decided to write about her family’s role in Jersey’s Occupation to celebrate their story and to try to amend various false narratives about the Island’s wartime history. Her film ‘Another Mother’s Son’ was released in cinemas in 2017.
This summer sees the re-publication of her first novel, another Occupation story, under its North American title, ‘The Girl from the Channel Islands’. The novel has now been published in fourteen countries and ten languages, reaching the bestseller lists of New York Times and Der Spiegel.
In recent years, Jenny, who still has family in the Island, has returned a number of times to speak at the Jersey Festival of Words and give the guest address on Holocaust Memorial Day.
To view the full 13th Parish Festival programme, please click here.
