CityLife

Joan Bakewell at Central Library

Joan Bakewell

JOAN Bakewell, the original ‘thinking man’s crumpet’ as she was grudgingly dubbed by a rather fresh Frank Muir in the swinging sixties, will be appearing at Central Library on Wednesday, March 18, to read from her debut novel, All the Nice Girls (Virago).

Stockport-born Bakewell has enjoyed a successful and often provocative broadcasting career that has kept the censors incensed for years.  

She once faced jail for reciting a gay erotic poem about a Roman centurion’s love for Jesus on air and was filmed watching a couple have sex while they were making a pornographic film.

Most notably, she presented the BBC’s Heart of the Matter for more than a decade, during which time she interviewed Moors murderer Myra Hindley and Rosemary West among many others.

War effort

Her 2004 autobiography, The Centre of the Bed, exposed the misogyny of a male-dominated media industry and briefly touched on her affair with Harold Pinter, which provided the basis for Pinter's 1978 play and 1983 film, Betrayal.

In no rush to prove herself, Bakewell has waited till her mid-seventies before writing her first novel , which is set in 1942, and tells the story of a headmistress who adopts a ship for the war effort, and her subsequent relationship with the ship’s captain.

Bakewell will be reading from 7pm  in the Committee Room, 2nd Floor, Manchester Central Library. Tickets for this event are on sale at the Library Theatre Box Office, Central Library, St.Peter's Square, Manchester (0161 236 7110)