So I met the Queen of England. And I got to talk to her about Donald Trump. Let me just say that I didn’t expect her to be funny, but she was quite. More on that below.
Today, a dispatch from England, where I just left the Cliveden Literary Festival, which is what you would get if you cross-bred Hogwarts, Downton Abbey, and the Strand Book Store. The festival took place on a gorgeous estate that has played host to some of the biggest sex scandals in British history, a phrase I wish I didn’t have to write. There were amazing, legendary writers everywhere you turned, and also a huge population of lords and ladies and people with titles like “dame.” It’s the kind of place where you have to be careful about saying, “Oh, lord,” because someone will actually answer. It’s also an incredible celebration of books and writers and the freedom to write. I always find it to invigorating to be in a place where people fill rooms to hear writers talk about their craft and the world.
Before we get back to the Queen, Trump, and me, a few ideas that stuck with me: