Cafe Highlights - book titles, war and Charles Dickens at 200

I liked the title AND contents of Elizabeth Wein's novel for teenage girls: Code Name Verity (truth, get it?) is a hum dinger of a second world war drama. It involves two gals from opposite ends of the social spectrum- one, a code breaking Scottish aristo, the other a down to earth working class girl who happens to be a mechanical whizz and fabulous pilot. The inspiration Elizabeth told us came from hearing of the real life exploits of a group of women who piloted planes on non-combative missions. What an inspiration these magnificent women in their flying machines are, even today. Arguably their aerobatic skills were better than most pilots; they could navigate in the worst conditions in a huge assortment of planes. What do today's girls aspire to when they leave school? Some will head for further education and then what? And for those who don't go down the educational route? Well, the usual celebs and stars are held up as role models. As the mother of a teenage girl, I'd love to think that my daughter was going to do extraordinary things with her life. Even if she never gets into the cockpit of a plane, I'd hope she'd think the sky's the limit!

Tuesday's Culture Cafe was a cosy and energised affair with four articulate and charming guests sharing a tiny space and three microphones! There is something extra special that happens when you get a creative group from different disciplines together in one studio and have the time to explore their work and wider motivations. I played a bit part-marshalling the conversation and making sure we played in the clips that illustrated the work. Zimbabwean poet and playwright Tawona Sitholé, musician and writer Luke Sutherland, psychodrama psychotherapist Emma Hagen and dance director Christine Devaney were on fire! There was a real sense of affinity as they listened in turn to what was said. Dance, music, psychodrama, poetry and storytelling were all up for discussion and I got the feeling they'd all left the studio burbling with more ideas to try out in the future. That's what I love about my job; seeing how a little spark can ignite and get a disparate group of people thinking of ways they can incorporate newly learned ideas into their next piece of work.

Final point...DICKENS THE BRAND - yes we all know from vast BBC coverage that Charles Dickens reached his 200th birthday on 7th Feb, but who would have guessed he was worth a cool £280 million A YEAR to the British Economy? All those tv dramas, books, dvds, tea towels, Dickensian themed pubs, tourism, it all mounts up. Bet Charles is giggling away somewhere - he never liked the idea of poverty and even beyond the grave, he's proved he can earn a decent living!