Report from M Festival – 25-26 July 2026

Nanteuil – Books | Ideas | Music
Nanteuil en Vallée, Charente
16700 France

It was a triumph…if we say so ourselves!!!

Writers and musicians joined us from far and wide. That, after all, was the purpose and focus, so the most immediate thanks really must go to them. Some joined from our area, the surrounding regions and further afield in France, but many came from much further away including China, Australia, USA, Hong Kong, Italy, UK, Malaysia & Myanmar.

The sessions themselves covered a very broad range of subjects and this list is by no means exhaustive.

We started with music … from a fascinating talk on the history opera to the Lumia Quartet’s lovely chamber performance in the church to a session on the very special Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz.
From high art to low art to the exploitative nature of architecture, from gay life in various parts of the world to coming of age stories and the history of African-American/Asiatic connections.
From immigrants and immigration to French gangsters, hookers and criminals in Shanghai’s French concession…followed by the state of American politics today.

Saturday AM →

 

Saturday PM →

 

We also hosted sessions on …. Birds, grief, isolation and inspiration, the problems and promise of our world’s oceans, North Korean comedy, film and art, Food in China and the place of food in dispossessed communities.

Artwork by Nick Bonner

From the politics of far-right France to Xi’s China from a French journalistic perspective, and the general mess of world politics today. And to finish we even managed to rescue the reputation of Wallis Simpson.

I’m sure you all heard of the very serious and deadly fires in the Bordeaux area, which sadly meant that Marie NDiaye and Simone Gelin were both unable to join us. Our thoughts are with those affected.

Luckily, apart from some smokey grey skies, we weren’t affected by them…possibly thanks to my mother’s very effective prayers!

We recorded most of the talks and in due time will get them up onto our website. I’ll let the pictures and videos speak for themselves. Every session was as fascinating as it was varied.

Many reports are still coming in from attendees telling me how much they enjoyed it and how much they learned about a broad variety of topics.

One of the highlights for me was Raphaël Feuillâtre’s mesmerizing guitar performance in the local church, which was so beautiful, it will stay with me for years. Thanks are due to my kind friend, Andrea Fessler, for sponsoring his concert.

Saturday Concert →

 

Sunday Concert →

 

Thanks also to my friend, Claire Barnes, who has generously supported the M festivals before and fully sponsored both Misuu and Helen Scales to attend.

My clever friend Fionnuala McHugh wrote up a summary of the sessions she attended…I’ll post it here.

This festival would not have come together without the generous help and support from friends. It’s practically impossible to thank everyone, but I will do my very best.

A very special thank you must go to the kind folks who hosted so many of our writers: Philip Eisenbeiss, Joe & Barbara Magill, Tina & Nick Roscoe, Bill & Dana Pitts, Bénédicte & Jonathan and our great friend Maggy King.

The lovely Brian Smith opened his glorious garden to us to host the welcome drinks for the writers and hosts and everyone to get to know everyone else…it was an auspicious beginning to a memorable weekend.

Welcome Cocktail →

 

As for our fabulous volunteers…from Maggy who supported me from the beginning of this mad idea (and had just celebrated her 85th birthday) to Louis Yoshimoto Smith, fresh from Tokyo (and just turned 6) to all the volunteers who flew in from countries as varied as our writers…THANK YOU! You were all fantastic!

My neighbour Bernard Geiss was invaluable and I was so lucky to have his help. He was on hand for the months beforehand and then on site from the crack of dawn till late at night literally doing the heavy lifting …from moving fridges and furniture to the boring backend work for the entire week of the festival. 🙏

Bruno van der Burg was always my right hand in the restaurants and he worked tirelessly from a distance since the beginning of this idea.
He also led the bar team, ably assisted by Ettore, Sally, Ella & Alice, Lou Salomé & our local Celia who runs the post office.

Hamish Pollitt led the dream cooking team, with Carey, Catherine and Audrey as his talented sous chef.

Sunday Dinner →

 

Jane Chen & Lou Salomé Chou worked with the wonderful Bing & Fenni in Shanghai to design and produce our original fans, bookmarks, bookplates and necessary collateral which was painted by Annabel Graham in New Zealand.

Naomi and Callum worked on getting the website to make sense and getting the information out there. And Naomi put her fabulous editing skills to good use cleaning up my thoughts.

Jane also led the comms team with Agnese and lots of photographers, and she & Carey also carried the projectors and screens from China to show slides and films. Saori & Louis & Callum were the security team. 🙏❣️🧚🏼♀️

Sunday AM →

 

Sunday PM →

 

Filmmaker Emma was brilliant on the tech side with Christian on the sound. Thanks also to Clara & Martha who helped all around and moderated a session each.

It certainly would have been impossible without the help of every one of these marvellous people and of course without the enthusiastic support of the speakers and audience who flew in from all corners of the world.

Thank you all…and now to 2028…But please give us some time to recover before inundating us with requests.

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