Mavis Cheek – obituary

Marlborough.news was greatly saddened to learn of the death of Mavis Cheek, author, and more importantly for Marlborough, one of those who created the Marlborough Literature Festival and enabled it to become the tour-de-force that it currently is. Below, with thanks to the LitFest, is their recognition of Mavis Cheek, which – along with the image above – has been taken from the LitFest site with their permission:

We were sad to hear of the death of Mavis Cheek on 16 June after a long illness.

Together with Nick Fogg, Mavis was the inspiration behind Marlborough Literature Festival. Attendees at their initial meeting on 17 March 2009 also included the late Sir John Sykes, Alison Galvin-Wright (current chair of The Merchant’s House), Jan Williamson (who succeeded Mavis as chair of LitFest in 2015) and the author Craig Brown who had a house near Marlborough. As they swapped ideas for the content of the first festival to be held in autumn 2010, Mavis was clear that it should be “rooted in the world of authors and poets – literature rather than celebrities, journalists, actors, sportsmen, telly folk etc… Marlborough just seemed to me the perfect place to go back to basics and celebrate literature rather than big sales and high profiles…” She was also sure that visiting authors should be paid a fee and secured support from the ALCS (Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society) to make this possible.

Author of 15 novels, Mavis lived in Aldbourne for several years before she moved back to London. Her first novel, Pause Between Acts, was awarded the She/John Menzies First Novel Prize in 1988. She became known for her comic writing and was pleased to be called “Jane Ausen in modern dress”. Her novels were translated into several languages and she also wrote plays and short stories. Mavis was an Associate Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund and taught creative writing for a number of organisations including The Arvon Foundation and HMP Erlestoke about which she said: “What I see [at Erlestoke] is reflected in my own experience. Bright, overlooked, unconfident men, who are suddenly given the opportunity to learn, grow wings and dare to fail. It helps to be able to tell them that I, too, was once designated thick by a very silly [education] system. My prisoners have written some brilliant stuff, and perhaps it gives them back some self-esteem.” Three of her novels – Amendable Women, Aunt Margaret’s Lover and Pause Between Acts – were reissued in 2019.

Nick Fogg, Mayor of Marlborough, comments: “I met Mavis shortly after the inception of the Literature Festival at a party at Aldbourne. She accepted my invitation to join with alacrity and proved a vital force with her knowledge and enthusiasm. Her constant theme was ‘Back to Basics’ – she shunned the cult of the celebrity writer whose fame had been forged elsewhere. She got us off on the funding campaign by inviting the Chairman of ALCS down to Marlborough and we had a meeting in the Mayor’s Parlour: the grant that was forthcoming really set the festival on its way. Her conviviality and relaxed approach made her a pleasure to be with. Whether we could have done it without her is a question – thanks to her – that we don’t have to ask.”