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[image - Goldenford group]
Members of Goldenford publishers pictured with copies of Esmé Ashford's On the Edge. From the left Jackie Luben, Irene Black, Charles Folkes, Jennifer Margrave, Mike Hall and Anne Brooke.
ONE of the founding mothers of Guildford's literary scene is to be celebrated through the posthumous publication of her verse and short Stories.
Esmé Ashford, who helped found the Guildford Writers Group, died in January this year after fighting cancer, and now a short volume of her work, entitled On The Edge, is being printed by a new Guildford publisher.
Goldenford, the publishing house, is an offshoot of the Guildford Writers' Group and is the brainchild of Jennifer Margrave, the other founder member.
"Esmé wrote a lot of poems and she was always very self-effacing about them," said Mrs Margrave. "We always told her she should send them off to a publishers, but she never did. The book is a way of saying thank you to her and it's a way of sharing her wonderful stories."
Esmé came from Little Bookham and had huge faith in the talent of the Guildford Writers. She was also a keen political campaigner and worked as a volunteer in the Guildford Institute Library.
She was self-educated and gained a degree from the Open University. Her knowledge of books was prodigious.
Esmé’s ambition was to write the perfect short story; and according to Mrs Margrave, each of the many stories in On The Edge goes some way to fulfilling this dream.
Esmé was 74 when she died, and throughout her life she was fascinated by the people left on the margins of society - the tramps, the bag ladies, the buskers. These were the people she took her inspiration from and whose lives fill the pages of her novella.
"Esme was wonderful with her stories," said Mrs Margrave.
"She would talk to the violin player and the Big Issue seller on the High Street, and she always used to maintain that the people who drink on the benches outside Holy Trinity Church were wonderful.
"She had the time and sympathy for those people and it comes through in her work."
Kathy Ashford, Esmé’s daughter, who writes children's books, is thrilled by the prospect of her mother's first novel.
"The whole family is very pleased but sad that she didn't live to see it," she said.
"We feel very proud of her and she would have been very pleased as well, but she probably would have said 'why me'?"
On The Edge is Goldenford's first book, but Mrs Margrave hopes that one day it will be able to put all of the Guildford Writers in the spotlight.
"We have a really good group of about 15 authors, but you send stuff off to publishers and it gets sent back because it doesn't fit their prescribed lists," she said.
Although Goldenford will initially concentrate on publishing local writers, if the venture proves a success, Mrs Margrave said she will list the company in the Artist and Writers' Yearbook and appeal for other authors to send in their manuscripts.
At the moment, she is looking for people to become literary angels and invest in the company’s first print run.
"Who knows what will happen if you buy shares?" she asked. "You may never get your money back, or alternatively if it does take off it could become like Bloomsbury publishing and we will all make money."
One hundred copies of Esmé’s book will be printed and the launch party in January, planned to coincide with the anniversary of her death, will be held at Guildford Institute.
Copies of On The Edge are available at £6.99 from jennifer@goldenford.co.uk or by calling 01483 (562722).
Clair Whitefield
Surrey Advertiser 10/12/04
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