Anthology celebrating Suffolk featuring extracts from Ed Sheeran, Ralph Fiennes and Danny Boyle to be launched

A new anthology of the best writing and art from all ages celebrating Suffolk and featuring extracts from Ed Sheeran, Ralph Fiennes and Danny Boyle is set to be launched.

A New Suffolk Garland - A Suffolk Anthology, will be on sale from May 12 with all proceeds going to the Festival of Suffolk Legacy Fund - a £5 million fund which will be used to help charities, organisations, community groups and social enterprises in the county.

The Festival of Suffolk is a series of events and activities being organised between May and October to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

The anthology features extracts on places such as Sutton Hoo, Ipswich Town Football Club, Newmarket racecourse and Lowestoft Fish Market from names such as Ed Sheeran, Ralph Fiennes and Danny Boyle.

Mary and John James, from the Aldeburgh Bookshop, compiled the book alongside Elizabeth Burke and Dan Franklin, two established editors.

"Johnnie and I were asked to do it and foolishly we said yes," said Mary.

"Dan Franklin, formerly senior editor at Jonathan Cape, had many excellent contacts and Elizabeth Burke runs Private Passions and works on Book of the Week and Book at Bedtime on Radio Four, so she was very good at extracting pieces.

"She was also an excellent interviewer."

The original Suffolk Garland anthology was published in 1961 by East Suffolk County Council and the editors of A New Suffolk Garland decided to publish a new version of the book to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

A copy of the anthology is being presented to every secondary school and library in Suffolk.

John explained the process of how the extracts were chosen.

“We just sat down and made a list with the other two editors, Dan and Elizabeth, making a list of books about Suffolk that we liked," he said.

“Many of them Dan has come across in his career at Random House.

"The original 1961 Garland was quite an eccentric book and we wanted to capture some of that spirit in our collection, so we have included unusual ideas like the screen shot of the ships off the east coast of Suffolk...showing how busy the Port of Felixstowe is and the US Army memo about the UFO sightings in Rendlesham Forest.

"We have also included current media, so we have an App, Instagram and Blog.

“I loved that we have got contributions from people like Josephine, the Rwandan carer, and Donny Cole, talking about the Lowestoft fish market, whom Elizabeth interviewed,” added Mary.

“Then we had to think about different parts of Suffolk, because you can’t get in every single town and village, but we wanted to get as wide a view of the county as we could.

"It isn’t a complete list, but more of a personal view, and there will be places and subjects that we have missed, but that is the nature of this type of project,” added John.

“It was such fun to do.

“Everyone we approached was so keen to get involved, and it is a testimony to the love people have for Suffolk.”

The book costs £20 but there is also a limited special edition costing £100, the first copy of which will be given to The Queen.

Copies are available from the Festival of Suffolk website, www.festivalofsuffolk.org, www.newsuffolkgarland.co.uk or from Aldeburgh Bookshop.