Category: Writing

What did I do at the weekend?

Well, I spent Sunday revising a story, which involved reading a great deal of Anais Nin.  Reading industrial doses of erotica is a strange thing.  After the first hundred pages or so it all blurs together.  You turn the page, hoping for a surprise and…  Oh wow, people fucking again.  

Still, I persevered, finished the story, and sent it off.  I received an email this morning to say it's been accepted and I will be reading The Dirty Bits at Short Fuse's erotica night this Sunday.

The story is on it's 3rd title, having previously been called Dirty Books and Madrugada.  I originally wrote it back in 2007 and it's waited on my hard drive since then.  The revised version is much stronger, and features excerpts (samples?) from Anais Nin and Georges Bataille. It's going to be an interesting piece to read aloud, a little showier than my usual pieces. 

Short Fuse is on March 8th in the Komedia's Studio Bar and costs £4 entry.  The night also features short stories from Tom Rice, Afsaneh Gray, Naomi Foyle and the poet Catherine Smith. It should be quite a night.

I was very nervous about reading at Wordplay last night.  I was reading second, following the incredible Spliff Richards, which made me even more nervous.  As it was the audience seemed to enjoy themselves and I felt OK once I was reading (although onstage might not have been the best place for me to start improvising edits of one section).  Rachel afterwards described me as a ‘solid’ performer, which is, I think, a compliment.  It was a lovely evening, also featuring the charming Bristol poet, Nathan Filer, who reduced one woman in the audience to tears (of laughter,  fortunately).  Thank you to Rachel for inviting me to read.

Here’s a video of Mr. Filer with his poem Perfidious Albino:

The new issue of Incorporating Writing is now out (downloadable from here).  It was guest edited by the Tight Lip team, who asked me to contribute an interview with poet Gary Goodman.  I spoke to Gary towards the end of last year at the Royal Albion hotel. 

Editing the interview into an article was interesting work.  Some fascinating responses were cut to allow the article to flow.  Halfway through we were interrupted by an accident outside, a young woman knocked off her bicycle by a learner driver.  It was a disturbing thing to watch and seemed as if it ought to be recorded, but never fitted into the interview.

The magazine is a good read, featuring some provocative articles, an interview with China Mieville and photos from Sam Collins.

I meant to post this before Christmas, but somehow missed it in the excitement of Winterval.  As mentioned on Sparks blog, the video footage of my reading at Sparks 2 is now on youtube:

I've not actually watched this, as I can't bear hearing to my own voice (something I need to get over, particularly if I except other people to listen to it), so let me know what you think.  No comments so far which is probably a good thing as youtube commenters aren't known for their good manners and intelligence.

Also online is Vanessa Gebbie reading her story 'Gas Gangrene'.  Thanks to Jo Horsmann for putting these up. 

I recently found a cache of old school reports.  The most interesting one was from the village school form teacher I had at 11:

"His creative writings reveal a very vivid imagination.  His stories are full of good ideas and phrases but James lacks the self-discipline to develop and shape them for the reader's benefit.  His understanding of the main rules of punctuation is good but he does not always apply them to his own work."

Some people still claim my stories are self-indulgent and that shunning the word 'that' isn't a sign of talent.  It's weird to think: all the years of education since then and I haven't improved.  My goal for 2009 is simple: to summon the self-discipline to finish my novel.  I think the punctuation's good enough though.

I'm very excited as it was recently confirmed that I'm reading at Wordplay this month.  Wordplay is a regular night of music and poetry run by Rachel Weston taking place at the Sanctuary Cella.

I'll be doing about ten minutes early in the evening.  Rather than doing a single long story I want to read lots of very short stories, ranging from 50 words to 200 words long.  The stories themselves are all written, but framing them within a performance is proving interesting. 

The great thing about Wordplay is the size and variety of the line-up.  Also appearing are the talented and charming Nathan Filer, Sam Chara, and Phillipe Barnes and Tom Phelan.  I hope to see you there!

I was very nervous before last night's Tight Lip reading but in the event it went well.  It's far harder to read serious stories than it is to read funny ones.  With a funny story (assuming it is actually funny) you can tell the audience is engaged.  Serious stories can feel like reading into a void.  People I spoke to afterwards seemed enthusiastic and I was glad not to have settled for something jokey.  It's given me the confidence to think about reading more serious pieces in 2009.

I enjoyed Heli Clarke's reading, and had a very interesting discussion with her afterwards about improvisation in reading.  Her approach to reading in public is very different to mine and has given me lots to think about.

It was very exciting to see Lee Rourke.  He read a piece from his book Everyday, The Fat Slubberdegullion (online here), as well as a new piece that is scheduled to be published in Ambit next year.  The Fat Slubberdegullion was a very funny satire on office life, and worked well as a spoken piece.

I had a fantastic night – thanks to Jay and Sam for the invitation to read.  The next Tight Lip is at the Latest Music Bar on January 9th and features a discussion with Nina Antonia, author of a recent Johnny Thunders biography.

I've spent most of this week being ill.  I had hoped to finish a new story to read at Tight Lip, 'The Wood and the Trees', about books, playing in forests and moving house.  Sadly, after losing a couple of days, I've put that one aside.  I will return to it, but that might be some time in the future.

Instead of the brand new story I've been finishing another story that I wrote a while ago.  I've not read this one in public before, but the two people I've tested it out on really liked it.  It's a more serious piece than I normally read but I think it will work at Tight Lip.  I'm going work at it some more today, mostly removing words to make it flow better.  Also, at Rosy's suggestion, I've added the word 'rollicking' and corrected my misuse of the word 'less'.

There was a a half page interview in yesterday's Argus with tonight's headliner, Lee Rourke (online here).  I've been reading some of the stories from his book and am looking forward to hearing him read.  It should be a good night.  Entry is £4 on the door, at Brighton's Permanent Gallery, 20 Bedford Place, from 7:45pm.

The poster for the next Tight Lip has appeared on Sam Collin's flickr account.  I'm going to be reading with Lee Rourke and Heli Clarke, with music from Birdengine.  I'll be putting the finishing touches to my story over the weekend.  There's still some more to do, but it's going to be about moving house, buying books in Borders and getting lost in forests.  The night starts at 7:45om, entry £4 and should be very interesting.

I'm currently working on a story to read at Tight Lip on the 19th.  As background I flicked through Pierre Bayard's fantastic text How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read.  It's as good as I remember, and this time I decided to follow-up one its references, Shakespeare in the Bush.  This essay describes Laura Bohannan's disastrous attempt to tell the story of Hamlet to a tribe she was studying.

Bohannon starts out convinced that human nature is similar enough around the world that the  great tragedies should be possible for anyone to follow.  This doesn't turn out to be the case:

"The old man made soothing noises and himself poured me some more beer. 
"You tell the story well, and we are listening.  But it is clear that
the elders of your country have never told you what the story really
means.  No, don't interrupt!  We believe you when you say your marriage
customs are different, or your clothes and weapons.  but people are the
same everywhere; therefore, there are always witches and it is we, the
elders, who know how witches work."

The essay, with it's improvised retelling of Hamlet, is very funny while raising some fascinating questions.