Will Self is due to appear at the Small Wonder short story festival on Friday September 25 at Charleston near Lewes, East Sussex, famous for being the country home of the Bloomsbury group. For details, go here.
Monthly Archives: July 2009
Bekonscot model village
Fascinating article by Edwin Heathcote in the FT, who interviews Self about the appeal of miniature villages and also mentions Self’s short story Scale, in which the morphine-addicted protagonist lives beside Bekonscot model village, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary.
Of psyches, ids and egos
A short review of the conversation between Will Self, Susie Orbach and Andrew O’Hagan at the Southbank Centre recently.
The joys of walking
Interesting and lengthy email interview between Geoff Nicholson, author of The Lost Art of Walking, and Will Self in the Believer magazine. For the full article go here.
The noise from Brazil
Brief interview with Will Self on the publication of The Book of Dave in Brazil.
Richmond: London’s happy valley
“In what may well be one of the last utilitarian bean-counting exercises performed by New Labour, the Department of Communities and Local Government has reported the results of its latest ‘Place Survey’. This is a comprehensive look at how satisfied Britons are with where they live.
“You and I might well imagine such activity should be confined to the Ministry of Stating the Bleeding Obvious but why make things easy when you can generate great mounds of paper and waste the time of a great many people and the money of a great many taxpayers to discover that, lo! The inhabitants of leafy Richmond upon Thames report an approval rating of 92.4 per cent.
La Times Psychogeography review
Karrie Higgins reviews Will Self’s first collection of Psychogeography columns from the Independent in the LA Times. The second collection, Psycho Too, will be published in November by Bloomsbury.
In conversation with Martin Amis
To listen to Will Self talking to John Banville and Martin Amis about literature in the 21st century at the University of Manchester, visit the Manchester Review.
Martin Amis is going to be talking with Will Self on Monday October 12 on the subject of Literature and Sex at the Martin Harris Centre at the University of Manchester. For details of the event and to book a place, go here.
Granta 107
In the current issue of Granta (107), Will Self has written about the late JG Ballard. You can buy a copy from Amazon for £7.69 when it’s published on July 31.
London’s a beach
“I love London — don’t get me wrong; but it’s a love that’s only the positive pole of a quite profound ambivalence. I think all of us can agree that there are times when the sheer size and weight of the city closes in on us — a vice of bricks, mortar, concrete and steel. For this reason I’ve never liked living in those districts of the city that have no natural features at all. This isn’t too much of a problem, for London — being in a river valley — abounds in hills and rises.