Friday, October 31, 2008

Text and the City


I'll be in London this weekend talking at The Battle of Ideas conference about literature and the city, along with novelist Julian Gough and Professor Swapan Chakravorty.

"When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; and when a man is tired of life he moves to Paris to write a book about it. But other cities are keen to emphasise their literary heritage: Edinburgh was delighted to be named the UNESCO City of Literature in 2004, even if Ian Rankin’s Gothic murders and Irvine Welsh’s tales of squalor are not great tourist adverts. In 2008 Melbourne became the second CoL – to the great disappointment of the other contenders, including several newcomers in emerging economies, keen to stake their particular claims on the literary map. Should we celebrate the richness and variety of different cities, or does ‘the city’ remain a blank space in which to explore universal concerns?"

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

C'est de la merde

My sentiment precisely...

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Saturday, October 4, 2008

3am - Bothering the Geese


My recital of page one of Fever found its way onto the Buzzwords blog of the excellent 3am magazine, complete with the following kudos -
"World, let me introduce you to the best author you’ve never read: Gerry Feehily. His stunning debut novel Fever was published last year and an extract from his work-in-progress appears in the forthcoming Offbeat anthology. Gerry is also a talented literary translator and a freelance journalist. Born in London, raised in Ireland, he now resides in France where he bothers geese given half the chance. Be warned: this man is seriously talented. You read it here first."

I could not ask for more.

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