By George! I was fascinated to discover at the weekend that there is an Orwell Society dedicated to spreading the word about the Animal Farm Hitmaker.
So now, I have a question. Do any of you belong to (or know of) societies, associations or fanclubs dedicated to writers? All nationalities accepted!
That discovery was followed by another surprise. DuCool informed me that there is an Anthony Powell Society. They have pub evening, lectures and other events in honour of the writer of the 12 volume masterpiece “Dance” (as it’s known to the fans).
And while we’re on the subject of fanclubs, a Stockholm pal of mine is a keen reader of BING. A wonderful, glossy publication which would be the pride of any Space Age Bachelor Pad coffee table,.It comes out three times a year and is published by International Club Crosby, founded in 1936 and the world’s longest running fan club.
What have the Orwell Society achieved? Well, they have funded a rather fine statue of the great man which stands outside Broadcasting House.
Their site explains the background:
“Martin Jennings was chosen as the sculptor because Ben Whitaker admired his sculptures of John Betjeman at St Pancras station and Philip Larkin in Hull. Jennings said that Orwell was “…an ideal subject for a sculptor: loomingly tall, skinny as a rake, forever [with] fag in hand, body leaning in to make a point. He wore the kind of clothes that might have spent their off-duty hours hanging from a nail in the potting shed”.
“The wall behind the statue is inscribed with an Orwell quote: If Liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. The quote is from an unused preface for Animal Farm called The Freedom of the Press.”
Kudos to them for reminding us of this great writer.
So which other writers have an organisation/club/foundation which honours their heritage?
A few gueeses…
Shakespeare, Dickens, definitely Jane Austen, probably Virginia Woolf, Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie, Neil Gaiman…
There’s the Goethe Institute in Germany, Cervantes must have something in Spain, I’ m sure there’s a Strindberg Association here in Sweden. Mark Twain must have some kind of fanclub in the US. Sacre Bleu! The French must have a Balzac Appreciation Society and a Proust Club who gather to dunk madeleine cakes in cups of tea.
Over to you. Are there any fanclubs, ancient or modern, which celebrate the written, spoken or sung word do you know of?
And more importantly, which novelists, poets, rappers, playwrights, songwriters, journalists etc do you think ought to have a society or club which preserves their heritage?
If you were going to chip in for a statue, who would it be?
George’s name has made an impat on the English language, not to mention the Manics’ songbook.
I don’t know that there’s an official body, but Bloomsday is celebrated globally in sufficient quantity that some James Joyce fans must be organising them.
There are a lot of libraries or Universities that, while not having organised fan clubs (sorry, appreciation societies), hold collections of material that almost make them fan clubs. London’s Islington Library has an exhibit of the books Joe Orton and Ken Halliwell defaced, and the University of Leicester keeps Orton’s name alive with its collection of ephemera.
We were in Dublin in 1982, which was Joyce’s centenary, and were actually there on “Bloomsday”, as it’s become. I don’t remember much of a fuss about it. I had read Ulysses the year before when I had graduated and had time on my hands while I was waiting to start a job. I knew that critics said Joyce had tried to anchor the book as firmly as possible in reality, and that all of the locations he mentioned existed. Out of curiosity, I went to Bloom’s house in Eccles Street. As far as I remember it was boarded up, and somebody had scrawled in chalk “Number 11 – Joyce.” Bloomsday seems to have become a lot more of an event since then.
I’m sure you are right about that @David Kendal. Bloomsday was a gift to the Irish Tourist Industry.
Here’s a story about Eccles Street and its front door featuring Patrick Kavanagh and Flann O’Brien.
This came up on a Muswell Hill page.
Bloomsday is celebrated here in Stockholm at one of my favourite bookshops.
The Irish Embassy doubtless helps to encourage such events but the heavy lifting is done by local enthusiasts. Exactly what cultural attaché ought to do!
Here’s a look at Dublin on Bloomsday.
You’re quite right, Sniffity. Sometimes it can be a local museum that nurtures a literary heritage. Or a local tourist board. Shakey has done wonders for Stratford.
The Oscar Wilde Society look very well organised – still, the only thing worse than being organised is not being organised (I’m here all week)
https://oscarwildesociety.co.uk/
The Kerouac Society is dedicated to everyone’s favourite Beat scribe…
https://jackkerouac.com/
Allen Ginsberg had to settle for a Project (at least it doesn’t cost anything to get involved)…
https://allenginsberg.org/
@Sniffity
The Oscar Wilde Society look very well organised – still, the only thing worse than being organised is not being organised (I’m here all week)
Here all week? Not until you’ve done some hard time in Reading Gaol
HP Lovecraft managed one better – no fan club as such, but a couple of his friends established Arkham House publishing house in 1939 with the express purpose of keeping his work in print (in hardcover, no less). However, according to Wikipedia, they’ve been having troubles in the last couple off years and may well be defunct.
Sure’n’ those Irish writers are popular – how could I have overlooked the Friends Of Ol’ Samuel Beckett…?
samuelbeckettsociety.org
The Beckett Society have a lot going on. How about this festival that recently took place in Roussillon?
“The 23rd edition of the Festival Beckett will take place in Roussillon en Provence from the 15-20 July. Held in the town in which Beckett and Suzanne saw out the last of World War II, this year’s festival offers a combination of theatrical performances, lectures and conversation in convivial and resonant surroundings.”
Beckett is still very popular. I enjoyed this recent, French comedy about prisoner inmates performing Godot: Un Triomphe (The Big Hit)
Great post. I think these sites might be more widespread than you think. At various times I have joined forums on two of my favourite writers ie. Elmore Leonard and Daphne Du Maurier although not sure a forum is the same as a fan club.
I only joined two fan clubs that I recall – the first was for the late great Jackie Leven. It was called the Haunted Valley and it included very eloquently written pieces by the man himself and fan club only releases.
The other was as a youngster I joined the Man from U.N.C..L..E fan club and was beside myself with excitement at receiving a fountain pen with invisible ink. Those were the days my friend.
Or these.
https://imgur.com/N6YMnal.
Though a ten year old with a moustache would look a bit odd.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Dorothy Parker for more witty remarks.
I’m certainly not just interested in fanclubs. Lively forums, like ones you mention, @SteveT, often do a great job on keeping the memory of a great artist alive.
I never joined the Haunted Valley but I should have!
That UNCLE Counterspy Outfit is quite wonderful, Hubert. On a par with the Corgi 007 car with an ejector seat.
Time for a moment of shameless nostalgia!
George Harrison was a huge George Formby fan and he and his son Danni used to go to the regular GF conventions in, IIRC, Blackpool.
One of the reasons he loved going was apparently that the other George was more of a draw than he was. Pretty sure that one year, little uelele* in his hand, Bob Dylan went along with him.
* Actually a banjolelle
Great story! I tried to find a clip of GH in Blackpool.
I failed miserably! But (going totally off piste) this is great fun.
I’ve certainly seen a clip of GH at the Formby convention.
There’s a George on George doc on Radio 4 alas its not available
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00120z1
I don’t have enough t’Internet but it’s on YouTube.
There was a point in my (relative) youth when I was a member of the Banshees fan club – I think it was called The File. I balanced that later by joining appreciation societies for both Carl Nielsen and Sir Thomas Beecham. Go figure.
@fitterstoke
Siouxse et al surely missed a trick in not calling their fan club the Fanshees
Arf!
Fanclubs are not the only way of keeping the memory of a writer alive. Literary prizes also work well.
In New Zealand there are annual awards for crime fiction, popularly known as the Ngaios, keeping the memory alive of that Kiwi Queen of Crime, Dame Ngaio Marsh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngaio_Marsh_Awards
In Sweden, The Astrid Lindgren Award, created by the Swedish Government, has kept the memory of the great children’s novelist alive internationally.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrid_Lindgren_Memorial_Award
They choose some interesting winners, not least Philip Pullman who won in 2005. I went to see him give a lecture and got his autograph when he did a signing at the Sci Fi Bookshop! I am a big fan and he’s probably the most famous person I’ve met.
This year’s winner was American young adult fiction writer, Laurie Halse Anderson.
“It wasn’t that teenagers don’t read, it’s that teenagers don’t like to read boring books. And nor should they have to. I think a great deal of the illiteracy that we have in this country is a direct result of children being force-fed books that do not relate to them.”
You may know that Norman Wisdom was enormous in Albania.
But did you now that Robbie Burns was an even bigger hit in Russia?
https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/from-rabbie-with-love-2463354
“The poetry of Burns is taught in Russian schools alongside their own national poets. Russia, not Scotland, was the first country in the world to honour the man with a commemorative stamp in 1956. Burns societies flourish from Volgograd to Vladivostok. There have even been Burns nights held in the Kremlin Palace with television channels across the nation cover it.”
I suspect Putin has never read any! He ought to read To a louse!
“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!”
Oh, would some Power the gift give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
Similarly, “On The Buses” was apparently a huge hit in Yugoslavia, prior to it’s disintegration and descent into war. People in those old Communist states liked comedies about ordinary people struggling in vain against the system.
“I’ll get you, Tito!”
Thanks, Mike. I had no idea. Enormous in Holland too!
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/plaque-buses-well-its-classic-2419916
There’s an On the Buses fanclub.
http://www.onthebusesfanclub.com/
In its heyday, (they claim) it was watched by 22 million viewers.
and Allo Allo was very popular in Germany
Comedian Tony Hawks – once of Morris Minor and the Majors – was set the task of trying to have another hit. He roped in Norman (and Tim Rice, oddly), and they managed to get radio play in Albania (see vid above!).
Tony’s book on the task, One Hit Wonderland, is a good read.
Thanks @Hamlet!
I’ll keep my eye open for that. It’s one of those bizarre stories that could only happen in the Wonderful World of Pop.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/342946/one-hit-wonderland-by-tony-hawks/9780091882105
Uniquely among artists, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s band
have clubs for not only their Jewish fans (the Pet Shop Oys)
but also their non-Jewish counterparts (the Pet Shop Goys)
Somewhat inevitably, the Facebook group for the DLBH is…(*drum roll*… the Teenage Fanclub Fan Club.
Strindberg does indeed have a society in his name – Strindbergssällskapet – and they have been active since 1945. Reading their wiki page I’m quite impressed with all of the things they’re doing to keep his works alive.
You tend to see them at the annual book table at Drottninggatan – their table is of course usually situated near Blå Tornet and I’ve bought many a cheap volume there (most of them containing his letters – if he had lived now and had to deal with the “occasional delivery” of PostNord, he’d tear them a new one!)
They try to enlist you if you express even the slightest enthusiasm for old August, but I don’t think I’d be interested in joining a society for any author, bar possibly Carl Jonas Love Almqvist.
And the biggest and poshest book awards in Sweden are of course also named after Strindberg: August-priset.
But many a niche author have their own societies, and some of them also show up at the Book Table in August. But they tend to look a little sad, when crowds are ransacking the general book tables and shunning the niche ones.
Thanks for filling us in about August’s Fan Club, @Locust.
I was talking to Mrs KFD today about the Swedish writers who had “fanclubs.”
She mentioned Gustaf Fröding, Cornelis Wreeswijk, Bellman and Strindberg.
Through the years, she’s had a few colleagues who’ve been members of the Strindberg Society. She’s not been too impressed. They’ve all been guys, rather snooty and snobbish, and have worshipped the ground that August stood on. Any criticism of the great man was seen as heresy.
She likes his plays (particularly En Drömspel) but finds him something of an arrogant prick with an appalling attitude towards women.
As regards poet Gustaf Fröding (1860–1911), his legacy has been magnificently well-served by the Swedish rock band, Mando Diao. Their album, Infruset, set his poems to music with marvelous results.
One hundred years after his death, Fröding was suddenly the talk of Sweden and more popular than ever. The fanclub must have been chuffed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infruset
Yeah, I suspect that most literary societies are made up of mostly male, snooty and snobbish worshippers of The Genius in question…so I’ve never been tempted to join!
I love Strindberg’s writing, and if I only read books written by pleasant people I wouldn’t read many books! 😀
I can’t think of a single male author from that era who wasn’t an absolute arse, TBH.
Well, @Locust, with regard to Strindberg’s opinion of himself as a genius, and the worshipful attitude of his acolytes, I refer you to that extraordinary statue of him in Tegnerlunden. He looks like something out of a body building mag
http://lpsphoto.top/en/sweden/stocholm-strindberg-staty
If ever there was a statue of the Suffering Genius, that is it! Talk about bombastic.
Now compare that to Martin Jennings’ statue of Orwell.
I would love to see a Jennings statue of Our August.
Here’s an article about MJ, with some excellent photos of his work.
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/luxury/art-and-antiques/in-focus-the-sculptor-whose-work-treads-that-fine-line-between-likeness-and-caricature-217067
From Country Life, a magazine which I am sure many of you read.
“I can’t think of a single male author from that era who wasn’t an absolute arse, TBH.” Now there’s a challenge!
Strindberg lived from 22 January 1849 – 14 May 1912.
Oscar Wilde perhaps? Although he too had very high opinion of himself.
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”
The Anthony Burgess International Foundation in Manchester is dedicated to preserving the memory (and the books) of the COH. Manchester University Press have brought all his books back into print, and the Foundation has a busy programme of lectures and other events. His archives are there too, including his record collection, some rather damaged by their time in Malaya. They’ve even been overseeing new recordings of his musical works.
http://www.anthonyburgess.org
As one might suspect, fantasy and sci-fi fans can be a bit more fervid that their “mundane” counterparts, and so fan clubs (sorry, literary societies) are possibly more likely.
HG Wells appreciators are so organised they even have their own journal, The Wellsian…
http://hgwellssociety.com/
George RR Martin fans are the Mark Lewisohn fans of fantasy ie will he ever finish that series?
https://www.cambridgesu.co.uk/organisation/22451/
Ray Bradbury’s fans aren’t quite all to Rachel Bloom’s level…
https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/centers/bradbury-center/
Where go Orwell’s acolytes, can Aldous Huxley’s be far behind (though based in Germany)?
https://www.uni-muenster.de/Anglistik/Huxley/ahs.html
Are Robert Heinlein’s advocates space cadets? You decide…
https://www.heinleinsociety.org/
As a a big fan of Philip K, I consider myself a bit of a Dickhead
As a former addict of his fiction, I consider myself a recovering aDickt.
They could do a Kurt Vonnegut society called Von Love
Wow @Sniffity! What an amazing bit of research. I look forward to browsing through it all.
That Rachel Bloom song must be the most devoted example of fandom every recorded.
I’d never heard of her and I found this article a very enjoyable read.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/25/rachel-bloom-ten-years-ago-no-one-would-have-talked-about-a-cultural-problem-in-comedy
You are right about Sci fi (and indeed Fantasy) fans being rather special.
We have a Tolkien Society here in Stockholm and at their meetings they all speak to each other in Elvish.
At their parties, rumour has it that far too much wine and mead is consumed, and it can all end up in rather frisky scenes which would ever have made it into the Rings Trilogy! This, of course, could just be malicious gossip by jealous orcs.
Just stumbled across the Bob Dylan Fan Club! It’s agreeably un-corporate and rather home-spun.
http://www.thebobdylanfanclub.com/content/origin-story-bob-dylan-fan-club
How about this? A Marcel Proust merchtable!
https://fanavenue.com/2493-marcel-proust
Lots of high-brow merch: Flaubert, Maupassant, Zola, Sade …
And we’re not talking about the Smooth Operator Hitmaker!
Where there’s fans, there’s cash! And Cash!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/themaninblack/
But maybe these days, it’s easier and cheaper for fans to create forums?
A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor is one of my favourite travel books. It’s a memoir of the first part of Fermor’s journey on foot across Europe from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople in 1933/34.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Time_of_Gifts
“Many years after his travel, Leigh Fermor’s diary of the Danubian leg of his journey was found in a castle in Romania and returned to him.[5] He used it in his writing of the book, which also drew on the knowledge he had accumulated in the intervening years.”
You couldn’t make it up, could you?
So it struck me that I should google to see if PLF has an association in his honour.
He certainly has!
https://patrickleighfermor.org/tag/patrick-leigh-fermor-society/
Sticking in the upper echelons of society, P.G. Wodehouse also has an association.
https://www.pgwodehousesociety.org.uk/
Lots of interesting titbits, not least a list of PGW link to associations in other countries.
https://www.pgwodehousesociety.org.uk/wodehousean-websites
Like Sweden, Italy, Russia and the Netherlands.
https://wodehouse.se/
Let’s try a few poets.
Philip Larkin has a Society founded 10 years after his death.
https://philiplarkin.com/
Poem reviews and much more besides!
About Larkin Journal, published twice a year in April and October
Twitter, YouTube and Instagram channels
A member of the Alliance of Literary Societies
Hmm. Now that sounds worth a look.
https://allianceofliterarysocieties.wordpress.com/
I hit gold there! 500 different societies for all kinds of writers. Some very well-known, others completely new names to me at least.
Sylvia Townsend Warner, H G Wells, Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Gerard Manley Hopkins etc etc
Are your favourite writers there?
They have a quarterly: Slightly Foxed.
“The independent-minded quarterly magazine that combines good looks, good writing and a personal approach. Slightly Foxed introduces its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal. Good-humoured, unpretentious and a bit eccentric, it’s more like having a well-read friend than a literary review magazine subscription.”
I like the sound of this group:
“Zola Readers is an online group which is dedicated to reading and discussing the works of Emile Zola. The group has an ongoing programme to read the novels together. Members take part in virtual meetings through Facebook, to exchange ideas on the current novel. Membership of the group is truly global, with members in Australia, Macau, North America, the UK and, of course, France. Membership of the group is free.”
How about this?
A Ghostly Company
Formed in 2004, it takes its name from the classic 1932 ghost story collection by H R Wakefield, and provides opportunities for like-minded enthusiasts to meet at appropriate locations around the country. Previously, the Ghost Story Society and Ghosts and Scholars had organised conventions in Chester and Rochester but had then decided to devote their energies entirely to publishing. Hence the foundation of the Company. They are an informal, non-profit-making literary society devoted to the study of the ghost story in all its forms. To learn more visit the website at http://www.aghostlycompany.org.uk
I suspect there are similar umbrella associations in Australia, Ireland, Canada, the USA, New Zealand etc..
I will investigate.
The discoveries we are making!
One of these societies can be a great way to get to know more about a new or an old favourite.
There is one for the Swedish poet, Gustav Fröding, @Locust, and there are pages in English.
http://frodingsallskapet.se/
We are currently driving through the Öland countryside listening to Infruset by Mando Diao, one of the best Swedish albums of the past 20 years. They really do Fröding’s poetry justice.
I’m enjoying around to discover whether some lightly less-known writers have a fanclub of society.
Like Lawrence Sterne (1713-1768), the author of that wonderfully eccentric novel, Tristam Shandy.
“The International Laurence Sterne Foundation (ILSF) was launched in the tercentenary year 2013 in the week of Sterne’s birthday on 24 November at the Sterne Conference in Venice.”
https://shandean.org/ilsf/
They have a FB group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240907132753493
And then there’s the Lawrence Sterne Trust who administer Shandy Hall, Sterne’s former home. which has been a public museum for 50 years.
https://www.laurencesternetrust.org.uk/
Now that does appeal! It’s in the village of Coxwold, approximately 19 miles north of York.
Some of you may be aware of Sterne thanks to the Micheal Winterbottom film starring Steve Coogan.
I can heartily recommend Shandy Hall especially the candlelit tours at Christmas.
Now, a great Irish poet.
Our book circle recently read Patrick Kavanagh’s excellent autobiographical novel Tarry Flynn, set in rural Ireland in the 1930s. Before that I knew of him as the poet who wrote Raglan Road.
Van’s finest hour?
Paddy’s heritage is well taken care of. There’s a PK centre located in Inniskeen, County Monaghan.
https://patrickkavanaghcentre.com/
There’s lot to read about: an annual poetry award, a lecture and Poetry Jukebox there in Inniskeen!
https://patrickkavanaghcentre.com/kavanagh-contemporary/poetry-jukebox-no-earthly-estate/
Here’s brief film clip about him.
And Russell Crowe ´talking about him.
An article that you might enjoy.
https://www.poetryireland.ie/writers/articles/patrick-kavanagh-fifty-years-on
Finally Sinead singing Raglan Road.
Exquisite.
All well and good so far, but what about our Eastern Bloc cousins?
Alexander Solzhenitsyn Society members probably don’t do deportation cosplay, but there’s room for all…
http://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org
Franz Kafka has several associations devoted to him and his work. Here’s the American one…
kafkasocietyofamerica.org
No sign of anything for Tolstoy, Gogol or even Stan Lem…some Polish guy called Karol Wojtyła has a few fans, though (might have been about stuff other than his poetry, admittedly)…
https://www.wojtylaci.com/
Great line of enquiry, @Sniffity!
Tolstoy’s heritage seems to be alive and well. Not to mention his descendants!
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/living-with-leo-tolstoy-s-impressive-dynasty-2136883.html
The Tolstoy Society of North America publish an impressive journal.
https://www.tolstoy-studies-journal.com/
And it has a companion website:
https://ceeres.uchicago.edu/resources/tolstoy-commons-companion-website-tolstoy-studies-journal
And then there’s the Tolstoy Foundation
https://www.oca.org/directories/organizations/tolstoy-foundation
“The Tolstoy Foundation, established in 1939 by Alexandra Tolstoy, youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy, and others, is a non-profit international philanthropic organization without political or religious affiliation, committed to a dual mission of humanitarian and cultural/educational concerns.
The Foundation’s activities focus on the empowerment of orphaned and disadvantaged children in Russia, primarily through education and practical training programs at home and at the Foundation’s center in Valley Cottage, NY. The Foundation also provides humanitarian assistance to the distressed, sick and aged worldwide. It also operates homes for the aged in the US, France, and Latin America.”
Tolstoy continues to be popular on the small and big screen. The BBC 2016 mini-series starring Paul Dano is superb.
Man of Tolstoy’s works have bee filmed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_based_on_works_by_Leo_Tolstoy
Anna Karenina is most popular and has been filmed 19 times!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_based_on_Anna_Karenina
The Crime and Punishment Hitmaker also has a society.
https://dostoevsky.org/
It’s primarily for academics. I can’t really seem them having pub evenings and quiz nights somehow.
“The International Dostoevsky Society was created in 1971 to further the study of this remarkable writer and his work. With regional organizations in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the Society facilitates communication and collaboration among Dostoevsky scholars worldwide. In addition, the Society has published Dostoevsky Studies, a leading journal, almost continuously since 1971.”
Maybe the Australia Dostoevsky Society holds the occasional Brothers Karazamov Barbie Night?
https://ausdostoevskysociety.net/
They state their support for the people of Ukraine on their website.
“We stand with the people of Ukraine who have the right to live in a free and democratic society. We admire, in humility, the courage of the Ukrainian people who are resisting the Russian armed forces in defence of their nation’s existence. We appreciate the Russian people, who at risk to their own safety, are protesting en masse in condemnation of their President’s actions, reminding us that this was not done either with their consent or in their name.
Despite the terrible catastrophe we are witnessing, the ADS will continue to support Dostoevsky scholarship which is focused on studying Dostoevsky’s works as an aesthetic phenomenon, placing it in a social and historical context which critically examines the semiotic evidence of his fictional texts as well as his journalism, which are subject to different criteria of truth. As an ex-political prisoner, Dostoevsky was under police surveillance almost to the end of his life and always in peril of another arrest for sedition against the Tsarist Empire. In his journalism and even in his letters, he made assertions which are contradicted by the poetics of his novels – that is, he portrayed himself as a conservative nationalist when in fact his novels evoke a modern post-Euclidean scientific world, pre-empting the Existentialists’ vision of the universe.”
Thanks to the tip about Shandy Hall at Xmastime, @hubert rawlinson. I am sorely tempted!
A lot of the more interesting literary societies I’ve come across are those, like the Sterne and Kavanagh ones, which have a strong link to the place where the writer lived.
Dove Cottage, Wordsworth’s home in the Lake District, is another example.
I’ve just discovered that there is an Emily Dickinson in Amherst, Massachusetts, where the reclusive poet lived most of her life. It’s an interesting story. She is now feted as one of the great American poets but in her lifetime she published only 10 poems and was completely unknown.
https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/
Lack of knowledge of her life has led to a lot of recent conjecture.
A TV series : Dickinson.
“The real Dickinson was a noted introvert, but in this version, she’s a lark – declaring boldly her intention to become famous, strumming an air guitar, and swinging her hair as if at a club. ”
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/aug/27/from-little-women-to-dickinson-how-modernised-should-adaptations-be
And then there’s the movie Wild Nights with Emily which tells a whole new story.
This article from the LA Times connects the re-invention of Emily Dickinson with other TV shows which are in a similar vein
“Historical dramas have taken their lumps over the years for a lack of accuracy in everything from costumes to technology to language to casting. But in a “truthiness” era, after four years of a government devoted to muddying the waters of what “facts” actually are, what’s interesting this Emmy season is how several TV series take the concept of truth, or facts, or accuracy — and consider it not concrete, but clay.”
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2021-06-02/dickinson-bridgerton-for-all-mankind-play-with-history
A Quiet Passion is a Terence Davies biopic about Emily D which @Gary has kindly informed me about. It looks excellent,
I have a soft spot for the Swedish artist Sofie Livebrant, who uses existing texts from poets/authors for many of her songs.
She did an album called “Emily and I” some years back that was very good, here’s an exemple of a song from it:
She’s a bit like your favourites Mando Diao when it comes to bringing a poet’s work to a new audience…but much less successful, unfortunately. In fact, I often have problems finding her albums (on CD) and sometimes it’s gone years before I’d find a copy!
She’s used a novel by Jeannette Winterson, “Lighthousekeeping”, for an album as well, which I’ve yet to find anywhere… I saw a lovely documentary about a tour she made to different lighthouses for small gigs of the album many years ago, and have been looking for it ever since. I found this very short by sweet clip from the opening (I think) of that documentary:
And while looking for these clips on YouTube I found out for the first time that she made an album a year ago, apparently, called “Weep the Time Away”, with songs written to lyrics by Emily Brontë! I now must go and search for it immediately (perhaps I’ll get it in a year or two, if my history of bad luck with her albums continues…)
Finally – some good luck! Found the album (Brontë, that is) right away, duly ordered!
Hooray!
More linking to the Bröntes.
https://www.bronte.org.uk/whats-on/news/38/patti-smith-rocks-the-old-schoolroom-haworth-in-bronte-benefit-gig
You struck gold again, Hubert!
Patti Smith and the Brontes! Wow! what a combination!
“Because the Heights belong to lovers
Because the Heights belong to us.”
Sofie Livebrant is a new name for me @Locust, but you’ve got me very interested.
There’s this writer, illustrator and collaborator with The Tiger Lilies.
https://edwardgorey.org/
Brilliant! Thanks a lot @hubert rawlinson.
What a fascinating man. That site is a perfect fit for this thread.
Here’s a visit to his house.
Oh well, if we’re going Gorey, why not throw Dr Seuss into the mix?
https://drseussfoundation.org/#
“Dedicated to advancing the artistic achievement of American cartoonist” we have the Charles Addams Foundation…
https://charlesaddams.com/
James Thurber’s probably not a name bandied about much in the 21st century…nevertheless, he still has his devotees…you may even hear a seal bark
https://www.thurberhouse.org/
The Thurber House seems to have an awful lot going on in the spirit of JT.
Excellent!
I’m glad to see that these “smaller” more niche writers still have a following I’m sure Charles Addams’ cartoons are still very amusing to the new reader.
English illustrator, Quentin Blake, born in 1932 and still alive, has a quite decent page.
https://www.quentinblake.com/
His contemporary, Gerald Scarfe, has a very lively, dynamic site,
https://www.geraldscarfe.com/
No use mentioning G Scarfe without adding his brother-in-ink Ralph Steadman…
https://www.ralphsteadman.com/
Couldn’t see anything online for their predecessor Ronald Searle, but there’s quite a bit about for anyone wishing to pursue his career and work.
A link on Searle’s Wikipedia page leads one to the Museum Tomi Ungerer, devoted to the work of the prolific and influential illustrator…
https://en.musees.strasbourg.eu/museum-tomi-ungerer
European artist/designers….nothing for Heinz Edelmann or Holger Matthies….ah, Gottfried Helnwein has his own site…
https://www.helnwein.com/
Et Jean “Moebius” Giraud, naturellement…
https://www.moebius.fr/
I daresay the pro designers and artists here can nominate better than me…over to you, folks!
Thanks @Sniffity. Lots to explore there. I’m driving all day today to Stockholm but look forward to digging deeper tomorrow.
I discovered Moebius last year on Youtube of all places. I scurried off to the local library to learn more.
Just found this documentary which I will watch later.
DuCool’s very entertaining account of his recent visit to the childhood homes of Lennon and MacCartney in Liverpool made me wonder whether the National Trust manage any literary homes.
They sure do!
https://www.royal-oak.org/2019/06/03/literary-lights-of-the-national-trust/
Virginia Woolf, Thomas Hardy, Agatha Christie and many more.
That led me to this very comprehensive list of 34 literary homes in the UK.
https://www.slow-travel.uk/post/historic-writers-houses-you-can-visit-in-england
Henry James, James Herriot, John Milton, Elizabeth Gaskell, Samuel Johnson …….L. Ron Hubbard. I think I’ll give him a miss!