Paula Rego / Deixis Launch

Paula Rego
It’s to my eternal shame that I hadn’t even heard of Paula Rego until a few months ago. I like to think I know a bit about art, but the truth is I only have my own prior ignorance of it to compare to, so the fact I know more abut it now than I did twenty years ago doesn’t mean I know much at all.

My wife’s a big fan of Rego and when she enthused about the current* Tate Britain exhibition that she saw back in August, the name meant nothing to me, but her enthusiasm for it was infectious, and I lamented the fact I’d not had the chance to go with her. So when I was invited to an event down in London (see below) before the exhibition closed, it was the perfect opportunity to grab a ticket and make sure I got the chance to enjoy it to.

Vain Idiot, James Kinsley

Undoubtedly a relief that the opportunity presented itself, as it turns out to be possibly the most moving, breathtaking exhibition I’ve ever attended. And I include in that the 2005 Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Tate Modern. Kahlo is one of my all-time heroes but in just one exhibition, Rego has rocketed up the list to join her. Truly she is an artist of rare talent. Portuguese by birth, Rego moved to the UK in 1951, dividing her time between the two countries at times before settling here permanently. At 86, she’s still working and still producing works of exceptional quality.

Target, Paula Rego

One of the things the exhibition shows is that hers is a career that, partly through longevity and partly her own desire to explore her craft, has shown a number of shifts in styles and approaches. From near-abstract collage to beautiful figurative art, all the while driven by feminism, politics and a fascination with storytelling, there’s a breadth in this exhibition that’s truly impressive. The eleven rooms are strikingly different, yet I’d be hard pressed to say I enjoyed this more than that, or favoured one period of her life over others. Every room felt fresh and new, and every room had multiple pieces that utterly mesmerised me. It is possible to point to a few favourite individual pieces (such as The Raft, the highly disturbing The Family or the magnificent The Barn) but honestly, the entire collection was mindblowing.

Portuguese Folktales, Paula Rego

It’s also strong argument for making the effort to see art in the flesh as well. I love collecting postcards and pouring through art books, but nothing compares to seeing the artworks themselves. Rego’s canvases are often huge and the scale is part of the impact they have. Not only that, but the detail in the busier works means you need to see the actual piece to take in and appreciate everything that’s going on.

From the Posession series, Paula Rego

Most of all, Rego’s art is magnificent because you can feel the passion that’s gone into them. Her beliefs, the issues that drive her work, are so tangible within her art that even the most basic and rustic pieces, such as Red Monkey Offers Bear A Poisoned Dove, are compelling because the emotion leaps out at the viewer like a punch to the gut. I don’t recall a time I wandered a gallery in such a daze.

Deixis Launch
The main point of my sojourn to London was to attend Deixis Press‘ launch event, celebrating the launch of the company itself and of its first two titles, Siôn Scott-Wilson’s Some Rise By Sin and Richard Gadz’s The Workshop Of Filthy Creation. I’ve mentioned before that I provided a cover quote for Workshop, hence why I was invited to the launch.

My first cover quote!

Both books are fantastic. Workshop, a continuation of the Frankenstein story that combines the philosophical question of what it means to be human with rich and visceral, gory body-horror, is a heck of a ride. I enjoyed it immensely and was very happy to endorse it (it is SO weird to now have a copy and to see my name on the back, as if I’m somebody). Some Rise By Sin is a tale of two Resurrection Men in the 1820s and involves a complex plot centered around the pursuit of an especially anatomically-fascinating corpse. Most impressive, for me, is the voice used to tell the tale, an authentic period voice that breathes life into the tale and doesn’t waver once. I can happily recommend both of these massively enjoyable books to you.

The Workshop of Filthy Creation and Some Rise By Sin from Deixis Press

Now, I’m not a party animal. Going to London to attend a social event where I’ve met literally nobody else attending is my own personal hell. However, as well as being appreciative of the invite and of the reciprocal favour the publisher is doing me by casting her professional eye over a couple of my WiPs, it also felt like the sort of opportunity, as a published author, I should take advantage of. To be in a room full of writers, agents and the like, press the flesh, circulate my name… I needed to be a grown up and treat it like work. So I donned my party attire** and duly attended.

In the event, of course, the only flesh I pressed was my own into a pair of cords that are really a tad too tight. But I went! I chatted with Siôn and Richard, as well as a few others. I even offloaded a couple of copies of Playtime’s Over into the hands of the politely-interested***. I also got to meet, finally, the founder of Deixis, the remarkable and delightful Angel Belsey. We’ve been messaging intermittently for a few months and, as I say, she’s currently running her eye over a couple of pieces for me. I’m largely basing my next step for those two works on her feedback – whether it’s worth my time trying to get them published or whether just to put them out myself as Ray Adams’ titles. It’s an enormous kindness she’s paying me.

On top of which, it was also a free bar, so that was fun. I wandered back to Liverpool St and my three hour train ride home to Norwich (engineering works) lightly toasted and, if I couldn’t really claim to have done much to further my glittering career, I at least forced myself to go, had a good time and didn’t disgrace myself. First time out, I’ll take that as a win.

* I say current, you only have until the 24th of October to take my recommendation

** I lie, my attire was definitely non-party

*** This felt awkward as hell. Is it bad form to turn up to a book launch and talk about your own book? It certainly felt it, and if it is bad form, forgive me, Angel, I’m very new at this and incredibly socially inept.

Image: Detail, Island of the Lights, Paula Rego

Promotion choices, events, recommendations

Friday 10th September was World Suicide Prevention Day. For me, this created somewhat of a conundrum. As a first-time author looking to push his book, the instinct is that any related chance to promote the book should be taken. It is, as I’ve observed before, a tough old time for the debut author. Given Playtime’s Over‘s central construct, any discussion around suicide seems like a natural tie-in. However, given the subject matter, the idea of using that specific Awareness Day as a chance to sell my book felt all kinds of off.

Interestingly, one of the good folk at the Book Hive made the connection as well and messaged me in the afternoon to ask if I wanted them to put something out about the book, tying it in, though they too weren’t convinced of the wisdom of doing so. In the end, we decided against. I did put out a blog that day about the subject, mentioning the book, but I avoided any suggestion of people buying it, merely referencing it. Instead, I talked briefly about my experience, said I was thinking about those who’d lost their lives to it, and posted a link for additional help/resources. It felt right to me to mark it but I couldn’t bring myself to use it as an opportunity.

And that is the challenge around the subject matter. While I’m not averse to tying the promotion of the book to Mental Health stuff – I still believe that there are important discussions to be had that the book may shed some small light on – to use World Suicide Prevention Day as a marketing tool is clearly beyond the pale. It’s just not an appropriate thing to try and make money off the back of. One of the additional factors in considering promoting a book with these themes is when and how it’s appropriate to do so. I’m balancing the need to put the work in to assist my publisher where I can with sales against the need to be sensitive. Not a complaint, or something I hadn’t considered before, but there it is.

In other news, a brief email exchange with my editor/publisher has confirmed that he has submitted my book for the East Anglian Book Awards. In and of itself, nothing to get carried away about – submitting is a straightforward affair, we now just sit and wait to see if we get a sniff at the shortlisting. I’m told that if the panel react to the book as well as the public have, we are in a good position – positive feedback continues to come in and I’m told that recently we had a customer come back to purchase no less than ten copies! I’m assuming somewhere there’s a book group with an interesting meeting coming up. But certainly keep an eye out for the nominations when they’re announced and keep your fingers crossed for us.

I’ve also been invited to my first London Literary Event! Terribly excited about this, I’ve been invited to Deixis Press‘ Launch Party. You may remember that back in May, I was asked to give a quote for one of their books, Richard Gadz’ The Workshop of Filthy Creation. Not only was I happy to get my name out there, I was also more than happy to endorse the book, as it’s a cracking read. I’m also currently enjoying Sion Scott-Wilson’s Some Rise By Sin, another really well-written book that they’re putting out this year. An imprint to keep an eye on, for sure. Anyway, as a result of making that connection, I now get to go down to that there London and rub shoulders with other literary types. As regular readers might be aware, the idea of a party would usually make my skin itch but I’m facing this as a professional opportunity for James Kinsley the author, rather than as a social one for old uncle Kins. Hopefully that will get me through it. If nothing else, at least I have an excuse now to catch the Paula Rego exhibition at the Tate Britain, which my wife tells me is excellent.

Elsewhere, the two horsemen of the current mini-apocalypse*, Br*xit & Covid-19, are causing potential issues for the book industry, as supply chains are hit. How/whether that effects us , I don’t know. I’m not imagining we’re looking at a second print run just yet, so probably not much, but if you haven’t bought one yet, QUICK! DO IT NOW! DON’T WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE!

Delighted this weekend to have had the chance to see Emma Raducanu make history at the US Open. The extent of her achievement cannot be overstated. For a qualifier to win a major is unprecedented; to do so without dropping a set and with the complete absence of nerves she displayed is nothing short of incredible. However, those of us who watched her at Wimbledon this year won’t be surprised perhaps as much as we should be. The young woman has formidable written all over her. Perhaps less enjoyable was seeing the likes of Nigel F*rage, who in 2014 stated in a radio interview that he would be ‘concerned’ if a Romanian family moved in next door, hypocritically express delight that a Chinese-Romanian immigrant had won the title for Britain. Seems there are some migrants we can welcome to this country, instead of trying to drown at sea.

Couple of recommendations for you. Admittedly, I have yet to read Elisa Victoria’s Oldladyvoice, but it arrived this morning as part of my And Other Stories subscription and it looks fantastic. Given And Other Stories’ track record, which I believe I’ve spoken of before, and the enticing blurb, I’ve no doubt this will be an absolute gem. It’s due out on 5th October – hopefully I can get it read before then and give you a proper heads up. The other is my film choice for this week, Tiger Bay. Child performances can, as we know, make or break a film. In this, Hayley Mills (13 at the time, playing younger) absolutely makes it as the young girl witness to a murder who ends up trying to help the murderer, a sympathetic Horst Buchholz (The Magnificent Seven‘s Chico). There are, admittedly, a few questions that would legitimately be asked today about leading an audience to sympathise with a man who kills his former lover for no longer wanting him, but the film at least doesn’t go so far as to let him off the hook. Nevertheless, the connection between Mills and Buchholz is tangible and convincing, and the plot is genuinely tense at times with no outcome entirely clear. Perhaps the biggest surprise for me, showing my ignorance, is the multiracial portrayal of Cardiff in the 1950s, especially as it’s not something explored in the plot, just presented as the backdrop the story plays out against. In any event, if you get a chance, I’d very much recommend it.

* hyperbole acknowledged

Photo credit: my wife (I was stuck for an idea for the featured image this week)