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  • 'Constellation' - an exclusive poem by Nii Ayikwei Parkes

    Posted Friday March 12th 2010
    by Nii Ayikwei Parkes

    I leave you with this, a poem I have been playing with on and off for the last year and a bit, which I hope I’ve finally nailed; something that speaks of perseverance and high aspirations, both needed for those that dream of writing. It’s called ‘Constellation’ and I hope its small voice remains with you after the fire of my blogging has long burned out. Peace, love and mangoes from Accra.

    Constellation

    In his father’s house they dance on sand,
    they turn their noses up at concrete
    and when asked why they will speak
    of the star-flecked night before he left:

    His father has thrown him a party
    and he is dancing with the colourful
    abandon and sweat of transition. His
    uncle – the peacekeeper who returned
    from a tour of duty with a sturdy stick
    where his left leg, his footballing leg,

    had been – taps him on the shoulder
    and tells him to go out into the world
    with the kind of fire and fearless light only
    a child knows, to never give up, to reach
    for the stars. Then the uncle performs
    his party trick, whirling on the leg

    he still has – his fugu…

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  • Week 3: Time and Space

    Posted Friday March 5th 2010
    by Nikesh Shukla

    This week has been a strange week in this new world of getting the book whipped into shape. It’s been taken away from me now by the editors at my publishing house to run through with an array of coloured pens. So I’ve had nothing to do on the book. From mania to space in the space of a week. Suddenly with all these evenings free, I’ve been trying to remember how to fill my time, what I did to fill my time pre-book.

    So I’ve been walking, watching films, listening to music, reading and enjoying the current arc of The Amazing Spider-man comic. These simple pleasures are refreshing me and inspiring me to no end. I feel ready for the next round of edits to do.

    I haven’t been just sitting around and not writing though. I’ve been working on a few short stories, one about a punch-up at a wedding and one about looking for lost fingers. I’ve been attending some brain-food events like wordPLAY, Book Club Boutique and London Word Festival’s launch. I’m gearing up for a short story night in Farringdon at the Free Word Centre, where I’ll be reading alongside Nirpal Dhaliwal, Stuart Evers, Nimer…

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  • Week 2: The Fortress of Solitude

    Posted Thursday February 25th 2010
    by Nikesh Shukla

    It’s been a trying week of re-reading the same manuscript I’ve been tinkering with and editing for months with a view to making it better still. Most writers always say that at this stage, they’ve stopped reading anything else altogether. I haven’t stopped reading other fiction though and among the books I need to review for Booktrust, I’m rereading favourite passages from The Rotters Club, from Sag Harbor, and from Londonstani, all having acted as inspiration for the book. I’m deconstructing the passages now, though, working out what makes them good and what I can learn from them. I’ve made an editing playlist featuring some Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart and Spiritualized interspersed with the songs mentioned in my book, for it is about music. But I’m still not being hugely effective.

    So I escape for a few days to Bristol, on the pretence of visiting my in-laws. I have designs on camping out on their dining table and working away. The change of scenery does me good and plays a neat little mind trick on my subconscious. A new writing space, away from the one I sat in for hours writing my book, gives me the freedom to be less…

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  • A quick Q&A with Joshua Ferris

    Posted Tuesday February 23rd 2010
    by Nikesh Shukla

    Joshua Ferris, the powerhouse author of scathing office comedy Then We Came To An End, is currently on a visit to the UK to promote his new novel, The Unnamed, a brutal and brilliant psychological study of a man who has an undiagnosable condition to compulsively walk with no control of his legs or direction. Intriguing? Yes, it's a great book, one you should definitely read.

    We caught up with Joshua on the eve of his packed trip over here to talk about his longest walk, the book and his plans for the future.

    > If you were to describe your new book as a [film] meets [film] pitch eg Alien is Jaws in Space, what would it be?

    L’Avventurra + Safe.

    > The book hinges on not what is wrong with Tim but how his condition sets off reverberations through his family. Were you worried this might leave readers unsatisfied?

    No.

    > What's the longest walk you've ever taken?

    A 17-mile hike through Pennsylvania forest preserve with my younger brother, who, at the time, needed to be continually entertained, which didn’t comport well with my lack of resources. So I planned a day’s hike without his knowing…

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  • London Word Festival approaches...

    Posted Tuesday February 23rd 2010
    by Nikesh Shukla

    London Word Festival is a pioneering, annual celebration of words, text and language; daring in its approach to cross-artform programming, commissioning new work and exploring non-traditional spaces. Every year, around the East End of London, it prepares a series of cutting edge explorations of literature and poetry, often programming non-traditional events exploring intricate themes. It’s always interesting and it’s almost upon us. It’s running from 7 March – 1 April 2010, with everything from music to stand-up, through shadow-puppetry, micro-lectures, and performance poetry, to crime-comic- jazz interpretations. There’s also The Chip Shop, which is built from chip-board and replicating a full-size chippy, and is a fully functioning temporary screen printing workshop, serving up words printed on wooden board.

    I’m taking part in one of the more interesting events happening at the festival as a participating audience member. It’s a really interesting project, hence why I’m writing about the festival as a whole.

    The project is called One Hundred Days to Make Me a Better Person and was set up by comedian Josie Long to build a force for good in her indefatigable quest to make the world a nicer place to live in. The premise is simple:…

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