Mervyn Peake

Plaques based on Mervyn Peake's illustrations to Treasure Island

2008-10-04T15:22:00.002Z

Apart from being the landlord of a rural Gloucestershire pub, Mark Steeds is also the inspiration behind the Long John Silver Trust. Now hopeful that Bristol City Council will finally grant permission for the erection of the first of several plaques based on characters from Treasure Island, Mark and his team have commissioned the first of these to be produced. There will eventually be quite a few on the Treasure Island Trail, the first of which is likely to be placed on the wall of the famous pub where one scene in the novel takes place.

Paperback edition of Mervyn Peake: The Man and His Art

2008-10-04T15:19:00.002Z

At the beginning of November Peter Owen will be publishing a paperback edition of Mervyn Peake: The Man & His Art. The book will be priced at £19.95. With many pre-publication orders already received the publisher will hope to repeat the outstanding sales and critical success of the hardcover edition, which has now sold out.

A talk in Glasgow

2008-09-25T14:24:00.002Z

On 14th March 2009 Rob Maslen, who so brilliantly edited Carcanet's recently published Collected Poems of Mervyn Peake, will join me as the reader at Glasgow's prestigious Aye Write literary festival. I will provide the biographical background to the poems while Rob will read selected poems from the beautifully-produced book.

Steerpike chosen by the Daily Telegraph

2008-09-25T14:21:00.003Z

Chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Villains in Literature, Steerpike emerges in this assessment of the role of those characters evil enough to be granted the dubious honour, not so much as villain in some readers' opinion, rather as anti-hero par excellence. The definitive angry young man perhaps, but far more menacing, dangerous, determined and murderous, than any character from a 1950's play.

Collected Poems review in The Guardian

2008-09-07T13:11:00.006Z

Unambiguous in its enthusiasm, and poignantly au fait with the tone and scope of the eclectic topics written about, Jay Parini's article in the review section of the Guardian of the 6th September of the Collected Poems of Mervyn Peake, is a delight to read.

Rather than attempting a precis of the many subjects, Parini focuses principally on aspects of the war, with the almost balletic art of the glassblower being one, the sailor and the baby as principals in the long narrative poem, The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb, another, and the return of the soldier to his sweetheart, on leave from the army, reminding the modern reader of another age, another pain.

The Wordsworth Trust

2008-09-07T13:00:00.007Z

The warm welcome extended by the director and staff of the Wordsworth Trust at the talk at Dove Cottage on 30th August, was accompanied by the equally enthusiastic reception following the illustrated lecture of the life and work of Mervyn Peake. It was good to see that every seat was taken in the wonderfully modern and well-equipped specialist reading room where first editions of Coleridge and Wordsworth and others are held. Following my talk all the remaining hard cover copies of Mervyn Peake: The Man & His Art were sold as were copies of the Collected Poems.

It was also good to know that apart from being displayed regularly, the illustrations for The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner will be seen across the country when relevant exhibitions come up. They are currently on tour but will return to Dove Cottage later in the year when as previously indicated they can be viewed by those interested in the way my father saw, felt, and understood Coleridge's masterpiece.

Chinese editions of the Titus Books

2008-09-07T11:09:00.004Z

Here are the front covers of the Complex Chinese editions from Linking Publishing which were published recently. With an attractively produced photograph of the author, and using the illustrations from earlier English editions, the Chinese translation will hopefully attract a new reading public in a part of the world where the idea for Titus Groan was originally inspired.

Forthcoming talk in the Isle of Wight

2008-08-29T06:17:00.002Z

I'll be giving a talk at the Anthony Minghella Theatre in Newport on 19th September. Everyone is welcome to come.

The Titus books in Complex Chinese

2008-08-19T19:03:00.003Z

Published at the beginning of August as individual titles, Linking Publishing of Taiwan has produced a handsome version of the Titus Trilogy in Chinese Complex. The three separate volumes are just in time for the Olympic Games.

The Hall of Bright Carvings, by Ian Miller

2008-08-19T17:02:00.003Z

The artist Ian Miller has been an admirer of the Titus Trilogy for many years, and has recently produced this highly exotic interpretation of the Hall of Bright Carvings.

Mr Pye, described by a resident of Guernsey

2008-08-18T17:04:00.005Z

Click on the image to see it at the full size.

Guernsey resident and Mervyn Peake admirer, Maureen Ogier, writes in her article in Guernsey Life about the part Mr Pye played in both her interest in the novel, and how so many physical aspects of the island were to influence its writing. Quoting heavily from the book, it certainly made an impression.

A talk in Loughborough

2008-08-18T17:03:00.002Z

I will be speaking at Loughborough University English Department on the 3rd December. Anyone interested in the work of Mervyn Peake is welcome, whether a student at the university or not.

A review by Ray Olson in Booklist

2008-08-18T16:46:00.005Z

Boy in Darkness and Other Stories has now been reviewed in Booklist
"This compelling new edition of artist-writer Peake's short fiction is decorated with 40 drawings and paintings in both Peake's principal manners: gorgeously romantic, as in the figureless landscape here, and grotesquely energetic, as in the illustrative figure drawings that fit the stories so well, whether or not conceived to do so. Reproduced in color, even when that color is only that of the paper on which an image is drawn, these add to the body of readily available work by an illustrator of the caliber of Goya, Cruickshank, Tenniel, Daumier, Dore, and Cocteau.
Still, don't just look at the pictures. Read the long title story, in particular, to enjoy one of the most sensuous and mysterious English writers, a fantasist so concerned with color, sound, and light that they become actors in the fiction. Does anybody else write like this and so well? The other five short pieces, though often as much literary essay a la Lamb as story, alloy the burnished strangeness of Peake at his best with subtle, rather dour humor.

A review for Boy in Darkness

2008-08-14T10:16:00.003Z

From The MidWest Book Review, Oregon:
"Boy in Darkness and Other Stories assembles works of fiction by author Mervyn Peake (1911-1968), who is perhaps best known for his trilogy of Titus novels set in the decaying castle of Gormenghast. The novella "Boy in Darkness" was originally conceived during that trilogy, and features an unnamed fourteen-year-old boy, most likely Titus Groan himself, in a dream-like adventure that stretches beyond his rigidly ritualistic home. As he wanders a bleak landscape, he is captured by the malevolent Goat and Hyena, the henchmen of an implacable evil seeking to steal his soul.

"The five other tales in the anthology are resurrected after being out of print for many years; they range from a grim ghost story to tongue-in-cheek character studies. Further enhancing this collection are a selection of original drawings and paintings by the author, most in black-and-white but a ver few in colour. A treasury of classic literature, highly recommended for personal reading lists as well as public and college library editions."

Mr Pye television series

2008-08-14T10:10:00.004Z

A Sark-born fan of the Channel 4 series, now Guernsey resident, remembers well the making of the television adaptation of Mr Pye, especially as it was her brother from whom the eponymous 'missionary' snatches the ice cream the young boy has just been given.

Another Sark link. And another.

Collected Poems

2008-08-10T11:17:00.001Z

A review for Strange Horizons by the science fiction writer, Adam Roberts.

Michael Moorcock's library

2008-08-10T11:13:00.001Z

Michael Moorcock, one of the most prolific and most original voices in the literature of the last fifty years has selected from his extensive library a selection of books by Mervyn Peake.

A Book of Nonsense, sung in Texas

2008-08-10T11:05:00.002Z

At a concert featuring 85 musicians at the Texas State University, nonsense verse by Mervyn Peake was sung to an enthusiastic audience. It seems that a new Peake fan club is developing in mid Texas.

From the programme: "It has become a healthy ritual that the Austin Chamber Music Summer Workshop includes a chance for the students to let their hair down a bit, with a creative project that allows them to explore music as a tool of invention, communication and socialization, with an emphasis on process rather than product. (We could all use a bit of that!) In the past several years, we have worked with both the Primary Division and Young Artists to engage them in a project that tries to extend their horizons beyond just ‘playing the dots’."

Peake at Ledbury

2008-07-21T18:32:00.004Z

Following my talk at the 2008 Ledbury Poetry Festival Gary Bills-Geddes, a reporter from the local newspaper, wrote the following lines about the illustrated lecture which was held in the town's elegant Burgage Hall. A full house greeted me and following my talk members of the audience asked many questions, with several copies of various books being bought afterwards by members of the enthusiastic audience. The festival was beautifully run and organised by a committed team of dedicated people, whose hospitality and warm welcome needed to be experienced to be believed. I send them all sincere thanks via this website.

Peake's visions of China
From the Ledbury Reporter, first published Thursday 10th July 2008.

"The luminous talent that was author and artist Mervyn Peake was brought to light by his son, Sebastian, during a moving illustrated lecture in the Burgage Hall.

"The event, on Wednesday July 9, would have been Mervyn Peake's 97th birthday, had he not died relatively young from Parkinson's disease. But his work remains, and it is likely to remain.

"My main encounter with that work beforehand was through the famous Gormenghast novels, the Titus Trilogy. I had always assumed that the nightmarish feudal world was a echo of medieval Europe, with its castles and barons and strange religious rituals. So I was surprised to discover that late Imperial China, where Peake grew up, was a major inspiration for Gormenghast.

"Sebastian Peake showed a slide of a typical roofscape of the time, with its pagodas and gables, and the similarity to Gormenenghast became apparent.

"Another misconception was shattered when Sebastian Peake discussed his father's nature. Because of the shadows of Gormenghast, I had assumed that Peake was a gloomy man. But Peake apparently celebrated and enjoyed life.

"This quality would have held him in good stead when he visited Germany after the Second World War, as war artist Captain Peake. He was asked to draw the dying at Belsen concentration camp. Those illustrations are more haunting than any photograph, but all of Peake's illustrations and sketches are marvellous.

"He was well-known as an illustrator long before he started to write the Titus Trilogy, and His drawings for "Treasure Island" and Coleridge's "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" are particularly memorable.

"He was a good poet too, and could write of "the cold corridor of winter nights" and assert that "machines are weaker than a beetle's wing."

"In his life he produced 10,000 drawings, 200 oil paintings and five books. Perhaps "genius", for once, is not too strong a word."

Mervyn Peake talk in Paris

2008-07-07T09:20:00.000Z

Invited to speak at the New York University in Paris on Friday 4th July, I received an enthusiastic response from an audience made up of Americans, French, Italian and English literature fans in this fine 18th century building.

Here is the blog written following the event by my Paris minder who also acted as image mover-onner.

Titus Alone in Danish

2008-07-04T14:24:00.003Z

Ries Forlag have now published Titus Alone in Danish, with this rather beautiful jacket.

A Mervyn Peake talk in Swindon

2008-06-23T17:02:00.000Z

An illustrated Powerpoint talk will be given as part of the Swindon Arts Festival on Wednesday 29th October at the Swindon Arts Centre. For further details call 01793 771080 or 07940 827624.

Mervyn Peake at Camberwell Arts Week

2008-06-23T16:57:00.004Z

Parents and children alike are seen here at the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell colouring in, under the supervision and guidance of a professional artist, photocopied pages taken from Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor after a presentation for children.

The final day of the 2008 Camberwell Arts Week then ended with an evening talk on Mervyn Peake at the same theatre, this time for adults, when a full house listened with interest and watched slides and inserted clips from the BBC Televison series Gormenghast.

SFX Magazine, Top 100 Authors

2008-06-23T16:53:00.001Z

Mervyn Peake is No. 48 on the list.

The publication of The Collected Poems of Mervyn Peake

2008-06-17T14:35:00.002Z

On 25th June 2008 one of the most exciting events in recent Peake history will take place, with the publication of the quite wonderful Carcanet edition of The Collected Poems of Mervyn Peake. If the pre-publication copy sent me a couple of weeks ago is anything to go by, then I can tell potential readers that they are indeed in for both a written and visual treat, in this magnificently produced volume.
With over 230 poems and 40 drawings, a well-laid out, easy to read text, and an impact on the eye that truly attracts, my guess is that this collection will be seen for what it is, a tour de force of presentation, imaginative writing, intuitive thought and considered ideas which will not, I can guarantee, be bettered in my lifetime.