Another friend, a writer, this one strange and, like Kafka, an exile from the ordinary world in which most of us are destined to live: Anna Kavan. Anna welcomed me to her home, the home of her own design. We met towards the end of her life. I knew nothing of her heroin habit, a […]
SOLZHENITSYN died in August 2008, at the age of 89. He is never forgotten, or so we hope and expect. With his courage, his humour, and his determination go his experience of suffering and survival in Stalin’s labour camps. Those terrible camps form the centrepiece of Solzhenitsyn’s greatest book, THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO. When the great […]
Shakespeare is different. Different from all others, I mean. More – well, among other things, more personal. Entirely of my own volition, I came to live in Oxford. I had left the barbaric foreign islands occupied by the British Army and sought culture here. I found much Shakespeare in Oxford, and now we, or some […]
Mary Shelley’s grim fantasy, “Frankenstein Or The Modern Promethius” – to quote its full title – was published on New Year’s Day 1818. It has rarely been out of print in one form or another since.This first edition carried a preface by the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. In its early days, there were those who […]
Everyone liked Bob Shaw. He was an Irishman with an amazing sense of what was funny about the universe. His early SF novel, ‘Orbitsville’ (1975) was a success, though by success we mean within the SF field and sadly never noticed beyond those limits. That, probably, was what happened to his suceeding books, all with […]
Brian launched his latest publication – An Exile on Planet Earth – at a evening at the Bodleian Library, publishers of this most recent piece of work. A good audience assembled to hear Brian read passages from the essays contained within, and to hear responses to their own posed questions. Wine and a signing followed. […]
Old news we know but here are two lovely photos of Brian collecting his SFX 2012 Outstanding Literary Contribution Award and a standing ovation from the 4000-strong audience.
Here’s an article in full outlining the fantastic deal struck by literary agent Gordon Wise at Curtis Brown for a very large chunk of Brian’s entire back catalogue of work. Congratulations to Harper Collins!
The second piece of great news in a week! To celebrate dad’s donation of his archives to The Bodelian Library, Oxford, they are publishing a series of his essays.
This is a guest blog post by the organisers of the Kennington Literary Festival. The Friends of Kennington Library were delighted when the legend that is Brian Aldiss accepted our invitation to speak at our village literary festival. Sylvia Vetta, the Chair of the Friends of Kennington Library had the privilege, in February 2010, of […]
