What tickled the Honest hive mind this week:
Honest Publishing Blog
Articles, news and latest writings from alternative, original voices.
Imprisoned By Our Own Heritage
Thursday, March 15th, 2012The current events in Syria, where the regime of President Bashar al-Assad (based on reports from the UN) have been conducting a systematic and vicious assault against Syrian civilians and those factions trying to protest against the government, has yet again raised the specter of genocide and human rights violations. We’ve seen this movie before in Tunisia and Egypt and Libya. For myself it forces me to put myself in the shoes of the citizens of Syria and, also, in the shoes of those who are being ordered by the government to carry out attacks on their own citizens. This is a lose-lose situation for both sides until the rest of the world exerts pressure on Syria to force this to a peaceful end. But with so many already dead it is far too late for many Syrians. (more…)
This Week’s Reading, 10.3.12
Saturday, March 10th, 2012
J.K. Rowling’s New Book: Specifically for Adults
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012Recently it was announced that J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame would be releasing a new novel soon, not for the Young Adult crowd like her previous works, but for adults through her new publisher, Little, Brown and Company. At first glance this raises a whole host of questions for J.K. Rowling. Does she have to get an entirely new audience since her new endeavour will entail finding an entirely new demographic that is not within the tween arena of fiction? And can she make the switch from a young adult/fantasy style to a more sophisticated, commercial adult fiction style? The answer to both of these questions is an unequivocal, yes, with a caution at the end. (more…)
This Week’s Reading, 3.3.12
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012A new weekly round-up of curiosities and grotesqueries that fried our synapses. Starring, this week:
A Very Honest Tooting Tale
Thursday, March 1st, 2012Thanks to everyone at Tooting Tales festival for having us on Saturday. The vibes, I can report, were indeed splendid. And especially thanks to Eleanor Brown and the children of the Klevis Kola Foundation – a community organisation set-up to help refugee and asylum-seeking families play a full part in the local community – who gave some great readings and wrote some very wise words at the Honest Publishing writer’s desk… (more…)
Me and Stefan Themerson
Friday, February 24th, 2012I do not know why I am writing this because I have no answers. For the life of me I do not know why I am obsessed with Stefan Themerson. I do but it is mundane and I would have to stop writing after the word love.
When I first read Stefan Themerson I threw Stefan Themerson, not out of the window, not against the wall, not into the fire, we had no fire, when I was a kid we had a coal fire and my older brother thought it marvelous that objects, mainly my objects, toys and the like, melted on the hot coals and turned the flames from orange to blue, down and proclaimed loudly, shocking my wife, who at the time was my girlfriend, that for the life of me I have no idea what the hell that book was about. I had just finished Stefan Themerson’s The Mystery of the Sardine. The energy I had spent on Stefan Themerson’s The Mystery of the Sardine I could have used to climb a mountain. I have never climbed a mountain. I suffer acrophobia and also vertigo. (I stole this) “Vertigo is often used (incorrectly) to describe a fear of heights, but it is more accurately a spinning sensation that occurs when one is not actually spinning. It can be triggered by looking down from a high place, or by looking straight up at a high place or tall object, but this alone does not describe vertigo.” When I first went to Chicago I had to get on my hands and knees and crawl down Michigan Ave. I felt very silly and very sick. I had just consumed three slices of Chicago (pie) style pizza and my belly was sagging and dragging along the pavement. (more…)
Honest Publishing and Bogdan Tiganov at Tooting Tales Festival
Sunday, February 19th, 2012This coming Saturday (25th February 2012) Honest Publishing will be appearing at Tooting Tales literary festival. Here you’ll find us accompanying our usual modest book stall trying to sell our wares (please contribute generously…) as well as all manner of literary delights for the whole family to enjoy. (more…)
Paul Kavanagh on Iceberg
Thursday, February 16th, 2012With the release of Iceberg, Paul Kavanagh’s second book, we thought we’d ask the great man a few more questions.
Iceberg is very different to The Killing of a Bank Manager…
Paul Kavanagh: I wanted Iceberg to be a fast and fun read. I wanted to use a conventional style, I didn’t want to tax the reader, I wanted the read itself to be pleasurable. My intention with The Killing of a Bank Manager was to make the read as onerous as the character’s journey. I wanted each footstep the character took on his journey to murder to be extremely difficult for the reader, the psychology of the character to be matched by the paragraphs, sentences, and those long, obscure words. I wanted the reader’s journey to mirror Henry’s journey. Iceberg is the antithesis to The Killing of a Bank Manager in style; nevertheless, I have my fun. (more…)
The Art of Iceberg
Thursday, February 9th, 2012If you’ve already bought a copy, you’ll know Honest’s latest book, Paul Kavanagh’s joyful Iceberg, isn’t only full of searing, brilliant writing, but that it also includes illustrations – an Honest first. These linocut gems (and the wonderful cover) are all by London-based artist Alex Chilvers. (more…)
