Paul Magrs's Blog, page 20

Thanks, Julia Darling

Thinking about Julia Darling this week - I've written a rare poem..! First in absolutely ages. Seeing on Facebook that it would have been her birthday this week is what brought it about. She was a Tyneside-based writer I knew a little and loved to bits. In 2001 she invited me and Stella Duffy to be guests of honour at her Festival of Queer Writing, and that's what the poem's about.




Thanks, Julia Darling

I’d never stayed in a hotel so posh before,Pouring myself a Bloody Mary soon as I was through the doorOr had my workshop gang take me out and tell me:You have to return to the North. You have to come home to the North.
I’d never had tapas by the Tyne before,I’d never been a Guest of Honour before,I’d never seen twenty-four dykes strumming acoustic guitars singing Marlene Dietrich on a stageAnd I’d never been met at the station By my Festival organizer before…
She was jumping up and down By the barrier in tie-dye,Telling me where she’d bought her daft hat And how I had to check it out.
I’d never led a workshop where the person hiring me was first in the queueTo get through the door, beaming,Excited as anything to get cutting upAnd pasting words back togetherAnd dashing out to fetch tapeWhizzing stuff under the copier’s hoodPiecing together our surreal masterpieceWhich she made us all, every one of us, Stand up on stage that night and read out every lastCrazy word: All the bodices and bonnets and ray guns On the burning sands of Mars To an entirely dumbfounded and delighted crowd.
I’d never been to a festival like it.Right by the hectic Gay Village,A crossways of tawdry pubs and fried food joints,Busy as anything, hilarious with chatty noise And screeching, nosy parker queensI’d never met any Geordie queers before!
I’d had to leave home to find any queers at all.Yet here they were, By Tyne Bridge after midnightLike pixies in vest tops And goblins in hotpantsCavorting and canoodling down the Enchanted wood And all the gorgeous Dockside dens of vice.
That bridge I’d rode over a million times as a kid on the busComing into town to buy fanzines and bootleg cassettesAnd under the massive green machineryDashing down desire paths to the riverAll the queers of Tyneside with hearts set on chipsAnd hot saucy fun
And the view from the boggling height of the gallery Was airy and fresh and a great place to watch The brave nonchalance of everyone gadding aboutAnd going everywhere they ever wanted in a rush.
I’d never been to a festival of writing queers before.Thanks, Julia Darling. Back in 2001.I’ll never forget it.

My Sketchbook from Levenshulme Pride

Levenshulme Pride this weekend!

Lethe Press Reprints of the Phoenix Court novels

Steven Moffat says... 


My very clever friend, Paul Magrs, has just had some of his books reissued - look, here they are. I haven't read these yet, but Paul is always witty and brilliant - and a Doctor Who fan, which is a sign of good character. As you know, books weep aloud when they're not being read so hurry and get them here:https://www.lethepressbooks.com/about.html#/

Confabulation - Edinburgh 1997

On my Patreon page today - a memoir piece from summer 1997 in Edinburgh, where I'm writing 'Fancy Man' and 'The Scarlet Empress' at the same time -
Here's a little excerpt, followed by the link -
On Sunday it was the ‘West and Wilde’ event, celebrating this lovely gay bookshop in the New Town. Drinking wine and smoking outside before it started spitting with rain. David Benson was there, sparky and lithe, jumping up on a bench to do a turn. He sneered and smarmed and wriggled about, unleashing his unnerving Kenneth Williams impression, reading chunks of the Orton diaries: the insalubrious entries from Marrakesh.
Patricia Duncker was there, too. She came dashing out, all beaming and guns ablaze, pashmina trailing, florid and profane and brilliant: bursting with bonhomie. She marched up to Jeremy while he was smoking and he thanked her for sending him her signed book while he was in the hospital. She told him not to eat cheese or drink champagne: they’re very bad for Crohn’s.
She told us, as far as she’s concerned, they can film her novel, ‘Hallucinating Foucault’ just however they like. The more vulgar the better, she says. Just so long as they make it. Then she told me she teaches Creative Writing via ‘narratology and poetics: I’ll send you our bibliography, dear!’
https://www.patreon.com/Paulmagrs

Moniack Mhor

My sketchbook from Moniack Mhor, the writers' centre near Loch Ness, where I've been teaching this week with the lovely Joan Lennon. It's been an amazing week, and I managed to do some pictures during my off-duty moments.

Cats and Dogs!

Some new drawings from this week...  Remember, I'm always available for commissions. I love doing these water colours of cats and dogs.

Drop me a line! - pmagrs@gmail.com

Essie Fox discovers Brenda and Effie

The novelist - lovely Essie Fox - has just posted this on Instagram about The Brenda and Effie Mysteries... It's a really good introduction for those who've never read them...
"How did I come so late to the Brenda and Effie mysteries? I only know that once I’ve started I didn’t want to stop until I’d read every title in this joyous series of novels. Imagine the flavour of Coronation Street combined with the Addams family, with a hefty dose of Arsenic and Old Lace thrown into the mix. At the heart of an eccentric cast of charismatic characters is the B & B landlady, Brenda, who runs her pristine establishment while concealing secrets from a dreadful past. Effie, the prim old woman who runs the junk shop just next door is soon to be her dearest friend, with the two enjoying nothing more than a natter over a cuppa, or a supper from Cod Almighty, the local fish and chip shop. But the quiet life is soon to end when they find themselves immersed in a rising tide of evil in the seaside town of Whitby, defending it from mayhem, malevolence and monsters. Paul Magrs’ unique and twisted tales turn the literary gothic canon in its head.
One of my happiest accidents. So funny. So endearing. Full of warmth in every way. "

Panda Pride

Drawings from Huddersfield