Toby Litt's Blog, page 20
February 16, 2018
New Poetries 7
I heard about getting in the Carcanet New Poetries 7 anthology quite a few months ago, but wasn’t allowed to say anything publicly. Not until it went up on their blog, which happened today (16th Feb 2018).
I haven’t published many (hardly any) poems. I hope that will change, after this.
You can read a poem and a bit more here –
https://carcanetblog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/new-poetries-vii-introducing-toby-litt.html
February 14, 2018
Wrestliana
When I was looking for a publisher for my non-fiction book, Wrestliana, I put together this poster. It’s based on the posters that Cumberland & Westmoreland wrestling matches used to be advertised with in the early 1800s. That’s when my great-great-grandfather William Litt was doing his best wrestling. More about him next time.
I did get a publisher – the wonderful Galley Beggar.
An excerpt of Wrestliana is up on their website.
I’m going to post some wrestling and writing related blogs up here in between now and when the book comes out, which is May 1st 2018.
December 6, 2017
Emily Hall
I’ve done quite a bit of lyric writing for the composer Emily Hall. Click on her name for a previous blog about our collaborations.
Emily has now issued the three main song cycles we’ve done as very beautifully designed and printed scores.
A recording of Life Cycle, made by Mara Carlyle, Oliver Coates and John Reed, will be coming out in 2018.
And we’re working on recording Rest. More news about that to follow.
November 14, 2017
October 31, 2017
Happy Hallowe’en from The Itch-Witch
2017 saw the first performances of The Itch-Witch, an opera for children of around nine years old – to be rehearsed and performed by them.
Emily Hall wrote the music. It was a Snappy Opera commission from Mahogany Opera Group.
I wrote a lot more lyrics than were used. This one tells the origin story of The Itch-Witch – how she came to be, and why she is the cause of the nits that plague children, and their parents.
(To be chanted as the nit comb digs in and the wailing begins.)
How the Itch-Witch Came to Be
Once upon a time a little babe was born
Late in the evening, early in the morn
Sorry little babe was from her mother torn
Late in the evening, early in the morn
Spirits came and stole the baby newly born
Late in the evening, early in the morn
Hungry little babe, so weak and woebegone
Late in the evening, early in the morn
Spirits had no milk to feed the babe upon
Late in the evening, early in the morn
Spirits gave it blood and so a Witch was born
Late in the evening, early in the morn
Baby Witch grew fast and Spirits soon were gone
Late in the evening, early in the morn
The Itch-Witch sprinkles nits out of her magic wand
Late in the evening, early in the morn
The Itch-Witch wants your blood to gorge herself upon
Late in the evening, early in the morn
The Itch-Witch wants your blood to gorge herself upon
Late in the evening, early in the morn
And this is a spooky little song, to be sung to a child refusing to go near the nit comb:
Riverweed so greenly flowing
flowing, flowing with the stream
Flames above the fire glowing
glowing, glowing with the gleam
Barley with the breezes blowing
blowing, blowing with the air
Stop your going, your no-no-noing
Come, and let me comb your hair
October 23, 2017
John Donne is Alive
Earlier this year I wrote a short article for the British Library website about John Donne.
It’s intended for ‘A’ Level students, but I said some things I wanted to say about the moment by moment nature of Donne’s poetry. It’s amazing but weirder and weirder the closer you look at it.
https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/a-close-reading-of-donnes-song-go-and-catch-a-falling-star
October 13, 2017
Watching Chess
I watch a lot of chess. (I also watch skateboarding and, more recently, surfing.) I mean on YouTube mostly, though sometimes live.
I’m not a good chess player, and although I’ve learned something about openings, tactics, strategy and endgames, I’m still a patzer. (Chess word for rubbish player.)
I’m not sure exactly what it is I like in the videos. Partly, from an intellectual point of view, I understand that chess is just about the perfect game to be represented on the screen in front of me. On the left, there is room for a pretty much life-size representation of the 64 black and white squares of the board. On the left, there is room over for the face of the YouTuber.
In other words, chess videos don’t require a change of scale for the thing they are dealing with. It’s as if you’re hovering directly over the board – no interference. That’s exciting. (If you like chess.)
Live chess broadcasting is a very mixed business. The most exciting matches are the most exciting sport I’ve seen in years – apart from Cumberland & Westmorland wrestling. The commentary can be great, it can be unwatchable.
When I first heard Yasser Seiriwan and Jennifer Shahade, I thought I’d never seen two falser people, or with more annoying voices. The fact that Jennifer always seems to be pouting at herself in an imaginary mirror doesn’t help. Nor the fact that Yasser seemed to be trying to outgrip the Cheshire Cat. Most annoying was that when Yasser turned to Jennifer for a reaction or a moment of ‘Don’t you agree?’ (as is conventional in most broadcasting) she’d persist in looking straight ahead, leaving him awkwardly dealing with her left ear. But I’ve come around to them. Jennifer is good on what players are thinking. Yasser is better in the company of the Chessbrahs who, in turn, are better in company with him.
Top of the live broadcasters are on Chess24, with Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler being the choice pairing. But Ginger GM and Fiona Steil-Antoni are more relaxed and silly. Anything that FIDE, the governing body of chess, hosts itself is likely to be magnificently crap. FIDE are desperate to monetise chess into pay-per-view but have no sense what people want to watch. On a couple of occasions, they’ve tried to ban other broadcasters from covering important games – so almost everyone hates them.
Most of the time, I watch videos.
Some of the YouTubers are just very good narrowcasters. Allow me to introduce you to my six favourites, in reverse order.
There is something wonderful in the laconic delivery of MatoJelic who always began with some variation of this spiel: ‘Hi This is Mato. In this video I will show very interesting game that was played between X and Y in Z tournament. Where is Z? Z is capital city of…’ and always ended with ‘Thank you for watching this video. I hope that you enjoyed it.’ His voice is very calming, even when he’s being excitedly adoring. (Side-note: Almost outdoing MatoJelic for minimalism is Suren, who plays through great games of the past or of that afternoon.) Presentation, too, is about as minimal as it can be.
USP: The chill factor.
An early favourite, partly because I’d never come across bullet chess (all one player’s moves in the game played in fewer than 60 seconds) was ChessNetwork. My favourite ones were almost the equivalent of listening to drum’n’bass in 1992 – entirely too fast to be believably human. Here’s an example. Watch a couple. You’ll find that the in-jokes start to pile up – wanting to win the first place confetti, the Adobe Flash gambit, telling himself to breathe when things get tense. He’s also great at explaining – at slower pace – the most significant recent games.
USP: Uncontrollable laughter at his own mistakes.
More recently, I’ve been watching the playing and commenting videos by Ginger GM. He’s very funny and frank but there’s also something painful about watching him. He’s like a genuinely deranged pirate. You know that he could probably be a much stronger player, if he didn’t allow himself to have so much fun (alcohol).When he celebrates, I get the odd feeling that this is what many English men look like, to non-English men. Particularly embarrassing when we win.
USP: Pink triumphalism i.e., Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!
Fionchetta (WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni)
is probably at her best when alongside Ginger GM, Fiona Steil-Antoni’s approach to chess is a lot more generous than some of the male YouTubers. Mistakes are mistakes not signs of stupidity or encroaching senility. She seems delighted to be hanging out with other players, and to make them get on better with one another, the world and themselves. This is particularly so when she’s with GM David Howell.
I’d say the best chess commentator, in terms of insight and experience of the game at the highest level, is GM Peter Svidler. He is Russian. He apologises for his English using idioms most English speakers wouldn’t know. He is admiring of good play in others, and self-deprecating about himself. But he’s one of the strongest Grandmasters who is prepared to speak frankly about their thought processes. Hikaru Nakamura, who has started YouTubing, offers top-level attitude but is a bit inarticulate. You get the feeling his mind is whizzing too fast. The world champion, Magnus Carlsen, is always playing mind games with future opponents when he says anything about his play. And he only tends to grant interviews when he’s won. Chess24 hosts Banter Blitzes (where top players play anyone who is a member of the site), and Svidler’s are always great. (Also worth checking out are those with GM Loek van Wely, who is genuinely withering about his opponents’ bad moves but also strangely warm.)
USP: Modest and modestly hilarious genius.
Daniel King (PowerPlayChess)
is probably the most professional, the most affable, and the best. This is hardly surprising. He has been a chess commentator for years.
Here he is in 1995 with Maurice Ashley getting extremely excited about Kramnik vs Kasparov.
You always come away from one of Daniel King’s videos feeling you’ve learned something worth learning. He seems like the ideal chess teacher. He has great taste in chess players – and is particularly good at conveying their individual styles. He also has enviably great hair.
With all of the YouTubers, I become a little obsessed with their tics. One of Daniel King’s is the gulp of tea midway through a video. He seems to have problems with croaky throat, which may be why he’s narrowcasting rather than broadcasting.
USP: Ability to talk to you as if you were really there.
October 3, 2017
The Three Virtues of Martin Amis
I have been taking this blogging business too seriously; trying to come up with finished statements, rather than put something out. I doubt I’ll be able to change, but here goes.
It’s usually easier for any generation to acknowledge the qualities of the generation above the one above them – not the mothers, the grandmothers. And so, this isn’t about Will Self, although it might be.
Martin Amis’ literary reputation is not good. You might say that this is simply because his last few books have been not good. Like most people, even most literary people, I haven’t read them. (The same could be said of Rushdie and Self; they fell into the category of inessential. I’m not saying this with delight.) Around Einstein’s Monsters and The Moronic Inferno, I read everything; after Experience, I stopped.
I think Amis now appears a more important non-fiction writer, or at least a more readable non-fiction writer, than novelist. I go back to The Moronic Inferno as I don’t go back to Night Train. I may be weird, but I rate Einstein’s Monsters very highly, including the essay. He was onto something with nuclear anxiety as defining his generation, when this switched to a generalised, intergenerational Time something was lost. As a short story writer, he has one great comic high (‘Career Move’).
Amis is about as out of fashion as could be.
But I think this is because his virtues have, while he stood still and kept faith in them, become sins. For example, density.
VIRTUE 1 – DENSITY
Amis came to consciousness within a literary scene where Angus Wilson was still a force. Look at a page of The Old Men at the Zoo. It’s dark in there. Not a lot of paragraphage. Dickensian dozens of characters. Airless syntax. (He’s a worthwhile Amis-comparison, although I think the lineage Wilson-Bradbury-McEwan is more direct, and far easy to demonstrate as Wilson and Bradbury were McEwan’s tutors at UEA.) Amis derives himself, on the page, from Saul Bellow; he doesn’t just confess this, he makes it a credo. And Bellow wanted to load every riff with awe. Bellow, however, managed a certain flexibility of wit and rhythm that means there’s a way of reading him as slippage rather than sludge. This may be to do with his relationship to street-speak, of various sorts. Amis’s ear for London talking to itself was never accurate. I can’t judge Bellow’s for Chicago, but I haven’t read anyone contemporary saying it embarrassed them. Some Amis reviews have depended entirely on dinning his tin ear. (But, he’d say, he’s augmenting what he hears, riffing on it, not just doing pedestrian reportage.)
VIRTUE 2 – HIGH UNSERIOUSNESS
Amis also has the virtue of High Unseriousness. He inherited a mickey taking aesthetic – both Kingsley Amis and Martin Amis want to take the piss out of the Headmaster, but they still want the Headmaster to be Headmaster, or there’s no-one to take the piss out of. They have the satirist’s distaste for the possibility of utopia (see the imagined utopian novel in The Information), which would make them unnecessary. They don’t believe the leaky and embarrassing human body has any likelihood of perfection, individual or social. At their best, they were funny because disrespectful of almost all sensitivities. (That almost could be expanded.) This unbuttonedness is now rare.
VIRTUE 3 – SENTENCES
Lastly, Amis worships the god of sentences and, sometimes, his worship has brought him graceful gifts.
You may have favourites of your own. I won’t quote any. Well, except this from Money:
The reason I’m writing this now is that President Trump (I’m sure it’s been said elsewhere a hundred times) is – for me – an Amis character rather than an any-other-fiction-writer-in-the-world character. It’s Amis’s novels – yes, Money – that were on the money about this ludicrous, strutting, wad out, greasy kind of masculinity. Others had stopped taking it seriously, or investing it with pathos and power. It had no future, why bond with it? But for Trump (the name is 1980s Amis) to be up there, in government, using the phrase ‘warmest condolences’ in referring to the Las Vegas Shooting – I feel the need to acknowledge Martin Amis here, to bow in his specific direction. Yes, you were right. This is his reality, as surely as Princess Diana’s death was J.G.Ballard’s, pre-scripted. In that phrase, and in every murderously clumsy verbal gesture and grandiloquent self-serving parp, Trump has been pre-scripted by Amis. Amis pre-understood him. This suggests it’s time to re-read.
Tagged: amwriting, Martin Amis, Saul Bellow, virtues
August 21, 2017
You Must Mutate: In Conversation with Caroline Edwards
Around the time of the launch of Mutants: Selected Essays, I did an interview with Caroline Edwards of Birkbeck about the Future of Fiction.
It’s here. In podcast form.
Caroline asked some difficult stuff, and I said more than I meant to say.
July 21, 2017
Lilian’s Spell Book – August 1st
A while ago, I wrote a novel – a ghost story…
Lilian’s Spell Book was written compulsively, under the power of the story, which was – at the same time – very complicated and very simple.
I was hoping to publish it under a pseudonym – Alex Warden.
And it went out to editors, under that pseudonym, and everyone was confused and no-one wanted to publish it.
And so I put it up on Wattpad – where it did pretty well. Over 750,000 ‘reads’, which translates as ‘hits to a chapter’. At points it was the most read Paranormal book on the site – and there are lots of Paranormal books there.
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The Uppers, The Downers and The Hanging Arounders
The original idea, for those who had been paying close attention, was that I would continue my alphabetically titled books (Adventures in Capitalism to Life-Like, so far, with Notes for a Young Gentleman to come), but that one day M would come and L would be mysteriously missing. (Because I’d published it as Alex Warden.) And those who had been paying close attention would say, ‘Huh, where’s L?’ and then go off and look through all the novels that had been published in the previous year with a title beginning with L, and eventually they’d find it. I thought this would be fun. (My kind of fun clearly isn’t everybody’s kind of fun.)
I also thought it would be interesting to try and write a book that couldn’t be tracked to me – that no-one would believe I’d written. I did try this before once. King Death was also written to come out under a pseudonym. I will probably try to do it again.
Anyway, I’ve written a longer article about the whole experience for Kate Pullinger’s The Writing Platform. That appeared on August 1st. That’s the launch date for the book, too.
And so, as of then, Lilian’s Spell Book is available on Kindle, and as a print on demand paperback.
The original title was A Summer Haunting. Now’s definitely the time of year it’s meant to be read.
Tagged: @Wattpad, amwriting, Elizabethan, Ghost Story, novel
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