2023 RofC UKI Shortlist - MUEUM

[Hugh, Active moderator]

MUEUM by SJ Fowler (Tenement Press)

[Paul]

Tenement Press, cousin to a magazine called Hotel (see here), is an occasional publisher of experimental; esoteric; accidental; and interdisciplinary literatures. Founded in 2020, the press works to forge a space for new voices and critical approaches to literary forms with an eye on actively ignoring the borderline between creative, critical, poetic and political practices.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

An intriguing novel which starts as a post apocalyptical version of Magnus Mills meets Museum Memoir (via Susanna Clark), takes an almost Joycean short story detour before ending in a more dystopian denouement.

[Paul]

I think as per another thread there would be a very strong case for this as the winner. I first came across the author in an anthology whose mission was described as follows:

"If there were a literary avant-garde that were relevant now, it would be what the queers and their allies are doing, at the intersections, across disciplines. This avant-garde would be inclusive, racially and culturally diverse, migrants galore, predominately but not exclusively working-class, transdisciplinary, (gender)queer and politically clued up (left)."

Those words by one of this year’s judges.

[LindaJ^]

So I finally made my way through this very short novel (was reading on iPad which doesn't fit in my jacket pocket as does my Kindle, so not able to take with me on walks that have a long stop at a coffee place where reading is done). I liked it when I finished but not so much while reading, as no clue on what was going on. At the same time I was reading The Impossibly by Laird Hunt on my Kindle (twice as long but able to be read at those coffee stops) and had the same reaction. Neither is a book that reads fast. The Impossibly, first written in 2001, would have been a great book for the RoC or the Goldsmiths Prize. It was published by Coffee House Press, an independent, non-profit publisher in Minneapolis MN. Hard to believe this is the same Laird Hunt that wrote Zorrie (which I loved but some of you had problems with).

[Paul]

The Impossibly sounds very interesting!

[David]

I love your review of this, Linda: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[David]

I know this was discussed before, but here's a link to the original story, which was published in the white review and cited in Liberating the Canon: An Anthology of Innovative Literature: https://www.thewhitereview.org/poetry...

That story is the centerpiece of the novel, an experiment with private language. I personally think it is the weakest link in the novel, but others (including the author) might disagree.

Here's a link to a video interview, which haven't been posted here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14i4-...

There are other great snippets of Fowler on youtube, including this reading at Brick Lane Bookshop (Fowler's portion begins shortly before the 54 minute mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXDlj...

And you might enjoy this, Linda, where Fowler discusses his approach to asemic writing (not necessarily in Mueum):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqh8c...

[Lee]

Reading Linda's nice review I realized I perhaps use the word "unmoored" more frequently than most people.

[LindaJ^]

Thanks David. Lee I like the word unmoored - it immediately brings to my mind a small boat (rowboat, canoe, etc) that has escaped its mooring and is drifting in the current, being carried along to an unknown destination. It may or may not be occupied and drifts a a speed determined solely by the speed of the current. It may find itself hung up on debris or rocks or even an outcropping of the shore.

[WndyJW]

Excellent review, Linda!

[LindaJ^]

Thanks Wendy

[Paul]

Vanessa Onwuemezi: “MUEUM deftly toes the line between public and private life, the mundane and the fantastical. It is a funny, disturbing, subversive take on the human being as part of the institution, both in service to the public and invisible to it. In all its absurdity it reveals a truth which can only be felt while swimming through its pages. Tenement Press's book covers are bright, its future brighter as it marks itself as an ambitious publisher of poetry, prose and everything in between.”