Artist and author Brian Catling discusses his writing and his art

Artist and Author Brian Catling discusses his writing and his art

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3rmzinv

Interview Timeline

Brian Catling is a poet, sculptor, painter, and performance artist. He makes installations and paints portraits of imagined cyclops in egg tempera. Brian has had numerous solo shows and has recently published a new book. We spoke about the work, his writing, and the occult. Hollow (Vintage, 2021)

0:35 – Brian talks about why he wrote the book.

3:14 – Brian talks about Christian religion in Europe.

4:40 – Brian talks about the book.

7:40 – Brian talks about about the book being European in focus.

8:14 – Brian talks about his research into the period.

9:07 – Brian talks about poetry in the book.

10:55 – Brian talks about his writing style in the book.

11:46 – Brian talks about how he plans out his book.

12:11 – Brian talks about his approach to writing.

13:12 – Brian talks about describing scenes in his book.

14:51 – Brian talks about his inspirations.

16:08 – Brian talks about not being able to paint what he writes.

16:33 – Brian talks about the surroundings he prefers when he writes.

17:33 – Brian talks about the musical feel of the book.

19:41 – Brian talks about not taking a moral stance in his writing.

20:25 – Brian talks about religion in his work.

21:30 – Brian talks about his favorite characters to write.

23:16 – Brian talks about characters that have been difficult for him to write.

24:17 – Brian talks about writing characters different from himself.

26:11 – Brian talks about how his approach to writing has changed over time.

27:55 – Brian talks about editing his work.

30:27 – Brian talks about his tempura work.

32:31- Brian talks about painting cyclops’.

33:44 – Brian talks about being a fan of ancient and epic literature.

36:13 – Brian talks about things he can’t do.

37:28 – Brian talks about being adopted.

38:14 – Brian talks about his interest in the mysterious and magic.

44:28 – Brian talks about being inspired by the Elizabethan John Dee.

46:26 – Brian talks about what scares him.

48:41 – Brian talks about humans being terrifying.

50:51 – Brian talks about the mixture of cultures.

52:42 – Brian talks about characters whom he’d like to write.

55:27 – Brian talks about his current working project.

59:27 – Brian talks about fiction that he’s enjoyed.

1:02:08 – Brian can be found at bcatling.com.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3rmzinv

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624397/hollow-by-b-catling/

https://www.bcatling.com/

Contact Information

For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast. Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Brian Catling

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, Vintage, fantasy, fiction,

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3rmzinv

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Cris Alvarez Full Contact Nerd Interviews

The strange rivalry between British fantasy writers with Hadas Elber-Aviram

Hadas Elber-Aviram British Urban Fantasy

The strange rivalry between British fantasy writers with Hadas Elber-Aviram

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3wdpdeu

Interview Timeline

Hadas Elber-Aviram has loved fantasy since she was small and studied as a graduate student. She recently released a book about British fantasy writers and their use of London in their fiction. We spoke about the book and British fantasy. Fairy Tales of London: British Urban Fantasy, 1840 to the Present (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021)

0:37 – Hadas talks about why she started studying fantasy.

2:23 – Hadas talks about why she compared rural and urban fantasy authors.

5:07 – Hadas talks about where these fantasy authors lived.

6:24 – Hadas talks about why London was so disliked.

7:47 – Hadas talks about the positive aspects of London that authors wrote about.

9:24 – Hadas talks about the authors she covers in the book and what she discusses about each.

14:41 – Hadas talks about how many rural writers existed post WWII.

16:43 – Hadas talks about Tolkien’s attitudes.

18:24 – Hadas talks urban writers’ approaches to the urban.

20:09 – Hadas talks about looking at London in a fantastic way.

23:24 – Hadas contrasts the physical aspect of London versus the people who lived there.

26:14 – Hadas talks more about London Architecture and how it’s made fantastic.

28:34 – Hadas discusses the use of London and other cities in fantasy before 1840.

31:07 – Hadas talks about magical spots in London.

34:38 – Hadas talks about her research methods.

37:41 – Hadas goes into detail about an HG Wells story.

40:12 – Hadas talks about reading stories where they are located and about urban fantasy as a tour guide.

41:55 – Hadas talks about enjoying walking through London.

45:21 – Hadas talks about not including J.G. Bollard.

46:18 – Hadas talks about the tragedy of Mervyn Peake.

50:17 – Hadas talks about the label urban fantasy.

52:07 – We discuss the journey in Dracula and then “cozy catastrophes”.

58:40 – Hadas can be found at the University of Notre Dame, London.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3wdpdeu

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/fairy-tales-of-london-9781350110687/

Contact Information

For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast. Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Hadas Elber-Aviram

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, Bloomsbury, fantasy, literature, literary studies,

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3wdpdeu

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Cris Alvarez Full Contact Nerd Interviews