I have something very different for you this time, but it’s still very much on the subject of the women surrealists.
Some of you might know that a few weeks ago my novel, Swimming with Tigers, which is about the women surrealists and set in the 1930s, came out. Some of you might even have read it!
You can find out more about the novel on my author website at https://kathyhopewell.com/
I had two book launches and this is the audio recording from the second which was at a wonderful independent bookshop called Palas Print in Caernarfon, North Wales, run by Eirian James.
I was interviewed by my good friend and former colleague, Annie Williams, and we recorded the whole interview as well as the questions from the audience at the end.
The recording lasts around 45 minutes and here are some key moments:
Summary of Audio Recording
Introduction
(00:00:02): Eirian James, owner of Palas Print bookshop in Caernarfon, North Wales welcomes everyone in Welsh then repeats it in English.
Interview
(00:01:44): Annie Williams talks about how she and I know each other.
(00:04:04): I explain how teaching on the Women’s Studies MA at Bangor University led me to write a novel about the women surrealists.
(00:06:07): Annie asks me to outline the process of writing the novel over the many years it has taken and I explain that I kept going because I was committed to making the women surrealists’ stories and artworks better known.
(00:08:31): I mention a recent BBC Radio 4 series about surrealism.
(00:10:48): I talk in more detail about the road to publication and the level of control I had by choosing to self-publish after many years (and 50 rejections!) of submissions to agents and publishers.
(00:13:00): I introduce a reading from the novel in which my character Penelope visits the surrealist exhibition of 1938 and is disturbed by the street of mannequins.
(00:20:30): Annie and I discuss how I avoided giving my characters a feminist analysis that was not available in the 1930s while still conveying the sexist attitudes of the surrealist movement to my readers. I also emphasise how I was determined not to preach at my readers!
(00:22:52): Annie asks if readers might feel they need to know about surrealism to enjoy the book and I emphatically reply ‘no!’ In fact, I am more worried about experts in surrealist art being shocked by the changes I have made in the interests of a good story! I also explain how I have included information about surrealism without, I hope, seeming to educate or falling prey to ‘information dumps’ in the text.
(00:25:18): Annie asks me about the relationship between history and fiction in my book and we compare it to Hilary Mantel and Angela Carter’s approaches.
Audience Questions
(00:29:50): “Are you writing another book? And will you self-publish next time?”
(00:35:36): A previous student of mine comments on the empowering nature of self-publishing.
(00:39:10): “In terms of getting the period right, how did you go about researching it?”
(00:41:09): “Did you plan the novel in advance or make it up as you went along?”
(00:43:13): “When you were writing the novel, did you imagine the film version?”
End
(00:44:17): Annie thanks everyone, especially Eirian and her partner Sel who helped to put on the event.
You can get hold of my novel from Blackwells, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble and as an ebook via Kobo, Smashwords and some other suppliers. Thanks to everyone who has cheered me on, helped with events, responded on social media and bought (and reviewed) the book. This is my first published novel and I am so grateful for all the support I’ve received, on Substack, online and IRL!
I’ll be back with another imaginary encounter with surrealist art next time.
Share this post