Thank you, Lora! There'll be lots more Carrington to come: she's my favourite of the women surrealists. And thank you for recommending The Fur Cup, it means a lot to me.
Her grandson is such a devoted booster of Carrington. I follow Carrington on Instagram where he posts very often (you probably know all this!). Do you know about Sylvia Fein? She just died at the age of 104!
Thank you, Lora. I just realised I didn't reply to you. I'm not on Instagram but hearing about Leonora's grandson makes me wish I was! And no, I had not heard of Sylvia Fein but I have just been looking her up. Thank you for such a valuable lead! I hope one day that The Fur Cup can be a resource for info on surrealist women and a comprehensive list of names is something I want to work towards. Meanwhile I am having fun with my imaginary encounters and Carrington may well be featuring again next Tuesday, in a new way.
I'm sure you know about Dorothy Tanning and Remedios Varo. You might also be interested in Helen Bremm who is a PhD candidate in Cambridge who studies women artists working in egg tempera which Carrington and Fein did. Helen just spent several months in Mexico tracking down original art of Carrington. If you google her name the first two entries describe her work. She found me on Instagram and spent an entire day having me pull out every egg tempera painting I'd ever made. I'm not a surrealist but my work has an other-worldly feeling . www.arbrador.com if you have a chance to look.
I’ve always been fascinated by the story of Ariadne, Theseus, and the Minotaur. In fact, I wrote a novel (I Saw Red) that’s a modern-day retelling of it set in Spain.
That sounds fascinating, James. I love retelllings of myths. Do you know Mary Renault's The Bull From the Sea? It was written a while ago but it's so good!
Great questions. I've been fascinated by Greek mythology for years, but listening to Colm Tóibín talk about his novel 'House of Names' (a retelling of the legend of the Oresteia) originally inspired me to write I Saw Red. And I lived in Madrid/Spain during the late-noughties, so - with the centrality of 'the bull' in Spanish culture - the idea of setting a modern-day narrative there made sense. It was fun to write!
Interesting. Toibin is a favourite of mine but I don't know the one you mention of his. I just read the Amazon sample of your book and the beginning is great. I'll see if I can get hold of it.
I love Carrington's art. Thanks for sharing this story!
Thank you, Lora! There'll be lots more Carrington to come: she's my favourite of the women surrealists. And thank you for recommending The Fur Cup, it means a lot to me.
Her grandson is such a devoted booster of Carrington. I follow Carrington on Instagram where he posts very often (you probably know all this!). Do you know about Sylvia Fein? She just died at the age of 104!
Thank you, Lora. I just realised I didn't reply to you. I'm not on Instagram but hearing about Leonora's grandson makes me wish I was! And no, I had not heard of Sylvia Fein but I have just been looking her up. Thank you for such a valuable lead! I hope one day that The Fur Cup can be a resource for info on surrealist women and a comprehensive list of names is something I want to work towards. Meanwhile I am having fun with my imaginary encounters and Carrington may well be featuring again next Tuesday, in a new way.
I'm sure you know about Dorothy Tanning and Remedios Varo. You might also be interested in Helen Bremm who is a PhD candidate in Cambridge who studies women artists working in egg tempera which Carrington and Fein did. Helen just spent several months in Mexico tracking down original art of Carrington. If you google her name the first two entries describe her work. She found me on Instagram and spent an entire day having me pull out every egg tempera painting I'd ever made. I'm not a surrealist but my work has an other-worldly feeling . www.arbrador.com if you have a chance to look.
I’ve always been fascinated by the story of Ariadne, Theseus, and the Minotaur. In fact, I wrote a novel (I Saw Red) that’s a modern-day retelling of it set in Spain.
That sounds fascinating, James. I love retelllings of myths. Do you know Mary Renault's The Bull From the Sea? It was written a while ago but it's so good!
Thanks, Kathy. 'The Bull from the Sea' sounds great. I just reserved the copy at my local library.
Great! And, of course, there's the recent novel by Madeline Miller, entitled Circe, in which the minotaur appears.
Is your novel unique in relating the myth in a modern setting? What made you choose to do that?
Great questions. I've been fascinated by Greek mythology for years, but listening to Colm Tóibín talk about his novel 'House of Names' (a retelling of the legend of the Oresteia) originally inspired me to write I Saw Red. And I lived in Madrid/Spain during the late-noughties, so - with the centrality of 'the bull' in Spanish culture - the idea of setting a modern-day narrative there made sense. It was fun to write!
Interesting. Toibin is a favourite of mine but I don't know the one you mention of his. I just read the Amazon sample of your book and the beginning is great. I'll see if I can get hold of it.