James Kelman – författare

Jack Proctor, a celebrated older writer and curmudgeon, goes off to residency where he is to be an honored part of teaching and giving public readings, he soon finds the atmosphere of the literary world has changed since his last foray into the public sphere. Unknown to most, unable to work on his own writing, surrounded by a host of odd characters, would-be writers, antagonists, handlers, and members of the elite House of Art and Aesthetics, Proctor finds himself driven to distraction (literally in a very very tiny car). This is a story of a man attempting not to go mad when forced to stop his own writing in order to coach others to write. Proctor’s tour of rural places, pubs, theaters, fancy parties, where he is to be headlining as a "Banker-Prize-Winning-Author" reads like a literary version of Spinal Tap. Uproariously funny, brilliantly philosophical, gorgeously written this is James Kelman at his best.

James Kelman är en av vår tids mest betydande skotska författare – bland annat vinnare av Booker-priset 1994 – som nu för första gången översatts till svenska. Spelplatsen i de över fyrtio berättelserna i Greyhound till frukost är Glasgow och Manchester, skildrade ur ett konsekvent och orubbligt underifrånperspektiv, i surrealistiska anekdoter och till synes slumpmässiga scener. Med en sardonisk, sträv prosa, genomskuren av svart humor – inte helt olik Samuel Becketts – ger Kelman röst åt de vilsekomna som söker hitta hem bland blindskären i stadens ödemarker och hyreskaserner, på ungkarlshotell, parkbänkar och pubar.

Novellsamlingen Greyhound till frukost från sent 80-tal är ett av James Kelmans mest grundläggande verk. Det sammanfattar hans tidiga litterära produktion och ger en bred bild av detta mångfasetterat författarskap, som varit tongivande internationellt och har haft ett avgörande inflytande på dagens skotska författare.

“The world is full of information. What do we do when we get the information, when we have digested the information, what do we do then? Is there a point where you say, yes, stop, now I shall move on.”

This exhilarating collection of essays, interviews, and correspondence—spanning the years 1988 through 2018, and reaching back a decade more—is about the simple concept that ideas matter. They mutate, inform, create fuel for thought, and inspire actions.

As Kelman says, the State relies on our suffocation, that we cannot hope to learn the truth. But whether we can or not is beside the point. We must grasp the nettle, we assume control and go forward.

Between Thought and Expression Lies a Lifetime is an impassioned, elucidating, and often humorous collaboration. Philosophical and intimate, it is a call to ponder, imagine, explore, and act.