This interview was part of the launch of Swimming with Tigers at Blue Sky cafe in Bangor, North Wales on October 15th, 2024.
It’s just under half an hour long and begins with my friend Annie Williams explaining how we know each other and saying some very nice things about me that I wasn’t expecting at all.
I wasn’t expecting any geometry questions either, but luckily we didn’t have time for those!
Here are some of the questions Annie asked (with approximate timings):
6.17 How do you discover surrealism yourself?
10.35 What was the writing process for the novel?
15.00 Was surrealism good or bad for women?
17.00 Might a reader feel they don’t know enough about surrealism to enjoy the book?
19.07 What are some of the key themes of the novel?
20.39 To finish, I give a reading from the end of Chapter 4 of the book, in which my main character Penelope joins the surrealist group in Paris for the first time, is invited to an unusual costume party, and reacts to being dismissed as a woman in a rather extreme way!
I hope you enjoy watching this. I had a great time on the night and want to repeat my thanks (these are at the end) to everyone who was there and who helped to make it happen.