‘I salute him with the most heartfelt respect and admiration’ PHILIP PULLMAN
‘One of Britain’s greatest writers’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Alan Garner’s world is unbearably beautiful and dangerous’ GUARDIAN
In this lyrical and revelatory memoir, Alan Garner, Booker shortlisted author of Treacle Walker, traces the line of his life: from a working-class childhood in the landscape of Cheshire during World War II, through a grammar school education and on to the University of Oxford, and then home to see if he could become what he most desired: a writer.
We see the serendipitous moments that drove his course, from coming-of-age in a period of great cultural change, to crossing paths with a famous mathematician while out long-distance running, to the fateful day he chanced across Blackden, the medieval hall, miraculously located next to the giant telescope at Jodrell Bank, that was to become his lasting home and the setting for Treacle Walker.
As Garner tells us, a lifetime of working with a pen produces the powsels and thrums of research, imagination and story. These oddments can be shaped into something more than its parts: a vivid tapestry of a creative life that will inspire any reader, and what a celebration it is.
Alan Garner's book Treacle Walker was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022.
'Better than anyone else writing in English today' THE TIMES
‘A unique genius’ NEW STATESMAN
‘One of the most distinct and profound writers we have’ GUARDIAN
Write a Review
Powsels and Thrums 9780008725211 Hardback
-
Alan Garner, Powsels and Thrums
Alan Garner has always woven the landscape of Cheshire into his writing, and in Powsels and Thrums he explores how that strong sense of being part of and belonging to a landscape, one in which his family has deep roots and an intimate local knowledge has been integral to his work and 'By seven …
Alan Garner has always woven the landscape of Cheshire into his writing, and in Powsels and Thrums he explores how that strong sense of being part of and belonging to a landscape, one in which his family has deep roots and an intimate local knowledge has been integral to his work and 'By seven firs and Goldenstone' weaves together archaeology, language, family history and folklore seamlessly and magically. The book, ostensibly a series of essays and poems exploring the relationship between landscape, history and self is bookended (literally) by his taciturn blacksmith grandfather who taught him the value of common sense. This is a magical book. I just wish it had been twice the length or more.
- Authors:
- Garner, Alan
- Format:
- Hardback
- ISBN:
- 9780008725211
- Publication Date:
- 10/10/2024
- Publisher:
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Year Published:
- 2024
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Number of Pages:
- 176
- Place of Publication:
- London
- Language:
- English
- SKU:
- 9780008725211