British writer Max Porter wrote a new text at Passa Porta’s request. He was free to choose the theme and form. He returned a powerful text on our current condition, in a pandemic with a seemingly endless series of lockdowns.
A poetic rant
Brace yourselves for a poetic rant from one of the UK’s most stimulating new literary voices. Max Porter, the darling of English literature, has written a long poetic text for the Passa Porta Festival, in which he both praises and decries the human condition in times of Covid.
A piercing, polyphonic plea – he calls it a polyphony – about the absence of and need for connection.
Bookseller, editor, writer
Max Porter lives in Bath with his wife and children. After working as a bookseller and until recently as an editor at a publishing house, he has been a successful writer for about five years now. His debut novel, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, was an instant success. The follow-up, Lanny (soon to be adapted into a film starring Rachel Weisz), also exhibited an original narrative voice.
For his latest book, The Death of Francis Bacon, Porter went back to one of his pet themes as an art historian: the life and work, or rather death and work, of the Irish-British expressionist painter Francis Bacon.
Irish Times
Double bill
Later on in the festival, Porter will talk to journalist Ruth Joos about this text and about other themes he addresses in his work, such as loss and death, writing, and the importance of art.
photo max porter © lucy dickens
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