Ask the Author: Jack Edwards
Answered Questions (15)
Jack Edwards
I would love to write fiction at some point but believe I need to live a little more first. I want to meet fascinating people and travel to fascinating places, and have a book form organically from those experiences.
Jack Edwards
Yes, yes I will!
Jack Edwards
Absolutely! I hardly read anything for pleasure outside of my A Levels as the workload was so intense. Utilise the holidays to investigate further :)
Jack Edwards
If you're struggling to grasp the plot, sometimes it's worth reading alongside a drip-fed plot summary. Read each individual chapter's summary before or after you read that chapter, rather than looking up the whole plot in one go. This way, you still develop your understanding of the book at the right pace, but appreciate the language and literary devices rather than just trying to understand the plot. Also -- read everything multiple times. Often you only pick important things up once you've already read the book once before!
Jack Edwards
Something long I haven't yet found time to indulge in, like Les Miserables or War and Peace. Some poetry I could think about and feel inspired by, like the work of Frank O'Hara. And probably the Complete Works of Shakespeare.
Jack Edwards
Definitely -- I remember reading Orwell's 1984 in my own time outside of school and being so fascinated by it, especially because I didn't fully understand it. That just made me want to learn even more. This led me to so much more incredible literature, which became an insatiable desire to read anything I could and study it!
Jack Edwards
I tried to read authors similar to those I'd enjoyed before but hadn't previously had the opportunity to study. I spent the summer reading all sorts of wonderful literature before settling on Christopher Isherwood, as I concluded that he was the author I'd most like to research further! Originally, I proposed to write my dissertation on T. S. Eliot, but changed my mind!
Jack Edwards
I'd absolutely *love* to one day write fiction - in fact, I never anticipated that my first book would be non-fiction. I think I need to spend some time meeting more whacky and wonderful people all around the world before I'd feel ready to write a fictional book, and I want the idea just to come to me rather than forcing something. If I could write something like Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies or John Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer, I'd be chuffed!
Jack Edwards
I made an introductory video on Shakespeare here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxj5t...
I'd highly recommend Othello!! Also, check out the Shakespeare plays the National Theatre are showing online and read alongside them :)
I'd highly recommend Othello!! Also, check out the Shakespeare plays the National Theatre are showing online and read alongside them :)
Jack Edwards
- A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
- Small Island - Andrea Levy
- Brick Lane - Monica Ali
- Small Island - Andrea Levy
- Brick Lane - Monica Ali
Jack Edwards
I crafted a 'contents' page before I started writing, as the structure of this book requires quite defined sections which were individual entities. I'd update and reevaluate this document every time I did any writing, moving articles around and working out how to fill the gaps. Also, as this book is specifically about university, ideas for new sections came largely from my daily, lived experience. I did the vast majority of writing in the third year of my degree, but also took a lot of inspiration from the time just before this, when my brother was preparing to start his own freshers year. It was very much a work-in-progress for a long time!
Jack Edwards
About a year, from settling on a concept to sending off the final edits. The process was a lot more complicated and rigorous than I had anticipated, but thoroughly enjoyable at every stage - of course! When you pour your soul into a book it can be an exhausting experience, but always a privilege. :)
Jack Edwards
The way that he grapples with life on the margins, the experience of otherness, and identity! His work is very autobiographical, but he is constantly rewriting his own narrative, as I think we all are. My top recommendations would be:
- A Single Man (George deals with the untimely death of his partner, Jim, in a fascinating reworking of Woolf's Mrs Dalloway)
- Mr Norris Changes Trains (a portrait of the debauchery, liberation, and campy 1930s Berlin)
- Christopher and His Kind (an autobiography which explores the concept of sexual tourism and self-discovery in a rewriting of the aforementioned Berlin years)
- A Single Man (George deals with the untimely death of his partner, Jim, in a fascinating reworking of Woolf's Mrs Dalloway)
- Mr Norris Changes Trains (a portrait of the debauchery, liberation, and campy 1930s Berlin)
- Christopher and His Kind (an autobiography which explores the concept of sexual tourism and self-discovery in a rewriting of the aforementioned Berlin years)
Jack Edwards
Not enough, unfortunately.
Jack Edwards
I'm always armed with a pencil whenever I read, whether that is for university or pleasure (...or both). I underline any quotes I find provocative, entertaining, or humorous, as well as those which stimulate my brain and require further research. My margins are littered with brief notes to remind me why the lines stopped me in my tracks, for later inspection. I also find my hovering pencil makes me more attentive to every word and comma the author chooses. It makes you a much more engaged reader, for sure.
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Nov 07, 2024 12:11AM · flag
Feb 16, 2025 07:57AM · flag