Dreadful Nonsense

This might come as a big surprise to some of you - it certainly was a bit of a shock when I found out - but for the last three years or so, I have been working on a new genre of children's writing, working in collaboration with the controversial Irish artist and raconteur Eoin . Our book is facing publication very soon, and the press hype is already reaching fever pitch.

Below, you will find the preface to the book, written by myself and my collaborator Eoin. Tomorrow, when we get the first press reaction, I'll be publishing that here. In the meantime, do enjoy the authors' introduction to The Inadvertent Twin

PREFACE BY EOIN KEEHAN -
"When I was presented with the opportunity of engaging in a collaborative work, it arrived at a telling moment in my own career. I had reached a turning point in my art, and I was beginning to doubt the merits of my previous work. My engagement in shock art, the rows of piglet heads attached to the dead bodies of stray cats, the life size replica of a living room which I had carefully filled with papier mache models of various grandmothers, all gained admirable critical success, and after extensive gallery viewings were eagerly bought into private collections, but I began to feel that this work, in some indefinable way, was somehow jaded.

When the acclaimed children's writer Sharon turned to me as the ideal partner for a magical work intended to reclaim lost innocence, I was suddenly very moved, and felt that this was the right thing to do. So abandoning the various papier mache models, pots of glue and spare animal parts, I engaged in what has been the most magical transformation of my life, and working with the astonishingly talented Sharon has been an honour I will treasure for ever."

PREFACE BY SHARON -
"When I heard about Eoin's financial troubles, I was of course very keen to help out in any way I could. Those speeding tickets do tend to take their toll, and of course the prostitutes aren't going to pay for themselves. I feel that this represents a new direction in my work, which was previously littered with stories of speaking trains and flying hedgehogs - and there was also the children's work.

The difficulty that we first experienced at the beginning of our collaboration was quickly overcome following Eoin's brief spell in rehab / time spent at her majesty’s pleasure. it has been, for me, an important and life-changing path to take, and I for one am very grateful that this work exists. I am sure that, one day, within this very story, the cure for AIDS will be found."

This entry was posted on 27 November 2002 at 8:21 pm. 0 comments

Dreadful Nonsense

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