The Summer Read, Book Art Exhibition Norwich

Following Turn the Page Book Fair in May, The Norwich Writers Centre invited Book Artists to make a response to six newly published books.

My submission is a response to a short story by one of my favourite authors, Jon McGregor. It is a story called If it Keeps on Raining from his latest book This Isn' the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You. As one reviewer Sarah Hall so aptly states  "He has the ability to disturb the surface of everyday things, painfully authentic, inquisitive rather than confrontational".

His prose is superb. This is the story of a man who lives on the outskirts of a village in the Fenlands of East Anglia. He spends hours watching  the sky each morning, and believes there will be a flood. He ponders on the busy pace of daily life and considers what he thinks is important. We are left wondering if he is a wise man,- thoughtful and philosophical, or just an eccentric outsider.  Perhaps both. 

My book consists of a double concertina fold. I wanted to capture the dark brooding mood  of a storm gathering above a wide flat horizon. Some of Jon McGregors words have been incorporated into the book, which is enclosed within a separate cover.

The exhibition is now open  and continues during August, and can be seen at the Forum, Norwich Library.

---